It is International Women’s Day this week. This celebration can be traced back over a hundred years to the early twentieth century at a time when suffrage and the fight to have a voice in society was in its infancy. At the time, it was seen as a day to focus activity, and highlight issues such as women’s right to work and indeed their working conditions, not to mention pay and the right to vote.

It is interesting to note that in this humble part of Devon we had some female trailblazers that we should celebrate. The Parminter cousins who designed and created A la Ronde were hugely ahead of their time in the Grand Tour of Europe they undertook. Imagine two spinsters in the 1780’s taking off to travel on their own? Fortunate enough to have the funds to do so, it was still an act of real bravery, and they also achieved the accolade of being the first women to scale Mont Buet in the French Alps. This independence in a time of a male-dominated society followed them to the grave as they famously decreed that their home should only pass to unmarried kinswomen.

Almost exactly one hundred years later, another relatively local woman was fighting for equal rights. Eleanor Acland, of the family that owned Killerton House at Broadclyst, founded the Liberal Women’s Suffrage Union joining the wider Women’s Suffrage Unions to campaign for : ‘the right of women by law to vote in national or local elections’. Interestingly, around the same time the most famous of the Suffragettes- Emmeline Pankhurst, was arrested and imprisoned briefly at Exeter Prison after coming ashore in Cawsand Bay following her tour of the United States.

Would all these bold, brave women be amazed at the progress achieved since their times? Well in part maybe, but there’s still a way to go. We can vote, but the gender pay gap between men and women is close to 10% and hasn’t changed in nearly 5 years. We can work in any job we choose but a third of women have experienced sexual harassment at work. Not one single woman I know was surprised when the Me Too movement gained such traction. We’ve all been there.

Despite all this there’s lots to celebrate, and if you’re looking for something to do on 8th March, Exeter Phoenix are once again hosting their Women’s Day Festival which really is a celebration of local women. There will be music, dancing, speakers, and a real sense of community. If you choose to mark the day, let’s make the Parminters and Eleanor Acland proud.