EDEN PARK (EVENING) TOWNSWOMEN'S GUILD

No hibernation for our members this winter! A guided tour behind the scenes at Covent Garden in October gave a magical glimpse of practise rooms with lessons in progress, prop rooms displaying unbelievable craftsmanship, the enormous stage with giant-sized mechanisms for manoeuvring scenery and stage-heights and the huge auditorium, beautifully renovated with gilded decorations and eye-catching red plush seats.

Our varied talks took us to Chile, "Land of Contrasts" and nearer home, to "Croydon Palace."

Long, narrow and squashed to the west of the Andes, Chile's temperatures range from warm to Antarctic, where slides showed us close-ups of glaciers and ice-floes.

Historic Croydon Palace, at one time a staging post for bishops journeying to London, has been altered, sacked, extended, used as a factory and is now a school, but still retains many original features.

Our very English churchyards (Gods Acres) often preserve welcome green areas amidst our crowded cities. Very often undisturbed ground of ancient hay meadows, they can prove a treasure-trove of rare plants and lichens and a serene retreat for small animals and birds.

Our follow-up talk on "Wheels for the World" which aims to supply wheelchairs for the handicapped in poor countries, described how the distribution organisation worked. With many difficulties to surmount, ingenuity and perseverance usually found solutions and resulted in heart-warming accounts of successful outcomes.

Much more still to anticipate and enjoy in 2005.