Evesham Probus Club Meetings in 2024
PROBUS REPORT 05.12.2024
The speaker on 5th December was our member Dirk Doorduyn whose subject was “Working and Living in Zambia”. He was working in North East England when he saw an advertisement for a job in Zambia managing a new branch office for a steel company. He obtained an interview in London and was successful in being appointed to the job on a two year contract.
He started with a brief description of the landlocked country which lies to the north of Zimbabwe and also has borders with Mozambique, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. The country’s first President was Kenneth Kaunda after the country became independent in 1964. The job was located in Kitwe in the north. Dirk’s first task was getting there, which was no mean feat.
Starting from Rotterdam, laden with luggage both from England and his home country of the Netherlands and with a newly acquired Morris 1100 car, he and his wife Ellie and their baby daughter started by taking the “City of York”, an Ellerman Lines passenger/cargo vessel to Cape Town. From there he drove to Kitwe armed with a route map supplied by the South African AA, a journey of around seven or eight days’ travelling time, broken up by stays at various hotels in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
We saw various places en route such as Kimberley and its diamond mines, Bulawayo and Harare before arriving at the offices of Steel Supplies of Zambia Ltd. and the Doorduyns’ temporary house where they lived until their own house was finished. The garden of their new house was very barren but was duly planted and got plenty of water in the rainy season. On the factory site there was a siding for the reception of steel arriving by rail from Lobito in Angola via the Benguela Railway. The stockyard was also served by road from Dar es Salaam. The steel was offloaded by hand.
Dirk showed us some family shots, including their newborn baby son Alexander and Ellie helping out with recipes for the local Nutrition Group. There were plenty of places to visit, including the spectacular Victoria Falls known to locals as “Thundering Smoke”, the various game parks such as Wankie in Zimbabwe and holidays in neighbouring Malawi and Botswana. We saw shots of the familiar big game, in addition to hearing about a giant lizard and swarms of flying ants covering the house until flushed off with water. Dirk also brought some examples of the locally mined green mineral malachite he had purchased, some of which he had had fashioned into jewellery.
This was a fascinating glimpse of life in a very scenic part of the world and, while it is popular with tourists, to be able to see these sights with only a relatively short journey from your own home must have been quite an experience. Our thanks go to Dirk for this presentation.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 28.11.2024
Our speaker on 28th November was Ray Sturdy with a presentation on “The Real Home Guard.” Inevitably, he started by mentioning Dad’s Army and almost the entire audience indicated they had watched the BBC series which was broadcast from 1967-1976 and such is its popularity it continues to be shown on various tv channels today.
The whole of WW2 was covered from Munich in 1938 to VE Day in 1945. Following the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk in 1940, the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, announced the formation of a Local Defence Volunteer Force and those aged 17-64 were invited to volunteer to help defend the country as, the Nazis having overrun much of mainland Europe with such incredible speed, Britain was also under threat of invasion and occupation. One million did so immediately. Those soldiers who had served in WW1 were to be used to train them. They were to be given arms and uniforms although to start with they had to make do with armbands to identify them and wait for arms production to be stepped up to enable them to be equipped with rifles. (Troops evacuated from France were told to leave their arms behind.) When Chamberlain resigned and Churchill took over as PM, he was not impressed with the progress of this militia and ensured it was given more priority. It was renamed Home Guard which more accurately defined its role and many more men volunteered. Properties such as stately homes and their extensive grounds were requisitioned for training. A manual of guerilla training was produced which detailed how to carry out sabotage with such devices as ‘Molotov cocktails,’ also an annual pocket book. Rifle practice at ranges was stepped up.
As rivers upstream from their estuaries gave access to the interior the Home Guard manned patrol boats, they shot down enemy aircraft, acted as despatch riders on bicycles, spotted enemy aircraft movements and reported them to higher authority for further action, undertook coastal surveillance and manned searchlights. They were part of a combined effort with the ARP wardens, police, ambulance and fire services. The workload was increased by Germany’s decision to target British cities with the aim of undermining the morale of ordinary citizens, a policy which didn’t work and incidentally, by reducing the number of raids on British airfields helped the RAF eventually to gain air superiority. They manned hundreds of secret underground bases and “pill boxes.”
A British Resistance Organisation of assassins and saboteurs was formed by the Home Guard and developed into the SAS. The Home Guard reached a total of one and a quarter million men and when the war had reached the point when invasion was no longer a threat, the force was stood down at the end of 1944 . Each volunteer received a personal letter from the King and was entitled to a Defence Medal. Over 1200 volunteers had died in the course of their duties.
Having started with Dad’s Army, Ray finished with them as well by pointing out Thetford in Norfolk was where the series was filmed and there is a museum there to celebrate the fact, also a statue of Captain Mainwaring. Such was the universal popularity of the series in the country that the actors were presented to the Queen. All the stars have now died.
As most members remember the war, were brought up in the aftermath of the war or had fathers who served in the Home Guard this talk was of particular interest.
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Alan Smith
PROBUS LUNCH 21.11.2024
Our annual lunch was held on 21st November at the King’s Court Hotel, King’s Coughton, this time in the upstairs room, a far more satisfactory venue than the downstairs room used before. Our President Phil Bawn welcomed everybody: members, their partners/wives, guests and widows, including Roger Webb, the President of Broadway Probus. Roger reminded us that the Broadway Probus branch was founded by an Evesham Probus member.
We had an excellent meal with efficient and cheerful service and were then regaled with some golden oldies performed by the Harvington Ukulele Band.
Our hard-working Secretary, Christian Lang was thanked by the MC, our Vice-President Peter Marshall, for organising the event which was most enjoyable.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 14.11.2024
Our speaker on 14th November was Ann Ferrers whose subject was the memorable aircraft and personalities of World War 1. Her interest in aviation started with Biggles and a visit to the Farnborough Air Show. She is now a balloonist which she described as a controlled accident.
Starting at the dawn of powered flight with the Wright brothers in 1903 and Blériot’s Cross-Channel flight in 1909, the first use of aircraft in warfare was in the Italian-Turkish war in 1911-2 when they were used as spotter planes.
Ann ran through the various aircraft types used in WW1, the Maurice Farman Shorthorn of 1914, the DH2 with pusher propeller, the 2-seat RAE FE2B of 1915 which carried a navigator who looked out over the side, the Fokker Eindecker monoplane and the Avro 504K 2-seat trainer, a very long-lived aircraft.
Of 14,000 aircrew killed in WW1 8000 died in training accidents. Life expectancy was three weeks.
Continuing with the various aircraft used, the Sopwith Camel was difficult to fly but had a ceiling of 19,000 ft., the BAE SE5A which was easy to fly and the Bristol Fighter, the most successful of the planes used during WW1.We heard the soundtrack of its Rolls Royce Falcon 111 engine which gave it a speed of 123 mph. Other types were the Nieuport 27 and the Albatross 111.
Pilots suffered from hearing problems because of the decibel levels. Bombs were manually dropped overboard. Pilots had eight layers of clothing because of the freezing altitude, but had no parachutes, although the Germans did develop one towards the end of the war.
Turning now to the personalities of WW1, probably the most famous was Baron von Richthofen who is credited with 80 kills, flying his red Fokker Triplane and the Albatross111. His fighter wing was known as Richthofen’s Flying Circus. He was shot down in 1918 by a Canadian pilot flying a Sopwith Camel. Keith Park, a New Zealander was a pilot in WW 1 and also served in WW2 when he was responsible for the Battle of Britain operations. He retired as Air Chief Marshall in 1946. Other aces in WW1 were Albert Bell who died aged 21 having achieved 61 kills, Ed (Mick) Mannock an Irishman who had 41 kills, James McCudden with 57 kills who was killed in 1918 when his plane’s engine misfired on take-off. Two others who survived the war were René Fonck (French) with at least 75 kills and Eddie Rickenbacker (US) with 27 kills.
All the air operations in WW1 were undertaken by the Royal Flying Corps but it became the Royal Air Force on 1st April 1918. One of the effects of WW1 was the rapid development of warplanes and indeed all conflicts are noted for the acceleration of improvements in technology. The aircraft used over a hundred years ago now look incredibly flimsy but it was interesting to note that several obsolete types of the interwar period survived to fight in WW2.
Ann’s talk was of particular interest to the several members who served in the RAF but also appealed to all members who probably know more about WW2 than the air operations in WW1, reports of that war usually being dominated by the appalling casualties in the trenches.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 07.11.2024
On 7th November our member James Love gave one of his thought-provoking talks in an endeavour to get us to think about world problems. This one had the intriguing title of “A personal view - TED Talk”. The latter turned out to be a video of a lecture by American Professor Diamond on the possible collapse of society. TED is a North American media organisation posting international talks online to promote “ideas worth spreading”.
I have summarised James’s personal opinions of the topics raised in the lecture and if you don’t think any of them are being addressed other than by pious expressions of intent at international conferences, you ought to be worried!
The impact on the environment of climate change, the relationships between friendly neighbours and hostile societies needs addressing to ensure that solutions are sustainable. We need to establish why societies fail to see all the issues and if they do, why they aren’t tackled? If they are tackled why aren’t they successful? The elite can insulate themselves (in the short term) to do what is good for them but bad for society as a whole. There is a conflict between strongly held values which have been good in some circumstances but not in others. Societies need to deliver to their population the following: - water, food, health, education, income/work, peace and justice, political voice, social equity, gender equality, housing, energy, security. The environmental issues addressed need to be sustainable e.g. in respect of ocean acidification, climate change, chemical, microplastic and air pollution, ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss, use of fertiliser and profligate use of fresh water and land. The only unlimited resources are salt water, energy from the sun, time and information/knowledge.
The pursuit of growth is not a solution as it is unsustainable and this is fundamental in a democratic society as governments can only pursue policies which are acceptable to the mainstream population at any given time, James finished with the startling conclusion that culture/humanity is heading for a collapse in around forty years’ time unless everyone accepts these issues are existential threats to be effectively addressed and all (including the elite) share the pain.
So far as the last point is concerned I’m sure everyone will have their own opinion of the likelihood of this happening.
Many other disturbing topics were mentioned by James, including the unequal distribution of wealth and the ability of the elite to evade taxes, which is getting worse. A dramatic scenario is unfolding in America where some of its population consider there to be a real possibility of civil war and that dates from before the recent Presidential election. The underlying problems are inequality, massive decline of trust in the legal system, the hyper-partisan duopoly between two political parties who concentrate on electoral victory rather than plan for the future and a decrepit and dysfunctional constitution that is nonetheless worshipped as a religious document, but which is quite unsuited to a highly developed 21st century country, a prime example being the gun laws. The right to bear arms may well have been appropriate in the 18th Century at the time the constitution was drafted but has long been outdated. The dominance of two major parties is not so pronounced in Britain but the difficulty in a democratic society is devising a system which fairly represents public opinion and does not result in a government elected by a minority of voters as happens in Britain and which tends to undermine confidence in the system.
