General meetings over the summer months have been most varied.  Denise Edwards, stunt performer, had her audience gasping with incredulity as she described her exploits in a career spanning over two decades in hundreds of TV productions and feature films.  She described running across a room with her clothes aflame, jumping from the top of a tower block and being hit by a car. And she has lived to tell a most entertaining tale, despite the odd cracked rib. LINK

August’s topic was closer to the experience of some members.  Andrew Luff, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Southampton Eye Unit gave an illustrated talk on age-related macular degeneration.  He has the gift of explaining complex procedures in layperson’s language.  Ten years ago, he said, this disease was little understood.  Reassuringly, it is now preventable and treatable.  Indeed, he himself is pioneering new treatments.

In September, Adrian Green, since 2007 director of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum (and only the sixth since 1860!) spoke about the building that houses the museum and some of the people who have lived there.  Traces of the original simple thirteenth century remain.  Its grand appearance – and name as the King’s House – derives from the ambitions of a seventeenth century occupant who entertained James I on at least two occasions.  Many Salisbury residents will remember the house as part of the diocesan teacher training college, latterly known as Sarum St Michael.  When the college closed in 1978, the King’s House became the home of the museum.