THE 'Jam and Jerusalem' myth that was once at the centre of the Women's Institute is long gone.

The ladies from the Crook branch of the WI laughed off the image of yesteryear as they celebrated their 80th birthday with a special meal and cake at the Helme Park Hotel, near Crook.

Muriel Marr, chairman of the branch, said: "There was a time when we used to sing Jerusalem at every meeting but now we just say a creed. We find that is much better. Things have changed a lot.''

But the feisty sense of fun is still there as one of the girls shouted 'we want to be known as the club for independent women' as she was tucking into her sweet.

Mrs Marr said that the branch was always looking for new members and meets every third Thursday of the month in St Catherine's Community Centre, Crook, at 2pm.

There is still a strong membership of 24 and to mark the special occasion each member was given a commemorative pen.

Mrs Marr said: "This is our 80th birthday and we wanted to celebrate and hopefully we will be here for years to come.''