Space precludes recording all the aspects raised but there is probably enough here to depress you. Our thanks go to James for his cogent presentation and giving us a lot of food for thought.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 31.10.2024
On 31st October our President took us to Switzerland, a country which many members have visited. Phil won a competition when working for Hoover, the prize being a holiday in Chateau Gütsch, an impressive hotel overlooking Lake Lucerne, which has had many famous visitors including Queen Victoria who rode up to it by mule. As an extension to the holiday, he and Doreen stayed with a couple of Swiss friends he met at Silverstone when he was secretary of the Austin Healey owners’ club.
The Swiss couple had bought a derelict wooden farmworker’s cottage and renovated it. They toured in two Austin Healeys as it is, of course, a two-seat sports car. Phil explained Switzerland is a neutral country but has conscription and a period of national service is required every year. Rifles and ammunition can be kept at home by conscripts.
Members were asked about the principal items the country is famous for - not only cuckoo clocks but sophisticated clocks and watches. Swatch is the largest producer of watches, owning 18 brands. Also mentioned were Emmenthal cheese, Swiss rolls and the Swiss Army Knife. (This selection probably doesn’t do justice to the country!) Tourism is a major activity which was pioneered by the English. We also learned that the international letters identifying Swiss vehicles, CH, stands for Confederation Helvetica, based on the Roman name for the country, and that the Swiss flag is unique as it is the only one in the world to be square.
We had a quick tour of some of the places Phil visited, starting with the capital Bern with its Zytglogge, a complicated astronomical clock with revolving figures and its wooden bridge. Lucerne has a similar wooden bridge and venerable paddle steamers on the lake. Like all Swiss towns they are situated in spectacular scenery. Mount Pilatus is near Lucerne, reached by cable car and rack railway.
Negotiating mountain passes in a British sports car must have been a memorable experience. Our thanks go to Phil for this presentation.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 24.10.2024
Topic – Local Police Services​
Today’s talk was by Luke Harris, a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) based in Evesham. Rather than making a formal presentation Luke asked members to participate in a Q&A session which proved very lively.
Recognising the different format of this talk these notes will summarise some of the main points raised.
First of all, what is a PCSO?
It is a full-time civilian job but in uniform, liaising with the local population without powers of arrest and in some ways, it replicates the role of the “bobby on the beat”
Evesham and the local area of Pershore and Wychavon have a police force of 50 which is currently fully manned.
Special Constables are different to PCSOs in having powers of arrest, being sworn in and are volunteers operating flexibly.
Citizen’s arrest remains a legal category but Luke urged anyone considering this to proceed with upmost caution to avoid possible injury.
Evesham’s Police Station on Abbey Road is unmanned in terms of a formal reception desk but we were assured that at all times a policeperson would be there if a member of the public was in need.
The Public’s view of the Police and how that is influenced by the media formed a contentious topic with members having a range of views but it was generally accepted that the image and respect for the police needed to be improved by the whole population.
It was good to hear that action was being taken on electric scooters which were causing increasing problems on roads and pavements. Two scooters had recently been confiscated in the town and more would be in the coming weeks.
Evesham is regarded as a relatively peaceful town with a low crime level but due to the compact nature of the town any crimes were quickly broadcast across the community perhaps leading to a perception of the problem being greater than it is.
The extent of drug-based crimes was a concern and the police are taking action but those arrested are quickly replaced by others presenting an ongoing problem.
Recent problems in Port Street were mentioned but without detail of the action being taken by Police which is in the process of being formalised.
The affect that highlighted problems at the Metropolitan Police was raised as these concerns were tainting the force right across the country. Most Police Officers are hardworking honest persons just wanting to do a good job and protect the public. The actions of a minority should not cloud this appreciation.
Luke answered many questions from members with honesty and good humour which was much appreciated by all. He has applied to become a PC and we all wish him well in his future police career.
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
PROBUS TALK 17.10.2024
Bill Underwood was our speaker on 17th October and his subject “An interesting childhood” certainly lived up to expectations. He was born in 1932 and his talk covered the period to 1946.
He lived in the village of Dibden Purlieu, Hampshire, in the New Forest which was made a hunting area by William the Conqueror in 1089. It partly consists of stretches of open heathland which may have been the result of felling of oaks for shipbuilding at nearby Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River (2000 trees needed to build one warship in Tudor times). The forest is home to wild ponies which managed to open the gate of their garden and eat the vegetables his father grew. The forest contains the Rufus Stone which commemorates the death while hunting of King William II in 1100. Bill suggested his ashes might be scattered there as he would then have a memorial!
Bill’s father was a Sales Manager for Hotpoint. His grandparents were entertainers touring the country which meant his mother attended a different school every week. His parents’ house was rented and had a boiler for heating water, a washing machine, telephone and a car, so for a village it was a very sophisticated lifestyle. Bill still remembers the names of the people who ran the village shops and the dairy farm where he helped out. His grandfather came to live with the family and found a child’s bike in the forest which gave Bill his freedom to explore the area. He was even allowed to join in beating out forest fires.
Shopping expeditions to Southampton were a great excitement, involving travel to Hythe and catching the ferry up Southampton Water past all the liners, including the Queen Mary, as well as flying boats. In the town were double deck trams and single deck trams which passed under an arch in Bargate (but only in one direction). Southampton also hosted the Empire Air Race and the Schneider Trophy races for seaplanes. The town was the home of Supermarine where Spitfires were built. Bill showed two local railways, the venerable electric railway which still operates on Hythe Pier and the narrow-gauge line serving RAF Calshot, the steam locomotive from which (now named Douglas) can be seen in service on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales.
In 1938 the anticipated war with Germany was marked by various measures such as digging trenches for anti-landing defences. Bill’s father joined the Auxiliary Fire Service so Bill was able to ride on a fire engine. Air raid shelters appeared in the village and were certainly needed as in September 1941 Southampton suffered the start of an intensive blitz. During this period his mother gave birth to twins who were christened in the village church which at that time had no roof, thanks to the Luftwaffe.
With the decline in the sale of domestic appliances during the war his father was transferred to Ipswich and so the family moved to a house on a hill in the town under which was the tunnel giving the railway access to the station. Bill was able to spot very different locomotives there on trains from Liverpool Street and East Anglia as well as trolleybuses in the town. There was also a steam tram engine shunting the docks.
Bill attended the Grammar School which had an unheated swimming pool. The number of air bases in the area meant there were plenty of airmen in town, including Americans from whom children begged gum. In common with the south coast all local beaches were out of bounds during the war, but there was open air theatre laid on in the park. One unusual sight was smoke generating lorries which were used for laying a smoke screen over the docks to deter air raids. They were manned by the Non-Combatant Corps (conscientious objectors). One job Bill used to do was earn a half-crown for operating the bellows for a church organ. After the war it was possible to visit the nearby seaside resort of Felixstowe which also had an RAF flying boat base. His father then got his job back and the family moved back to Hampshire, this time to Ringwood.
At this point Bill’s story ended after a fascinating insight into life in the thirties and during the war. No doubt older members compared his experience with their own.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 10.10.2024​
Our speaker was fellow member Mr John Gibbs who gave a talk on his extended visit to Norway that covered more than just the midnight sun but many of the features and history of this interesting country. John and his wife Janet were travelling by motor caravan and his presentation included many photographs of the sites they had visited en-route.
They travelled by ferry, firstly to the Netherlands then through Germany to Denmark and onto Gothenburg and finally Oslo and northern Norway. Their route took in some interesting features such as the scenic railway at Flam and the Uruson Bridge which is a 16 km direct link between Denmark and Sweden, opened in 2000. The bridge consists of both a bridge, a tunnel and the artificial island Peberholmen. Combined it adds up to a total length of 15.9 km.
Their journey also took in the now famous Atlantic Highway which is a spectacular combination of bridges and islands providing a most scenic route for motorists along the switchback road formation.
Some of the recent history of Norway was also included in the talk. One of the most important being the 1939 Norwegian Campaign of the Nazis in World War II where Narvik was strategically placed being a source of iron ore. Churchill realized that the control of Narvik meant stopping most German imports of iron ore during the winter of 1940. This would be advantageous to the Allies, and it might help shorten the war. Equally as important, later in the war, German submarines and warships based there threatened the allied supply line to the Soviet Union.
The isolation of the Norwegians in the War was relieved to some extent by a Special Operations Executive lead plan where local fishermen manned vessels to provide a supply line to the country. This operation became known as the Shetland Taxi and acted as a lifeline for Norwegians escaping Nazi oppression and a highway for British saboteurs to help train, equip, and conduct irregular warfare operations with the Norwegian commandos.
Norway due to the impressive range of mountains up to 1500m high and lakes up to 1300m deep has over 1200 tunnels and bridges to provide access across the country and into the Artic Circle and the northern regions. The harshness of Norwegian life and the weather they have to withstand is illustrated by children being tied to a building to prevent being blown away!
An interesting visual talk that was appreciated by members.
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
Visit report – Morgan Motors, Malvern 03.10.2024
Members and their family and friends enjoyed a pleasant and instructive visit to the Morgan Motors Manufacturing Company at Malvern.
Morgan was founded in 1910 by Henry Morgan and now employs around 220 people. They produce 850 cars per year, all assembled by hand and there is a sizeable waiting list for the vehicles which reached 10 years at one point.
Morgan cars are unusual in that wood has been used in their construction for over a century, and is still used today for framing the body shell in association with a meticulously accurate bonded aluminium chassis.
Morgan’s first cars were all 3 wheelers and around 1000 had been produced by WW11 Morgan's first four-wheeler came in 1935 and today a mixture of 3- and 4-wheel cars are still produced. Many trim and design features are able to be selected by the customer who often has the chance to see his vehicle under construction and personalise it as desired.
Our tour, led by extremely knowledgeable guides, took us into every part of the production process, the skill and dedication of the workforce was good to see from crafting by hand the curves and louvres required on a metal bonnet to the bending and laminating of the wooden frame to match the aluminium template. Every part has to fit perfectly before it can pass onto the next stage.
Engines and transmission sub-assemblies purchased from BMW for the 4-wheel cars and Ford for the 3 wheelers are fitted into the frame and chassis of each vehicle at the Morgan factory. The end result being some extremely rapid vehicles combining modern technology within the traditional British Sports car shape and feel valued by their customers.
After an extensive and detailed tour, we were ready for some refreshment at the café in the Morgan experience centre and a stroll around the shop and museum. Finally finishing in the Showroom to view the end result of all the skill and dedication we had seen on the tour.
Most impressive!
Bob Turner
PROBUS TALK 26.09.2024
In place of the scheduled talk by Christian Lang who is recovering from an eye injury Richard Johnson stepped in with a talk entitled “Where there’s a will there’s a way”.
As a retired solicitor he was well qualified to give us advice on the subject. He started with the purpose of a will which is to give certainty. It is a legal document defining your wishes and requires executors (at least two), who can be solicitors, to act in a particular way. Executors can be any adult in whom you have confidence. The will defines your estate which comprises all your assets. It is essential that the executors are advised of where the will is kept, which can be at a solicitor’s office. If there is a Trust, the Trustees look after funds intended for minors, for example. Grant of probate is the legal authority and there are complicated forms to be filled in. The will is checked to ensure it has not been tampered with, e.g. by additions. The will itemises specific legacies such as items of jewellery.
