THE President Margaret Coulson opened the September meeting by welcoming the members, visitors and guests.

The speaker for the evening was Canon Christopher Pullen from Hereford Cathedral who was about to engross everyone with the history of the Magna Carta. The Canon began his Presentation by showing pictures of other valuable documents they also hold in Hereford Cathedral these are even older than the Magna Carta. He went on to explain the Magna Carta is one of the most famous and important documents in English history, the original was drawn up in 1215 between King John and the 25 Barons of which there are four copies, but Hereford has the only surviving King's writ issued by King John in 1215. The Magna Carta was revised in 1217 by Henry 111 when he become of age and Hereford Cathedral has one of the four copies which survive, it became enshrined in English Law in 1297. The Canon informed members that it had inspired a number of other documents, including the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Members were also told of the world tour to celebrate its 800th anniversary where the Magna Carta artefacts is insured for £24million. If members wanted to see the exhibition they needed to go to the Cathedral before the end of September.

The President thanked Canon Christopher Pullen for a very informative and interesting talk and invited him and the guests to join members for refreshments before departing.

The meeting continued; the minutes of the previous meeting were placed on the table for members to read. Forthcoming events from the Federation Newsletter were mentioned and Sheila Ledbury was presented with the cup she won for her entry of a matinee jacket in a competition that took place at the County Picnic in August. Margaret mentioned four members had an enjoyable day on the outing to Shrewsbury with the County. Birthday poses were handed out and there were four members who came first in this months competition.

The next meeting will be held on October 14 at 7.30pm in the Parish Rooms, Catholic Church, New St; Ledbury, HR8 2EE.

The speaker will be Les Rogers from the Brockhampton Estate.