WI members pass the baton

Jenny Street (L) and Tessa Smith with the WI baton PNL-150705-143448003

The baton arrived on April 28 at the end of the Buckinghamshire leg of its national tour, which marks the 100th anniversary of the WI’s formation.

It was a fitting climax to a journey round Britain’s oldest WI Federation, as Ivinghoe and Pitstone is Buckinghamshire’s oldest county institute, due to celebrate its own centenary in 2017.

The baton arrived at Ivinghoe Lawn carried by local president Tessa Smith.

The Lawn was set out like a mini-village fete and there was a special afternoon tea at Ivinghoe Old School Community Hub before a brief  ceremony where the baton was passed to on to Bedfordshire WI.

Jenny Street, chair of Buckinghamshire Federation, said, “It’s been a fantastic week. The baton has travelled in and been escorted by a great array of modes of transport, including a fleet of six Harley Davidsons, six different vintage cars, a tractor, a canal barge and a push bike, as well as on foot.”