It is desirable to review your will regularly. If it is not right it can be deemed invalid. It needs to be signed by the person making it and two witnesses who must all be present at the same time. If there is doubt about the writer of the will’s mental capacity it must be submitted to a doctor for certification. There is no compulsion to register wills. It there is no will or it is missing it is known as intestacy and statute sets out the sequence of inheritance.
A codicil is an amendment to the will to keep it updated and will need to the witnessed in the same way as the will itself. If there are significant alterations it is better to rewrite the will. The principle is to make it clear. To prove title, you need to register property with the Land Registry which costs £3. You can check whether there are any charges or mortgages registered on the property.
Under an Act of 2007 the Powers of Attorney are laid down. it is recommended that two people are appointed to act on your behalf. The two principal duties are your health and welfare, care of your property and financial affairs. There is an £82 fee to pay to the Office of Public Guardian. If you are unsure, consult a solicitor.
This talk was of great interest to members as you would expect, and Richard fielded a lot of questions. Our president summed it up by saying it was probably the most useful talk we had heard.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 19.09.2024
On 19th September Ben Rees from Vale Heritage Trust gave us a fast-paced presentation of the activities of the Trust, founded in 1999, which aims to preserve the rural beauty of the Vale with its rich history of market gardening, fruit and vegetable production and flowers. It currently looks after 370 acres at 19 sites across the Vale of Evesham which, we were told, has no defined boundary. Many of the tenant farmers held land under the Evesham Custom which gave them security of tenure.
The Trust’s first acquisition was Hampton Orchard in 2002 and publicity for its work was greatly helped by Alastair McGowan’s participation. Under the Landfill Communities Fund a 20-year partnership between the Trust and Severn Waste Services was set up in 2004, one of three local Trusts to benefit from the Fund. The scale of reduction of the orchards nationally is about 60% but 85% in Worcestershire and the blossom for which the Vale is famous is fast disappearing.
The Trust has nine trustees and organises the work of volunteers who are of all ages. Ben ran through the variety of activities undertaken to manage orchards - pruning and fencing grafting, planting the 32 varieties of Worcestershire apple trees, 20 varieties of local trees, managing flood plain meadows, dry meadows, species rich grassland only 1% of which remain, medieval ridge and furrow fields, scrub and hedgerows, survey work of boxes for barn owls and tawny owls, geophysical surveys which have revealed the sites of round huts from the Iron Age and the hovels (‘ovels) used by the market gardeners, 170 of which survive. He also showed us the various problems encountered in fruit growing - the fungus known as witches broom affecting damson trees and the pear leaf gall rust, but the mistletoe is good for wildlife.
There is now much more public awareness of the problems affecting the environment and the involvement of schools aids this process. The Trust always welcomes Friends and volunteers – full details can be found on the Trust’s website, also details of the various local sites managed by the Trust, such as Hipton Hill orchard near Norton, Gore Meadows, Fladbury and Littleton Meadows.
The Trust is to be congratulated for the work it does. Ben’s passion for the cause was very evident and we thank him for enlightening us by such a comprehensive presentation, showing us how the Trust is preserving what could so easily be lost altogether.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 12.09.2024
On 12th September we had a presentation by Merleen Watson, a volunteer for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. It was an open meeting and was well attended by partners.
Merleen is herself profoundly deaf. She explained that the effort involved in concentration in trying to hear particularly when socialising is exhausting and having a dog stopped her from feeling lonely and helped her to re-connect. Deafness is invisible whereas a stick and wheelchair is an obvious sign of a disability. Hearing dogs have burgundy coats. Sign language is only used by 15% of deaf people. Interestingly, cochlear implants have poor sound quality. There are five centres where tests are carried out. Merleen failed the test by two points and is grateful as once implanted the process is irreversible.
Only small dogs are used for the deaf such as poodles and spaniels, also some labradors. Some are dual purpose for both blind and deaf people. They are brought up by “midwives” from birth and after eight weeks transfer to a new owner for training every fortnight until 18 months old. A hall is hired for the training attended by several dogs. Each puppy has to achieve four stars and can only fail once. Training is fun and the dogs are taken everywhere to experience as many situations and noises as possible – sirens, fire engines, trains, buses, supermarkets etc. This way problems are identified. Training with children starts at age seven. Walks are undertaken with two leads as children under 14 are not permitted to be in control of dogs on the public highway. Sleeping at night can be scary for deaf children but a dog in the bedroom solves the problem.
Merleen and her husband Paul then introduced their hearing dog Zyla who had replaced their previous dog Grace. She is a cocker spaniel, 4 ½ years old who took two years to train. We had a demonstration of her reaction to various noises such as fire alarm, mobile phone ringing tone, alarm clock etc. such as going to it and looking directly at it or taking you to it. In response to an emergency noise, she drops to the floor in front of you.
Merleen made a request for volunteers, for sponsorship of a puppy or simply to pass on the message of the talk being available to other groups. The reason you are hearing this talk is because my wife heard it at WI. It is possible to tour the training centre at Saunderton in Buckinghamshire. Hearing Link Services helps people with hearing loss which affects 1 in 5 people in the UK. A recent study found that 1 in 3 people have significant hearing loss in one ear. Hearing loss may lead to dementia and strokes. It is not just a problem for older people but affects the 15-40 generation through constant exposure to loud music. It was stressed that communication is essential to human relations.
This was a most inspiring talk, and we are grateful to Merleen and Paul for giving it. Their dedication to the cause of improving hearing was very evident.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 05.09.2024
The speaker on 5th September was our member Rob Gorman with Part 3 of his life story, “the lad from Staffordshire”. As the previous episodes were some time ago he started with a brief résumé of his early life and his career in accountancy with posts in different firms around the country which involved a lot of foreign travel. In each place he lived he joined the local music/operatic society and participated in many productions of musicals and operas. His wife Gail, a professional dancer shared this interest. He retired from his career in 2011 but took a job with a college in Hereford, having moved to Evesham
In 2012 Rob started a second career as a supporting artist with BBC Wales in Pobol y Cwm. Jobs such as this are obtained through agencies who hold profiles, outline procedures and quote rates for the job. He ran through the many TV series he has appeared in, some of which involved a minor speaking part such as the Speaker in Parliament in Poldark. Each production company has its own procedures, and many include local onsite locations such as Sezincote House (Poldark) and Blockley (Father Brown), as well as the former Shrewsbury Prison. BBC Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff is where Casualty is filmed and has it own “village” for street scenes. Rob gave us some fascinating details about the filming process such as his makeup for His Dark Materials took two hours. Each actor has to be inspected after every break to ensure their appearance, makeup and costumes are precisely the same.
The money for supporting artists is not much and travelling is not paid for but there still seems to be a supply of people willing to do the job. Rob still does it and so does Gail.
This was yet another example of the varied lives of our members and our thanks go to Rob for his presentation. He answered a number of questions which is always an indication of members’ interest in the subject.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 29.08.2024
Our secretary Christian Lang was the speaker on 29th August, asking “Can You Keep a Secret”? It was on the subject of codes, the principal method of ensuring that your message reached only its intended recipient.
The Navy used flags and semaphores to convey messages and later Morse Code. Mary Queen of Scots invented her own code which was distributed to everybody she wrote to. This principle of course applied to all codes. Probably the most famous encoding device was the Enigma machine which was incredibly complex and needed another electro-mechanical machine to be able to analyse the mass of information fed into it. This went by the name of a bombe, derived from the Polish bomba.
There were several simple coding systems – The Altbash cipher where the first letter of the alphabet is exchanged with the last and so on; the Caesar Shift, a mono-alphabetic substitution cipher and the far more difficult predictive code, which relies on brain power but using a simple process based on the most common words such as ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘of’, etc. and vowels. Christian gave us an example to decipher which we did with varying degrees of success. These ciphers are restricted to the 26 letters of the alphabet but the polyalphabetic cipher is a much more complicated substitution cipher which uses a subset of Caesar shift options but depends on the recipient knowing which sequence to use. One of the most successful versions was known as the Vigenère cipher, used by the diplomatic service across Europe for many years.
The importance of breaking the substitution code used by Mary Queen of Scots was proved by the discovery in 1586 of the Babington Plot by Queen Elizabeth 1’s spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham who had obtained the key to the code by means of his double agents. It revealed a plot to assassinate the Protestant Queen Elizabeth and place the Roman Catholic Mary on the throne. Mary’s agreement to the plan was the last letter she wrote as the incriminating evidence led to her execution. The ultimate intention was to facilitate the invasion of England by Philip II of Spain and thereby restore the country to Catholicism. To explain the significance of Mary Queen of Scots, Christian produced a detailed “family tree” showing Henry VII’s position in relation to the Houses of York and Lancaster, the House of Tudor and successive monarchs up to our present King. Had Mary Queen of Scots been Queen of England the whole succession would have been different and quite possibly the country’s history would also have been different. An interesting “what if…. ?”
To conclude, Christian produced a historic family document, part of which had never been opened and he showed a video demonstrating how such documents were “locked” so that they could not be opened without it being evident that they had been tampered with. It was a fascinating conclusion to a unique and thought-provoking presentation.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 22.08.2024
On 22nd August we had the pleasure of welcoming back Dr. Kate Bellamy, the neuroscientist, who has been a regular and popular speaker at our meetings for some years. The complexities of the brain make it a difficult subject to condense comprehensibly to laymen but by involving her audience she manages it admirably.
Her talk was one she has given before but as she shrewdly stated, those who heard it will have forgotten all about it. The subject was the neuroscience of sleep and the mark of a good speaker was that nobody went to sleep!
Kate’s first point was about a wonder drug that reduced the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, the risk of cancer, the onset of dementia, etc. It was, of course, getting the right amount of sleep, ideally between seven and nine hours. When we were an agricultural society our sleep pattern was determined by the length of the day. We went to sleep when it got dark and got up when it became light. If work was intense, such as at harvest time, we had a sleep after lunch. The industrial revolution altered that as machines had to be manned continuously and shift work day and night became prevalent. Siestas were not possible.
Kate explained Circadian rhythms which determine the pattern of sleep and the fact that the optic nerve is sensitive to light even when the eyelids are closed. Artificial lights contradict the decline of natural light, and it is therefore essential for the bedroom to be kept as dark as possible. Caffeine keeps you awake and the body takes a long time to get rid of it. Insomnia is caused by bad habits. Sleep recharges the batteries. Snoring is very bad for your health.
Memory consolidation takes place in the hippocampus (Kate likened it to a memory stick). Young people remember 40% more than older people. Women are more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease than men because they are carers. Shorter sleep means shorter life. Sleep goes in 90-minute cycles. Several of the audience suffer from the need to go the toilet in the night and Kate suggested these coincided with the sleep cycle and therefore did not impair the quality of sleep, unless the frequency was more than four or five times, in which case you should consult your GP. Medication to help you sleep is no longer recommended as it is addictive. If you cannot sleep because something is on your mind you should get up, leave the bedroom and do something, such as reading, writing or watch television until you feel drowsy when you can return to bed.
I have only summarised a few of the points made in the talk but we were able to take away a leaflet, based on M. Walker’s book “Why We Sleep” which gives twelve points of advice for a good night’s sleep.
