OUR October meeting took a slightly different form from usual.

The speaker for the afternoon was Steve Williams, whose talk entitled A Soldier’s Life in the Trenches was particularly appropriate for the centenary of the First World War.

We decided to commemorate this by holding an open meeting and were pleased to welcome several local ladies and gentlemen as our guests. On arrival we found the front of the hall had been transformed into a scene from the trenches with many artefacts and items from that time including duck boards, sand bags and even a machine gun manned by Steve, dressed in the uniform of a WW1 soldier, suitably adorned with the various items of kit which he later described to us in greater detail.

We learned that at the beginning of the war, the British Army consisted of regular soldiers but as time passed and numbers fell, firstly volunteers were called on and finally men had to be conscripted. It was obvious from Steve’s account that the day-to-day living for the men was horrendous due to the confined space, constant bombardment, lack of any kind of hygienic facility and not to mention the hazardous weather. They had to live on their wits and ingenuity to survive.

When the talk ended we all enjoyed our tea and biscuits and viewed the displayed war items members had brought. The talk was most thought-provoking and I am sure we all realised just how much is owed to those men who fought and died for our country in the First World War.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 12 at 2.15pm in Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Hall. The speaker will be Janet Newman, her talk entitled Fun with Flowers. Janet will also judge the members’ flower competition.