“BRINGING the Stone Age to Life” was the subject of the talk given to members of Oakley and Deane WI at their October meeting, and she certainly did just that.

The Stone Age covers a period of 2.5 million years and the oldest human remains found, two teeth and a leg bone, date from half a million years ago and were found at Boxgrove, near Chichester. The climate at the time of the subject of her talk was African savannah and all food had to be gathered in order for survival. To this end stone was mainly used for making implements such as a hand axe and spear with a sharp edge or point for hunting and she demonstrated how this time consuming task was done.

Towards the end of the period she covered the savannah which became interspersed with trees, groves and grassland with different animals arriving and so their hunting methods changed a little and they used bows and arrows as well. Also surprisingly they were able to make needles and threads from bones and she showed how this was done. In the time available she obviously wasn’t able to cover the whole Stoneage but it was most interesting to see how things evolved and hopefully a “sequel” will be given in the future.

Several members recently enjoyed a sponsored driving challenge at Thruxton, when among others, they drove a fire engine, bus, tractor, motor bike, steam engine, crane and jeep.

Reports were also given on a sponsored Dove Day at Denman, an afternoon tea at Warbrook House, in Eversley, and the autumn group meeting ,when James Montgomery gave an interesting talk entitled “Lights Camera Action, my 30 years of TV Stories.

Forthcoming events include a trip to the Ashmoleum Museum in Oxford and the autumn federation meeting at The Anvil, when the guest speaker will be Jenny Bond.

At the November meeting, Geoff Banks will be speaking about “Winter Driving” and this will be followed by a driving quiz and a fish and chip supper.