IT was a cold winter's night but members poured into the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Peace Hall for a meeting of the society and the annual fun quiz.

The quiz was arranged by Dr Rob Bennett, renowned for his challenges, his cryptic, teasing questions and his colourful waistcoats.

Round followed round with the lead changing constantly. At one time, the Sweet Sixteens were in front, then the Wannabes.

After another round it was the turn of the Whispering Willows.

Only the Dancing Dahlias looked downcast - they had made errors which were elementary and devastating to their progress in the quiz.

Even to the layman this sounds impossible to get wrong, but the Dancing Dahlias got their bladderworts mixed up with their butterworts. It just goes to show that in the heat of the moment, even the greatest can fall.

The questions were so cleverly varied that every team had a chance of success. There were tasks using pictures, stories, music, matching seeds with plants and sound recordings where you had to identify the voices of garden show personalities.

It proved a close contest. The winning team was The Trio.

Congratulations to them and all who worked to make the evening such a success, especially Dr Bennett and his assistant.

The next meeting will be at 8pm on Thursday, February 8, when Phil Aubrey will speak on "Botanical Gardens - Past, Present and Future". All welcome.