HATS was the theme at the last meeting of the Broughton Ladies Guild so we have searched out some vintage pictures from the Victorian and Edwardian eras when every well-dressed man or woman in Furness wore a hat for almost all occasions.

Women also wore their wide-brimmed hats in the summer as a tanned complexion was seen as a mark of the lower orders who had to work outdoors.

Wisely, young children were put in cotton or linen floppy caps to protect their heads from the sun in the decades before branded sun protection creams.

The guild members held their meeting in the Rankin Room of the Victory Hall at Broughton to hear from Tracy Wells, from The Hat Box in Upper Brook Street, Ulverston.

Members heard that she was a hairdresser, but seven years ago decided to retrain as a milliner.

As there was nothing available locally, she had to travel to the Cotswolds for weekend courses.

She is now a qualified milliner and her shop serves as a workshop and houses a collection of hats for hire.

She brought along a selection of hats from flamboyant hats, to cloche hats and small pill box hats - a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge.

A competition for the best hat pin was won by Jackie Fallows, with Nancy Postlethwaite in second place and Beryl Ashcroft in third.

The next meeting is at 7.30pm on August 10 when the speaker is Pat Pudsey with a presentation called “Over the High Passes”.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Why not come along and enjoy an interesting evening in good company. You would be made very welcome.”