READERS of the Gazette and Observer will be familiar with the story of the Calendar Girls, who celebrated their seventeenth anniversary this April.

In February 1998 John Baker, Angela’s husband, was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. A few years previously Tricia Stewart had joked at a WI meeting about an alternative WI calendar, featuring the crafts of the WI but in the nude. It was a joke until John’s diagnosis. John died in July 1998 and the Alternative WI Calendar was launched in April 1999, originally selling 88,000 copies and raising £331,200.

The calendar touched the hearts of the nation and forever changed the image of the WI and our perception of older women. It not only inspired countless other charity calendars but also a feature film, a stage play and most recently the musical, ‘The Girls’ written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth. From its inception it has raised over four million pounds for research into blood related cancers.

Grassington Festival is hosting Afternoon Tea with the Calendar Girls on Tuesday June 21 at Annie and Betty’s Vintage Tea Room in Grassington Square. This is a unique opportunity to meet some of ‘the girls’ in informal surroundings and to listen to their story first hand over a slice of cake and a cup of tea. Calendar Girl Tricia Stewart said: “Grassington Festival is a very special event as we’ve all been coming along to it for years, and we were delighted to be invited to be part of this year’s programme.”

For tickets and information please visit; www.grassington-festival.org.uk or telephone 01756 752691