1919: Hordle W.I. was formed with Mrs Massey, who lived at Hazelhurst in Barrows Lane, as the first President.
We have a programme for the 1921 which shows that the meetings were then held on the second Tuesday of each from 6 - 8 pm alternately at the church room at Tiptoe and Hordle schools, but in the summer meetings were arranged in members gardens.
It was in 1923 that the W.I. Hall was built with funds donated by a son and daughter of two of the original members Mary Alice Shotton and Ellen Blanche. There was no kitichen at the time and the hall was heated by coal - the stoves being stoked noisily during the meetings. The original entrance was at the front of the hall and it was apparently very drafty. Large kettles of water were heated on the fire for the customary cup of tea and the washing up was done on a tin tray and a bowl at the end of the hall on a long table which was then used by Craft Group.
In 1940 when Mrs Rose joined closely followed by Mrs Martin in 1942 the annual subscription was 2/-d and with an income of £5.00 a week a family could live quite comfortablly.
During the the second World War the Hall was a meeting place for the Land Girls and the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) used the hall as a training centre. Members picked fruit and made jam and rose hip syrup with sugar supplied by the government and with Woolton meat pies, sent from Southampton by train were distributed by members to agricultural workers on a Friday afternoon. These were very popular and helped to supplement the rations.
One of the activities enjoyed in those early days was a Flower Show for the members. This was held in the garage of Hordle Grange, in Vaggs Lane, belonging to Brigadier and Mrs Rossitier. This led to the WI running a Village Flower show very successfully for many years when it was usual for there to be over 350 entries.
The membership in 1950 I wonder if any Hordle residents recognises their ancestors!
The kitchen was added in about 1954 and one of the chairs used by the officers (now sitting on the stage) was given in memory of Miss Chambers, the first secretary, at this time the membership was about 100.
Over the years many groups have used the hall and at some time in the past the fees were as listed below, sadly there is no date to indicate when these fees were charged, obviously at least 54years ago, before decimalisation was introduced in Feb 1971
In response to the campaign to plant as many trees as possible due to Dutch Elm disease "Plant a tree in 73" compaign the then President of Hordle WI planted a tree
Fifty years later and standing tall and proud waiting to be decorated during the year for various themes: Christmas, Remembrance Day, Queens Jubilee year, King Charles Coronation
2025 and the hall is still very much in use every day by 14 regular users to which we are grateful, as the revenue received from these various activites held here help maintain the upkeep of the hall. Sadly we can no longer offer the hall to individuals to hold parties, we no longer have able volunteers amongst our membership. We will review the situation again in 2026, meanwhile our grateful thanks are given to those who in the past have hired the hall over the last 100 years..... Thank You.
The Women’s Institute (WI) was originally founded in 1897 in Canada and started in the UK in 1915. Hordle WI was formed in May 1919 and the hall built in 1923
The WI helped on the home front during the 1st World War and one of our most successful campaigns was “Keep Britain Tidy”.
We recently discovered this interesting old photograph from 1933, do you recognise anyone?