HALF a century ago, members of Peopleton WI had to light the oil lamps and stoke the boiler before their meetings in the tin hut that served as a village hall.

Fifty years on, founder member Marcia Bennett, aged 81, still attends the monthly meetings, now held in the comfort of the new village hall.

"In those days, most of us were newly wed, with one baby. Women didn't go out to work very much and they could always come to meetings in the evenings, because their husbands were at home to mind the baby," she said.

"We were just pleased to be meeting other people in the village and talking about our babies."

Peopleton WI was started by Rhoda Higgins (always known as Mrs Higgins) who served as president for 19 years.

"Mrs Higgins ran the village and she just came round and told six or eight of us to come to her house next Tuesday to start a WI. There was no question of not going," said Mrs Bennett.

"We still meet on the second Tuesday of every month."

Today there are 25 members, but there were 46 in 1953. Numbers reached a peak in 1974, when there were 85 members - with a waiting list.

They used to hold courses in flower-arranging, lampshade-making, dressmaking, soft toys and upholstery, besides holding annual produce shows, with competitions for jams and Victoria sponges.

"We have a reputation for being all jam and Jerusalem, but it's not like that at all," said current member Ann Price.

"We are far more outward going and do more sport, like bowling or cycling."

To celebrate the anniversary, members made a tapestry, designed by Margaret Ward, depicting aspects of life in Peopleton in the last 50 years.

It was hung in the village hall and unveiled by president Anne Smith and Frank Bennett, president of the Village Hall Trust, at a birthday celebration yesterday.