WE have lectures during the winter and outings during the summer, when our secretary invariably finds us an unusual and fascinating venue.

On June 17, we visited Chirk Castle, in the Welsh Marches, which was built between 1295 and 1310 by the colourful baron, Roger Mortimer, who had an affair with Edward IIs wife and the two probably arranged the king's murder.

In the 1595 the castle came into the hands of Thomas Myddleton, whose descendent was a general in the Civil War of 1641-6 with the result that Civil War memorabilia can be seen throughout the house.

There are many associations with royalty, Charles I slept here in 1645 and there are several portraits of the mistresses of Charles II.

We were fortunate in that we inadvertantly chose the day on which 200 Royal Airforce Cadets from across Wales were assembled in the huge grounds for a march past and the entertainment was enhanced by two members of our party accidentally getting included with the officers Taking the Salute.

We are a friendly group and are looking for more members. Our next outing will be to Madresfield Court on July 15, this is a rare opportunity to see the house, featured in Brideshead Revisited, not usually open to the public.

For more details, call the secretary on 541317 or a committee member on 542516.