NWR Connect Summer 2026

NWR connect ISSN 2978-395X

NWR Connect Reg charity no 295198

Quarterly Magazine for the National Women's Register adsadsadasQGQQood

SUMMER 2026

Summer has definitely arrived!

Lawrence Hookham @ Unsplash

Letter from the Trustees Our Chair, Deirdre McCarthy, reflects on the summer weather - and looks at what’s ahead for NWR

T his summer has certainly made its presence felt so far.

Following one of the warmest Mays on record, we have already experienced two heatwaves and some wonderfully sunny days.

While the warmer weather can be a little challenging at times, it also provides a welcome opportunity to enjoy our gardens, spend time with family and friends, and appreciate the longer days.

As you read this edition of Connect, I hope you have been able to make the most of the season.

Horsham Day Conference - a huge success!

It has been a busy and rewarding few months across NWR, and I was delighted to attend the Day Conference in Horsham. It was a real pleasure to meet and chat with so many members throughout the day - thank you to everyone who took the time to say hello. These occasions are always a reminder of the strength and warmth of our community.

The programme itself was excellent. I particularly enjoyed the genealogy presentation, which resonated with my own interest in researching family history. It is always fascinating to see how personal stories connect us across generations. Another highlight was the chance to see the remarkable Red Dress and to hear Kirstie Mcleod speak about her Red Dress Project. It was a very special experience and one that will stay with me.

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Letter from the Trustees (continued)

NWR NEWS

Online activities - getting bigger and better Our online activities continue to go from strength to strength. The online quiz remains hugely popular, and it’s wonderful to see new members getting involved. The recent ‘Getting Started’ online sessions have clearly helped build confidence, and it’s encouraging to see groups embracing the new ‘Quiz on Demand’ option, incorporating it into their monthly programmes in ways that work best for them.

Launch of the NWR Story Chain June’s Maureen Nicol month, with its theme of “The Ripple Effect,” has inspired the launch of the NWR Story Chain. I very much look forward to reading the stories that emerge - each one a reminder of how small moments and connections can create something much bigger across our network.

Wednesday afternoon diary date A gentle reminder, too, that our monthly online group continues on Wednesday afternoons, and there is an ever-growing library of recordings available through the website. These are a fantastic resource, whether you want to revisit a favourite talk or explore something new.

Keep in touch via regular newsletters As always, the office team continues to do an excellent job in keeping us all informed and connected. The weekly ‘Week Ahead’ and monthly newsletters, emailed out to all subscribed members, are full of useful information, links, and opportunities to engage please do take the time to explore them.

What’s next in the calendar?

Looking ahead, I hope many of you will be able to join us for the AGM on 16 July via Zoom. It is always an important moment in our calendar and a chance to come together as a membership. And beyond that, our National Conference in Norwich on Thursday 24 September promises to be a real highlight of the year - I very much hope to see many of you there. A big thank you to everyone who booked early and made the conference viable. We are not at capacity so can take bookings through to the end of August.

With best wishes for a warm and enjoyable summer!

Deirdre

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Amy W @ Unsplash

A fond farewell to the Mary Stott Award

NWR NEWS

The NWR team have an important announcement about a change taking place within the organisation

A fter careful consideration, we have decided to retire the Mary Stott Award. The award has

been an important part of NWR for many years, recognising members who have made exceptional contributions through their commitment, leadership and support of others. We are grateful to everyone who has been nominated or received the award, and to those who have helped keep its legacy alive.

In recent years, however, nominations have declined, prompting us to review how we recognise and celebrate members’ contributions. We want our approach to reflect the many different ways members make a difference across NWR today.

To achieve this, we are introducing a quarterly NWR Champion feature in NWR Connect from the next issue in the autumn. Members and groups will be invited to nominate individuals whose enthusiasm, creativity, commitment or support has had a positive impact, helping us celebrate contributions more regularly and inclusively throughout the year.

We look forward to continuing to recognise the members who make NWR such a vibrant and supportive community.

Thank you, from the NWR Team David’s legacy

M embers from Sutton and

Carshalton group visited the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park to see the art exhibition by David Hockney called ‘A Year in Normandie’.

Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, this work was conceived during lockdown, using digital painting directly onto an iPad. A beautiful work - and made even more poignant as we learnt of the artist’s death the day before.

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NWR WALKS Best foot forward!

It’s that time of year when NWR groups stride the length and breadth of the land! Here are a few of our favourite walks....

