September 2025. History of leatherwork. Adam Morrigan.
Adam from Red’sRawTawTan Leatherworks in Bideford, a leather craftsman trained in the UK and abroad, began his talk by explaining the use of animal skin by early humans. As evidenced in cave paintings and carvings, the sources of skin included bison, deer and even mammoths. The hides were used primarily for clothing to protect from the cold and material for shelters from the elements, but also in the production of tools and ceremonial items. Archeological excavations have unearthed bone and stone tools with wear patterns suggesting their use for cutting and scraping hides. Humans discovered that hides could be prevented from rotting by the use of plant tannins from oak, hemlock, or sumac, as suggested by the presence of these materials in archeological sites. Even animal brain tanning was used to soften the hide! Hides became important in cultural, ceremonial and spiritual activities for ritual clothing attire or a ‘canvas’ for early forms of art.
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Leatherwork advanced with the introduction of stitching tools and the use of processed hides as a tradeable commodity. By Roman times leather was being used for footwear, belts, saddles, harness, armour, shields and written documents in the form of parchment. Eventually the source of hide for leather extended to sheep, cattle, goats, horses and pigs.
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Adam finished by talking about the different stages in the production of leather (including the unsavoury use of dung and urine!) and the craft of leatherwork over the past couple of hundred years, illustrated by examples of hides, leatherworking tools and finished leather products that he brought along to show us.
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October 2025. North Devon Mills. Martin Watts.
Martin gave a most interesting talk on water mills of North Devon and other areas of Devon, some of which he had helped to restore.
He explained that the process of milling was to crush cereal grain by dribbling it through a central hole into two rotating, horizontal flat stones. This produced wholemeal which separates into flour and husks when sieved.
The source of power being water, a reliable supply was diverted from a large stream or river by way of a man-made, open watercourse, usually known in the South West as a leat.This led to a holding pond, controlled by a sluice to the mill wheel, then back into the river lower down.
Martin’s very clear presentation showed the three types of wheel: overshot, undershot and breast, their construction and methods of working. Photos of Brightly and other local mills were shown, but unfortunately not our local mills at Pulleys (Millbrook) at High Bickington, or Mullybrook between Burrington and Ashreigney.
A commonplace building and activity in every parish up to 100 years ago, these ancient water mills were superseded by roller mills powered by petrol engines and later, on most farms, electric motors.
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November 2025. A force to be reckoned with. Gail Bradley.
Gail presented the history of the Women’s Institute from its origins in the late 19th century through to the WW2, where her current research ends.
The origin of the WI movement began at Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada in 1897, contrary to the belief of some of us that it has always been a British institution. Adelaide Hoodless had lost her 14 month old son, reputedly from drinking contaminated milk, and this galvanised her into educating women in the care of children and more generally domestic science. A farmer, Erland Lee, after hearing Adelaide give a talk at an agricultural college invited her to speak at the Stoney Creek Farmer’s Institute Ladies Night. Afterwards Erland and his wife encouraged Adelaide to form a women’s version of the Farmer’s Institute and soon after 101 rural Canadian housewives formed the first Women’s Institute. Its purpose was the provision of domestic science education and an opportunity for socialising for the many rural, isolated Canadian housewives. The first meeting had a sole male attendee, Erland Lee as chairman. By the early 1900s the movement had flourished and hundreds of Canadian WI branches had been formed. To this day Stoney Creek is a pilgrimage for WI members.
Another woman spearheading the WI’s formation in Canada was Madge Watt. Her husband had died in 1913 and Madge moved to England to complete the education of her two sons. During WW1 Madge noticed that rural women were taking the place of men who had left agriculture to join the army. German U boats were taking their toll on food supplies to Britain so Madge decided the women’s war effort should be organised and supported through the formation of British WIs, starting in 1915 with the Llanfairpwllgwyngyll WI in Wales.
The WI movement continued to grow throughout Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England. In 1917 when the number of WIs reached 137 the National Federation of WIs was formed and in 1918 it passed its first resolution urging local authorities to take advantage of the government scheme for state-aided housing. Up to the present day there have been numerous annual resolutions on issues of the day, often leading to successful campaigns and government action. The WI is now also present in the Isle of Man, Channel Islands and globally in New Zealand and Africa, and still remains in Canada.
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The period of Gail’s presentation ended with the opening in 1948 of the WI’s Denham College for short-term residential adult education covering a wide range of subjects, initially for WI members only, but more recently extended to non-members. Financial difficulties caused the college’s closure in 2020, but educational courses are instead offered online.
Membership across England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands alone currently exceeds 200,000, and Scotland’s membership is over 8,000. Among famous members is Queen Elizabeth II, a member from 1943 until her death in 2022 when she was serving as President of Sandringham WI.
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