A WELL- attended February meeting was chaired by deputy chairman Derek Spencer in place of the chairman who is still, unfortunately, in hospital.

The outings group, now being run by Marion Hockton, is planning a conducted tour of Stratford Town Hall in March.

The new discussion group, chaired by Harry Hayton, will hold its first meeting later this month.

It is hoped the annual luncheon will be at Ragley Hall this year.

Organised Fire Fighting since Roman Times was the subject of the talk by Michael Kernan, a retired fireman.

He first spoke of the martyred Roman, St Florian, the patron saint of fire fighters.

In 300BC, slaves were used to warn city dwellers of fire. Then in 6AD, The Corps of Vigiles was formed by the emperor Augustus to protect towns.

In the 9th century, bells were rung at night instructing people to extinguish their fires and in the Middle Ages billhooks were used to pull down burning roofs to prevent fires from spreading.

The first fire brigade in the world was the Edinburgh Fire Establishment, formed during the 1700s.

It was not until the 1938 Fire Brigades Act that fire brigades were compulsory in the UK. Before that, there was a wide variety of provision, such as the Girton College Girl fire fighters, donkeys being used instead of horses for pulling power.

In 1941, the Fire Service was nationalised but after the Second World War, it was returned to local administration.

Now, of course, there are Fire Service Training Colleges throughout the world, the largest being at Morton-in-Marsh.

Next month's meeting is the AGM.