Horbury and D is tr ict group ex plored Waterton Park, eas t of Wak ef ie ld, for their annual May walk

N ow a beautiful rural landscape popular with walkers, Waterton Park estate once belonged to the pioneering naturalist Charles Waterton, whose father built the Palladian mansion Walton Hall on an island in Waterton Lake. Today, the Hall is a luxury hotel and much of the estate is a golf course, but the woodland areas are popular with walkers.

200 years ago, the world’s first nature reserve was created here when Charles Waterton built a three-mile-long, nine-foot-high stone wall around his estate, intended to keep out poachers, foxes, badgers, and deer, so that small mammals and birds were safe from predators. Within his reserve, he built a watch tower and used a hollow tree to observe wildlife - possibly the country’s first nature hides.

Sections of the wall are now crumbling and in need of urgent repair, so a group of enthusiastic locals have pledged to do all they can to preserve it.

These ‘Friends of Waterton’s Wall’ have the full support of Sir David Attenborough, who has made a promotional video to endorse their fundraising efforts. He describes Waterton as one of his personal heroes, recognising him as a pioneering conservationist, whose vision of protecting birds and wildlife was remarkable at a time when conservation was almost unheard of.

While walking past a stretch of the wall, we were thrilled to meet a crew from BBC Look North interviewing members of the Friends’ group at a recently repaired section. The Friends members showed us the new information board explaining the history and purpose of the wall to the public and we wish them well in their endeavours to preserve it.

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Best foot forward (continued)

NWR WALKS Harw ich and D o vercourt group undertook a walk through Manningtree, Essex, that was inspired by the 17 t h Century W itch Tr ials. T his 800-y earold tree, known as O ld Knobbly, is thought to be a w itch hang ing site

T he designated route for the walk included a number of stopping points associated with

the persecution and execution of those found guilty of witchcraft. At one stopping point in Manningtree, four local women were hanged in July 1645 for the crime of witchcraft.

Historical records show that 92 witnesses testified against those women, as well as 15 others, during their trial. The women had no legal representation - they were arrested, interrogated, held in appalling conditions in the cells of Colchester Castle and tried at Chelmsford Assizes. Fifteen were executed in Chelmsford, but the aforementioned four were hanged on the village green before a gathered crowd. A barbaric spectacle.

We learned at another stopping point that bodies of water such as ponds, that we saw along the route, were used to test the guilt or innocence of those suspected of witchcraft by ‘swimming’ them; the theory being that the innocent would sink and the guilty would float. Another barbaric practice saw the women tied crossways - opposite thumbs and big A duck ing pond toes - and bobbed in the water by means of a rope under their armpits.

As a means of proving guilt or innocence it was highly suspect, to say the least, leading to Parliament in 1645 to say, ‘you know, just stop doing it because it is very problematic’.

M is tley T horn is reputed to be the home of the former W itchf inder General, Matthew Hopk ins—responsible for the deaths of o ver 200 ‘ w itches’

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NWR WALKS

Best foot forward (continued)

W antage has a Walking Group which walks every

Friday morning, usually incorporating a coffee stop. It was suggested that as part of NWR's Walking Month and also Living Street's National Walking Month we would arrange a walk which could appeal to the whole group, especially those who find our usual walks too long or who are worried about "holding everyone up".

So, we arranged a short, local walk with options to drop out if necessary. We met at Wantage museum and proceeded down Betjeman Lane to wander round Betjeman Park. John Betjeman lived in Wantage for a while, and there is a half statue of him in front of the museum. The park is a wildflower meadow, full of snowdrops followed by daffodils in the spring, and mainly cow parsley now.

We had a photo opportunity in the park, sitting on a bench donated by a local benefactor. The sun actually came out!

We then proceeded along a path bordering the property where Betjeman lived, crossed a bridge over a brook and returned to the museum via a road of what used to be tanners' cottages. Tanning started in the 16th century and developed into a thriving industry in the town up until the 19th century.

Refreshments were taken in the museum and several members said that they would like some "shorter walks" or maybe join in for part of the longer walks, so it turned out to be a popular idea.

T hree of us from three di f ferent NWR groups—Truro, Bramcote and D ronf ie ld—walk ed a smal l part of the new K ing Charles I I I England Coas t Path to O ld Harry Rocks in beaut i fu l sunshine w ith a very fresh breeze!

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Best foot forward (continued)

NWR WALKS

adleigh/Southend group walked on two days to accommodate everyone. We strolled Halong Canvey Island sea wall admiring the murals depicting the Island’s history and celebrating some local heroes. The paintings commemorating the terrible floods of 1953 are especially poignant. One group did a litter pick to incorporate the Ripple Effect.

