MANY Holmer WI members enjoyed an autumnal walk in Queenswood recently, revisiting a tree planted by the WI in 1974 and seeing how it had grown since the visit last year.

A welcome lunch followed and the weather stayed fair too!

At the October meeting, Tony Osman gave a talk entitled Glass and Glass Working.

Tony told members that it is made up largely from sand with smaller percentages of washing soda and limestone. These components are heated to 1400 degrees centigrade in order to fuse them together. Nowadays, small amounts of broken glass are added and this makes the process quicker and therefore, more energy efficient.

The earliest examples of glass were found in Iraq, Iran and Syria where simple glass items such as beads have been found and date to circa 3,500 BC.

Egyptians developed these early skills to produce more complex items such as spheres which involved glass blowing in circa 1,500 BC.

Using a powerful and adjustable heat source, Tony then gave a demonstration of some techniques used in blowing, bending and fixing glass tubing, explaining the many and various uses and properties of glass and glass products.

He ended his informative and interesting talk by making a beautiful glass perfume bottle.

Sue Howells gave a thoughtfully worded vote of thanks which was followed by a hearty round of applause.

Holmer WI next meets on Wednesday, November 7 at 7.30pm in St Mary's Church, Grandstand Road. This will be the Annual Meeting and will include a beetle drive. Visitors and new members will be made welcome.