KIDLINGTON Townswomen’s Guild may have been a late starter compared with others, but it didn’t take long for it to get up and running.

Within weeks of its first meeting, it was organising all sorts of activities for its enthusiastic members, including outings, talks and plays.

Now 60 years on, the 45-strong group, still as active as ever, is celebrating its diamond jubilee.

So many women wanted to join in October 1955 that two guilds had to be formed – one in the afternoon and one in the evening.

By the end of a special committee meeting three weeks later, a programme for the following year had been drawn up, including a visit to the theatre and talks on a journey through France, the history of Kidlington and the probation service.

Other events were also organised, including a panto trip, tours of the Oxford Mail, the Houses of Parliament, Witney blanket mills and Burton’s Dairies, a visit to Chelsea Flower Show, and a Leap Year party.

Arrangements were also made for keep fit and handicraft classes, and for a drama group to produce plays.

The committee kept a tight rein on finances – in February 1956, for example, it had just £8 18s 11d in hand – and must have been relieved when the Foresters’ Hall, where guild meetings were held, offered a reduction in the hire fee during the summer.

Committee members were allowed to claim expenses, but “if desired, these monies could be returned anonymously”.

Nationally, the Townswomen’s Guild movement began in 1929, when women won the right to vote, with the intention of educating women about good citizenship.

It has similar aims to the Women’s Institute, but while the early WIs had their roots in country areas, the guilds served mainly towns.

The guilds have a good record of campaigning on national issues, such as mixed hospital wards, smoking and GM crops, as well as on local matters.

In 1968, Kidlington members argued forcibly for better provision for pushchairs on buses, after one mother saw her pushchair fly off a bus at a roundabout (before doors were fitted) – fortunately, her baby wasn’t in it! They were also instrumental in getting lifebelts installed along the canal and the first litter bins in the village.

Today, just one village guild remains – the evening one. Meetings are held at St Thomas More School on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm, and members enjoy regular talks and outings.

They celebrated their diamond jubilee with a party at Kidlington Bowls Club, which included afternoon tea, a game of skittles and the cutting of a cake by long-time member Audrey Arnell.