Despite the wintry snow almost 30 people, including a couple all the way from Boston, MA, managed to find their way to the Spring/AGM meeting at Hemel Hempstead where they enjoyed the day in a warm, pleasant hall with good lighting. As well as the AGM, the day comprised the usual challenging puzzling, sales tables and a Show and Tell on the theme of Boxes! 
Members brought a nicely varied and international selection of boxes to share. These included UK examples from Chandos, Chad Valley, Waddingtons, AVN Jones, Salmon, James Peters, Wallace, Zig-Zag, Tuck, Ann Austin and BB Dickenson and from outside the UK, French puzzle makers Michelle Wilson, Vera and Le Colimacon, Lox-Sur, Black Bear, and Turtle Teasers from the USA and Hakone from Japan.
Among these, puzzles and boxes of note were the following: David’s Lox-Sur Bridge Party Puzzle providing, i think, for the dummy of each hand to do a puzzle while the other three players played out the bridge hand; Barbara’s Waddington’s milk carton look alike box; Jackie’s cedar wood casket from Black Bear; David’s 21-steps-needed-to-open-it Hakone box; John’s Zig-Zag upright puzzle of Lord Kitchener and his AVN Jones “London to Alexandra” puzzle painted by famous Biggles author Capt W E Johns; and finally, Jan’s pristine Tuck’s Zag-Zaw box.
Thanks go to hostess Barbara Middlestorb for a great day enjoyed by all.