ON February 4, the club met at its usual venue, The Foxlydiate Hotel, Webheath. After our usual brief monthly meeting, followed by lunch, we were entertained by Steve and Helen Wilkes, both retired teachers from Inkberrow.

The topic was entitled, “Unusual accommodation in remarkable places”. Steve gave the talk, very ably assisted by his wife who was in charge of the digital presentation of wonderful photographs.

They had visited various foreign countries by different modes of transport and had stayed in some astonishing lodgings, from tents, hotels, castles and palaces to communal sleeping cars on overnight trains. They had also done much trekking over tricky terrain, while the walk along a narrow pathway with sheer drops at the edge was no good for anyone with a fear of heights. The scenery was breath taking and extremely colourful. On one of their trips they visited the Terracotta Warriors, having walked for about three days with planned overnight stops to eventually arrive at their destination.

They are hoping to visit Tibet this year to see the monks. Hopefully on their return they will come and tell us all about their latest adventure.

On March 4, Ron Gallivan of Redditch, chairman of the Mercian Military History Society, gave us a very interesting talk, with slides, about the Mulberry Harbours, built here and sailed over to Normandy to be erected as invasion ports, helping to ensure Allied victory at the end World War 2.

The club meets on the first Tuesday each month at 11am in the Foxlydiate Hotel. Anyone who is interested in joining the club should contact the secretary, Barry Griffin on 01386 462359.