Monmouth Bridge Club

Monday November 4th 7pm - 10pm: North/South: 1st Elizabeth Hicks and Rosemary Whaley; 2nd Terry Hill and Barbara Newby; 3rd David Savage and Mary Britton. East/West: 1st Richard Brierly and Paul Williams; 2nd Sue Burrows and Neil Smith; 3rd Michael Owen and Val Conniff.

Wednesday November 6th (No Fear Bridge) 2pm - 4pm: North/South: 1st Brigid and Thomas Hamilton-Jones; 2nd Bob Scarr and Ann Bradley; 3rd Jane Washer and Glenys Biggs. East/West: 1st Celia and Norman Skitt; 2nd Jon Dullforce and Diana Whaley; 3rd Peter McGahey and Sue Smith.

Thursday November 7th 7pm - 10pm: 1st Tony Harris and Paul Williams; 2nd David and Julie Davies; 3rd Nigel Saunders and Jon Dullforce.

For beginners and improvers classes contact Julie Davies at 07977 517818 or on-line at [email protected]

For details of Club activities go to: www.bridgewebs.com/monmouth.

Raglan WI

At the November meeting of Raglan WI, members welcomed Bradd and Tom Bowen as the speakers.

Their subject was ‘Combine Harvesting through America in 2018’ covering 2,000 miles. They travelled from Heathrow to Minneapolis where they met up with their hosts and six other young people in NE Montana near the Canadian border.

Their accommodation was in mobile caravans which formed part of the convoy of 100 feet long trucks and huge combines.

During eight months they coped with extreme temperatures varying from very hot in South Dakota, to freezing conditions as they went further south.

Initially they were employed in monotonous stone picking, before journeying 600 miles to Huron. Various foods such as lentils, peas and soya beans were harvested, but corn was the main crop. Trucks drove alongside the combines filling up with the grain which was collected in vast silos. Some fields were as large as 1,000 acres, so Bradd and Tom regularly worked 18 hour days.

They illustrated their talk with slides, some showing the convoy on roads not as well made as Britain’s, making for some hair-raising moments, especially on the 700 miles to Oklahoma and Wyoming.

They were thanked for sharing their experiences and answering many questions.

The next meeting of Raglan WI will be a craft evening on 4th December.

Also in December, members will be making Christmas wreaths which will be for sale in the scout hut on Saturday 7th December.

Llandenny WI

Twenty members braved a cold wet night to attend the monthly meeting of Llandenny. After the usual business was discussed, members were soon transported to a vibrant sunny South Africa by this month’s speaker, Annette O’Connell.

Annette, a Newbridge WI member, had always wanted to see Africa but was deterred by the prices in the glossy travel magazines. However, she discovered that a less costly way was to volunteer on wildlife reserves in Zululand. She first ventured there at the age of 68 and has been back several times since. She gave a most informative talk about the work of conservationists there, tracking endangered species and observing both flora and fauna . In particular, she fell in love with the African wild dogs who socialise very much like humans!

This was all illustrated with Annette’s stunning photographs.

Members all enjoyed tea with homemade bara brith and biscuits afterwards.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 4th December and will be the annual Christmas evening meal at the Raglan Arms, Llandenny.

They meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.15pm at Llandenny Village Hall. New members or anyone interested in a taster session are welcome.

Wye Valley Art Society

The recently held Art Exhibition in The Shire Hall attracted a large number of viewers, with more sales of works of art than has been seen for some years. In addition, many people took part in the vote for the ‘Best in Show’, or put another way, the work of art that they liked the best. The results have now been received and are as follows:

First place went to Geoff Jennings with his beautiful portrait of two lions, entitled ‘Contentment’.

Geoff also came third with his ‘Band of Brothers’, a lovely portrayal of three tiger heads.

Cate Thomas took second place with a talented painting of ‘Market Stalls, Ross-on-Wye’, shown from a high viewpoint looking down one of the Ross streets.

Almost every work of art received one or more votes, which just goes to show how talented members are and also how varied are the artistic views of the exhibition visitors! Many congratulations to the winners of the voting and to all the artists who took part in this very successful and interesting exhibition.

Next chance to examine, and vote for, the society’s works of art will be in the spring of 2020.