PRESIDENT Brian Melville opened our weekly meeting with news of members and announcements of forthcoming events.

Our guest speaker this week was Mike Bunston, a member of the Moreton-in-Marsh Probus Club, who extolled the virtues of tea. He described how he began his working life in 1959 as a trainee with a London tea broker and retired as Chairman in 2002.

He accompanied his talk with a video clip and innumerable facts and figures about the wonder of tea. Although tea was originally very expensive, the UK now is the largest consumer per head of population, out beating even China and India, and we drink two and a half times more tea than the rest of Europe put together. He explained the origins of tea, where it is best grown and explained the differences between the many varieties available and described how it is still sold at public auctions. Given that we could drink a different tea for every day of the year it is perhaps a little surprising that we tend to stick to our own well known favourites.

Whilst talking, he demonstrated commendable dexterity in boiling a kettle and making pots of tea which he then poured into cups. He asserted that teabags are just as good as leaf tea, provided it is left to brew sufficiently. He responded fully to the many questions posed by members.

John Doyle thanked Mike on our behalf and said he had always wondered how much tea we drank. We then sampled some of the teas – although perhaps inappropriately he was offered our customary end of meeting cup of coffee!

On November 26 we have our own version of Question Time, when we shall have the opportunity to grill George Bourne, Tony Davies, Steve Swarbrick and Bob Young on topics of our choosing and on December 3 we shall hear about being a magistrate.

CHRIS DONOUGH