President Lesley Kennedy welcomed eleven other members. Alastair Wilson gave a talk on Lady Houston, from her humble beginnings as a dancer and chorus girl, through marriages to two Baronets and a Baron, being honoured as DBE and by 1926 being seen as the richest woman in Britain.
A widow in her 70s, she campaigned vigorously for the government to strengthen Britain's defences. Most significantly, in 1931, when Ramsay MacDonald's government refused to fund for Britain's attempt to win the Schneider Trophy Air Race for a third time, she stepped in with a £100,000 donation to save the day.
As a result Britain managed to win the Trophy outright and Supermarine and Rolls-Royce were able, just in time, to develop the technologies used in the Spitfire.
The vote of thanks was given by Graham Smith and the weekly draw for the whisky miniature was won by John McCormick.