This was Kate’s last talk before she emigrates to France and we are grateful that she was persuaded to come again as her previous visit was due to be her last. She will be missed.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 15.08.2024
Our member Richard Johnson was the speaker on 15th August, his subject being “Some Interesting Legal Cases.” He concentrated on two complicated international cases. I had no idea solicitors led such exciting lives!
Richard started by outlining his six years’ training – three years at Birmingham University to obtain his law degree, one year at a college of law and two years articles. He was then admitted as a solicitor at a ceremony at the Law Society in London. Starting with civil litigation, he then started his own firm Carvill & Johnson which is still in business in Birmingham. The principal work was conveyancing, civil litigation, personal injury claims, companies suing each other, wills and trusts, criminal matters, family, divorce and children, care orders for children if parents were incapable of looking after them etc. Solicitors dealt with a variety of cases. Now the work is more specialised. Solicitors attend magistrates’ courts, county courts, family courts and tribunals and instruct barristers in higher courts. The firm dealt with little criminal or family business.
The first case quoted by Richard involved Export of Goods Control legislation which determined where and what can be exported in order to obtain a licence from the Department of Trade & Industry. This 1984 case involved a businessman arrested in the USA for violating export control legislation in respect of second and third generation electronic goods. Rather than face a court hearing he returned to the UK. As there was no extradition treaty with the USA he was deemed to be a Fugitive from Justice and put on the Denials List for twenty years. In the UK he was charged with a breach of export control legislation but as the Customs & Excise could not produce an expert witness the judge dismissed the case. When the defendant was in Rome he was imprisoned as extradition proceedings were set up by the US Customs & Excise and he was flown to the USA and tried in Boston. Richard flew to Boston to instruct a lawyer, the defendant having entered a guilty plea. He was fined $20,000 and still remained on the Denials List which was disruptive to his business. He returned to the UK and applied to be removed from the Denials List. The penalty was reduced to seven years but a higher court reinstated the 20 year ban.
The second case involved a West German nicknamed the Techno-Bandit. In 1987 he was extradited to the USA and arrested for having a false passport. He applied for leave to appeal to the House of Lords, then the highest legal authority (now the Supreme Court). The hearing found there was no conflict between EU law and the extradition treaty with the USA and he was therefore sent to the USA where he was imprisoned in Los Angeles. Richard received a call from him to defend him but a later call was his last as he had attempted to escape by helicopter. This landed and he boarded but it flew off only to return to the prison grounds as, unsurprisingly, the authorities had discovered the plan.
In answer to a question about the severe reduction in legal aid, Richard said it was now so low it was no longer profitable for solicitors to take on such cases, which means the defendant has either to forego legal representation and try to conduct his own case or drop the case. In short, unless you have plenty of money you are denied justice which, in a democracy and the British tradition of fair play is patently unjust.
This was a fascinating and revealing presentation of how complicated some legal cases can be and our thanks go to Richard.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 08.08.2024
On 8th August we had a presentation from Nicholas Wheatley on the subject of funeral trains. He started with headstones and the fact that many commemorated people who had died elsewhere, thereby posing the question, how did they get there? When the railways were the principal form of transport, the answer was by train, if it was more than a local journey. With the increase in population in Victorian times churchyards became full and in major centres of population such as London it was necessary to build large cemeteries. Nicholas pointed out that cremation did not become widespread until after WW2. Some London cemeteries are famous, such as Highgate and Kensal Green, but another option was Brookwood, near Woking in Surrey where the London Necropolis Co. bought a large plot of heathland to be laid out as a cemetery. A private railway was built with separate stations for non-conformists and Anglicans, linked to the London & South Western Railway main line. The LSWR operated the line with through trains from Necropolis Station adjacent to Waterloo. Starting in 1854 it ceased abruptly in 1941 when Necropolis station was bombed.
Funeral trains were not cheap so were the preserve of the middle and upper classes. Of course, national celebrities and royalty were accorded lavish funeral trains. Featured were Churchill’s in 1965 from Waterloo to Hanborough for his burial at nearby Bladon. The first royal funeral train was for Princess Sophie of Gloucester who died at Blackheath in SE London in 1844 and whose body was transported via Paddington to Slough for burial at Windsor. The Duke of Wellington died at Walmer Castle in Kent in 1852. Queen Victoria insisted that he be afforded a state funeral and burial at St. Paul’s Cathedral. A funeral train ran from Deal to Bricklayers Arms station in London. Gladstone died in 1898 at his home at Hawarden in North Wales and a train to Euston was laid on for his state funeral. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House, Isle of Wight in 1901. Her funeral train ran from Gosport to Victoria and because it was delayed it ran at up to 80mph to regain time. She would not have been amused as she had always insisted the Royal Train did not exceed 40mph by day, 30 mph at night. A cortege then transferred the coffin to Paddington for the final journey to Windsor. Other notable funeral trains were mentioned such as those for Nurse Cavell and the Unknown Warrior in 1919 and the 48 victims (many unidentified) of the 1930 R101 airship disaster at Beauvais, France who were buried at Cardington in Bedfordshire, where the airship was built. In this case the funeral train ran from Euston to Bedford St. Johns.
The final funeral train for a monarch was in 1952 when George VI died at Sandringham and his body was carried to London from Wolferton in Norfolk behind the new BR standard locomotive Britannia and then from Paddington to Windsor behind the Castle class locomotive Windsor Castle. The last funeral train for a royal was for Lord Mountbatten in 1979, running from Waterloo to Romsey where he was buried in the Abbey, near his home of Broadlands. This included a rare photograph of the coffin being unloaded at Romsey station, probably taken by the funeral directors as the press and public are excluded from such occasions. After the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, a Royal Train was laid on from Euston to Long Buckby for Royal and other principal guests to attend the private burial at Althorp Estate in Northants. In 1988 BR announced it would no longer carry coffins, but an exception was made for the RMT union leader Jimmy Knapp who died in London and was carried back to his home town of Kilmarnock, Scotland.
Finally, Nicholas showed us several heritage railways who have provided funeral trains as a tribute to those people who have volunteered on the railway including our local line, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, where he himself is a volunteer.
This was an excellent presentation on a subject most of us have probably never even thought about, but Nicholas has written a book about it. In thanking the speaker our President, Phil Bawn, described it as the probably the most unusual subject covered in a talk at Probus.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 25.07.2024
Our speaker on 25th July was our member Steve Sanders who went back sixty years to when he was a navigator in the RAF, flying on Canberras out of Akrotiri, Cyprus.
In 1964 he was offered a 3-4 week tour of the Middle East taking the Air Attaché in Tehran round his area of responsibility in his personal aircraft, a de Havilland Devon (military version of the Dove). The Middle East was very different sixty years ago. Iran was ruled by the Shah who was an ally of the West until widespread opposition from the conservative Moslem population forced him to flee to the USA. When the USA refused to send him back to Iran 52 Americans were held captive and relations between Iran and the West have never recovered.
Steve was familiar with the Imperial Iranian Air Force having undertaken exercises with them as part of the Cold War military alliance CENTO (Baghdad Pact), comprising Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and the UK. Formed in1955, it was dissolved in 1979. The Air Attaché, Group Captain Owen, was the pilot. The Devon was not equipped with navigational aids so maps were necessary as flying had to done by sight. Diplomatic clearance was obtained from all countries to be visited, except Afghanistan
The trip started by flying in a Hastings to Mehrabad, Tehran. The first leg of the tour (700 miles) was to Birjand on the Afghan border, where the party was accommodated for two days at the house of the Iranian PM at Birjand where they enjoyed VIP treatment. A visit to a carpet factory where child labour was employed was one notable visit.
Legs 2/3 (300/700 miles) were to Karachi, with a refuelling stop in Zahedan, Pakistan, near the border with Iran and Afghanistan. The flight to Karachi skirted the mountains of southern Iran. The military airport was notable for having a1000 lb. bomb as its gate guardian.
Leg 4 (750 miles) was along the River Indus to Lahore, Pakistan’s second city and capital of the Punjab which suffered much under the Partition of 1947. The party stayed in a luxury hotel and Steve was able to explore the town. He also featured the incredible ceremony performed every day at the Wagah Gate between Lahore and Amritsar with soldiers from both sides of the border, which he witnessed a few years ago.
Leg 5 (350 miles) to New Delhi was not easy to organise at the time in view of the poor relations between Pakistan and India. Having left early, the party was collected by the British Embassy in time for breakfast. They stayed for three days with a car at their disposal to see the sights, including the Taj Mahal. Taken to a polo match Steve noticed a glider flying over, absented himself and managed to cadge a lift, thereby seeing the match from 1000 ft.
Leg 6 (just under two hours’ flight), was to Jodhpur, the capital of Rajasthan, notable for its magnificent fort. Yet again they enjoyed VIP treatment at a Government house. (Steve thanked the British taxpayers for their generosity.)
Legs 7, 8 and 9 marked the beginning of the return to the starting point which meant revisiting Karachi, then heading west, tracking the coast of India, Pakistan and Iran.
Refuelling took place in Karachi and Jiwani on the Gulf of Oman on the Pakistan border with Iran. The day finished in Banda Abbas on the southern coast of Iran on the Persian Gulf, occupying a strategic position on the Strait of Hormuz, through which all tankers to and from the Gulf ports have to pass. If you want to cause trouble, this is the place to achieve it. Refuelling was a problem, solved by funnels and tins of aviation spirit.
Leg 10 was south to Sharjah, the base for the Trucial Oman Scouts who had 1324 men, including 38 British officers and 85 other ranks. Their main role was to maintain order in the area and ensure the developing oil facilities were defended. The force no longer exists. The party was wined and dined by the Hunter squadron based there. The RAF base closed in 1971. Steve recalled that when he first flew into Sharjah in a Meteor there was no road to Dubai, just oil on the sand and the aerial photos showed how little development had taken place.
Leg 11 was across the Persian Gulf to Bahrain where the party stayed for two days. Steve was based there in 2003 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Leaving Bahrain was a problem as Iran claimed the place so that the flight plan stated they were leaving from Dubai.
Leg 12 was back to Tehran with a refuelling stop in Abadan where fuel had to be funnelled in again. The trip ended on 16th February 1964 after a fortnight of flight planning, navigating by sight and visiting many interesting places – an unforgettable journey.
The trip was not yet finished as three days later another officer needed to return to Cyprus, so it was back to Beirut stopping two days in Baghdad and a stopover in Beirut. In Baghdad they had an interesting duck shoot on the Tigris opposite the Royal Palace where guns were trained on them as soon as they opened fire.
Leg 13 was from Beirut to Nicosia a 50-minute flight. From Nicosia to Akrotiri was by Sycamore helicopter, as it was too dangerous to drive.
Ending on a personal note, on his return Steve proposed to Anne and they were married at Akrotiri on 18th July 1964 so have just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. As married women were not allowed to remain in service at the time she reluctantly had to resign. Their honeymoon was spent in Beirut, described as a Parisian-style paradise.
