They are the women’s group that rose to notoriety when they slow-hand-clapped and heckled prime minister Tony Blair for an overtly political speech at one of their conferences.

Three years later, in 2003, there was the hit movie The Calendar Girls starring Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Linda Bassett which put the Women’s Institute well and truly in the spotlight.

The WI are staunchly non-political, but say they do get involved in campaigning on specific issues.

So when they invited me along to their knitted poo against the regular discharges of raw sewage into the River Mersey protest, I felt obliged to attend.

About 60 women from the Urmston-based Social Lites Women’s Institute waved placards and tied knitted poo, felt fish and other crafted wildlife to a bridge over the river to highlight the problem.

 

Social Lites WI members assemble on the bridge over the River Mersey in their yarn bombing protest over pollution

Social Lites WI members assemble on the bridge over the River Mersey in their yarn bombing protest over pollution

 

It was a crisp late-summer morning when they all assembled at the Lord Nelson pub on Stretford Road in an action they dubbed "yarn bombing".

In the nicest possible way, they are a bunch of charming women who do not take prisoners when it comes to getting their message across.

They mingled affably with cyclists, runners and dog walkers along the footpath from the pub to the river, and garnered much support from motorists tooting their horns as they crossed Stretford Road.

The protest was to underline the National Federation of Women’s Institute’s campaign to clear up water during its "Week of River Action", which finished on Monday, September 18.

 

Ivy, 10, dons her giant knitted poo during the protest

Ivy, 10, dons her giant knitted poo during the protest

 

WI member and protester Caroline Rimmer, 57, was brought up in Urmston.

She said: “When I was a little girl there was a patch of sand on the river where we used to play. It was like a little beach, but we never went in the water because of how dirty it was.

“We were led to believe that because of all the laws and regulations that have been passed to clean our rivers up, this had changed, but it hasn’t. In fact, it’s got worse.”

Committee member Caroline Myers said Social Lites has 136 members and is a strictly non-political organisation. However, she said it does campaign on various issues, like pollution.

Also present were Trafford Labour councillors Jo Harding, Barry Winstanley, Kevin Procter and Sue Maitland.

The local politicians were reluctant to be interviewed, emphasising that it was the WI’s "gig", but Cllr Winstanley said: “We understand that the Women’s Institute is a strictly non-political organisation. However, we are supporting them because we believe they are absolutely justified.”

Stretford and Urmston MP Andrew Western could not attend but sent a message which was pinned to the bridge saying: “It’s brilliant that Social Lites WI has put the spotlight on river pollution in its campaign.

“It is a disgrace that utility companies have been allowed to mindlessly dump sewage in our rivers. Labour has a plan to fix this by bringing in a legally binding target to cut sewage discharge by 90 per cent by introducing mandatory sewage outlet monitoring and by issuing automatic fines for sewage discharges.”

 

The message anti-pollution message on the bridge over the River Mersey is clear

The message anti-pollution message on the bridge over the River Mersey is clear

 

Water services in the North West are provided by United Utilities.

Its spokesperson said: “Storm overflows are designed and permitted to operate when sewers fill up during heavy rainfall in order to prevent homes and businesses from flooding.

“By the end of this year we will have installed monitoring devices at all storm overflow sites in our region.

“With the largest combined sewer network in the UK and highest levels of rainfall, we are planning the biggest programme of storm overflow reduction in the country to meet the new requirements of the Environment Act.

“Between now and 2030, we will invest more than £3billion to tackle the issue and this includes numerous projects along the River Mersey and its tributaries.

“This builds on decades of previous improvements. We’re proud to have been a key partner in the Mersey Basin Campaign and since 1991 we have already invested around £3bn in our systems to play our part in improving river quality.

"The River Mersey is now home to more wildlife than at any time since the Industrial Revolution, and these improvements are set to continue.

“We would welcome the opportunity to speak to the Social Lites WI about our plans for further improvement work along the Mersey.”