The September meeting of Lickey WI was held at the parish hall.

A special rendition of Happy Birthday was sung to celebrate the 90th anniversary of WI in Britain.

Announcements included final arrangements for a theatre visit to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in September and fares were collected for a coach outing to Chester in October.

Names were taken for the Bromsgrove & Hillside Group Meeting and for the Autumn Council Meeting, both to be held in October.

There were three lucky raffle winners and the competition for a handkerchief was won by Pat Schofield.

Ralph Richardson, of Redditch, gave an unusual talk about an ordinary family from Ipsley who struggled to make ends meet at the end of the 18th century. He had researched the lamentable story of William Sable using the local accounts book, which recorded payments to the poor during that period. Jenny Ryder thanked Ralph for explaining how this early state system of social security was run.

The next meeting will be the AGM to be held at the parish hall on October 4. The competition will be for a small handmade craft item.