The meeting commenced with the President wishing a Happy Birthday to Mandy, Vicky and Gill, after which we agreed last month’s meeting recordings.

Then we put our best necklaces on the table in order to gain money for the ACWI. Margarite is organising a walk to the Kemerton Wetlands.

We decided whether to vote for the President and committee members.

We were asked if we would like to go to Waitrose before Christmas and Clanfield in Oxfordshire to the Rose Garden in June.

Then we were introduced to our speaker, Francis Benton, who had come to talk about “Pearls”.

The tables at the side of the room were covered in strings of jewels which had delighted all the members before the start of the talk.

Despite the fact that pearls have been the oldest form of jewel, it is only recently how pearls were made.

They are made inside oysters and mussels and it was thought that they were caused by sand or gravel irritating inside the bi-valve.

However, the irritation is caused by a maggot or parasite which irritated inside the oyster or mollusc mantle making it produce layers of pearl.

Francis explained how she developed her love of pearls and explained how they come from fresh water and salt water and that they can be found in various colours and shapes. What was particularly fascinating was that Francis showed all the different types as she continued the talk.

She explained that after she had collected many pearls she learned how to use silk to string them into necklaces.

There are three types of pearl, Faux, which are false, then natural which are worth a fortune and finally, cultured pearls which are produced in farms.

Francis had a whole mass of information about pearls and most wonderfully she explained that a large proportion of the money she earned was used to fund an orphanage and school in Durban, South Africa, were the children live in sewers.

This is a tiny part of a very, very splendid talk and the ability to buy some of these brilliant jewels for ourselves.

Another super WI talk.

HILARY DEE