Women's Institute meetings are much more than listening to talks, watching film shows and chatting over cups of tea and cake.

Many groups have pushed the boat out and provided lavish entertainment on stage for audiences in their towns and villages.

Some have even involved their families, as in Picture 1 when members at Eynsham recruited sons and daughters as fairies and forest creatures for a show in 1971.

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The children joined in the fun and took part in a modern French ballet and fairy tale sequence which earned loud applause.

The two-hour show at Bartholomew School, Eynsham, also included amusing antics in the Golden Garter Saloon in the Wild West, in which the bartender was 80-year-old Emmie Bolton, the group’s oldest member.

Other highlights included singing by Jean Alder and Amy Carter. The pianist was Lilian Wright and the show was produced by Olive Bungey.

Members of Begbroke WI, in Picture 2, were also in entertaining mode when they put on a Victorian evening in the village hall in 1972.

This is Oxfordshire:

Sadly, we don’t know any of their names, but they obviously took a lot of trouble preparing their outfits for the show. The pipe-smoker looks particularly impressive!

Roy Pipkin, in Picture 3, looks a little out of place amid such an array of fine women, but members of Charlbury WI had good reason to be thankful to him.

They had presented the seat they are sitting on to Charlbury Parish Council and Mr Pipkin had stepped forward to fit it firmly in place.

WI president Mrs F M Griffin presented the seat, which had a fine view over the Wychwood Forest, to parish council vice-chairman Gladys Chapman.

Founder members of the WI group at Combe, near Woodstock, in Picture 4, were guests of honour at a golden jubilee meeting in the village reading rooms in 1981.

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The three – left to right, Florence Collier, 71, Amy Woodward, 68, and Ellen Howes, 87 - were invited to cut the 50th birthday cake and were presented with flowers by WI president Helen Wills.

To celebrate their golden jubilee year, members had held a dance in the village and raised money to buy dozens of daffodil bulbs to be planted around the village green.

Another golden jubilee celebration in 1965, in Picture 5, involved members of the Holt Group of WIs covering Duns Tew, The Bartons, Somerton, Lower Heyford and the Astons.

They marked the occasion with a dress pageant depicting the history of women from prehistoric times to the present day.

A parade of Brownies from the Duns Tew area symbolised the women of the future.

Members of Steeple Aston WI, in Picture 6, went one better, with a diamond anniversary dinner party in the village hall in 1978. Miss L Elmer, at 85 the oldest member, is seen cutting the cake.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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