Food: From Austerity to Abundance – Waste Not Want Not

Sat 15th Sept 2018, 10am to 4pm, at Rainham Hall, Essex

Come and join us on a great day out in support of the WI campaign on food waste.

Entrance is free apart from entrance to the Hall itself, where normal NT admission fees apply.

The WI has always been in the forefront of issues over food particularly during the war years when the supply of food was central to our aims. Consequently we have joined forces for a special one day event with the National Trust at Rainham Hall as their current theme is ‘Remembering the Day Nursery’ – set in World War II when the Hall was used as a children’s nursery to allow mothers to undertake war work. Parts of the exhibition focus on food rationing, digging for victory etc. and FEWI are therefore involved in various exhibits, talks and activities on offer as listed below.

Entrance is free apart from entrance to the Hall itself, where normal NT admission fees apply. However you will be asked to make a small donation to help us cover the cost of the event. Many of us will be dressing in 1940’s clothes in line with the theme of the day, so feel free to join us in costume too!

WHAT’S ON?

The Pride of the WI in the Coach House

Visit us in here to get information on trying jam making, bottling and pickling in order to avoid food waste.  You can drop into this location throughout the day to gain ideas, recipes and confidence in these traditional WI skills.  You will also be able to see the display of entries and find out the results of the inter Essex WI competitions for jam, chutneys and bottling.

COMPETITIONS: To enter the competitions 

Talks in the Hayloft

There will be timed talks throughout the day on issues around not wasting food, the Hayloft holds a maximum capacity of 30 so tickets will be issued just before the talks on a first come first served basis.

10:30  Essex County Council – using leftovers to create meals

11:30  Essex County Council – how to store food to avoid waste

12:30  Rainham Hall – the realities of rationing

13:30  Essex County Council – using leftovers to create meals

14:30  Essex County Council – how to store food to avoid waste

15:30   Toast Ale – how they use waste bread to make beer

Community Garden Tours

There is the opportunity to take a guided garden tour with a focus on grow your own and composting. Tours will last approximately 45 minutes and will run throughout the day at the following times:

10:30, 12:00, 13:30 and the last one at 15:00.

You don’t have to take a tour to enjoy the garden so please do feel free to enjoy this lovely space throughout the day.

Visit the Hall 

The Hall will be open to visitors throughout the day and NT guides will be on hand should you have any questions. Admission fees: £6 adults/£3 children/NT members and under 5’s free.

Catering

The NT Stable Café will be open all day serving coffee/tea, sandwiches, cakes etc. There is seating both inside and out but this is limited. Please feel free to bring a picnic and enjoy this is the grounds if would prefer. There are also a number of external food outlets near the Rainham Hall site.

Courtyard

Essex WI and Essex Country Council will have stalls in the courtyard for you to peruse throughout the day.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Rainham Hall site consists of the Hall, Community Gardens, Coach House, Stables Cafe with an upstairs meeting room called the Hayloft which has a lift for disabled access and a welcome area which was originally a Brewhouse. The buildings and garden entrance are around a small cobbled courtyard.

How to get there

Address:  The Broadway, Rainham, Havering, London RM13 9YN

By Bus:  Rainham Hall is served by local bus routes alighting from Rainham Tesco, Rainham War Memorial and Rainham Train Station (Essex), including the 103, 165 and 372.  Please check your journey via the Transport for London website before travelling.

By Train: Rainham (Essex) rail station is very close by, 176 yards (170m), and is only a few minutes walk from the Hall.  Trains operated by C2C Services via London Fenchurch station (located near Tower Hill Underground).  Check times before you travel, particularly on weekends when services may be diverted.

By Road:  A1306 (exit at junction for Rainham, Aveley and Purfleet) or A13 (exit at junction for Rainham Ferry Lane). SatNav: RM13 9YN.

Parking : Please note that there is no parking at Rainham Hall but there are nearby options including Rainham Tesco, which has 3 hours free parking for customers.  Adjacent to this is a Council pay and display car park.  Parking is also available at Rainham railway station. All these options are less than 5 minutes walk from the Hall.

By Underground:  London Underground District Line services towards Upminster can be used for travel, but only C2C rail service connects directly to Rainham station.  Change at the following stations on the District Line:  Tower Hill (for London Fenchurch Street), West Ham and Barking. Check times and plan your journey before you travel, particularly on weekends.