This was a fascinating talk and demonstrated just how much the world has changed within our lifetime, particularly, of course, the Middle East. Our thanks go to Steve for his absorbing presentation.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 01.08.2024
Our speaker on 1st August was Mike Aggleton from Cheltenham Probus on the subject of Dorothy Parker, the American writer and critic, famous for her one-liners and acerbic wit. She was born Dorothy Rothschild in 1893 and died in 1967. Although born in New Jersey she was a true New Yorker.
She wrote short stories, was a theatre and book critic and wrote scripts for movies. In the 1920s she was regarded as the greatest wit since Oscar Wilde. She was outspoken as a child and was expelled from her Catholic convent school for describing the Immaculate Conception as “spontaneous combustion”. She wrote verse for Vanity Fair and Vogue. She was described as being “treacle sweet of tongue but vinegar witted”. One of her one-liners was “brevity is the soul of lingerie”.
She married Edward Parker in 1917. When PG Wodehouse left Vanity Fair in 1918 she replaced him. When reviewing the film “Little Women” her opinion of Katherine Hepburn’s acting was “that it ran the gamut of emotions from A to B”. She was fired from the job in 1920. Her column “The Constant Reader” in the New Yorker described Herman Melville as the greatest short story writer, yet for some reason AA Milne was the butt of unmitigated criticism, although he was a children’s writer. She separated from her husband and had several affairs, one of which resulted in pregnancy leading her to say “how like me to put all my eggs on into one bastard”. The couple were divorced in 1928.
In 1934 she remarried, to Alan Campbell, but retained the surname Parker. They moved to Hollywood. Her second husband died in 1947 and she remarried in 1950.
She had long been involved in left wing politics and civil rights which, in the McCarthy era, got her placed on the Hollywood blacklist. She also took to drinking. She got beyond witty to become cruel in her last years. Her third husband died of a drug overdose in 1963 and she herself died in 1967.
Mike gave us an entertaining talk, liberally laced with memorable quotes. He didn’t use one of my favourites which was when the laid-back US President Calvin Coolidge died, her response was “How did they tell?” Looking back over some of her minimal critical pieces it is difficult to understand how she kept her job. Her caustic witticisms will however live on. She wrote her own epitaph “Excuse my Dust”.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 18.07.2024
Our speaker on 18th July was Graham Coates with an idiosyncratic talk about “national security and the emperor’s new clothes”. He was at pains to point out that this was a personal account of his experiences and homespun philosophy, not a PowerPoint presentation.
Graham was 11 years old when the Berlin Wall was constructed, dividing not only the Russian Zone from the Allied Zones but cutting off the escape route from the rest of Eastern Europe to the West and freedom. The Iron Curtain, as Churchill named it, had been drawn across Europe. Graham visited Berlin with the youth club he belonged to and saw at first hand a parish divided by the wall, with family members on either side unable to visit each other. Graham recommended the film “Bridge of Spies”, starring Tom Hanks.
Although not performing well at school, Graham was accepted for a job at GCHQ, Cheltenham where he found himself amongst a lot of graduates. He was mystified as to why he was there and eventually found out that because he didn’t have the intellectual abilities of fellow workers that meant he was able to think of unorthodox solutions, “to think outside the box”. The Emperor’s New Clothes was interpreted as people holding untenable beliefs to conform with majority opinion, a trait pertinent to people living under despotic regimes where to step out of line was dangerous. To keep the country safe GCHQ never stops as the enemy is changing all the time. Despite the annexation of Crimea by Russia about which the world took little action (possibly because it had formerly belonged to Russia and many Russians lived there), the invasion of Ukraine saw more action although what happens next is very unclear, particularly if Trump becomes the next President of the USA.
Graham gave an account of how he helped people escape from East Germany. He left Berlin before the Wall started to come down in 1989, leading to collapse of the USSR and all the satellite states under Russian influence, an astonishingly quick process. He also pointed out that many of the officials who implemented the repressive policies under the Communist regime were still around just as many Nazis were after WW2. Discontent with the present situation and the way governments handle contentious issues has led to a resurgence of extreme right wing movements across Europe which is very worrying.
Graham’s homespun philosophy seemed to strike a chord with many members with remarks about the younger generation and whether they would be willing to fight for their country and whether the poverty which exists today with growth in food banks can be compared with the poverty of the past. He was confident that we had a collective wisdom because of our experience which was invaluable. I have to say my own experience at the end of my working life 25 years ago (which mirrored that of my contemporaries) was that experience was devalued because you were deemed to be resistant to change or was it that that young and thrusting managers did not want to be embarrassed by your superior knowledge?
One important point was that our past experience of what life was like should be written down and passed on to our grandchildren.
This most unusual talk gave us much food for thought
Alan Smith
Probus Talk 11.07.2024
This week’s talk was about computer hacking or more accurately how to prevent you and your phone, PC, tablet etc from being hacked.
It was presented by Mike Barbour who has been working as a police support volunteer with West Mercia police for several years concentrating on cyber fraud.
Rather alarmingly 50% of crime in the West Mercia area is cyber fraud and this pattern is repeated across the UK.1 in 15 of the population experienced fraud in 2022 and in 2023 but it is believed that only 1 in 7 of the crimes get reported. This results in a criminal activity that totals more than the NHS annual budget!
Trends in cyber-crime follow major world events, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza etc. One illustration is the rise in Romance fraud during CoVid, where innocent relationships are established on social media during lockdowns but gradually the contact moves the relationship onto a closer level eventually resulting in requests for transfer of money to the fraudster often totalling significant amounts.
Other areas where fraudsters are increasingly active are banking, all types of investments, property rentals as well as on WhatsApp and the ubiquitous email.
So how can we stop this onslaught?
Passwords, PIN numbers and fingerprints are essential to prevent any external access to sensitive data. Try not to use the same password for several programs and do not choose obvious words such as 1234password, date of birth, pet’s name etc.
Two stage verification involving email to confirm identity or provide a one-time password is becoming increasingly used and provides an enhanced level of security.
Do not get hustled by fraudsters to progress any contact you may encounter, take your time, talk to family and friends, think about what information is being communicated and to whom – the HMRC, banks and major companies will not have strange or unusual email addresses so always look at the sending address and if in doubt delete the message.
Several organisations provide the facility to report any cyber-crime encountered. Report actual or attempted fraud to Action Fraud – www.actionfraud.police.uk
(Tel 0300 123 2040) based in London
All Banks use the number 159 to connect directly with their fraud department.
Locally you can connect with West Mercia Police on a range of subjects on – www.neighbourhoodmatters.co.uk.
Members were quite intrigued about this volunteer liaison role with local police which is not widely known or appreciated. Perhaps more funding to promote this would help local communities and the police.
​
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
Probus Talk 04.07.2024
This week’s talk was about Cystic Fibrosis (CF) presented by Dr Ron Knight who had spent a career working on treatments for this debilitating condition.
CF was noticed many years ago due to one of the symptoms being a “salty kiss” most noticeable when kissing children. This was a result of a defective gene constraining the passage of water and salt from cells throughout the body.
It is an inherited condition that produces a sticky mucus that builds up in the lungs and digestive system resulting in lung infections and problems digesting food. It is normally diagnosed at birth with a simple heel prick test. You cannot catch it later in life.
CF results from faulty genes that prevent the normal function of the cells in the body blocking the ability for cells to allow salt and water to pass through the cell membrane resulting in sticky mucus and cells that block up the pathways throughout the body causing problems in the pancreas, lungs, liver and the digestive tract.
It is estimated that 1 in 25 people in the UK carries the faulty gene without knowing but this will only become apparent at childbirth; if both parents have this faulty gene, then there is a 25% chance of the baby inheriting CF. If only one parent has the faulty gene, then the baby might be a carrier but has no noticeable symptoms of the disease.
Treatment of CF has changed markedly since the 1960’s when physiotherapy and manipulation were applied rigorously to the patient. Antibiotics are now used to prevent chest infections, breathing techniques help to keep the lungs and airways clear and new drugs such as Ivacaftor that target the faulty gene itself are increasingly being used.
Frequently the pancreas is also affected making the digestion of food difficult which if untreated can lead to malnutrition.
For severe cases lung transplants and liver transplants are often considered.
Advances in gene editing techniques are potentially bringing a new dimension to the treatment of CF. Gene editing will allow the faulty gene to be corrected targeting the cause of the disease rather than treating the symptoms.
No longer is a diagnosis of CF a forewarning of an early death; it is a disease that causes many problems in the functioning of the body but there is the prospect now through gene editing to stop this disease before it causes major problems, allowing patients to lead a normal life.
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
PROBUS LUNCH 27.06.2024
Our annual summer lunch was held on 27th June at Kings Court Hotel, Kings Coughton, a venue we haven’t used for some years. As usual, it was a pleasant, convivial occasion with Peter Marshall, our Vice-President presiding as MC and keeping us in order. Chris Donough (in his trademark shorts) replied to the toast on behalf of the ladies, both partners and widows of former members, the doyenne being Mrs. Wright, aged 96. Everybody seemed to enjoy a good meal, the service being quick.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 20.06.2024
On 20th June we were treated to a masterly presentation by Nigel Silman on the subject of Porton Down. As Visiting Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of West of England, Bristol and having worked there for 25 years he was well qualified on the subject.
Porton Down is a Science & Technology Campus near Salisbury. It was founded in 1916 to develop defence against biological warfare used by the Germans in WW1 but it also carried out work on developing biological weapons we could possibly use offensively. The site is now split between Ministry of Defence and Department of Health, the latter carrying out microbiological research under the name UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) working on protection from environmental hazards and emergency preparedness.
UKHSA undertakes microbiological research on pathogenic microorganisms which have the ability to cause infectious diseases, leading to increases in mortality and disability. The ease with which many people now travel across the world has led to the rapid spread of diseases so that the threat posed is global. Surveillance of possible infection is good in advanced countries such as the USA and Europe but not elsewhere, so most threats come from Africa and Asia. Vaccines are constantly being introduced to combat the risk, but viruses mutate and keeping up is the difficulty, which is why flu and Covid injections are needed every year. New diseases emerge and re-emerge. There are around 70,000 deaths per year in the UK from infectious diseases, which includes flu, with 5,000 patients dying from hospital-acquired infections.
Transmission of infectious diseases is by air, contact, indirect contact, food, insects, rabid animals, aerosols (e.g. unprotected sneezing), blood-borne, faecal and oral. Outbreaks are classified as local, epidemic and pandemic (global). Control methods vary on the replication rate, measles having the highest rate. Vaccination by a small dose of the infection was discovered by Edward Jenner when he found that milkmaids did not suffer from cowpox. Before the 18thcentury the general perception was that disease was carried through the air by a ‘miasma’. Polluted water was a common cause of disease such as cholera, revealed when a pump handle was removed to prevent people from drinking from a contaminated well.
Diagnostics have changed to involving the patient, so that self-testing is now used, as we saw during the Covid epidemic. Biomarkers indicate anything that can be tested. Direct detection depends on the time taken to get the result. It can be centralised at a hospital or done in the field by a mobile laboratory but the most effective is home use.
