THE good ladies of Rylstone Women's Institute certainly captured the imagination with their nude calendar to mark the Millennium.

As we predicted last week, their imaginative way of fundraising for charity resulted in a near tidal wave of media attention with television cameras poking out of every corner.

There are two observations on the event.

Firstly the traditional somewhat dowdy image of the WI has been blown away forever - and that's something the WI movement will probably be grateful for.

Secondly, it signifies how much attitudes have changed. One editor spoke of how 10 years ago his paper had carried an article calling on the WI to change its image and perhaps produce something a little more modern - a nude calendar, for instance. It was a throwaway line but it produced a flood of letters protesting. That editor plans to resurrect his story.

One newspaper, seeking a new angle on the story, was looking for a disapproving WI official, or vicar but could find none.

Even here at the Craven Herald, we were forced to look closely at our own values. The Herald has never before published a picture of a woman disrobed for the camera but it would have seemed prudish in the extreme to censor the pictures which have been seen around the world.

So Rylstone WI have a lot to answer for - not least the first ever "page three" pictures in the Craven Herald!

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