Hertfordshire women will be celebrating this year as they mark the centenary of the largest voluntary women’s organisation in England and Wales.

The Women’s Institute, with a national membership of 220,000, and with around 4,000 members in the county of Hertfordshire, is marking the occasion with a Centenary baton travelling the length and breadth of the country to visit every WI. In Hertfordshire the baton will be transported by vintage car, motorbike, roller skates, bicycle, narrow boat and tractor.

Members will be marking its progress with events such as maypole dancing, a treasure hunt and by dressing in the fashions of 1915.

The baton started its journey on the 1st January 2014 in Anglesey where the first-ever WI meeting in the country was held in 1915.

Its travels will end at the WI’s Centenary Annual Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall in London on June 4.

The baton will arrive at Nash Mills Wharf, Apsley, around 1pm on Sunday, May 10, for a baby buggy run, it will then be carried on a barge on the canal to Kings Langley.

Around 2.15pm the baton will be transported from the canal lock in Kings Langley to Sarratt Green by motorbike and pillion.

Sarratt will host afternoon tea from 2.30om to 4.30pm with entertainment provided by the Jolly Jazzers and two vintage buses.

At 4.30pm the vintage buses followed by cars will travel to the WI West Hyde and Maple Cross WI Community Centre to arrive around 5pm. There will a Ploughman’s supper and an evening of entertainment from 7pm.

Each County Federation will upload 12 photos to a memory stick stored in the baton to represent their members and their local area.

Ann Hall, County Chairman of Hertfordshire Federation of WIs, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming the baton to Hertfordshire and taking part in the Centenary celebrations.

"The WI is a big part of the lives of many Hertfordshire women, young and old, and this is a marvellous opportunity to celebrate everyone who has gone before us as well as looking to the future.

"I hope that the celebrations demonstrate how much the WI has to offer women in Hertfordshire and what a force for good it can be for individuals and communities."