We attended the first day of the conference with the opening ceremony where all the flags of the members associations were brought in, then there were welcome words by the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands and the Lord Mayor of Coventry and also singing of 'The song of Peace'. Then there was then an address by The Baroness Walmsley, a Lib-Dem member of the House of Lords, which was very interesting.
The rest of the day was taken up with voting procedures for the election of officers and the finances. The breaks in proceedings enabled us to see the Country Woman's store and exhibition. There were so many wonderful handmade items for sale, in aid of the ACWW, displays showing the work of the subcommittees round the wold and a marvellous display of about 15 panels each sewn by a Welsh county, we happened to meet one of the creators of a panel.
It was an amazing experience to meet so many women, all so friendly and inspiring. We are both seriously considering attending the European conference in September 2017 in Romania or even the next Triennial in 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. Below are a few pictures to give you a flavour of what we saw.