THE October meeting began with the singing of Jerusalem which had musical accompaniment provided by a new sound system.

Eve Miles, our president, told the meeting that a wooden owl sculpture, to mark the WI centenary, would be placed near the school and some of the sculpture would be done in front of some pupils.

Linda Cram’s report on the half yearly council meeting at Winsford informed us that the speaker was Anne Diamond.

She achieved great praise for her efforts to prevent cot deaths – the name of her very successful campaign which had saved many babies.

Also that the Cheshire Resolution this year is that appropriate care for dementia sufferers should be provided while they are in hospital.

Lots of activities were announced – another centenary celebration in Winsford later this month, a Christmas celebration on the canal in Chester, an outing to Media City in January and the grandson of one member is running a half marathon in aid of motor neurone disease.

The competition for an unusual bird was won by Jean Rowlands who submitted a super picture of the Liver Birds, by contrast the runner up was a toilet cleaning duck. The raffle winners were Ann Malcolm and Ann Oakes.

Our speaker for the evening was George Pilkington on the subject of feeding wild birds. He had been a policeman then did a masters degree on mental health problems but is now very proactive with the RSPB and the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology).

The next meeting is on November 12 when the talk will be by Brian Hallworth on In the Bleak Midwinter. Visitors will be very welcome.