Margaret Atherton, president, welcomed members to the June meeting of Moulton WI. She reported that the curling sessions had been very enjoyable and more sessions are being considered.

Margaret commented on the wonderful display of decorated bunting. Each pennant had been created individually by members.

Joy Bratherton gave a riveting talk accompanied by slides entitled ‘Where are all the lads in the village tonight?' a title which came from a song about soldiers in the Great War.

Joy comes from a military family and was already researching military history when she discovered a neglected war memorial at Minshull Vernon.

She found out that the parish council was responsible for it and became involved in the restoration.

There were 12 names which, over decades had become almost illegible, a sad loss for a village of only 87 residents.

This led to a lifetime dedicated to investigating the personal stories behind the names and she made many visits to their war graves, mostly in France and Belgium.

Joy’s humour, energy and enthusiasm wrapped around the sensitive and topical subject making it an evening to remember.

The next meeting will be on July 14 at 7.30pm at Moulton Methodist Hall.

The speaker is Kate Crawley with her talk entitled ‘Crafts – Learning by your mistakes’. The competition is a photo or picture of Chester.

Annemarie Allen