TODAY we’re turning back the clock and conjuring up images of jam making and singing Jerusalem as we look at some memories from the Women’s Institute in Dorset.

A rummage through the Echo archive from the late 70s, 80s and early 90s produces a plethora of articles with more variety than any home-made produce at a WI market.

Perhaps you might spot a familiar face or remember some of the happenings documented. It would appear as though Weymouth served as a useful meeting point for the Dorset Federation of Women’s Institute, with some of its council meetings held regularly at Weymouth Pavilion.

At the 1989 autumn council meeting Johnny Morris of Animal Magic fame was the guest speaker.

“The packed assembly of over 1,000 were held enthralled by the graphic descriptions of self-confessed ‘dedicated anthropomorph’ Mr Morris,” the October 20, 1989 article reads.

There was an animal theme to the meeting, a report by Barbara Howe tells us, with local vet Martin Fielding answering questions about a proposal on dog registration.

At an autumn council meeting in 1979 the WI called for a reduction in the amount of ‘excessive and unnecessary’ sex in plays by the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

The motion was proposed by the Stour W.I. and seconded by the Marnhull members.

Mr B. Gibbs of Stour W.I. said the days of romance and implied sex were long since gone and sex is being brought into the limelight at the earliest possible moment in television plays and making viewing embarrassing for the average family.

In a Dorset Evening Echo article written on October 17 1979, Mrs. Gibbs defined the ‘extremes of sex’ shown on TV ‘as sexual intercourse, homosexuality and lesbianism’.

There were also concerns about pre-marital sex being shown on TV, a spokesman from Marnhull W.I said at the meeting.

“What was ‘utterly unthinkable’ before marriage at one time was now being portrayed and condoned so much that investigation and experimentation by the young was surely invited.”

But it wasn’t all grumbling about the slipping of standards for the local W.I., with members from the county proving in 1988 that they could abandon their traditional image and modernise with the best of them by taking part in vehicle maintenance course as guests of the Army at Bovington Camp.

Members left knitting needles at home and opted for greasy spanners and overalls with the Army. The women even tried their hand at changing wheels and other tasks.

Driver maintenance instructor Sgt. Kevin Jeffries said: “They are probably the most unusual group of pupils I have come across.”

Another select quote from this September 22 1988 article tells us that as the women took the controls of a Lance missile carrier: “Hair styles went for a burton as they drove the pen vehicle over rough training terrain.”

In 1984 the Dorset Federation of Womens’ Institutes held their big annual event, the Country Carousel, at Kingston Maurward near Dorchester. It is thought that as many as 10,000 members of the W.I. poured into the grounds to enjoy the day out.

Entertainment was provided by the Yetties and a ‘brolly’ barbecue was held as the showers began.

In 1988, Rita Burden, the chairman of the Dorset Federation of Women’s Institutes, was spearheading a recruitment campaign.

She said she joined Winterbourne Zelston W.I. in 1962 because she didn’t have anything else to do and wanted to escape from the family!

Rita highlighted the success of the W.I. as a political lobby group and says there is much more to the organisation then making jam and singing Jerusalem. Even as recently as 1988 we can see how times were slowly changing.

The article says “Since W.I. started in 1915, women’s role in society has changed. Rita Burden’s generation wasn’t expected to have a career but more women today successfully combine family and career.”