An inspiring afternoon with Mary Fleming

“I have been a member of quite a few societies and the SWRI is the best one. The actual setup of the SWRI was excellent. The way that it was evolved, everybody was involved…The camaraderie was tremendous, and when you went to another ‘rural’, then you knew the drill, and you always got an awful good tea!”
Mary Fleming

Heritage Project Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth Bryan and Heritage Volunteer Brenda McLean visited Mary to interview her for the SWI Heritage Project.

Mary’s memories of ‘the Rural’ took them back to the early 1940s. As a wee girl she had played the fiddle for the country dancing at the Greenhill Institute in Lanarkshire, where her  aunts were founding members. It was fascinating hearing stories of Mary’s thirty-year involvement in the Amulree SWRI and Hillside SWRI, especially the fun of the concert parties, the crafting and the Shows. In 2005 Mary returned to Edinburgh and became a member of the Corstorphine Institute, which her mother and grandmother had helped to found back in 1922. Here she helped write a history of Heriot Row and was a stalwart of the Drama Group.

During the visit, Mary provided SWI photographs, articles and songs which she had written over the years. Her pride in the organisation made for a truly inspiring afternoon, and her recording will help future researchers understand why the ‘Rural’ has been and continues to be so important to members.

Thank you, Mary, and thank you to everyone who is helping the Heritage Project by giving their story to the archive.