Nigel listed the diseases which pose a current threat; new infections are discovered about every eight months. PRET stands for Preparedness and Resistance to Emerging Threats. Porton Down is a vital part of the nation’s infrastructure and the care taken to safeguard the nation’s health is indicated by the fact that 90% of drugs and vaccines produced by pharmaceutical companies fail clinical tests, which may help to explain why such products are so expensive, a common criticism of ‘big pharma’. One concern is the increase in cases of TB, the rate in the UK being the highest on Western Europe, so the production of a more effective vaccine is being sought.
As health is a concern of everybody, particularly those of advanced years such as most Probus members, this talk was of great interest and I’m sure we all learned a lot. Porton Down is renowned as being the Government’s top secret defence establishment but it is less well-known as being the centre where our health is being safeguarded. Nigel fielded many questions including, inevitably, one about the handling of the Covid epidemic, on which he gave us his personal opinion! The whole issue is, of course, the subject of an ongoing Public Enquiry.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 13.06.2024
Clive Allen was our speaker on 13th June with a presentation about The Vikings, which seems to be a popular subject at Probus.
The Vikings (or Norsemen) first appeared in Britain in 793 A.D. at Portland in Dorset. When challenged by locals, the Norsemen killed them, then departed. The second recorded arrival was in 793 at Lindisfarne in Northumberland where the priory was sacked and everything of value such as gold articles was removed. In 794 Jarrow was similarly attacked, followed by Iona the following year.
To deter future incursions King Alfred founded England’s first Navy. At this time, trade was carried on between Romans, Saxons and Norsemen. Because of the limited amount of land in Norway the Norsemen ventured across the North Sea to seek other lands to settle in. They sailed to Iceland and founded a settlement at what is now Reykjavik. They already controlled the Orkney and Shetland Isles and visited Scotland and founded a settlement at Dublin. Their occupation spread south along the east coast of Ireland as far south as Waterford.
The Norseman Cnut, usually known as Canute, became King of England and is famous for proving to his courtiers his limited powers by sitting with his feet in the sea and commanding the tide to turn with, of course, no effect. This incident is usually misrepresented.
Having settled in Normandy in northern France, the Norseman, now known as Normans, invaded England and defeated King Harold at Stamford Bridge. A second force landed on the south coast at Hastings and Harold and his army were forced to march south at breakneck speed, arriving exhausted, which no doubt contributed to their defeat.
The Normans learnt from Saxon administration and developed it, conducting an exercise to determine the wealth of the country and who owned the land, the basis for taxation. It was so hated it became known as the Domesday Book.
The Norsemen ventured further afield, sailing west from Iceland to Greenland and founding a settlement called Vinland, the precise location of which is disputed, either Newfoundland or New Brunswick in Canada. They also reached the Mediterranean by sailing round the Iberian Peninsula and via rivers, through what is now Russia, Ukraine and the Black Sea.
Clive mentioned the Norse gods -Thor, Odin and Freyja which feature in mythology. Norsemen created the greatest empire that never existed, not by colonisation but by settling and intermarrying which enabled them to communicate with the varied people they lived among in the different countries.
Our thanks go to Clive for his talk, portraying the Norsemen as more than Bloody Vikings. As a member of the audience pointed out, they were also skilled and artistic craftsmen.
Alan Smith
Talk on 06.06.2024
This week’s talk was about the charity ShelterBox and was presented by David Foster, a longstanding volunteer now living in Harvington.
ShelterBox started in 2001 as a mechanism to provide essential shelter and equipment to families after a disaster. Rotary International was involved from the initial stages. The 2001 earthquake in India that destroyed 340,000 buildings and killed over 20,000 people was the catalyst.
Many of the essential items required such as tents, blankets cooking implements and tools were packed into a plastic box and delivered straight to families affected by the disaster. Over 2500 boxes were distributed in the first 4 years. The cost of each box was estimated at £590.Customs and border problems with sealed boxes has now resulted in a more accessible approach using pallets etc.
One of the original organisers developed the concept further called ShelterBoat in which the basis of a dingy could be constructed from the box and its contents only requiring additional wooden planks. This home-made vessel sailed down the Avon from Stratford to Tewkesbury in 3 days and raised £3500. A further voyage is planned on the Thames this July and is termed ShelterBoat 24.
David took us through his long walk from the most easterly point of England to the most westerly point of Wales. This walk took David 36 days passing through some beautiful scenery and hills that provided a considerable challenge but also encountering many public footpaths that were overgrown or totally impassible.
His 425-mile walk raised over £10,000 for ShelterBox.
Not satisfied with this achievement David is now contemplating a north/south walk
from Lands’ End to John O’ Groats in 2025.
Members were impressed with the dedication of the ShelterBox team and provided contributions for the forthcoming ShelterBoat24 voyage on the Thames in July.
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
Probus Talk on 30/05/24
This week’s talk was about Simon de Montfort presented by Howard Robinson. Howard reviewed the complex history and involved ancestry of Simon de Montfort and his involvement with King Henry III in a clear and informative fashion.
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester was a leading figure in the Barons war between the monarchy (King Henry III) and the major landowners in England, the Barons.
He was of French origin arriving in England in 1229 with lineage going back to William the Conqueror. He married Eleanor of England, the daughter of King John and sister of Henry III in 1238. Initially Montfort had a close relationship with King Henry III; they were of similar age. But the relationship faltered leading to Montfort leaving for France and joining several crusades followed by close involvement with the French monarchy interspersed by several spells back in England.
On his return to England Montfort continued his stance against the King and called a Parliament in Oxford in 1258 which stripped King Henry III of his unlimited authority and forced the King to govern according to the advice of a council of Barons.
A second Parliament was called in 1265 by Montfort and this included for the first-time ordinary citizens from towns. For this reason, Montfort is regarded as the creator of modern parliamentary democracy.
Needless to say, the King was not pleased with these developments and restrictions on his authority and sought to remove them. Recognising future problems, the Barons started to join together, and Montfort was selected as leader with the aim of restoring the form of government decided at the Oxford parliament.
Initial victories by the Barons were achieved in the battles against the King and Simon de Montfort in some respects became the de facto ruler of England. He played a major role in establishing commoner input into parliament.
Further conflict between the King and Barons was inevitable and culminated in the Battle of Lewes in 1264 where the King was captured. This was the highpoint of Montfort’s career.
Discontent amongst some of the Barons in association with the future King Edward I led to a second battle this time at Evesham in 1265. Montford and his Barons lost and Montfort’s body was cut into pieces on the battleground and widely distributed. The remains that could be found were buried beneath the alter of Evesham Abbey church, since destroyed.
The Battle of Evesham was more of a massacre with vastly superior Royalist forces twice the size of the Baron’s easily overwhelming the opposition.
These short notes can only skim across the surface of this topic which our members found interesting and fascinating, especially with the Evesham connection.
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
Probus Talk on 23/05/24
This week’s talk was organised by longstanding member Chris Donough. It focussed on Evesham and how the town is viewed. Reflecting on recent coverage in the press of the most depressing towns in the UK.
Fortunately, Evesham did not feature in this report but the article stimulated thinking into how club members viewed Evesham.
Is it a depressing town or not?
To consider this topic members were segregated into tables focussed on either viewpoint i.e. either it is depressing or it isn’t and fill out their views with reasons for that opinion. Since most members had not been born and bred in Evesham this would tend towards an external view.
The points raised are summarised below, first from the viewpoint that Evesham isn’t depressing:
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Evesham has a good central location between the Cotswolds and the Malverns
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The riverside parks and abbey ruins are of historic value and well cared for.
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The very old buildings in the town (Almonry, Round House, Tower) are becoming more appreciated and better presented but there is still some way to go with this
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The local councils, both Wychavon and Evesham Town are supportive of developments in Evesham
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The town still benefits from a local hospital and a Minor Injuries Unit
Now turning to some of the reasons for Evesham being regarded as a depressing town.
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Closure of shops in the town centre
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Difficult car parking and impossible for coaches
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Scaffolding on the Round House for many years and nothing to show for it
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A moribund and empty shopping arcade adding to general town centre gloom
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The town centre at night is not safe
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Traffic and congestion – need I say more!!!
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Few employment opportunities for skilled and hi tec jobs
Discussions on the topic went on at length and members thanked Chris for organising this talk and making us think critically about Evesham.
Perhaps we should invite a Wychavon or Town council member to a future meeting to consider our views and receive their opinions and knowledge of future plans for the town?
Bob Turner (Covering for Alan Smith)
PROBUS TALK 16.05.2024
On 16th May we had a presentation about lighthouses by Fraser Gunn, a pharologist, i.e. someone who studies the subject and a member of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. He was born in St. Ives, Cornwall and recounted what sparked his interest in the subject. He was offered a trip to Godrevy Lighthouse ten miles along the coast. A rough sea prevented the return passage and he had to spend the night there, returning the next day by lifeboat – quite an adventure for a young boy. As a yachtsman he once sailed from Fowey to Falmouth when fog descended, and the satellite system broke down which proved that lighthouses are still needed.
Lighthouses are maintained by several bodies: - Trinity House for England and Wales, Northern Lighthouse Board for Scotland, the Commissioner for Irish Lights for the whole of Ireland and 21 independent harbour authorities. There is also one at Happisburgh, Norfolk, maintained by a local Trust, which obtained an Act of Parliament to become a lighthouse authority when Trinity House declared it redundant in the face of local opposition. Light dues are levied on all ships entering ports, based on the net registered tonnage of vessels, the rate being set by the Department of Transport..
The oldest recorded lighthouse was in the Bosphorus in 660 BC. A 455 ft. lighthouse was erected at Alexandria, Egypt in 261 BC which could be seen 29 miles away; it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1323. The oldest existing lighthouse is at A Coruna in Spain, a Roman structure dating from 2nd Century BC. The second oldest is near Wexford, Ireland, built in 1172.
The various means of providing the light were described, ranging from braziers, candelabra, oil and acetylene gas and from 1960, electricity, also the types of reflectors and Fresnel lens (still used today). Those at sea had turntables so the light could be seen in all directions. There are so many lighthouses in Cornwall that their rhythmic flashing sequences are different to each other. In addition to lighthouses there are lightships permanently moored. All lighthouses and ships are now automated in the UK.
Fraser recounted many stories attached to various lighthouses such as Longstone in the Farne Islands the scene of Grace Darling’s famous lifeboat rescue, the death of a keeper at The Smalls, Pembrokeshire whose body was suspended from the lighthouse which drove the remaining keeper literally mad and he was eventually committed, the case at Flannan Stand, Outer Hebrides where in 1900 two keepers went outside and when they didn’t return the third went to look for them and he disappeared as well.
Supplying many lighthouses and relief of keepers was a hazardous business undertaken by boat, a hazardous process as we saw from a video of la Jument in Brittany. The first helicopter used for the purpose was in 1948. Wolf Rock lighthouse off the Scillies was the first to have a helipad.
Fraser took us on a tour of lighthouses around the world including many famous ones in Britain such as the Roman Pharos at Dover and Eddystone,12 miles off Plymouth. A selection of other notable lighthouses featured included one at an altitude of 2045m. in Switzerland, marking the source of the Rhine, a replica of the one at Hook of Holland at the mouth of the Rhine. A lighthouse in Denmark was moved inland on rails to avoid being engulfed in sand. The world’s highest lighthouse is at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,133m above sea level. Lighthouses are not confined to coastal locations as was demonstrated by the photogenic one at St Joseph’s on Lake Michigan, shown in the summer and encased in ice in winter when, of course, shipping is at a standstill. Probably the most remote lighthouse is in the Westman Islands in Iceland, 112m. above sea level.
