THE Bridgwater Winemakers Circle has raised its last glass, calling it a day after 48 years.

The group is having its final meeting on Friday, August 30 having first met on July 1971.

The Winemakers Circle has been meeting at the Masonic Hall in Bridgwater on the last Friday of the month for nearly half a century.

Gavin Stoodley was the society's first chairman and was a member of the Winemakers Circle all the way through until he died.

"Unfortunately people just don't seem to be as interested in making wine anymore," says Anne Milne, a longtime member of the Winemakers Circle.

"In its heyday we would get up to 80 people come along to meetings but now we are lucky if we get more than 15.

"Many of our members are elderly, with some even in their 90s."

At the Winemakers Circle people would make their own wine using natural ingredients and would host an annual show to showcase their best produce.

Members would often go out and pick fresh berries from local hedgerows and use raw fruit to make their own wines, and each month would have a theme to produce, for example, the best sweet red or dry white.

"We would have meetings with other clubs in Taunton, Mendip, Fosseway and Burnham, although Burnham closed this year for similar reasons to us," Mrs Milne said.

"The Winemakers Circle has been running 48 years altogether. It is a shame it is closing but it is just not viable with just a few members."

Mrs Milne said the club had been a successful social hub over the years as well.

"We have had a lot of fun and made good friends and created a lot of fond memories with various trips, dances and activities," Mrs Milne said.