THE October meeting opened with the announcement that Patricia Longmire had sadly died after her long battle with cancer.

The leisure group reported on their visit to Brockhampton Estate and members were asked if they would be interested in a trip to the Holiday on Ice show at Cardiff in February.

Bill Simpson spoke about Chelsea – Behind the Scenes.

The first slides he showed were of the Chelsea Royal Hospital, home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners. The site is only 6.5 acres but the total area used is 11 acres (taking some of the football pitches now used in the winter).

From the third week in April the site is taken over by the RHS for 40 days. Some of the gardens shown were superb, costing £150,000 to £200,000. The show cost about £2-3 million, mostly paid from sponsorship. During the show week, 48,000 glasses of Pimms, 8,000 bottles of wine, 6,000 bottles of champagne and 110,000 cups of tea are consumed.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 19, at the URC Hall at 10.15am when Jane Archer will speak about jewellerymaking.

MAUREEN WILLIAMS