CARNON DOWNS: WOMEN'S INSTITUTE: The September meeting started with a welcome from President Dianna Couch and a resume of the summer events. The visit to Plymouth to see 42nd Street had been excellent and Twink and Heather were thanked for arranging the coach and the tickets.

The quiz night arranged in conjunction with the village hall committee had been very successful and enjoyable.

The next big event on the programme is the Autumn soups and Goodies day on Saturday, October 13. The committee will be making a variety of homemade soups and rolls and there will be a giant Bring and Buy. This event will be open to all and it is hoped there will be a lot of bringing and buying from local people.

The County Federation annual council meeting is in October and the resolutions to be debated there were discussed by members. This year the topics related to the matter of the responsibility for abandoned babies and the cardiac screening of children.

On a lighter note, Heather Withers was one of the 25 who had been lucky enough to get a place on the county trip to Highgrove, the home of HRH the Duke of Cornwall. She described the beautiful grounds which included a wide range of different garden styles such as a temple garden, a black and white garden and a carpet garden. In addition to the garden visit they had also been able to visit Wells and Westonbirt Arboretum.

Members had been expecting to hear about Encaustic Art at this first meeting after the summer break. However the speaker was forced to cancel at the last minute due to illness and members found themselves instead involved in chocolate bingo. This is like ordinary bingo but with prizes of chocolate instead of money.

Members enjoyed this bit of fun - perhaps the lure of the chocolate had something to do with that! Des Pratt was thanked for doing the calling and providing the tickets and marker pens.

The next meeting is on October 9 at 7.15pm in the village hall. Visitors are always welcome.

PENPOL:WOMEN'S INSTITUTE: The August meeting was the usual pleasant and informal get-together over a cream tea in the relaxing setting of Point Orchard. Visitors from other W I branches joined the Penpol and Point members and once again, fine weather ensured the afternoon's success.

At the September meeting, Tracy Wilson from Pengelly Plant Care gave a fascinating and informative talk on coastal gardening, illustrated by colour slides.

The Rev Barbara Heseltine is the speaker at a community evening in Penpoll Methodist Church on October 24 at 7.30pm, an event which is open to everyone. Tickets cost £3.50 and include refreshments.

The next meeting on October 8 in Penpoll Methodist Church at 2pm features the vocal quartet Con Brio. New members are always welcome.

FEOCK:WOMEN'S INSTITUTE: What a strange country Chile is geographically. The speaker Adrian Lovatt from Eden Project explained that it is only 150 kilometres wide and 4,000 kilometres long stretched along the west coast of South America, and if laid in the Northern Hemisphere would stretch from Glasgow to Timbuktu!

The climate matches the land mass - to the North dry and arid desert changing as you go south to a Mediterranean environment, to temperate rain forest and finally to the extremely cold and glacial South.

Adrian and three friends went to explore the middle of the two regions in 2005, but as gardeners, not botanists, to see plants in their natural habitat. Luckily, 19 per cent of the land is now National Parks to protect the plants and trees from deforestation which is rife in Chile.

The Chileans have for centuries used wood for building houses and for fuel and many of their native trees are now endangered. Of the 6,000 species of plants that grow in Chile, 50 per cent are endemic and cannot be found anywhere else.

The group saw slides of the fabulous forests of Monkey Puzzle trees, some of which looked like tall umbrellas where the winter snow had broken off branches over the years, wonderful rain forests where you would expect to see dinosaurs rampaging through the trees, and the strange Chilean Wine Palm.

Although it is called the wine palm because the Chileans have always used the sap to make wine, the trunk of the tree is also shaped like a huge wine bottle. As the trees need to be felled for the sap to be taken they are also now endangered and are also in a National Park to conserve them.

The most endangered species of tree in Chile is the Fitzroya cupressoides. This tree has a very high resin content and is used for building houses, ships and churches as it does not rot.

As well as the trees, the group were shown beautiful flowers and shrubs, including the wonderful Chilean Fire Bush, which is also grown in Cornwall. As Phyllis Gilbert said in her vote of thanks, the ladies had been given a geography, history and botany lesson all in one fascinating talk.

The raffle was won by Maureen Stanton with Audrey Pearson second. Bloom of the month went to Jennie Jones, with Sylvia Howell second and Ann Jones and Muriel Mantle third.

The next meeting is on October 8 for Pam's People fashion show.