Sullington Windmills WI

It was great to see such a good turnout for our Christmas Lunch this year.

About half of the membership attended West Sussex Golf Club for a two course lunch followed by tea/coffee and mince pies.

We had five tables of ladies who sat down to tuck into the agreed menu.

The food was found to be excellent and the room was filled with the sounds of crackers being pulled, chatter and laughter.

A fun start to the festive season.

What a wonderful meeting we had this month.

Michael Blencowe joined us and provided the most entertaining and interesting talk about the wildlife of Sussex.

Michael is a naturalist (not to be confused with a naturist he told us!), writer and wildlife guide with 20 years’ experience of the diversity of wildlife and habitats found in Sussex.

His passion and wildlife knowledge certainly came across in his upbeat, funny and informative illustrative talk.

We learned how the diverse habitats of Sussex support a wide range of amazing species; from the seaside rockpools, through the ancient woodlands, onto heathlands and grasslands and into our own back gardens.

We are so lucky to live in such an amazing county for wildlife. We will certainly be keeping our eyes open on our walks from now on, not forgetting to look down as well as up. However, I’m not sure that any of us will be on the lookout for the Fulmar chicks along the cliffs between Brighton and Saltdean!

After Michael’s talk concluded we spent the rest of the evening socialising and celebrating the very special birthday of one of our longest serving WI members.

She has been a WI member for over 50 years and has held various WI offices within both Sullington Windmills WI and the West Sussex Federation.

She is such an asset to our WI, with great knowledge of all things procedural, a friendly and positive outlook, plus still having an openness to learning and being community-minded. She definitely upholds the WI core values.

This month’s read, “In Too Deep” by Lee Child, really split our group into two camps. There were those who really loved the book and those who didn’t enjoy it at all.

The book suggestion was made by one of our group members, who is a big Jack Reacher fan. It would appear that the majority of those who liked the book were already Reacher fans too.

Positive comments centred around the character of the protagonist (his unconventional lifestyle and his unfailing sense of right and wrong, no matter what), the gritty storyline, the action-packed pages and the easy-reading nature of the book.

"People leave me alone, I leave them alone. And if they don't? I don't."

On the other hand, negative comments were made regarding there being too much violence, the plot being confusing, characters having little depth and the story just not drawing you in or making you want to continue reading. 

Some frankly found the book a chore, whilst others raced through the pages in a matter of days.

Whatever people’s opinion, reading this book created an interesting discussion and some new Jack Reacher fans.

The next book to be read will be "Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons.

This will be discussed on Friday 12th December 2025.