THE July meeting took the by now customary form of an evening outing.

On this occasion, a group of about 60 members visited Harvington Hall, near Kidderminster.

The speaker at the January meeting was Julian Ford, curator of Harvington Hall. His talk about the Elizabethan moated manor house with its proliferation of priest holes and hides excited everyone's interest.

The hall itself is an almost perfectly intact Elizabethan moated manor house to which few, if any, alterations have been made.

The polished wooden floors are creaky and uneven, often with gaps showing the room beneath. The walls are often uneven and rough cast, though some feature the amazing wall paintings for which Harvington is famous.

The party was divided into four groups, each of which was given an expert guided tour of the house and its remarkable history.

Harvington Hall has close associations with Coughton Court through marriage and it could be said that Harvington has been plundered by Coughton as many of the originals of paintings to be seen at Harvington now adorn the walls of Coughton.

Harvington Hall is famed for the many priest holes and hides which remained undetected and the ingenuity of the designers of these hides can only be marvelled at.

The very walls of the ancient house are redolent with an air of anxiety and dread which must have been experienced by those confined in the tiny narrow spaces awaiting discovery, and the owners of the house who bravely sheltered them.

Perhaps the most remarkable hide was only found in recent years by a schoolboy and is, in fact, a hide within a hide. The tiny cell lies beyond the risers in the main staircase and it was only too easy to see how the tiny cell had remained undetected for so long.

Another hide was beneath the floorboards of a tiny passage between two adjoining rooms and formed a kind of narrow chute into the room below - terrifying for anyone to remain in for any length of time as those members of the party brave enough to try it discovered.

Following the tour of the house, the party was able to wander in the lovely, tranquil grounds and to visit the Georgian chapel which stands next to the house.

As a place of immense interest and beauty barely half an hour's journey away, Harvington Hall surely merits a return visit.

The meeting on August 8 featured Dr Bob Bearman of the Shakespeare Institute and his talk is entitled 'MPs, JPs and the Occasional Rogue: The Verney Family of Compton Verney'.

Meetings take place at the Greig Hall at 8pm. All are welcome.