News from our groups this month: so many members are keen on reading and discussing books it has been necessary to set up a second book group.

Our skittlers were knocked out of the competition in the fourth round; the gourmet group are planning what to cook and share at a spring gathering; and our crafters will be trying applique.

Our new year's dinner was a great success, 38 members enjoyed a delicious and great value three course dinner at Goodfellows in January.

People brought along to the meeting Christmas gifts they didn't really want and swapped them for things they would prefer.

Our speaker this month was Norm Longley, an author who told us about his 20 years of travel writing.

While teaching English in Serbia a piece he wrote about living with the bombing during the Kosovan war for the Rough Guides newsletter led to a commission to co-author Rough Guides to Romania, Hungary and the Budapest city guide.

Norm was then given responsibility for writing the Rough Guide to Slovenia, which took two years to research and write and left him with an infectious love of the country, its people and its capital Ljubljana. That book is now in its fourth edition and we learned that travel guides require frequent updates.

Norm moved to Somerset in 2011 and wrote guides to Wales, Scotland and the Highlands and Islands, taking his young family along in a camper van.

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His most recent book, the Slow Guide to Somerset, was published in 2019. Slow travel is an offshoot of the slow food movement.

The emphasis is on connections - to food, families, local people and culture - and taking in your surroundings at a relaxed pace rather than manic sightseeing.

Norm reminded us how lucky we are in Somerset to enjoy such variety in the landscape, from coast to moors, ham stone villages, ancient ruins, and wonderful nature reserves, and told us that a particular highlight for him was learning about the successful reintroduction of cranes to the Somerset Levels after an absence of 400 years.

There are reminders of our industrial mining past, and our food culture encompasses farmers' markets, cider and cheese making, and the country's only apple distillery.

In answer to our questions he told us that Bosnia is a place he'd like to visit because of his enduring fascination with the Balkans; and that he had so far managed to avoid any scrapes and accidents and has never lost his passport.

Sadly Norm had no tips to help us with our packing, as this is his wife's domain, but he did recommend the under-rated Montenegro as a holiday destination.

There was then a quiz based on facts in the Slow Guide to Somerset and Norm donated a signed copy as a future raffle prize.

Members voted for this year's shortlisted resolutions. The two potential national campaigns that got most support from Wells WI were: helping victims of modern slavery and increasing stem cell donor registration.

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Wells WI will be 10 years old in the autumn, so ideas were invited for ways to mark this milestone anniversary.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday March 3 at Wells and Mendip Museum, from 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. The artist Molly Briton will give us an insight into the world of creativity and drawing.

New women are always welcome at Wells WI and can attend as guests before deciding whether to join. More details are on our Facebook page via the red button below.

By Veronica Howe