Winteringham W.I. January 2006

Twenty seven members attended the meeting of Winteringham W.I. held on 19th January 2006 The president, Mrs Jackie Bateman welcomed the members and wished them a Happy New Year. The Secretary read through the minutes of the December Meeting and matters arising were swiftly dealt with.

Correspondence received was read through and the Federation News perused. Members were told that the next Trent Group Meeting is the Quiz Night on 29th March. and that at the Spring Meeting on Wednesday 3rd March the speaker will be Alice Ann Hutchkinson who will tell the Story of Decoupage.

The ladies were asked who would like to attend the Silk Scarf Painting Day School which is to take place in the Village Hall on Saturday 1st April. The May meeting will be an Open Meeting as the speaker is Graham Boanas - the man who walked the Humber. For the June outing, the majority of members said that they would like to go for a tour of the BBC centre in the Queens Gardens in Hull.

During the News Slot, Barbara Ashton appealed for jam jars with lids as she is making marmalade for the Village Hall New Boiler Fund.  On 29th January there will be a Jumble Sale in the Hall 1pm-3pm. Members of the Hall committee will be present from 10am to receive donations of jumble, bric-a-brac, cakes and raffle prizes.

The president then introduced Iona Richards who told the members of her Life as a Female Lorry Driver. She explained how she began her life as a Female Trucker by undertaking two weeks of intensive difficult training but that she had passed her HGV test first time. Her mum had been very proud of her but passing was the easiest part, persuading employers to take on a lady lorry driver was far more difficult.

However, she did eventually get a job and stayed there for 18 months during which time she trained as a PSV driver and when she gained this licence she moved on to driving coaches and buses. Iona greatly amused the ladies as she recounted her experiences of various outings and trips.


When she got bored of this job she moved on to be a Relief Driver for an agency. She found that people always stared at a woman driving a lorry and on one occasion the employer refused to set her on.

Iona then moved on again and got a job with a large national company. Now she had a truck with a sleeper cab and she had all the ladies laughing as she told them how she personalised her cab and recounted her experiences of ‘nights out’. Iona got her own CB radio and the ladies were very amused to hear that her call name was “The Flying Fanny” - a nick name given her by male drivers.

She told the ladies how she had set up the Lady Truckers Club and organised an Award Ceremony for lady drivers. She was invited to attend the Woman of the Year Awards three times and one time a friend took her along in a large American Truck. This certainly caught the attention of the National Press.

Iona was thanked by Chris Wood It is a long time since Winteringham W.I. has had a more interesting, amusing and entertaining speaker.

The Hostesses - Mary Nuttell and Janet Campbell served the refreshments. The Mystery Parcels given by Janet and Mary were won by Jackie Bateman and Sandra Wilkinson.

The competition was for an Unusual Key Ring.
1st Barbara Ashton 2nd Marianne Ogg and 3rd Anne Carnaby

Members were reminded that the speaker at the February Meeting is John Butler. “The Gooseman of the Humber”. The completion is for a Model or Picture of a Boat.