THE ladies met at The Royal British Legion on November 5.

Chairman, Sheila Evans, welcomed everyone including the speaker, Keith Cattel.

She expressed our condolences to Kath Turner on the sad loss of her son.

Unfortunately our treasurer is back in hospital, and we wish her a speedy recovery.

Member Pauline is making a steady recovery.

Secretary Pam Ingman read the minutes of the last meeting and Sheila read the treasurer’s report. The £110 made at the harvest sale was donated to The Royal British Legion.

The Christmas dinner will be on December 10 at The Station Hotel, Dudley, and deposits to be paid this evening. Our own Christmas party will be on December 3 and tickets costing £6 are available to members only. Members to bring their own plate, dish and cutlery.

Mr Cattel gave us an interesting and detailed talk about the building of cathedrals.

They started in medieval times built To the Glory of God, but towns and cities became very competitive, each wanting the largest.

Stone was carried by water and in these early days there were female stonemasons. A cathedral must have a cathedral or Bishop’s throne. Work stopped between October and April due to the porous nature of the lime cement with which they covered the stone. He used slides to illustrate the varying architecture, windows, domes and difficulties which the builders had to overcome. For 235 years Lincoln was the tallest cathedral but now it is Salisbury regarded as having that honour. The slides showed cathedrals recognised and visited by many of us, giving us an interesting knowledge of their past and present.

Kath gave the vote of thanks.

June Seddon and Sheila Evans won the raffle prizes.

The next meeting will be the party as previously mentioned.