THERE were 27 members and one visitor at the October meeting.

All received a sincere welcome from chairman Mrs V Wright. The meeting progressed as usual with the reading and signing of the minutes .

Social secretary Mrs M Writtle gave information regarding the forthcoming visit to the Whittington Hotel for lunch and entertainment.

Coach to leave Quarry Bank at 11am on Thursday, November 17, also regarding the visit to Blakely Hall on December 10.

The menu for the Christmas dinner at the Talbot Hotel, Stourbridge was passed round and members noted their choice from the very varied menu.

The speaker this evening was Shirley Jones, her talk entitled Beyond The Stars. T his title we found very intriguing, the stars we were told were the stars of television, and the talk gave us an insight into the role played by extras, those always in the background but playing an important part in providing atmosphere and reality to many of the programmes we watch.

We thanked Mrs Jones for her most entertaining talk and assured her that we would never in future look at TV and in particular our favourite soaps without noticing those “beyond the stars”.

Our meeting on November 19 will consist of a social evening with a Christmas flavour including carols and a Christmas bring and buy sale.