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Best foot forward (continued)

NWR WALKS

Luton and South Beds Villages

S ix members of Luton and South Beds Villages group enjoyed an early evening walk around Sharpenhoe Clappers. Luckily the sun went behind a cloud so it was cool enough to walk through the meadows as well as under the trees. We had good views over the countryside.

W hits table

welve of us chose to do a City Walk in Canterbury, based on the various associations that TChristopher Marlowe had had with the City, where he was born. Although we had some rain, it kept dry most of the time and we had a lovely lunch afterwards. The mileage was short - less than two miles but there were a dozen stops to look at and read information.

This picture is taken in front of the Clocktower. The Marlowe home was a few yards behind us. No longer there of course - it was on the site of what is now Fenwicks!

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Best foot forward (continued)

NWR WALKS

Woodley own to three members plus one husband, the intrepid trio from Woodley group set off on Da very hot day to follow the Kennet and Avon canal away from Reading, then veered course to make it a circular route. Our numbers were swollen by those who manfully and womanfully joined us for lunch. Our walk was taken from the book Exploring the Elizabeth Line by Jeff Lock, a book which we’re sure other groups based near said line would find fascinating.

Messing about in boats Leighton Buzzard group explored the country by boat as well as on foot!

en intrepid explorers set off from Leighton TBuzzard to Apsley for the annual canal boat day out. This year we were delighted to include members from both LB1 and LB2 to the crew. Even prior to leaving, the boat owner had phoned to check that we were still up for it as the weather forecast was dire. Did I say that we were intrepid, so of course we stuck with the plan.

All was going well, even the weather, with the boat ably steered by long-time boater Gwyn, and perfect locking by Karen, a CRT volunteer lock keeper, and Sandy, a keen helper refreshing childhood memories, and then....we got stuck behind a very slow and very wide trip boat which, despite very polite enquiries from Heather, would not let us past.

The sun did come out but we were so delayed that we had to cancel our planned pub lunch. Another pub option was found for the majority of the group, and the rest were meant to catch up but the ground was too hard to secure the boat and leave it. Sandwiches sufficed for those who remained.

It was as we all finished our various lunches that the promised thunder, lightning and heavy rain found us at last. Rather damply, we meandered back to the marina to end an enjoyable day.

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NWR VISITS Away with the fairies Rotherham and Aston groups took a trip to the Isle of Man - and discovered a magical place steeped in superstition and legend

Port Erin

James Qualtrough @ Unsplash

short break away has become an annual event for our group of intrepid explorers, and A this year we visited the Isle of Man. In a short space of time, and with an excellent guide, we were immersed in the history, the culture, the governance and the people.

In keeping with local tradition and superstition, we greeted the fairies with a cheerful "Moghrey mie" ("good morning") at the Fairy Bridge near Santon Burn. We also noted the May Eve (Tein' Aalin) crosses - small crosses made from twigs, often rowan, which are placed on doors to prevent fairies from entering the home. The Isle is steeped in superstition and legend, and we saw evidence of this folklore wherever we went.

Our itinerary over two-and-a-half days was intense, starting with a journey by horse and electric tram from Douglas to the village of Laxey on the first day. This saw some of us climbing up to the iconic Laxey Wheel - the world’s largest surviving original working waterwheel - which was no mean feat for those of us who managed to get to the top of this incredible example of Manx engineering.

Next morning we began a full day trip with our guide, which included stops at Douglas Head, for a panoramic view and history of Douglas; a brief walking and history tour of Castletown; a visit to Cregneash Folk Museum to see Harry Kelly’s thatched cottage to learn about the reintroduction of the native Manx language and to deepen our understanding of the harsh working lives of the village’s last inhabitants; and a lunch stop overlooking the Calf of Man, for a view of the Sound, the seals and the precarious nature of the waters there.

In the afternoon, our journey through Port Erin and up the stunning west coast took us to a farm with a history of internship during the wars, and where Pilates was first ‘invented’ to keep internees fit and healthy.

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NWR VISITS Away with the fairies (continued)

Then on we went to Peel, where the Cathedral and the museum - the House of Manannan - did not disappoint.

We ended our day at Tynwald Hill, the Viking Parliament, where the open-air parliament sitting is held each year in July. This stop provided a comprehensive backdrop to the island’s governance when we undertook a guided tour of the current Tynwald building in Douglas on our final day.

The Manx Museum, our ultimate visit before lunch and our departure for the airport, consolidated all we had learned over the previous two days. So the ‘ripple’ of ideas some months ago, regarding what the island might offer us, turned into a tidal wave of adventure and learning we could never have anticipated.

We left satiated and saturated in our knowledge and understanding of the island, hungry to learn more and overwhelmed by the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone we met.

