IT was time for the vote of thanks at the regular meeting of Rylstone and District Women's Institute. Tricia Stewart stood up and felt her mouth go dry. The eyes of everyone in the room stared back at her as she cleared her throat quietly, and in a slightly higher than normal voice, thanked the speaker for an entertaining talk.

A wave of relief swept over her as she sat back down. Thank goodness she never had to do any public speaking. Two years on, instead of standing up in front of a small gathering of WI members, she calmly appears on television in front of millions of people.

Tricia Stewart can barely believe how her life has changed. Her idea to produce an alternative calendar featuring her fellow members of the WI, naked but for strategically placed teapots, cider presses and easels, was initially intended to raise a few pounds for leukaemia research. But what started off as a tribute to John Baker, husband of WI member Angela, who had died from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, very quickly became an international phenomenon.

Soon, the woman who was "petrified" of giving the vote of thanks became better known as Miss October and was one of the driving forces behind a whirl of promotional appearances, including a slot on the Royal Variety Performance and the WI calendar girls being named Women of the Year.

Looking back at the media circus, and with her book coming out on Friday, it is clear that the calendar took over all their lives. But, she says, the women had no idea they had a winning combination when the calendar first came out on April 12, 1999.

"I think it was because it was so against the image of the Women's Institute, being photographed in the nude, and the reason we were doing it that made it a success," she says, speaking from her home in Cracoe, near Skipton, in North Yorkshire.

"It was such a surprise that it took off. I can remember when the press release went out on the Thursday and the telephone started ringing and never stopped. Then on the Monday we had a press launch and we couldn't get in the pub (The Devonshire) for it. I'd walked there with my daughter Lizzi and the car park was full of cars and vans with these satellite dishes and the photographers wouldn't let us in the door, they wanted our picture. The poor pub was packed and you couldn't move. I just couldn't believe it - it was amazing."

Soon the women were appearing on dozens of television and radio programmes and their now famous calendar shots were popping up in newspapers and magazines across the world. Throughout the whirl of publicity, the calendar was selling in its thousands. Celebrities who had been sent calendars replied with donations and hand written notes, including comedian Jo Brand who suggested she could be Ms December - standing behind a bungalow. They even took one to the Queen and Queen Mother, members of Sandringham WI.

Their new-found celebrity status found them parading down the catwalk modelling a new M&S collection at the Savoy in London and selling their calendars in the foyer after the show.

Then, just as the press interest appeared to ease, an article appeared on the front page of the New York Times and it started again with a vengeance. The following weekend they had 60,000 orders for calendars from the US and another chapter of their tumultuous lives began with the advent of Hollywood film offers. Suddenly there was talk of the women being played by the likes of Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

But what had started out as "a fundraising joke" by Tricia, had its downsides. While she enjoyed a glittering tour of America, being feted wherever she went, her marriage to husband Ian began to collapse under the strain. The couple had met while training to be radiographers at Sunderland Royal Infirmary before they moved to Skipton in 1984. Ian had grown tired of the calendar and its demands on his wife's time, particularly as the pair ran a medical software business together. To make matters worse, news of their disintegrating marriage had hit the Sunday papers and Tricia was faced with the flip side of the media when she was door-stepped by tabloid journalists.

"We had problems before the calendar came along," says Tricia, 52. "But it certainly didn't help things because I was never there. We had had such a good run with the media as well, perhaps this was the downside."

For a while the pair separated and Ian began seeing one of the couple's friends. But the mum-of-two decided she wanted a reconciliation and she says they are now closer than they have been in years. She admits the calendar probably shone a light on their relationship and forced them to deal with their problems.

"The separation sorted us out and we're back together now," she says. "I think we would have drifted for a long time otherwise. Sometimes you need to go right to the edge to appreciate what you've got."

But there were also signs of strain with the relationship among the women. The calendar girls found themselves splitting into two distinct camps as the film offers came in. One side wanted Victoria Wood, who had been in touch with an offer saying she would write the script herself (and keep the film quintessentially English), and the other group were keen on Buena Vista, part of Walt Disney's empire.

Eventually the women took a democratic vote and Buena Vista won. The casting is due to take place next month, with the likes of Brenda Blethyn and Julie Walters rumoured to be likely contenders in a largely British cast. Filming is expected to take place in the spring.

BUT the women never recaptured the warmth and solidarity they had together in the beginning. Tricia says the two sides don't talk about the calendar when they meet up. "We see each other and go to WI meetings and talk to each other - but we don't talk about the calendar."

Despite requests for another calendar, five of the women remained adamant that they wanted to get back to normal after their overwhelming experiences. It remains to be seen what they will think of Tricia's new book.

Calendar Girl is based on the letters she wrote to her daughter while Lizzi was travelling around Thailand, as well as notes Tricia scribbled down during their hectic promotional tours.

"Hopefully they will like it because I haven't written it in a negative way," she says. "I've written what did happen and how we all felt. It has been difficult but I don't think you can run anything without difficulties, I realise that now. And you can't ask 11 people for their opinions on every decision."

The calendar has so far raised £500,000 for the Leukaemia Research Fund and Tricia says the past two years have been enormous fun, as well as being tinged with sadness. She has no regrets and now wants to focus on teaching Pilates and yoga in her studio at the back of her home.

But first she has the book launch, and typically of the down-to-earth Northerner, she can't quite imagine seeing her work displayed at stores across the country. She admits to feeling a bit nervous this time, having to do the publicity tours on her own without the other women.

"Overall it has been an amazing experience, and no-one could have predicted it was going to be like this," she says. With a book out, and the film due out next year, the calendar girls phenomenon is not over yet.

*Calendar Girl, published by Sidgwick and Jackson, is out tomorrow, priced £14.99