BEFORE lunch on October 9, members were told of a Danish pastry coffee/tea morning for members and friends on Wednesday, November 6.

The after-lunch speaker was Major R Woodfield MBE who talked about 'Sacrifice and Service - the Alcester War Memorial'.

Bob, a local man, left Alcester in February 1949 to join the Grenadier Guards and spent 47 years in uniform, returning to Alcester in 1999.

He is actively involved in the Alcester branch of the Royal British Legion and is now secretary. He is also a campanologist at St Nicholas' Church and first started ringing in 1948.

After some discussion with the Alcester legion branch, Bob took on the task of cleaning the War Memorial.

It was then decided it would be nice to replace the bronze plaques, which contained the names of the local men who had lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

He then thought it would be a good idea to do some research to find out where and when their deaths occurred.

By much searching through local newspaper archives he then found a film record in Alcester Library, which gave this information.

His uncle was the first Alcester man to be killed in the First World War.

Bob has collected quite a lot of information which is all documented in files, together with obituaries and decorations given to local people.

It must have been a true labour of love, which had taken 2 and a half years to complete. Older members were able to tell Bob they knew some of the families he spoke of.

The next luncheon will be on Wednesday, November 9, and the talk by Graham Downey will be 'History of Mop Fairs'.