THEY promised they had something up their sleeves - but they never said anything about not having sleeves on or anything else for that matter.

The Year 2000 calendar depicting 11 lady members of Rylstone and District WI in naked, yet discreet pose, produced in aid of leukaemia research has taken the world by storm. It was produced out of love for a mutual friend, John Baker, formerly the assistant National Park officer of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, who developed the disease.

Tricia Stewart, one of the inspirations behind the idea explained: "We told John that when he got well we would all disrobe for the camera in the style of the early Pirelli calendars. He thought it was an hilarious idea but said we would never go through with it."

Sadly Mr Baker died and the idea was shelved. It wasn't until a later WI meeting, when there was a call for photographs of local scenes for the new calendar, that the topic was again raised.

"It was always going to be tasteful but we wondered where the pictures could be taken," said Moyra Livesey. "We even toyed with the idea of heading to the woods dressed in bin liners which we could just whip off. But by this time it had got to October and we thought it would be a bit cold!"

In the end the unanimous decision was that Terry Logan, the husband of fellow colleague Lynda and a professional photographer and artist, was the ideal person for the job of snapping the new models.

The photo-shoot was done over three days in Terry and Lynda's house in Threshfield, which created the perfect atmosphere for the sepia shots showing the ladies carrying out everyday WI crafts but wearing only a string of pearls.

The women, who are fitting the media photocalls around their work, insist it was not done to make a statement for the older woman, but as a celebration of womanhood showing women in full bloom.

It is, though, a project which is a far cry from the normal path the WI would follow.

"People think of WI members as all tweeds, twin-sets and pearls. We just omitted the tweeds and twin-sets," exclaimed Mrs Livesey.

The launch of the calendar at a press gathering overwhelmed everyone, not least the ladies themselves who had no idea their soul-baring would create such world-wide interest. The initial run of 3,500 copies was snapped up almost immediately and the order line at Jennings Brewery, the main sponsors and owners of the ladies' local the Devonshire Arms at Cracoe, was jammed solid.

A second print is under way and should be ready to send out early next week. Orders have been received from all over the world including America, Australia, Canada and Germany. There was no negative response at all, and the ladies even got the blessing of local Methodist minister, Rev Keith Hopper, who thought it was a great idea.

The whole scheme had been kept a secret since the shoot, though their idea had to be given the go-ahead by the National Federation of Women's Institutes in London.

Husbands too had been kept in the dark and were not allowed a glimpse of the pictures until the launch. But they too offered their wholehearted support.

David Knowles, the husband of Lynn, said: "When I turned to the page showing Lynn the first thing I remember thinking was, where have those pearls come from?"

Noticable amongst the sepia shots are yellow sunflowers the symbol of which is explained by Mr Baker's widow, Angela, who also took part in the calendar's production: "They were John's favourite flowers and before his death he gave everyone seeds to grow. He hoped to see them in full bloom - around 200 were grown - but did not live to see the day. The flower has since become a symbol for all fundraising for leukaemia and lymphoma research by John's family and friends."

Copies of the calendar cost £5 plus £1 postage and are available by calling Jennings Brewery Shop on 01900 821011.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.