THE club held it’s August meeting at our usual venue, Kings Court Hotel, Alcester on Wednesday 24, when our speaker was vice president George Stonley. George’s subject was ‘the history and refurbishment of Church House, Alcester’. He said that certainly there is a medieval structure on which it stands. Probably it consisted of two houses which were owned by merchants. Eventually it was handed over to church ownership although little attention was paid to it’s upkeep. Architectually it was not very interesting but was listed grade two. The Church House Development Committee (of which George is a Member) appointed Richard Crook as architect and Chris Gough as builder. It was estimated that some £300,000 would be needed to complete their proposals. Work was started in 2009 the first phase being to establish a kitchen. Since its completion £160,000 has been raised and work has progressed steadily but it is anticipated that a further £15- 19,000 will be needed to complete the project. Partly due to its uninspiring appearance and the fact that the house has no ‘oddities’, appeals to obvious sources have not been forthcoming. Donations are needed to make this a central meeting place which would in turn, help the church, through monies gained from it’s renting. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 28 at 12.15pm for 12.45pm when our speaker will be Paul Sabapathy lord lieutenant of the West Midlands.