PRESIDENT George Bourne opened this week’s meeting with an update on the Riverside car park saga. He shone a ray of sunshine through the dark clouds in that a concession for Shopmobility members has been negotiated from the end of this month.

Nige Jenkins then had to endure the embarrassment of a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. It was sung in key but which birthday he celebrated was not made clear.

We then welcomed back the distinguished historian Dr Gillian White who talked us through the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In her own inimitable style, she described how in June 1520 King Henry VIII with his 12,000 English supporters had a meeting with King Francois, with his 12,000 French supporters, at a site near Calais that became known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

She explained how each king tried to outshine the other, with dazzling tents and clothes, huge feasts, music, jousting and games. The tents and the costumes displayed so much cloth of gold, an expensive fabric woven with silk and gold thread, that the site of the meeting was named after it.

Inevitably, the meeting failed to improve the relations between the two countries and in just a couple of years, England and France were once again, as they had been many times in the previous centuries, at war.

As ever, Gillian’s talk provoked a number of questions, including one from Tony Davies about the toilet facilities.

Grenville Burrows thanked Gillian for her amusing and enlightening presentation and comments that he has driven past the site of this momentous event.

We meet every Thursday morning at 10am at the Evesham Rowing Club's boathouse. Information about our Club, including our programme of forthcoming talks, is on our website: www.eveshamprobus.co.uk.

CHRIS DONOUGH