This was an absorbing presentation and it easy to see how you could get hooked on the subject.
Alan Smith
PROBUS OUTING 09.05.2024
Our first visit of the year was to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. We had a comprehensive and leisurely tour behind the scenes, including The Other Space where the costumes are stored. We learned the history of the building and how many times it has been rebuilt since a fire destroyed the original Memorial Theatre financed by Edward Flower, the Stratford brewer. The current building was designed by Elisabeth Scott, a distant relative of the celebrated architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. She was the first lady architect to be awarded a major job and it opened in 1932. The internal arrangements of the theatre were drastically altered by alteration of the conventional auditorium into a “thrust stage auditorium” with seating on three sides and the provision of improved catering facilities. The theatre we see today dates from 2010.
What stood out was the scale of the facilities needed to put on a performance and the care and attention to detail. No wonder tickets cost so much! You couldn’t help wondering what Shakespeare would have made of it all, particularly since his plays were never performed in Stratford, all taking place in London. He would also have been surprised by the respectful audiences , which was far from the case in his day.
This was a most informative tour and our thanks go to Bob Turner for organising it and the weather for our afternoon free in the town to enjoy the darling buds of May.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 02.05.2024
Our speaker on 2nd May was Martin Gower on the NHS. After a career in the media he started a second career from 2009 to 2020 as a Board member of two NHS Trusts, adviser to the Care & Quality Commission and non-executive director of the Strategic Health Authority. He was expected to receive a background briefing, but a courier delivered 375 pages in a lever arch file. A lesson from Toyota was that if there is a problem ask the person on the shop floor, the person who has to do the job, i.e. bottom up not top down. The most important person in the NHS is the patient.
The NHS was founded by Nye Bevan in 1948, although the initial idea was Beveridge’s. Its initial budget was £13 billion (at current prices) in 1948 but the budget in the current year is £163 billion. In that period there have been 38 Secretaries of State in control of the Health Service. The NHS is the fifth largest employer in the world and uses 6822 GP practices (GPs being self-employed). In an average day 1.2 million people consult a GP, 260,00 attend hospital outpatients, there are 37,000 999 calls, 44000 attend A&E and of those 675 go into hospital. Healthcare costs are the sixth highest in the world per head of population. In 1950 there were 450,000 hospital beds compared with 150,000 in 2020. The principle now is to treat the patient at home, if at all possible.
In reviewing the Covid Enquiry, Martin was very critical of the predictive modelling employed during the Covid crisis which overstated the number of likely victims, the details of the lockdown instructions, the provision of Nightingale hospitals which couldn’t be staffed, the cost/benefit of the Test, Trace & Isolate procedures, and the cost of the furlough scheme. However, some members pointed out the immense benefit of hindsight.
There has been a massive increase in mental health referrals and the number of people on anti-depressants. Avoidable mortality is higher in the UK.
The NHS is funded out of general taxation and is one of the few countries where this is the case, whereas in France and Germany people pay into an insurance scheme which is a hypothecated tax, i.e. ring-fenced and can only be spent on healthcare. Martin advocated a local healthcare system, geared to local needs and the decommissioning of the NHS. It would be funded by a Health & Social Care Tax. Time did not permit an examination of how this would actually work and how it would avoid the current criticism of a “postcode lottery”, the standard of healthcare you receive dependent on which area of the country you live in. Most people would agree with him that politicians should be kept out, but of course they control the funding. He briefly mentioned that privatisation has been mooted but strongly advised against it, citing the case of the USA, the world’s most expensive health system but with poor outcomes for the money expended.
Martin demonstrated that the sheer complexity of the NHS is mind-boggling and the task of streamlining procedures and cutting down bureaucracy is a mammoth task. This was certainly an informative and thought-provoking talk about a subject on which we all have opinions because we are all “customers” at some time or another, particularly at our time of life.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 25.04.2024
On 25th April we had a return visit of Peter Petrie, a fellow Probus member of Cheltenham No. 1 branch. His subject “Death of a King” was about Edward II, 1284-1327? The question mark about the date of his death is because there is doubt about whether he died when he was reported to have died of natural causes, whether he was murdered or whether he escaped from captivity and sought refuge abroad. In fact, the talk could have been subtitled “an unsolved mystery”. Peter is a tour guide at Gloucester Cathedral where there is a splendid tomb of the King, one of the finest medieval shrines.
Edward was born at Caernarvon Castle. He was married to Queen Isabella of France in 1308. She was engaged at the age of 7 and married when 12. They had four children, including the future Edward III. He was an unpopular monarch, in constant dispute with the barons, not helped by the fact he was almost certainly homosexual and was greatly influenced by his favourites. His close companion, Piers Gaveston, was murdered in 1312 by the Earl of Warwick after the barons revolted. His second favourite was Hugh Despenser which led to another civil war in which Mortimer rebelled. The battle with the Scots at Bannockburn in 1314 ended with the English forces being routed, a victory which is still celebrated in Scotland as it achieved independence. This defeat only exacerbated the King’s unpopularity amongst the barons.
In 1326 the French and English forces clashed on the border with Aquitaine, an English possession. Isabella went to talk with her brother, the King of France. She had a romance with Mortimer and hatched a plot to get rid of Edward. A small army was formed and landed at Felixstowe, Suffolk. Edward went west to Wales and Despenser was arrested, then hung drawn and quartered in 1326. Edward was taken prisoner at Kenilworth Castle and forced to abdicate. His son took over, aged 14, as King Edward III, with Isabella and Mortimer as Joint Regents. Edward II was kept prisoner at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire for a year in the custody of Sir Thomas Berkeley. In a letter to the King in Lincoln in 1327 it was announced Edward had died. The body was then wrapped in linen, like a mummy, including the head which meant that nobody could positively identify that the body was that of the King. There was some dispute as to where Edward should be buried but he was accepted by Gloucester Abbey (now the cathedral) as they were short of money and a royal tomb was a great way of attracting pilgrims.
Various disjointed happenings were then reported. The Earl of Kent said Edward was in Corfe Castle, Dorset under the custody of Sir John Pecche. The Earl was then executed by order of Mortimer. In 1330 the Archbishop of York wrote to The Lord Mayor of London telling him to look out for Edward in London. In the 1330s Edward was reported to be in Koblenz, Germany, to be installed as of the Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire. He had assumed an alias, William de Galeyes, a real person.
In about 1336 Fieschi, a papal official, wrote a letter which was not discovered until the late nineteenth century. This alleged the King had escaped, took refuge in Corfe Castle under the care of the Governor then went to Ireland. Once Mortimer had been killed he left Ireland and subsequently travelled to France, living as a hermit, reaching Avignon where one of the two Popes at the time was living. He then went to Paris and on to Cologne Cathedral and the tomb of the Three Kings at Koblenz where he met his son Edward III. He then went to Italy where, at Mulazzo Castle near Genoa there is a plaque recording his residence. Finally he retired from the world at the Abbey of San Alberto at Butrio, north east of Genoa where he died c.1343. Some of Fieschi’s cousins were distantly related to Edward II.
There are twenty chroniclers’ accounts of Edward’s death at Berkeley Castle, all different.. Dr. Ian Mortimer has studied the flaws and irregularities in the cause of death. The first reference to the King’s murder was in 1340. Adam of Murimuth, Canon of Exeter Cathedral, stated there was rumour about the King’s death and the stories multiplied like Chinese whispers. In 1330 Sir Thomas Berkeley said it was the first time he had heard that the King had died in his castle. In 1330 Edward III stormed Nottingham Castle to get rid of Mortimer and Isabella. Mortimer was executed and Isabella was sent to Castle Rising in Norfolk where she was held in relative comfort, but in custody.
Many questions about Edward II remain unanswered such as why he restored lands, money and titles to various people. Is the body in the tomb at Gloucester Cathedral really that of the king? The tomb was opened in the 19th Century but the actual body was not exhumed. Although his reported death was in September, he was not buried until December. Much research is currently being undertaken in Italy about the Fieschi letter.
The riddle of Edward’s death has not been resolved so Peter asked his audience “What do you think? This was a most interesting and well-presented talk about a controversy which in view of the lapse in time may never be satisfactorily concluded.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 18.04.2024
Our speaker on 19th April was Flt. Lt. Les Hatcher to talk about flying the English Electric Lightning. His father was in the RAF and he always wanted to be a fighter pilot, although his teacher told him he wasn’t clever enough. He spent his Saturday mornings on the Link Trainer Flight Simulator, joined the Air Cadets and spent time at RAF Halton helping to launch gliders, eventually managing to get airborne. Despite hitching lifts there every weekend he received no encouragement but eventually got accepted into the RAF, starting at Biggin Hill, first flying in a Jet Provost trainer. He flew the Gnat and at Chivenor the Hunter, graduating to the Lightning at RAF Coltishall at the age of 25.
The Lightning supersonic aircraft was first considered in 1947. It had two engines mounted in the fuselage, one above the other which caused leaks of fuel from the top engine to the other and so was a fire risk. Les considered it heavy to control. It had limited radar range and its supersonic speed and limited fuel capacity meant it also had limited range, although both these deficiencies were addressed in later variants. With a top speed of Mach 2.3 it was faster than many planes flying today. It also had a higher ceiling than other aircraft, reaching a record 88,000 ft. Another problem was vibration from shock waves which led to design alterations. The Lightning entered operational service with the RAF in 1960 and remained in front line service until 1988.
We saw some spectacular photos of accidents, from some of which pilots escaped by ejection, but many caused deaths. Les said when on duty in Germany during a period of bad weather there was no such thing as a routine flight. Despite the many difficulties encountered in flying the Lightning, apparently every pilot was willing to meet these challenges.
This was a fascinating inside story of one man’s experience of flying a pioneering aircraft.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 11.04.2024
On 11th April Ken Ingamells made a welcome return as speaker, this time with a marathon presentation about Iceland. Geologically it is the youngest island in the world. As a weather forecaster serving on weather ships in the Atlantic for six weeks at a time, he made regular trips to the country starting in 1952. When Princess Elizabeth visited the island in 1950 there was no suitable accommodation, so the mother ship for the British trawler fleet was refurbished and the shower was floored with teak and mahogany. The captain decided after the visit that this was too good to be soaked with water, removed it and had it made into coffee table. He could then boast that that the Queen (as she became in 1952) had stood naked on his table!
Iceland’s history is relatively short. It is thought the Vikings first saw it about 500-600 AD but did not settle there at that time. There was trouble in Norway about 860 as the Vikings were under the Norwegian king’s authority, so they sought independence by settling in Iceland, calling in at the Faeroes and Scotland en route to pick up slaves. They decided they would settle where a wooden pillar with icons of Norse gods was washed up after they had cast it into the sea. The site was called Smoky Bay which is what Reykjavik means. As they did not want royalty, they established a people’s parliament nearby about 1000 AD, known as the Althing, which met annually with a Speaker in control. It decided punishments and can claim to be the oldest democratic parliament in the world.
