Cheshire Women's Institute at the Royal Cheshire County Show

Everything on sale is fresh, homemade, hyperlocal, and about half the price of anywhere else, making it a real oasis for those looking to escape some of the show’s more commercial aspects.

“And everyone knows their sandwich will be buttered right up to the corners, and it will be full,” said Susan Leicester, who’s home group is the Middle Wyches.

The first Women’s Institute meeting held in the UK took place in Anglesey in 1915, at the height of World War One.

It was set up to organise women who were needed to produce food for the war effort.

Rosemary Wilson made this incredible cake as part of of Cuddington and Sandiway WI's elegant Greek-themed Olympic craft display (Image: Newsquest)

“This explains our ongoing associating with jam making in the public imagination,” said Patricia Sharp, of Whitley WI.

Patricia is also a Cheshire Federation of Women’s Institutes advisor and editor of its monthly newsletter, and is keen to stress the WI is ‘not just jam and Jerusalem’.

She added: “The local groups get up to all sorts of adventurous things. Recently some have done axe throwing, golf, and archery.

Whitegate WI took first prize this year with a Japanese themed display including a stained glass window, crochet sushi, and some rather elegant biscuits (Image: Newsquest)

“Then there’s all the things we do as a federation. We have darts competitions, bowls tournaments, a monopoly contest, and we recently went camping up to Fylde Coast in Lancashire.

“In the quiet time, the ladies knitted hats and scarfs for the Mission to Seafarers while they were there.

Professor Carrie DeSilva (left) and Zeta Emmett flying the flag for the campaigning arm of the WI (Image: Newsquest)

“But it’s not all fun and games. The WI is also a campaigning organisation, and we do serious work.

“The Keep Britain Tidy campaign was a WI initiative. It all began after the AGM passed a motion in 1954 to start a nationwide anti-litter campaign.

“We also lobbied for pornographic magazines in newsagents to be displayed on the highest shelves, with less explicit covers. This has since been adopted by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents.”

Crochet sushi for Whitegate WI looking almost good enough to eat (Image: Newsquest)

At the centre of the marquee are the competition entries from each of the local WI groups which make up the Cheshire Federation of Women’s Institutes.

Each exhibit has either three or five contributors and comprises a piece of handiwork from each, be it embroidery, a jar of marmalade, a cake, or even stained-glass window, and many are mini masterpieces in their own right.

This year’s theme is the Paris Olympics, so the entries tend towards a national theme.

Susan said: “The competition at the Cheshire Show is about giving the ladies a chance to show off what they can do.

“All the entries are judged by specialists in each particular craft, so there are some pretty rigorous standards they have to meet.

“There are point awarded for staging and interpretation, which is all about how well the ladies have worked together to develop their theme.  

“That said, you really don’t have to be able to bake or sew to fit in here.

“First and foremost, we're a safe place for likeminded women to get together, make friends, and enjoy each other’s company.”