AT the September meeting, Harry Scharf gave a talk entitled Court in the Act - the Crown Court.

Mr Scharf has worked for more than 35 years in the law courts as one of the people responsible for recording court proceedings, not on tape, but by shorthand, writing occasionally at speeds of about 200 words per minute (three words per second). He has experienced a good deal of court life, which is what he came to talk about.

In his time, he has seen the description of the person in the dock changed from ''prisoner at the bar'' to ''accused'', to ''defendant'' to the present term ''offender''.

He has seen the number of spare jurors (needed in case of objections) cut from, at one time, some 20 down to seven, then down to three - all in the interests of reducing costs.

He has seen 600 years of tradition done away with by Beeching, of railway fame, and transformed into the Crown Court as from 1971.

He presented many facts laced with many whimsical asides and jokes, likening the hierarchy in the court system to four types of motor car: the Rolls-Royce being the high court judge (Mr/Mrs Justice) wearing the ceremonial shoulder-length wig (from which historically the term "big wig" came, denoting an important person) and who is addressed as "my Lord/my Lady"; the Range Rover being the circuit judge, known as "Your Honour"; the Metro being the barrister who can apply to be a recorder, who tries the comparatively less serious cases, and who is also known as "Your Honour"; and the last, the banger or assistant recorder who, like the four-wheeled banger, has been scrapped.

In addition, he explained the jobs of the various people to be seen sitting in the courtroom who appear not to be doing very much.

However, each of them, such as the court clerk, usher, probation officer and dock officer, had a part to play in the running of the court.

Finally, Mr Scharf described in more detail his job as court reporter until shorthand reporting was made redundant and tape recording was introduced in about 2000.

He explained how he had to read back from his notes pieces of evidence when there was disagreement as to what a witness had said, whether spoken five minutes or five weeks before. On such matters, an appeal can turn. The ethics and traditions of court life persist, linking history with the present.

The next meeting will be on October 29 in Wythall Baptist Church Hall when Brian Draper will give a slide show entitled The River Severn.