THIS year is the institute's 80th birthday, and suggestions for celebrating it are welcome. Ideas already submitted were a dinner in the Village Hall, a church service, and a memento placed somewhere in the village.

Twenty-five members had attended the taster day at Denman College. Members' artwork produced on the day was on display at the meeting.

Tony Bishop spoke on "The Life and Times of a Hack". He started work, aged 16, as a junior reporter on the Kidderminster Shuttle, and later moved to an evening paper. His assignments included reporting on several murders, among them the Carl Bridgewater case.

The next meeting will be on Monday, March 13 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall, when the speaker will be Veronica Collette on living and working in Saudi Arabia. There will be a Traidcraft stall.