AFTER two away meetings, Droitwich WI were back at their usual venue, the Heritage Centre, for the September meeting.

The president opened the meeting with a welcome to members and visitors and the record was read. Correspondence and institute business was dealt with. A quantity of knitted clothes for premature babies have been made and donated - in particular by Shirley Lymer - and it is hoped that Jaccie Gregory will be able to pop into the October meeting to receive them.

The speaker, Christine Tapson, was then introduced. Her subject was In the Steps of Elizabeth Barratt Browning and we enjoyed an excellent talk, illustrated by a digital picture show, about the life and travels of the poetess.

Over the past 12 years, Christine has researched the places visited by Elizabeth, and has amassed a comprehensive collection of books on the subject. Now she aims to visit all the places visited by Elizabeth, latterly with her husband Robert Browning. We were transported from England to Italy and France. In pictures we saw the places where she lived, holidayed and visited, with quotations from some of her poems to add to the mood. Beryl Lever warmly thanked the speaker and members were touched to hear that she would donate her fee to the Crohn's Society - in memory of her sister.

The meeting then enjoyed the reading of favourite poems by those members who had remembered to bring one for competition time.

Tea and biscuits were enjoyed and the meeting then closed.