It has been a glorious summer for the Churt WI members to enjoy.

In June they listened intently to their speaker Joanna Foat as she quizzed them a little on their knowledge of famous females in the sciences.

Joanna is a published author, and she presented an account of the Life of Lady Denman - a woman born to great privilege but not afraid to break with the conventions and restrictions imposed upon women in the early 20th century.

She was very aware of her fortune of birth and wanted to give something back - so the Land Army, birth control associations and the Women’s Institute were born.

The Churt fete followed swiftly, and members baked and provided much-needed all day refreshments in the pavilion as well as running a stall selling preserves, cakes and bric-a-brac. This was a very successful day, although a little exhausting in the heat.

Summer outings are always a firm favourite and at the end of June they took a coach to visit Kensington Palace where they learnt about the young Queen Victoria, her upbringing and her early family life.

On display were outfits made for Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and the Queen. The jewel room provided a close-up glimpse of the tiaras, necklaces and earrings they wore. Like many people, they had only seen the outfits on film and television, so the visit brought lovely memories to life.

To say thank you to all their members for their support and friendship over the past year, they held their annual strawberry cream tea in July. The committee provided an abundance of delicious strawberries, scones, cakes and sandwiches.

To help matters along they held a just for fun, tea-time quiz, and a summer themed raffle, to help raise funds for their two charities of the year, Surrey Women’s Refuge and Dementia UK.

They will be having their summer break in August before they begin enjoying their planned autumn events.

Their September meeting should be of particular interest, as Churt now has a new defibrillator. The speaker will be from Farnham Heartstart and will present Simple Skills that Save Lives.

This will be in the Churt Village Hall on September 9 at 2.30pm. Guests and prospective members are most welcome. A small charge will be made for tea. For more details visit Churt.org

Bake, Natter and Roll’s July 17 meeting was a great success, despite the heat and humidity in the Small Hall at the Spire Church in Farnham.

Everyone very much enjoyed crafting and chatting, and they all went home with a beautiful hand decorated glass tealight holder which their member Gail had shown them how to create.

They were so lucky to have plenty of cakes, fresh fruit and biscuits made by members Barbara, Jude and Katie, and the raffle prizes went like hot cakes.

Their next meeting will be on August 21 in the Small Hall at the Spire Church, at 7.45pm for an 8pm start.

They will be having a choice of things to do - those who wish to, after having tea and cake, can go with Farnham's ranger Nick for a Bat Walk, while those who wish to stay will be having a chat with Abbie from the SWS Domestic Abuse Service, when they will also be donating to her secondhand handbags appeal.

For more information email [email protected]

On September 19 Milford Probus Club members will enjoy lunch and a talk entitled Britain’s Atomic V Bombers - A Personal Memoir.

Speaker Andy Richardson will suggest to members and visitors, who are always welcome, that the Cold War of the 1960s has uncomfortable resonances with today.

While much of Britain embraced the swinging 60s, the threat from an aggressive Soviet Union was deadly serious.

The Royal Air Force’s role in countering that threat included a formidable nuclear deterrent provided by Britain’s V Bomber Force.

Around the country, nuclear armed aircraft with highly trained crews were on duty at all times, able to be airborne in two minutes.

The purpose of such potent defence was to ensure that no sane person would dare challenge it, let alone test it. It worked.

Andy, one of those crew members, believes that the RAF V Force provided the safest decade for the UK in recent history.

Lunch and the talk will cost £32. For more details visit www.milfordprobus.com, or to book email Miranda O’Brien at [email protected] or call her on 01483 423398.

Milford Probus Club is for retired and semi-retired business and professional men and women who enjoy comradeship, informative talks and wider activities, which include organised outings and enjoyable walks, ending in a fine pub.

Established in 1999, it has welcomed women members since 2016 and now has a female president. Prospective members are invited to join lunches as paying guests while considering membership. There is a friendly bar and plenty of parking.

Alton Rotary Club members were told recently of a local school that aims to be very different in what it offers its pupils.

It is the Green Room School, based at a 150-acre farm at Kingsley. It began with six children, but now has 40 pupils, housed in special premises on the working farm.

It caters for children who have previously been home schooled, often because they have been expelled from conventional schools.

One of those who helped found the school, Alastair Blaber, said that as well as more conventional subjects such as mathematics and English, the timetable includes sessions on bushcraft, land-based studies and construction. There are also periods devoted to caring for a wide range of farm animals.

In the bushcraft sessions, pupils learn how to make fire using flint and steel, and then how to use the fire to cook for themselves, and how to survive outdoors using a weatherproof shelter on the site.

The land studies module includes caring for animals and the management and upkeep of allotment and polytunnel areas.

As well as the bushcraft sessions, Alastair gets involved in teaching tractor driving skills to some of the pupils - a very popular element in the curriculum.

For more information visit www.altonrotaryclub.uk

Alton Camera Club members have been out and about enjoying fine weather and attending regular field trips.

Recent outings haven taken them to Arundel Wetlands Centre, Exbury Gardens and Southsea for the Portsmouth Pride celebrations.

Most recently they made a trip to the Isle of Wight, with a ferry to Ryde, a bus to Quarr Abbey, a train to Shanklin, a walk along the coastal path to Sandown, and then returning by train to Ryde. It was a great day out and the members are itching to go back and explore further.

The club is anticipating the start of its 79th season of photography and looks forward to welcoming new and existing members to an exciting photographic year ahead.

It is part of the Southern Counties Photographic Federation and has access to a wide range of judges and speakers, with presentations from experienced photographers.

Practical workshops are held throughout the season, with hands-on demonstrations and expert advice on various techniques and genres of photography, including portraiture, macro, astro, wildlife, landscape and street photography.

There are friendly club competitions every month, where digital images and prints are assessed by qualified judges who score and provide constructive feedback, ensuring members’ photography is continually improving and gaining recognition.

The club also enters images into regional Southern Counties Photographic Federation competitions. It has a thriving bi-monthly field trip programme, with past trips including the Thames Barrier and Thames Path, Brighton, and Autograss racing at Four Marks.

It works closely with local initiatives including the Alton Arts Festival, Broadlands Riding for the Disabled, Alton Operatic and Dramatic Society, and Holybourne Theatre.

The 2025-26 programme has been finalised. In the autumn it will welcome Jon Hawkins for a talk on wildlife photography, and Michael Berkeley will talk about sports photography.

Caroline Preece will introduce a new way of thinking about composition in her talk Tools not Rules, and Richard Brayshaw will get members thinking with his talk But How Does It Make You Feel?. Suzie Kirkby will lead a workshop on How to Make AVs.

Members are looking forward to their annual safari competition, in which they tour Hampshire looking for clues and taking photographs. The competition season starts with a challenge competition, Song Titles, at the end of September.

The new season starts on September 3. The club meets every Wednesday from 7.30pm at Holybourne Village Hall and welcomes people of all ages and abilities, whether they use a mobile phone, digital or film camera.

Up to three club evenings may be attended prior to joining. A £5 fee will be levied for practical and speaker evenings, which is refundable against future membership.

For further information and the full programme, visit www.altoncameraclub.org.uk, or email [email protected] or [email protected]