Abseiling for pensioners is just one of many interest groups that make up the British bastion that is the Women’s Institute. Much more than just a tale of baking and making-do, the history of this remarkable movement shows how women have long been at the forefront of community concerns and pioneering work.

“The WI is the original social network,“ says Jane Robinson, author of A Force To Be Reckoned With: A History of the Women’s Institute . Jane’s book, published late last year, has already been reprinted twice and now she will be sharing her insights and discoveries with Chorleywood Bookshop audiences at the Memorial Hall.

“Nobody had really written an independent history of the WI before,“ adds Jane. “A lot of members hadn’t realised how important their heritage was.“
Founded in Canada in 1897, originally with the aim of revitalising rural communities, the WI easily settled in Wales and England in 1915 where it became hugely important to food production in the war effort. At its peak, during World War Two, there were 9,333 WI groups in the UK and more than 465,000 members. It currently has more than 210,000 members in around 6,600 groups. 

As the daughter of a WI secretary, Jane experienced the might of the movement first-hand, growing up in North Yorkshire during the 1970s.
“The main thing I remember is the village show. My mother organised it and it took up ten months of the year to work on the categories, trophies and the judging panels. It was a terrifying affair as there were complete dynasties of prizewinners and it was a brave judge that went against them.“

Jane now lives near Oxford and has recently joined her local WI group.
“I didn’t want to become a member until the book came out as I wanted to write it as an outsider looking in. As soon as finished it I joined and the main benefit has been being able to attend Denman College, which runs weekend or week-long courses in all sorts of practical crafts, plus music, literature and history.“

As a writer, Jane’s non-fiction works include Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education and Mary Seacole: The Charismatic Black Nurse Who Became a Heroine of the Crimea . Her next book In The Family Way concerns the stigma of illegitimacy and Jane is asking women to come forward to contribute their stories via her website.
I ask what draws her to fighting the cause for women?

“Women have always been working behind the scenes of history and not enough people have spoken about the impact of what they’ve been doing. “From the start, the WI was a real feisty movement. There were lots of suffragettes involved and one of their first campaigns was to fight against sexually transmitted diseases. The one thing that surprised me most was the massive input they had into the formation of the Welfare State. They were quite influential and the government used them as a resource.“

The WI’s current campaigns include Love Your Libraries, Care Not Custody and No More Violence Against Women. Recently the movement achieved 96 per cent support for the More Midwives Resolution.
“The WI can battle through and convince people. They are concerned citizens with a great deal of influence and expertise.“

In 2003 Calendar Girls put the WI firmly in the spotlight and as Tony Blair discovered when he addressed the WI conference in 2000, the WI always were – and still remain – a force to be reckoned with.

“I love hearing WI members talk about Tony Blair and how he hijacked the whole thing to make a party political broadcast. He really was rattled but the episode then stereotyped WI women as strident hand baggers instead of the twin set and pearls brigade, but as we know the truth lies somewhere in the middle.“

Jane Robinson is at Chorleywood Memorial Hall, Chorleywood on Thursday, September 6 at 7.30pm.
Details: 01923 283566, chorleywoodbookshop.co.uk
Jane’s website: jane-robinson.com