ON January 9, members of Hereford City townswomen's Guild were welcomed by chairman Val Scarisbrick and wished a Happy New Year. A most interesting and entertaining talk was given by John Newman on 'Ghosts of Hereford', a subject which he was well acquainted with and which kept members totally engrossed. A vote of thanks was given by Cecile Smith. Gwladys Ballard read her annual federation report, and hoped that members would support the Federation Craft Day to be held at Malvern Link in June, the theme depicting 'The Seasons'. Several members attended a Civic Service held at St Peter's Church, Hereford, on January 12.Nominations will take place at the February meeting and Liz Phillips will give a talk on Tudor England. All meetings take place at St John's Hall, St Owen's Street on second and fourth Thursdays each month.

JANUARY 7 saw the first meeting for the Tupsley Townswomen's Guild which consisted of a short amount of business; members were reminded of the need to put their names forward for the annual meeting in March when some new committee members will be sought; a list for the Courtyard Theatre for the 'Gilbert and Sullivan' production for those wishing to go. The guest speaker for the evening John Fearne gave a talk on his visit to the USA and Canada. It was a very tight schedule with a few disappointments and setbacks along the way he apologised for the quality of the slides as most of them were taken inside the coach. Eighteen days of sight-seeing left him and his fellow travellers exhausted and needing another holiday, although it was very hectic his comment was 'it was all worthwhile'. The vote of thanks was given by Joan Bishop. After a short business session on January 21, the chairman reminded us to bring enough food for one at the next meeting on February 4, as the speaker arranged for the evening has had to cancel, and went on to introduce the speaker for the evening Mr C Kingsley on the European Union and how it will affect our future, and the pros and cons of being in the union. After a short question time the meeting closed with June Adams giving a vote of thanks. The competition 'a pretty tea spoon' was won by Maureen Walling. New members are always welcome. Why not come along - we meet at Hampton Dene School, first and third Tuesdays in the month from 7.30pm.

AT the February meeting of the Whitecross Townswomen's Guild it was unanimously agreed that the Christmas Dinner and Dance, held at the Herefordshire Golf Club, had been the best ever with excellent food and dancing. A list was circulated for a Turkey and Tinsel holiday in Weymouth in November. The first of the skittles matches took place at the Bowling Green on February 8 with Tupsley the winners by 15 points. For social studies a Scrabble competition was to be held at the home of Mavis Matthews on February 20, the monthly coffee morning to be hosted by Joan Edwards on February 18 and the Spring luncheon to be arranged at The Bell of Tillington on February 26. A short talk by Val Carisbrick, acting as Teller from City Guild, emphasised the importance of the committee in the running of the guild. The speaker for the evening, Dr Keith Ray, County Archaeologist, gave a very interesting talk with slides on the Mediaeval towns of Herefordshire and was thanked by Doreen Morgan. The raffle was won by Rene Johnson and Joan Hughes with Sandra Tudor winning the competition. The next meeting will be held at the Holy Trinity Institute on March 5.