THE fascinating story of the sinking of the Titanic enthralled WI members at their April meeting.

After the business had been dealt with and various reports on activities had been heard, members settled down to a most interesting talk by Mr Paul Betterton, who had spent a number of years studying the most dreadful events linked to the sinking of this new and modern ship.

Although she was equipped with all the latest and most luxurious fittings, she was still top heavy, having three passenger decks above the waterline.

He described the many strange happenings before the ship actually sailed, causing 55 people to cancel their voyage. Why, for instance, did her sea trials take only 24 hours?

On her maiden voyage from Southampton, she almost hit another ship coming out of harbour and would have done if it had not been for the foresight of the captain of a pilot boat.

When she was nearing the ice fields her captain, Edward J Smith, was given warnings by other ships in the area, one 24 hours earlier, that they were surrounded by ice. But for some reason, the Titanic continued on her journey.

Eventually, the inevitable happened and she struck an iceberg on her starboard side which split the ship in two.

This was not the end of the disasters, however. There were not enough lifeboats for every person on board and after they were put to sea, there were no trained personnel to man them.

Why had this disaster happened to this ship? Was it, in fact, the Titanic or her sister ship the Olympic that had set sail from Southampton on that fateful day, as some people seem to believe? Was it an insurance scam?

So many questions still remain unanswered. A truly mysterious tale and perhaps the reason why memorabilia from the Titanic fetches such high prices. A torn menu of the first class passengers' first meal, for instance, sold for £24,000.