WI at the Fair - Women's Institute in Wadebridge

The Women's Institute or WI holds a fair in Wadebridge to raise awareness of rural life. The WI originated in Canada in 1897 and founded by Madge Watt as the Women's Branch of the Farmers' Institute. Madge Watt travelled to Britain in 1915 to establish WIs and the National Federation of Women's Institutes was set up by Lady Denman. Their aim was to revitalise and help women in the country produce food during the war.

Many of the early WI leaders were affiliated with the suffrage movement and the land girls during WWI. They did not however want to be associated with the violence of the suffragettes or be controlled by the ministry or any local authority. The end of the war saw the organisation change their aims to breaking down social barriers and supporting rural life and they also started to hold openly political views. In 1974 membership peaked in the lead-up to the WI's Diamond Jubilee of 1975. The 2003 film Calendar Girls is based on the true story of the Yorkshire WI's fundraising efforts for leukaemia and lymphomas. The women posed nude for a calendar and created a media storm which led to the film.