FOLLOWING the welcome from president Val Davies and matters arising members settled down to listen to the speaker of the evening Nick Smith and his brother whose talk was entitled A Ticket to Ride.

Mr Smith has been a keen enthusiast of steam trains from a very young age and in fact while at school in Blackminster was given permission to leave during his lunch break to go and watch the trains at Blackminster Station. He talked of his life-long involvement and love of steam trains with much passion and with the aid of slides members went on a nostalgic voyage of times past. A lot of the stations are no longer in existence but those that are can still be recognized even if surrounded by modern buildings. He is still very involved with steam but on a much smaller scale as some of you who may have visited Twyford Garden Centre will no doubt have seen him and his brother working on the miniature steam railway there. He gave a very informative talk which was enjoyed by all.