IT WAS as well there was a packed room for Malvern Speakers' first meeting of 2016, as the sheer number of bodies (including several new faces), plus a goodly measure of verbal hot air, made up to some extent for the absence of heating during replacement of the hotel's system!

Affairs got off to a January Sales-themed start in the Table Topics session conducted by Glenda Ballard. Voted best of six spontaneous short talks was newly-joined member Alice Crumpler's joyous account of receiving some boring blankets instead of the powder-blue half price radio she had ordered – and getting satisfaction from the supplier!

First of four varied and interesting prepared speeches was Hazel Robinson's animated chronicle of the development of her musical tastes from earliest youth, copiously illustrated with snatches of song and dance which kept her audience constantly entertained. Next came Angela Davison with the intriguingly titled 'Peacocks for Sale' – which contained a lot of fascinating information about these spectacular birds – but ended with her having decided not to buy any – not even the ones she saw advertised as “pre-loved peacocks”.

This was followed by Andrew Graham's impassioned appeal on behalf of the charity SHAPE, which works to help the homeless, rough sleepers, the destitute and dispossessed. Laced with impressive statistics and enlightened with clever use of language and alliteration, his speech gave club members much food for thought.

A full and varied programme was completed by Adrian Lane's quaint and quirky musings on Alice in Wonderland, described by his evaluator John Day as a “surreal, abstract” speech. When the evening's awards were announced, Alice Crumpler won Best Table Topic, Hazel Robinson Best Speaker and Geoff Richardson Best Evaluator for a balanced and positive appraisal of Angela Davison's speech.

The club's next meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday January 26 at the Great Malvern Hotel – guests welcome as always.

COLIN JACKSON