When Radley Women’s Institute was formed in 1925, some villagers were wary of joining.

One woman declined an invitation to become a member, saying: “I’m not taking my children to no institution!”

Once the president had explained the aims of the WI, the woman changed her mind and became a staunch member for many years.

The picture above, sent in by village historian Christine Wootton, shows WI members setting off on a coach outing in the 1950s.

Radley WI is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. It was founded by Mrs E Docker-Drysdale, who became its first president. Early meetings were held in the afternoon, so some women had to take their children with them. For many years, smoking was allowed, and members listened to the speaker while knitting.

The branch minutes show that in 1927, members collected £176 for inmates at Abingdon Workhouse and, the same year, they had an outing to Bournemouth in a charabanc.

Two years later, they signed a petition to ask the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford to appoint a woman doctor.

Mrs Wootton writes: “Debates were often held at meetings in the 1940s and two of them featured the titles, ‘Daylight saving time should be abolished’ and ‘Should husbands help with the housework?’. The competition at a meeting in 1945 was ‘What to give a man for supper for ninepence’.

“During the Second World War, Radley WI played its part by raising money for the Red Cross, helping to look after evacuee children, helping at a field kitchen, growing onions on its own allotment, making jam, putting on socials for WAAF girls and RAF men, sending honey for submarine crews, sending food and occupational parcels to prisoners of war, collecting nettles and rose hips and assisting wherever they could.”

Radley WI meets on the first Thursday of the month in Radley Village Hall at 7.30pm. New members and guests are always welcome.

This year, the WI movement in Britain is celebrating its 100th anniversary, the first branch having been formed at Llanfair on Anglesey in 1915. Look out for more WI pictures during this centenary year.