WEDNESDAY CLUB: At the height of the rainy season, the club set off to enjoy a Christmas lunch on the river.

Having watched the water rising for what seemed like weeks, it was not a huge surprise when the crew of The Countess of Evesham told us that we would stay moored.

To mitigate our disappointment our first drinks were complimentary - a splendid start.

After having eaten a traditional Christmas meal, pulled our crackers, donned our party hats, had a few more drinks, puzzled over the quiz, drawn the mystery raffle, sung, laughed and enjoyed the company of our friends, we could have drifted out to sea without noticing!

A final ceremony was observed - glasses were charged and a toast enthusiastically drunk to the future health and prosperity of the club and all its members.

TREE PLANTING: On December 8 there was a tree planting ceremony.

The non-profit making project all started at the first millennium meeting in the village when Hugh Beecham rashly said that Ilmington must plant trees in celebration.

Sine then he has been working hard with Tony Wilkins, the chairman of the parish council, and others to choose the sites, find suitable trees and encourage people to take part.

The object was to try to replace the trees lost in the parish through Dutch elm disease, and the new ones were planted as far as possible where elms had been lost.

A week ago all the stakes were put in place, and on the day before the planting the trees were delivered to their sites.

There were 55 English Oaks which were adopted and planted by people in the village, all of whom had agreed to look after their own particular trees.

Three more oaks donated by the millennium committee were also planted.

On a lovely sunny morning there was a demonstration planting on the Upper Green by Brian Meredith, after which the intrepid planters moved with spades, tree guards and ties, dogs and some even with children in pushchairs, to their selected sites.

At least there will be no fears of the trees dying of drought, although some of them might possibly be drowned.

The scheme has proved to be so popular that about 20 more trees will be planted in January if suitable sites can be found for them.