Towersey Wives Club is an informal monthly get together open to all women of Towersey (not just Wives!!), meeting in members' homes, usually on the first Wednesday of each month. We also take in venues of interest further afield as part of a varied programme of events, organised by and for the interests of the members. Women of all ages are welcome to come to any of the meetings by just turning up on the evening or contacting the organiser. Events are advertised in the village newsletter.
The Towersey Wives Club came into existence in the early 1970's when a group of women started an 'alternative' group to the existing Towersey Women's Club, a more formal body, meeting monthly in the village hall in the afternoon and with a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer - naturally minutes and agendas were the order of the day! By meeting during the day a large number of Towersey women were effectively excluded from the Women's Club - being either at work or looking after small children. It was for this reason Towersey Young Wives Group started - however, no-one is quite sure when the word 'young' was dropped from the title.
From the start the emphasis was on informality. Hence, no agendas, no minutes, no subscriptions, no formal settings and only one person nominally in charge to co-ordinate meetings - which have never been an excuse for just a coffee and chat. Funds are raised by holding a raffle at every meeting (the hostess supplying the prize) and when these are running low, a bid is submitted to the Towersey Festival Committee, who are always very generous in their support of village groups.
The programme for the forthcoming year is decided at the Annual Planning Meeting usually held in January, and includes speaker evenings, theatre trips, social events, walks - in fact anything at all which members would like to do and are willing to organise.
Over the years talks have covered a wide range of topics - the raising of the Mary Rose, histories of Towersey, Thame, and Haddenham, percussion instruments, butchery and cookery demonstrations, alternative therapies, job talks by members and their husbands, talks from charities and local celebrities, etc. For subjects appealing to a wider audience, the village hall is booked, and the whole village invited. Evening visits have been made to stately homes, such as Blenheim Palace and Stonor Park, and to more humble churches in Chalgrove and Chislehampton, a winery, theatre trips, department stores, Waitrose, walks around Thame, Haddenham and Woodstock and treasure hunts.
The Wives Club holds an annual summer barbecue, organised by club members, and at Christmas time enjoy a Christmas meal at one of the many excellent local pub/restaurants. Friends and partners are traditionally invited to these two events, however, they are always welcome to come to any event during the year which is of interest to them.
In 2000 the Wives Club Millennium Project was to walk the length of the Thames Path from Oxford to Marlow during the spring and summer months, but so enthused were the walkers, they actually finished at Maidenhead, and a booklet on the walk was produced and given to all members.
The Wives Club was instrumental in setting up the Wednesday Coffee Morning in the early 1980's after the village shop closed, when many of the villagers, especially the retired and young mums, were upset that there was no longer a communal 'heart' to the village where they could meet friends informally, and this weekly 'drop-in' is still going strong, although now runs itself.
Towersey Women's Club ceased to exist in the mid 1980's but the Wives Club has kept its name - simply because no-one has ever come up with an alternative that is acceptable to everyone! New members are always made welcome, and for newcomers to the village it is a wonderful way to get to know neighbours and fellow villagers.