Chesham Evening Townswomens Guild

The minutes having been read, Pauline took the opportunity to remind members that tickets for the Guilds 50th birthday in January were now available and would be sold in the coffee break.
Greta Thorne reported that last months sales of hand made Christmas cards by the Art and Craft group raised £80 on behalf of St Francis Hospice. The money had been given to the Hospice together with any unsold cards for them to sell in their own shop. The hospice had sent a letter of thanks to the group, saying how much they rely on this sort of help to boost their funds. Greta went on to say that art and craft members are now continuing with knitting various items of clothing for babies in Gambia.
A party was organised recently to visit Amersham Museum and Jean Kemp said that they were given a very warm welcome by their guide. The museum is housed in an original Tudor House and is full of fascinating artefacts and information about the history and people of Amersham. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the outing and Jean recommended a visit to those who had not yet been.
Social Studies were unable to meet this month due to the snow causing difficulties, and as there were no further items to raise, it was time to introduce the speaker who was Mr David Nobbs from the RSPB.
His subject was the return of the Red Kite, which he described as a wonderful story of success. The RSPB does great work in conserving wild life and protecting habitats of birds and animals and they manage 200 nature reserves all over England.
The Red Kite has a long history dating back to mediaeval times when, being a carrion bird, it was useful in clearing away much of the refuse lying around and was therefore greatly respected. However, as people got cleaner in their habits, this source of food became scarce and the kite moved into the countryside where it was less popular and often shot. By 1879 there were none left in England and Scotland and only a few left in Wales. Starting in 1903 when the Welsh Kite Committee was formed to save the red kite with the help of the RSPB, this has been the longest conservation project in the world. The Black Isle and the Chilterns were considered the best areas to reintroduce the birds which were brought from Sweden and Spain when they were 4 weeks old and able to feed themselves; they were then released in to the wild at about 10 weeks.
In the last 18 years they have successfully bred and can now be found in 1000 locations, and are now a familiar sight in the Chilterns. They are tagged so that a check can be kept on their welfare and the latest release has been in Northern Ireland for the first time.
Mr Nobbs illustrated his talk with a film showing how the red kite hunts and feeds its brood of chicks with great care and showed the young birds as they developed and grew. He finished with a wonderful film showing many other birds hunting and catching their prey with skill and precision from water as well as the land.
Greta Thorne thanked him for such an interesting and informative talk, and members crowded round afterwards to ask questions and to buy items in aid of the society.