A BATON travelling around England and Wales to mark the 100th anniversary of the Women's Institute Centenary Celebrations has started its journey through North Yorkshire.

Yesterday the baton made its way from Helmsley to Whitby, starting at National Park Offices on Bondgate in Helmsley where two WI members and the baton set off in a North York Moors vehicle driven by senior ranger Naomi Green.

In Whitby, it was taken aboard the North York Moors Railway service to Pickering Station , where it was met by the Chairman of Ryedale Disrtict Council.

It will appear at the Yorkshire Farming Museum, Murton on April 16 at 11am and will arrive by glider at Sutton Bank Gliding Club on April 23.

The baton was launched in Anglesey and will travel throughout the 69 federations in England, Wales and the Islands.

It will eventually arrive at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2015 for the Centenary Celebration Annual Meeting.