Our third "WHiST Across the Decades" Event 17th September 2026 - Exploring 1991-1995
On 17th September, in our latest Across the Decades event we revisited the early 90s - a time of great change as the Iron Curtain collapsed, South African Apartheid ended, there were raves and waves of new age travellers seeking enlightenment and a simpler life.
As the early 90s had been a time when attention was drawn to the rainforests, the plight of the ozone layer, and the 1992 Rio Earth Summit was the source of many a pledge (however successful these pledges may have been.
As we're facing new and urgent environmental change, we asked our participants:
What would you do for the environment?
An informal exercise in democracy asked everyone whether they'd be prepared to take particular climate actions, some small and easily achievable, others larger or more controversial. The results were:
Would You ... | Yes | No |
Lie in the road (to prevent further road-building) | 2 | 15 |
Use public transport | 17 | 1 |
Buy nothing (participate in "buy nothing days") | 10 | 7 |
Chain yourself to a tree | 0 | 19 |
Join a climate group | 2 | 15 |
Recycle items at a supermarket | 16 | 0 |
Grow organic | 16 | 3 |
Throw paint at a work of art | 1 | 16 |
Write to a politician | 6 | 12 |
Some participants pointed out that certain climate actions are only feasible if you are able to access garden spaces, and if public transport is easily available in your area. Access is an ongoing issue that gets in the way of some meaningful changes that appear easy to make, on the surface.
It wasn't all serious ...
Of course, we had our by now usual Across the Decades quiz, some era-appropriate music and group singing, and a bit of impromptu dancing to "Relight My Fire".
How do these events make you feel?
We asked participants for feedback on any impacts our events have on how they feel. Here is a selection of the views expressed:
Challenging but not taken too seriously.
I don't have enough confidence to go to pub quiz, so this tea-time event was ideal for myself.
Had a good get-together.
Gets me out of the house.
Mixing with other ladies again, uplifting - making my mind work again, haha!
Cheered people up - company.
Helped me switch off from worries for a little while.
A Poem for Every Year
As you will now know, our Heritage Project volunteer, Angela Marshall is also a poet. She's set herself the task of writing a poem themed around every year covered by our Across the Decades Events. Here are her next five poems:
1991
It didn’t matter if I said no. You heard yes.
Marriage implying irrevocable consent.
Neighbours ignoring the shouts, the screams.
If they didn’t see it or hear it, then it didn’t exist.
They spoke of no evil, there was nothing wrong.
In the walls of his house, the man was strong.
More importantly, he was right, and things
that happened out of sight were cast aside.
Forgotten. Out of their mind.
It didn’t matter if I said no. You heard yes.
Marriage implying irrevocable consent.
A permanent contract giving a husband free reign,
Even when his wife was in pain. Paying a price
For agreeing to wed, even if this meant no in a marriage bed.
Consent was not spoken, so it was not broken, it merely existed
Inside of her head.
It didn’t matter if I said no. You heard yes.
Marriage implying irrevocable consent.
Until that day, not that long ago, when someone decided
To change the law. To agree that this was outdated.
Revoke this common regulation and see that legislation was
Updated. Finally agreeing that this was unjust.
Not just women making a fuss.
So now it does matter if I say no
And you hear yes.
Marriage does not imply permanent, irrevocable consent.
1992
God was a man, Jesus too. The disciples were as well.
It came from above, women were not allowed.
The church was not allowed to break this pattern.
The role of the priest was to represent Jesus at the altar.
As Jesus was a man, women could not possibly fulfil this role.
The bible implies that women should be ruled by men.
Succession following the male line only.
It was not possible to break God’s plan.
Unity must be retained with the other churches.
However, following decades of pressure,
The seeds of change were starting to be sowed.
Allowing women’s positions in church to grow.
New interpretations of scripture,
Highlighting a woman’s role.
Churches abroad did not fall with a woman in place.
Yet this was not a blanket change.
Allowing the individual parishes to opt out.
Not allowed to be bishops - a compromise.
Thus a centuries old rule was broken,
by a narrow, razor sharp victory,
allowing women to be ordained as priests.
1993
Women’s rights are human rights.
Domestic violence not just kept behind closed doors.
Now classed as a violation, not just another one of their fights.
Women’s rights are human rights.
Taking steps away from darkness and into the light.
A responsibility which is now mine and yours.
Women’s rights are human rights.
Domestic violence not just kept hidden behind closed doors.
1994
An iconic, off the shoulder black dress,
Christina Stambolian the designer. Worn in a way that was meant to impress.
Setting the fashion world on fire.
A last minute outfit change.
Kept in the wardrobe for years. Becoming a dress of the age. A brand new woman appears.
She was taking centre stage. On a day which was meant for another. Her photo leaping off the page. She definitely upstaged the other. The dress now known as revenge.
For a relationship she had to avenge.
1995
This left a lasting legacy,
while conceptually ending gender inequality,
a lack of clear, defined communication,
harmed an entire generation.
Stemming from poor government policy.
There was a general understanding
that this change was inspired by changing lives
and changing times, with an ever ageing population.
Rules, created for a society of the past,
living in times which would never last.
Women born across a whole decade
would have their plans upturned.
Their financial security built on lies,
as their pensions weren’t to be paid
when they expected them to.
Instead they were to be delayed,
moving from sixty to sixty five.
This gender equalisation act,
was to have a considerable,
unintended impact.
Decades later, women still fight the fight
for compensation for this change,
their financial lives they had to rearrange.
Promises made and broken time and again.
WASPI women just want what is right.
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