Many thanks to the anonymous writer of the report on our Folk Carol weekend  and singing exchange with the Odmev Quartet from Zrece and the Ljubljana University Carol Singers. There was however one glaring omission - our thanks to all those who so generously gave their help over the visit.
  In particular Richard and Susa Ellis who accommodated the male voice quartet in their house over the second part of their visit, and David and Anthea Bolton who made all 16 singers so welcome in their home with mulled wine and refreshments during our carol singing expedition down Dentdale.
  Also our singers Jane and David Willis (late of the British Council) who accommodated all 12 of the Slovene students in their home after we left Dentdale, and Liz, the warden at the sadly-soon-to-be-sold Dentdale Youth Hostel, who not only met all our unusual requests - but also enthusiastically joined in the singing of Slovene carols.
  And Lisa Carr, Emma Watten, and Dr. Clare Mingins who helped with the concert and workshops, Pat Walker who
picked up and returned four of the singers to Liverpool airport, and the Cautley Carollers, Howgills Harmony, Kendal Singers and the Sedbergh instrumentalists who played for the West Gallery Carol workshop, who not only provided such excellent music for the weekend, but also a real sense of camaraderie and welcome for our Slovene friends.
  Although many of the events were free, we put a small charge on the concert and workshops which helped towards recouping some of our costs for the Slovene singers' flights, mini-bus and accommodation - so finally, many thanks to all those who bought tickets and so helped to finance such a successful five days.
  As well as complimenting us on the beauty of our landscape, some of our Slovene guests said that not only were those they met here not as reserved as they had expected the English to be, but they were also just as hospitable as their own countrymen and women - which those who have visited Slovenia will recognise as a true mark of merit!                                                                                                                                         David Burbidge

  Oh, by gosh, by golly!! I nearly started clan warfare all over again. We do not have a new member called Wendy McLeod. We do have a new member called Wendy McLean!!---of the McLean's of Duart, so I am reliably informed. My humble apologies and welcome just the same.
  Our meeting on Tuesday started sadly with our president paying tribute to Pam Symonds, a long standing member and a Past President of Killington Institute who died last month. We will miss her contributions to our community, especially her love of music and story, and her lively wit.
  The business of the meeting was such as to raise the interest of all present. The National Federation is well advanced with its plans to post a W.I. magazine monthly to every single member rather than give us the chance of buying one should we so choose. Coming along with this is the proposal for a substantial increase in subscriptions, from £22 to £27. We are opposed to this by a substantial majority and have asked our representatives to make this abundantly clear when they attend a meeting to discuss the matter. I do not think that we shall be alone in our objections. We have quite enough to put in our only too visible blue boxes already.
  We then looked at future W.I. activities but for most no decisions are needed until next month. Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after!! (that, as our Editor knows, is my motto)  Several of us are going to an audio-visual presentation 'Lakeland Alphabet ' given by Maurice Steele of Eskdale, and of course we shall support Dent W.I.'s coffee morning. A trip to Dent is just the thing to brighten a February morning. We were all encouraged to enter as much as we could into the Spring Show so we are all beavering away busily. Shirley also told us that our plans to sponsor an Ethiopian child are on hold due to administrative problems at the other end, which seems a pity.
  Perhaps I should have asked someone else to report on the speaker since it was me. Suffice it to say that everybody seemed to enjoy seeing our wonderful slides of the Rocky Mountains and hearing what I had to say. It brought back vivid and happy memories for me and for others who have visited the area. We travelled by motor-home from Vancouver through dozens of State and National Parks in Canada and U.S.A. Three weeks of magnificent country and not a drop of rain!
  February is a big month for members' birthdays. The special birthday girl was our super secretary Susan Sharrocks who was honoured with one of Shirley's cakes to celebrate her bus pass! Not only did we have a cake but our hostesses, Dawn Stevens and Majorie Henson, provided dee-licious home made scones with mouth-watering strawberry and raspberry jam and topped with whipped cream. Thank you girls!
  The raffle for a photo frame was won by Pam Fenton, and the competition for a winter posy which produced a most colourful display was won jointly by Sue Sharrocks and Joyce Swann. Next month, dig out your penny whistles and come along and hear Sedbergh's famous bandleader, Alan Lewis, speaking and playing, I guess, on " An Introduction to Brass Instruments". Be there. People's Hall- Tuesday March 14^th at 2-00pm. A warm welcome awaits you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     W.F.U.

  A few weeks ago there was an hour-long programme devoted to acupuncture, part of the BBC2 series "Alternative Medicine: the Evidence". It was very wide ranging, both geographically and in terms of the variety of situations in which acupuncture was shown.
  For me, as an acupuncturist, it was very moving to see an acupuncturist in China, using the same acupuncture points in the same way I would use them myself. It gave me a sense of the purity of transmission of this knowledge down the ages in China and from China to the West.
  An American trial was reported, which showed acupuncture to be effective in giving pain relief from osteoarthritis of the knee. One woman was featured who was obviously extremely happy with the pain relief she was experiencing. It would have been useful to know who many treatments had been given and how frequently. In China, a course of treatment often consists of one treatment a day for ten consecutive days. Here we more often treat once or twice a week.
  The big drama of the programme was a young woman undergoing open heart surgery using acupuncture alongside local anaesthetic to numb the chest, but without general anaesthetic. She was conscious throughout the operation and she was well enough to leave the hospital two days later. We saw her queuing up to pay her bill, which was one third of the cost of an operation using general anaesthetic.
  It was very interesting to see the acupuncturist massaging the "third eye" point between the patient's eyebrows during the operation. This point is called Yintang in Chinese and it is used to "calm the spirit". Many acupuncture points have this indication and most patients find the effect of acupuncture to be very relaxing. It is not unusual for people to fall asleep with the needles in place and only to wake up when I disturb them by coming to take the needles out.
  The final part of the programme was about a research project, which had been conducted at York. This investigated the effect of acupuncture on the brain using a powerful MRI scanner. This was of particular personal interest for me, because the acupuncturist involved in the research, Hugh McPherson, was instrumental in getting me started on my acupuncture training. When I first met him he was principal of the Northern College of Acupuncture. I had called in to the college to enquire about courses and I met Hugh in the hallway. He, like me, started off as a mathematician, so we had a lot in common. The result of our conversation was that shortly afterwards I found myself on the pavement outside the college in the sunshine, holding a letter of acceptance onto the acupuncture course in my hand.
  In traditional Chinese acupuncture, after the needle has been put in place, it is lightly manipulated to obtain a special sensation known as "deqi" (pronounced "day-chee") or the arrival of the qi. This is typically a feeling of heaviness or a dull ache (some patients call it a "thud"). This can be perceptible to the acupuncturist as well and is sometimes described as the needle feeling heavy or like a fish taking the bait.
  The deqi sensation is the signal that the body has noticed the presence of the needle in a way which is different from just pricking yourself with a sewing needle.  It is thought to be important for initiating the body's healing processes.  On the programme, Hugh was visibly thrilled by the results of the research, which showed that the deqi sensation reaches parts of the brain (including the limbic system), which mere needle insertion cannot reach.
  Many thanks to the people lent me recordings of this programme, which I would not otherwise have been able to see.  If you would like to experience deqi for yourself, I should be happy to demonstrate. Please contact me. My telephone number is (015396) 20972.                                         June Parker

  The Sedbergh and District Branch Supper will be held in The Queens Hall, Sedbergh School, by kind permission of the Headmaster on Friday 21st April at 7pm for 7.30pm.
  Tickets are available from members of the Branch Committee and from The Green Door Sweetshop.