The Old Cookham Dean WI.

Cookham Dean WI Hall 1941.

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Once again my story goes back 70 years or there about’s when weekly Whist Drives were held in the old wood frame building with a green corrugated tin roof. The interior of which was lined with tongue and groove pine paneling. Yes I am describing the old Cookham Dean Women’s Institute near the top of Kennel Lane.

The Whist Drives were always well attended, no matter where they were being held in the Village. Yes I accompanied my mother to all these Whist Drives. Yes we would walk all the way from Widbrook to the top of Kennel Lane and back every time a game was scheduled there.

One staunch player from the Dean and never missed a game whereever it was being play was Mrs. Harris, yes I do mean Councilor Gordon Harris mother.

I do remember very well as we were walking back down Kennel Lane to High Road and seeing the glow of the London Blitz and the anti-aircraft shells bursting like a fireworks display over the top of Cliveden woods.

The yellow X on the photo above gives the approximate position of where the WI building was located at that point in time.