THE February meeting fell into two parts, the first part being the AGM conducted by John Stewart.

Chairman Graham Downie was able to report on a successful year of talks and visits by a wide range of speakers and expressed the hope this would continue during 2001.

Treasurer Alan Godfrey was also able to report a successful year financially, with the society in a healthy condition and needing no rise in subscriptions or other charges.

The committee was re-elected en-bloc.

Following the meeting, the speaker was the archivist of the society, Cyril Johnson, whose talk was entitled Some of our Yesterdays and featured slides taken by members in 1988 showing places and people of Alcester.

The emphasis was particularly on places which might soon alter, be demolished or otherwise disappear into history.

It was a fascinating and salutary lesson to see just how much of the local scene had changed in the brief space of some 12 years.

The most obvious change could be seen in the many barns converted into homes, many changed beyond recognition.

A number of buildings had been demolished to make way for new developments and photographs of these sites now provide a valuable historical record of the area as it was in the recent past.

The society undertakes these photographic surveys every 10 years.

The photographs for the survey are always taken with black and white film as opposed to colour film, which can deteriorate in time.

At the end of a fascinating display and talk which everyone felt was far too short, Cyril Johnson answered questions from the audience and said that photographs from the survey would be shown in an exhibition to be mounted at Alcester Library later in the year.

Tonight's meeting will be entitled The Victorian Pleasure Gardens - Warwick, with an illustrated talk by Dr Christine Hodgetts.

Meetings are at the Greig Hall at 8pm, when members and non-members are welcome.