Return of the rural

The women-only meetings were a chance to swap homely skills over a nice cup of tea, perhaps catch up on a little local chat with the minister's wife and debate the best ingredients for a casserole.

Hardly surprising then that as women moved out of the kitchen and into the work place, the Rural's popularity flopped like a cheese souffle gone horribly wrong.

Now, however, just as women are supposed to "have it all", the Rural – also known as "the institute" – is making a surprise return.

And the women behind its newest branch could scarcely be less like the flowery skirted, pastel jacketed, jam-making housewives of the past.

South Queensferry's Scottish Women's Rural Institute closed down in the Seventies after its members drifted away in search of more thrilling ways of spending their evening.

Today it's flourishing again, recently revived to cater for a new breed of members eager to learn the very skills of handicrafts, baking and sewing that the generation before them were so keen to ditch.

With a comedienne who once revealed to the nation her woeful lack of housewifery skills, a graphic artist and a filmmaker, musicians, actors, a business manager and IT technology professional among their ranks, Scotland's newest Rural seems more like a powerful gathering of movers and shakers than a forum for talking jam and scones.

Even their agenda for forthcoming meetings – one will be a Bollywood theme evening, another a comedy workshop – doesn't quite have the traditional ring of an evening spent discussing cross-stitch and knit one, purl two sweaters at the Rural.

"I actually think we should call ourselves the Scottish Women's Rebel Institute," laughs comedienne Jojo Sutherland, perhaps the most unlikely of Rural members, who once admitted her lack of interest in housekeeping when she appeared on television's Wife Swap and laughed off her hands-off style of homemaking as "healthy neglect".

She adds: "We got together to start this up because we were all feeling a little bit isolated. We work hard, but ultimately most things in our lives revolve around our kids.

"There are women who are stuck at home all day looking after kids and others who are out working and just want time to do something for themselves."

The group, she adds, is a chance to socialise and learn new talents, from the genteel art of jam-making and stitching to more modern skills such as reflexology and aromatherapy.

"There's this whole area of lost skills," Jojo adds. "We're the generation that has grown up with ready meals and convenience – I couldn't bake a birthday cake for my kids for love nor money.

"We're all so busy being competitive in industry that by the time we get home we're screwing it all up or just getting it all from Tesco when actually it would be quite nice to be able to do some things ourselves."

The new South Queensferry Rural was inspired by renewed interest in the Women's Institute in England, which has flared on the back of the hit movie, Calendar Girls. It told the real-life story of how a group of WI members stripped off for a fundraising calendar, with each photograph featuring them partially clothed, taking part in traditional homemaking skills.

There are no plans for the South Queensferry "Institute" members to follow suit. Instead, mum-of-two Lucy Macleod, 36, says the group can fulfil a crucial gap for local women keen to socialise and learn new skills together.

"I moved here three years ago and didn't know a soul," says Lucy, a freelance illustrator. "I was wondering how on earth to start getting to know people and was reading about the WI down in England when it hit me that there might be something similar here. I knew about the Rural because my gran used to be a member. I had a very positive image of it because she was a fiesty, strong, funny woman who could bake and sew.

• An exhibition of embroidery and other work by members of the Scottish Womens Rural Institutes

"When I realised the local South Queensferry Rural had closed down many years ago, I thought what a good idea it would be to revive it and also make it something much more relevant to women's lives today."

The revamped South Queensferry Rural was launched two months ago, and numbers have already swollen to more than 40 women, with ages ranging from mid-20s to late-40s and from a mix of backgrounds.

It's that diversity, says Jojo, 44, that makes the Rural a unique organisation: "Everyone has a different skill and background.

"We are all passing on our individual skills to each other and learning new ones. There are traditional things you'd associate with the Rural but we're also doing things that are new and fun.

"For example, instead of baking the best sponge cake, we're running a pudding club so everyone brings along a pudding and we all tuck in," she adds.

"What's not to like about that?"

The new Rural is one of 28 groups in Midlothian and 12 in East Lothian.

According to Eleanor Marshall, chairwoman of the Midlothian institutes, interest in the organisation has dwindled over the years but television shows on cooking and handicrafts – such as Kirsty Allsop's Homemade Home – has introduced a new generation of women to traditional skills typically associated with the Rural.

"Women went out to work, they were looking after children and they didn't have the same time to put into coming to meetings," she says.

"Now a lot of these 'old-fashioned' crafts are starting to come back.

People are watching television cookery programmes and shows about crafts and they want to learn how to do it all too.

"Unfortunately so many of these skills were learned from mothers – and there's a generation whose mums were often out working and they didn't have the same time to spend passing them on.

"Now women are realising they'd like to learn."

For housewife and mum-of-two Rachel Macrae, 33, the new South Queensferry group is vital respite away from the day-to-day work at home.

"I'd been feeling a bit isolated – I'm from England and I don't have family nearby. In times gone by you'd have friends and family living beside you.

"I didn't really know what the Rural was other than it was a bit like the WI in England and I admit I wondered if its image was a bit staid and old-fashioned.

"Cooking and baking and handicrafts were never my thing but I have an open opinion and I'm interested in learning new things.

"But this isn't about harking back to days gone by. It's actually very up to the moment," she adds.

"Take the economy, everyone's finding things a bit tight, so it's good to find out how to run up an outfit – make do and mend kind of thing."

Far from its staid and old-fashioned image, Rachel believes the Rural is actually a very modern organisation.

"There's this image of it being for older women. But this is actually about empowering young women, giving them the opportunities to make contact with other women and learn new skills.

"And it doesn't have to be cross-stitch..."

COUNTRYSIDE ROOTS

The Scottish Women's Rural Institute is one of the largest organisations in Scotland, with around 22,000 members.

The first Women's Institute was formed at Stoney Creek, Ontario in Canada in 1897, in response to an organisation for men known as the Farmers' Institute.

The movement later spread to Europe, with the first Institute in Ireland in 1910. A branch in Longniddry, East Lothian became Scotland's first in 1917.

The Scottish Women's Rural Institute grew and continued throughout the war when the blackout meant monthly meetings were arranged to coincide with moonlit nights.

The Rural played a key role during the war, with members distributing wool and touring districts to demonstrate cooking and gardening skills.

There are Rural Institutes throughout the Lothians. Meetings typically include a talk and demonstration, followed by a cup of tea or coffee. At county and national level there are many educational opportunities as well as drama, crafts, sports and summer schools.

The SWRI headquarters are in Heriot Row, Edinburgh.