THE October commenced with the reading and signing of the minutes of the last meeting. Leila informed members that the offer of a tamarisk tree to replace the one that died at the end of Elmlea has been deemed to be unsuitable by the parish council. Thanks will be sent to Steve who has done an excellent job with the seat close to Gardeners Way. As the carol concert in December has proved to be so popular we have been allocated only ten tickets, leaving many of our members very disappointed. The Tewkesbury Abbey exhibition in September was again over-subscribed, therefore Wynn’s bridal doll was not able o be displayed. Leila drew our attention to points of interest in the newsletter. The ladies taking over the presidency of our WI next month have booked a county walk for November 27, 2010. It has been suggested that at our Christmas party this year we enjoy a buffet with a fancy dress theme. Further ideas will be explored at our next meeting. Finally, it was pointed out that Madeleine Little has been a WI member for fifty years this month. Congratulations, Madeleine, from all the members.

Liz Godsell was our speaker and gave us an insight into her eight years’ cheese-making at Church Farm. Most of you will have seen the recent press coverage of the British Cheese Awards. Out of 800 products entered from across the UK Godsells Cheeses scooped company gold for its Single Gloucester and a silver medal for its Holy Smoked Cheese. Earlier this year Single Gloucester champion at the Three Counties Show. Godsells team make twelve different cheeses and Liz took us through the processes for each one, as well as explaining the virtues of using vacuum bags or cheesecloths. Cheese has to be matured in a controlled temperature and humidity environment. To make their stronger cheeses it has to be matured for up to eleven months. The tasting of several of the cheeses proved why Godsells Cheeses are Gold Medal winners. Sylvia Bond thanked Liz for her very comprehensive explanation of how their prize winning cheese is made.

The raffle was won by Nan Shillitoe and the competition: a recipe using cheese, the winners were 1st Lyn 2nd Juliet and 3rd Nan. On November 12 we will be holding our Annual General Meeting at the Kings Stanley Village Hall and monies raised on the bring and buy will pay for this year's poppy wreath.