The members held their monthly meeting at Stourbridge Institute on November 18 chaired by John Knight, who welcomed members to the meeting.

The president Eric Southall addressed the meeting and said he was pleased to see so many attending despite the inclement weather, and also remarked on the large number of exhibits in the monthly show.

He reminded everyone of the forthcoming Presidents Annual Lunch at Churchill and Blakedown Golf Club is on Sunday November 24.

Members are urged to participate in the Gentlemans Christmas Bow Tie and the Ladies Corsage .

The guild secretary Liz Hathway announced that once again Stourbridge had been awarded a gold medal for Stourbridge in Bloom competition and that two long standing members Una and Gerald Langley had contributed by growing plants, which were used in planters outside St Thomas’s Church.

John Knight introduced Mike Lane who is a wild life photographer of many years, visiting over 50 countries and had come to present a slide show and talk entitled “Britain’s mammals”.

He showed us a remarkable array of very high quality shots and explained how some of them were set up, an example being a heron who was virtually trained to walk on a plank suspended beneath the water, and by strategically placing fish, enabling him to obtain a stunning shot of the bird with its reflection in the water.

This was one of the many beautiful images which fascinated the members, accompanied by an absorbing narrative.

John then thanked him for a very entertaining talk, and commended him on the quality of the slides.

The first placed winners of the monthly competition were: 1 cabbage H Barnett; 3 carrots J Boswell; 3 cooking apples M Grice; Flowering pot plant G Langley; Foliage pot plant J Knight; Dundee cake J Povey; Jar pickled onions J Knight.

The next meeting will be held on December 16 which will be the Christmas social evening.

The group meets on the third Monday of each month at The Stourbridge Institute at 7 for 7.30pm, visotors welcome. For details phone 01562 720219.