Llantilio Pertholey Womens Institute held their first Founders Lunch for two years at the Kings Arms in Abergavenny on Thursday March 24.

The branch celebrated their centenary year in 2019 with their first WI meeting taking place on March 27 1919 at Ty-Gwyn Hall, Mardy.

Due to the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, this year’s Founders Lunch was the first one to be held since 2020.

Members were given food and drinks at the lunch and enjoyed the opportunity to socialise and celebrate the branch after so long apart.

The Llantilio Pertholey branch were joined at the lunch by their oldest member Joyce Lewis, who turns 101 in April, and joined Llantilio Pertholey WI in 1984.

Joyce’s mother was one of the founding members of the Womesn Institute joining in 1920 with Joyce often joining her mother at committee meetings as a baby.

Joyce, who was born in Mardy and went to Abergavenny Grammar School, worked as a District Nurse London during the Second World War, training in Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital where many of the war wounded were treated.

Joyce married a man from Abergavenny and had three children, and was accompanied at the lunch by her daughter Susan who is also a WI member.

During the lockdown Joyce received regular phone calls from the WI president checking in on her health and well-being.

At the lunch, Joyce said: “I have loved being a part of WI, there is a great community spirit and I’ve made many lifelong friends, and it is wonderful to be able to finally come together and celebrate again.”

Llantilio Pertholey WI meet for their monthly meetings on the first Thursday of every month at Mardy Community Hall.