“Gura mie eu’” (“thank you everyone”)!

James Qualtrough @ Unsplash

T he v iew towards Pee l 11

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NWR VISITS Feeling energetic On a blustery day in early March, three members of Harwich and Dovercourt group set off to visit an ‘energy from waste’ facility at Great Blakenham near Ipswich fter lunch at Jimmy’s Farm we joined eight others on a public tour of the plant, operated Aby Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd. A PowerPoint presentation by the Community Liaison Manager provided an overview of the process, which uses modern energy-fromwaste technology to generate energy from residual waste that remains after recycling or from materials that cannot be practically Amy recovered.

The Suffolk site receives waste from W @ Unsplash Suffolk, Norfolk, and Southend in Essex. Amy W @ Unsplash One thing that startled us - although probably shouldn’t have surprised us - was the packaging from frozen green beans that had been pulled from a landfill site. It had been cleaned but was pristine - and dated from 1971!

After the Health and Safety Procedure talk, we donned our Personal Protective gear and set off with the CLM leading the tour. First stop was the Control Room, where Operational Staff monitor all areas and aspects of the plant via a bank of computers and screens. The waste received is discharged into a huge bunker, which we viewed from behind enclosed glass panels. A grab crane operator mixes the waste to ensure an even burn before feeding it into the furnace. The waste then moves through the furnace, where it dries and combusts at temperatures of up to 1000°C. The tour is not for the faint-hearted, as we ascended and descended 323 stairs and various walkways during the different stages of the process. It was explained to us how different components are added, such as lime, carbon and urea, to ensure zero pollutants before gases are released outside. It’s a complex but efficient process which results in approximately 97% of the waste being incinerated, with a minimal amount going to landfill.

The hot gases from the incineration process pass through a boiler, heating water which turns into steam that in turn drives a turbine generating electricity. The resultant ash from the process passes along a conveyor where magnets extract ferrous metals for recycling, with the remaining ash being used as an aggregate replacement in construction materials.

Approximately 10 million tonnes of waste are processed at the site we visited; the electricity generated is sent to the National Grid, sufficient to provide energy to 50,000 homes.

An extremely interesting and informative experience on a very topical subject as energy security is vital to us all.

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Amy W @ Unsplash

NWR VISITS Clumber calling Worksop group took a trip to historic Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire and explored its famous, one-of-a-kind Walled Kitchen Garden

O ur group is lucky to have National Trust Clumber

Park on our doorstep. Thirteen members of Worksop group visited the four-acre Walled Kitchen Garden for a guided tour. The garden hosts the National Rhubarb Collection, fabulous flower borders, soft fruit beds, no-dig vegetable beds, espalier, fan and stepover trained fruit trees - and even liquorice plants (Worksop was once famous for its liquorice). It has a magnificent glasshouse which has been restored and is home to grapevines, a tool store, a room for drying flowers and seed heads, a terracotta pot store and information boards.

In its heyday it employed 30 gardeners and produced food for the household of the Duke of Newcastle and his guests. In competition with the other local dukes in the area, they vied to grow exotic fruits and out-of-season vegetables as well as flowers to cut for display in the grand house that overlooked the manmade lake. Sadly, the house was demolished in 1938, although the beautiful chapel still stands.

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Amy W @ Unsplash

NWR WRITES A novel achievement Diane Hope of Chineham and Old Basing group realised a lifelong dream by cowriting a novel - and you can all read it!

I have been a member of NWR for over 40 years. So long ago, it was actually called NHR

(National Housewives Register) when I first joined.

For even longer than 40 years I have wanted to write, and have written, mostly short stories and flash fiction. Then Martin from my Creative Writing Group said: “Let’s write a novel together, it will be fun”.

Well it was fun (mostly). First I wrote a chapter and then Martin wrote a chapter and slowly our characters took shape and our story emerged. But it took a lot longer than expected. Not so much the initial writing, that was the easy part as it turned out, but the editing and then re-writing and re-writing again...and again... We also both had house moves and life in general getting in the way, but now it is done and we are ready to let our story into the world.

If you liked Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, we think you will like our story. It explores the same very topical issue of assisted dying but with a light touch, even moments of humour, wrapped in a tender, later life romance. It is the story of Ella and Alain, their fateful meeting, the decisions they face and the difficult choices they make. The first 6 chapters are available in a free sample, and if these pique your interest we hope you will want to read more.

Our title is Let Me Go by Mariane Ditin (Martin and Diane) and is available now on Amazon. Please check out the link here: LetMeGo We hope you enjoy our story, and if you do, please leave a review.

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