PRESIDENT Horace Jobson welcomed everyone to the 216th meeting at the Holly Bush in May, and congratulated Leslie Hare and Bob Woodfield on their recent birthdays.

It was reported that Alan Hunt had been admitted to Warwick Hospital. Since the production of these meeting notes, Alan has passed away. A funeral service was held at Arrow Church on June 2 at which many members were present. Tony Homer had recently been in hospital but was now at home.

After another excellent lunch, the president introduced speaker Vince Hemmingway who gave a very interesting talk on The Gunpowder Plot. Most of the plotters were men from the Midlands and, after their abortive attempt to blow up the House of Commons, they made their escape from London to the Midlands. The Throckmortons of Coughton Court were heavily involved. Cyril Hallam gave a vote of thanks.