Eric the Red was banished and landed in Greenland and his son Leif went one better, going further west to land in what is now Newfoundland, Canada where a settlement was founded called Vinland, although it didn’t last. He was the first European to land in North America, 500 years before the continent was “discovered” by Columbus.
There is little arable land in Iceland and when Denmark controlled Scandinavia, trade took place, supplying foodstuffs to the island. As Denmark was Christian so the Icelanders converted to Christianity as they owed allegiance to Denmark. At the Reformation Denmark became Protestant, adopting Lutheranism so the Icelanders followed suit and executed the Catholic bishops. There is now religious freedom in the country. Women have equal status with men, except in land tenure, as being physically weaker they are not able to look after as much land.
The tradition of the country is that family names are not passed on, sons taking the suffix “son” e.g. Magnus Magnusson, and daughters the suffix “dottir”. Tracing family history must be difficult! Living in a place of long nights, time was spent on recording on skins the complete history of the country. Iceland is famous for its sagas. Bad weather in the Middle Ages meant widespread starvation and there was a 40% drop in population but by the early 1900s, the population was about 100-200,000 and Iceland was largely autonomous, rather like the British Crown dependencies. In WW2 Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany and the movement to complete independence was a natural progression, effected in 1944. Iceland was the first country to have a woman president.
Ken now turned to the topography of the country, illustrated by his stunning photographs. Iceland sits on the European/American tectonic plate and as a result is splitting apart. It is dominated by earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers (an Icelandic word), glaciers and hot springs. In 2010 the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted and caused major disruption to world aviation. The country makes good use of its natural resources with hot water piped to Reykjavik and the rivers dammed for hydroelectricity. As result, not having to use fossil fuels for power generation, Iceland is a very clean country. As 85% of the 300,000 population lives in Reykjavik light pollution is non-existent over much of the island, giving spectacular views of the Northern Lights. Owing to felling, the island became treeless but in 1970 reafforestation started, fenced off to stop nibbling by sheep. Wildlife includes the Icelandic horse which a relic of the Viking horse and has a different gait. Eider ducks’ nest in mounds of seaweed and the down from their nests is used for bedding. Puffins are eaten by islanders as are sharks washed up on beaches after they start to rot. Fishing is a staple part of the economy as was whaling which is still carried on a small scale despite international conventions. Former whaling boats are now used for tourists. It was surprise to learn that for such a sophisticated country 50% of the population believe in the existence of “the little people”.
This was a comprehensive survey of Iceland by someone who knows it intimately and was much appreciated by members. It is a popular tourist destination but very expensive, particularly alcohol which, as in most Nordic countries, is highly taxed.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 4-04-2024
Our speaker on 4th April was our secretary Christian Lang. The title of his talk was to have been “Can You Keep a Secret?” but owing to a broken memory stick it turned out to be about genealogy and family history, a subject he has spent 23 years researching.
The oldest family photo was of Robert Frankyn Lang 1765-1828. We also saw a very rare group photograph of three generations of the family as many had served in India. Christian’s grandfather was a vicar in England and had seven children and his father died in 1956.
Christian then set the scene by saying genealogists establish the pedigree, extracting evidence from valid sources. Family history disturbs the dead and irritates the living. One of his forebears was Sir Richard Dobbs, his 14th great grandfather who died in 1556 and was Lord Mayor of London, member of the Skinners’ Company and one of the founders of Christian’s school, Christ’s Hospital in London (now Horsham), established to enable children of poor parents to receive an education and thereby better themselves. He came from the Parish of Hemingbrough, Yorkshire, owned five houses, one of which was a mansion. Christian showed Lady Alice Dobbs’s will.
Individual pedigree is normally traced over six generations. Consanguinity is the fact of being descended from the same ancestor. A complication can arise over dates as the Catholic Church replaced the Julian calendar by the Gregorian in 1582 and this was adopted by Britain in 1752, the start of the new year also being altered from 25th March to January 1st.
Government records of the population started with the Census of 1841 and covered marriage, death, divorce, adoption and immigration. Held every ten years, they are available to the public until 1921, but not for Ireland as they were destroyed. In addition, a Register was set up in 1939 to record where everyone was. Other sources of information are Probate, Pensions/Social Security, Passenger Lists, Voter Registration, Taxes such as Hearth Tax, Window Tax, Land Valuations and religious records – Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage Funerals etc. There are numerous other sources of information such as telephone directories, workhouses, courts, deeds, conscription records, obituaries, school and university records and wills.
Historically, the Parish was the centre of local administration and in 1538 each parish church had to have a chest to store records, with three locks, each key to be held by a different person. This lasted until 1837 when County records began with civil registration of births, marriages and deaths.
Now, of course, the internet is a prime source of information with Ancestry.com, Find my Past etc. Forces records are available including casualty lists of both World Wars, also newspaper archives. The East India Company kept comprehensive records from 1600 to 1833 when the Government took it over. The Lang family had many connections with India.
The Lang family website covers thirteen generations. Christian ran through the family website on the internet and demonstrated what could be done with photographs, including enhancing, colourizing and making them talk! The latter included a video of his great grandfather Edmund Edward Meyrick talking and moving, all done by AI, of course.
The subject of DNA arose and Christian explained how the longest segment of our DNA confirms the closeness of two persons’ relationship. He showed how this introduced him to two second cousins who he knew nothing about and now he has family he never knew existed.
Many people now undertake family research with varying degrees of success but this talk demonstrated what is possible, given time and infinite patience and the need to double-check information.
Alan Smith
P
PROBUS TALK 28.03.2024
Grenville’s talk on 28th March entitled “A background to our Lives” turned out to be about British light music. A Radio Times of 1948 set the scene with radio programmes divided between Home Service, Light Programme and Third Programme. TV was then in its infancy and few people possessed sets until the medium received a boost with the Coronation in 1953. Desert Island Discs first appeared in 1948.
We heard various signature tunes regularly used on the Light Programme such as Jack Strachey’s In Party Mood for Housewives’ Choice after the 9 o’clock news. On Saturdays, in the same slot, Edward White’s Puffin’ Billy heralded Children’s Favourites, Eric Coates’s Calling all Workers was used for Music while you Work, Charles Williams’s The Devil’s Gallup for the thriller Dick Barton, Ray Martin’s The Marching Strings for Top of the Form and Haydn Wood’s Horse Guards, Whitehall for Down your Way on Sunday afternoons and Vivian Ellis’s Alpine Pastures for My Word.
Light Music has a history going back to the eighteenth century with Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and in the nineteenth with Arthur Sullivan. Light music developed with radio and led to the genre of film music specifically tailored to reflect the dramatic and emotional aspects of the film. The emphasis was on melody and was mainly performed by orchestras and small ensembles. It had a thoroughly composed style and was programmatic.
Finally we heard various examples of light music :- the self-taught Elgar’s engagement present to his wife, Salut d’Amour, excerpts of work by Robert Farnon who wrote music for over forty films, Charles Williams who wrote music for fifty films, Haydn Wood’s Paris (Montmartre) and his most popular song , Roses of Picardy and Vivian Ellis’s Coronation Scot used for Paul Temple. Eric Coates’s Halcyon Days was used for The Forsythe Saga. It was the first movement of The Three Elizabeths. The photo sequence accompaniment was The Youth of Britain. (Princess Elizabeth the future Queen Elizabeth 11.
This was the usual thoughtful presentation we have come to expect from Grenville and brought back memories of the radio programmes of the 1940s and 1950s.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 21.03.24
Our speaker on 21st March was Sally Ferrers whose subject was Inigo Jones, Britain’s first significant architect and Anthony Van Dyck, the Flemish baroque artist who became court painter to Charles1st.
Inigo (the name is Welsh) Jones was born in 1573, i.e. in the reign of Elizabeth 1st at a time when domestic buildings were commonly built of timber and infilled with wattle and daub. Even larger buildings were built the same way, as demonstrated by Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire. In Tudor times brick was used for palaces such as Hampton Court. Inigo Jones studied in Italy in 1603 and was the first to introduce classical architecture to England, based on the work of Andrea Palladio, whose Villa Capri of 1592 he had seen. Sally showed the three column capitals, based on Greek architecture – Doric, Corinthian and Ionic and their use in Jones’s St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden which, when built ,overlooked a square as in a piazza in Italy. He also designed the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall which was used for hosting elaborate masques. In 1613 he was appointed Surveyor General of the King’s Works and embarked on theatrical work such as stage design in collaboration with the playwright Ben Jonson and inventing the proscenium arch. In 1625 James 1st died and was succeeded by Charles 1st.
Charles invited portrait painters to England. Rubens painted the ceiling of the Banqueting Hall and was feted for his work but as he didn’t get paid for two years he returned to Antwerp. Van Dyck also came to London and was appointed Court Painter. He was acquainted with Inigo Jones as, of course, both worked for the King. Sally showed us pictures of the many imposing buildings comprising Maritime Greenwich of which the Queen’s House in Greenwich Park was the first classical building in England, dating from 1616. Its striking feature is the Tulip staircase, the first unsupported staircase in Britain. Many of the other buildings at Greenwich were designed by Jones’s successor Wren, such as the Royal Observatory on the hill above the Park and the Royal Naval College which replaced the waterside Royal Palace.
In 1642 Charles’s insistence on The Divine Right of Kings which relieved him of the need to seek Parliament’s permission to raise taxes led to his untimely demise after a punishing Civil War which led to the defeat of the Royalist forces by Cromwell’s New Model Army. Inigo Jones’s property was confiscated like that of many others but returned to him later. He died in 1652. He was unmarried and it seems he was devoted to his work. Van Dyck painted Inigo Jones amongst his many royal sitters.
Van Dyck was born in 1599 and became a successful artist in his late teens. He studied in the studio of Rubens. He was invited to London where saw Titian’s work. Sally showed us many examples of Van Dyck’s work including numerous examples of the royal family and other notables demonstrating his extraordinary skill. In 1639 he married Lady Mary Ruthven and went to Paris where Queen Henrietta had sought refuge. He died in 1641, aged 42 and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, to be replaced by Wren’s classical masterpiece.
This was an illuminating talk about a pioneer in architecture and one of the greatest artists to have worked in Britain. Many of the works of both men can be seen today.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 14.03. 2024
Our speaker on 14th March was Nigel Thompson on the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nigel has already given us talks on the two Roosevelts, both US Presidents.
Dwight was born in 1890, one of seven sons, all of whom were nicknamed Ike. Dwight was keen on hunting, fishing and cards, also military history, his favourite subjects at school being arithmetic and spelling. After graduation he entered West Point where he played football. Graduating from the military academy in 1915 he was one of 59 students who became general officers. In 1916 he married Mamie. He became an accomplished portraitist and landscape painter as well as a keen poker and bridge player. In WW1 he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant but saw no active service. Appointed Major in 1919 he saw the future lay with mechanised warfare and, when an exercise was held to drive tanks across America from Washington DC to California, he was appalled to fine that the average speed attained was 5mph. He therefore advocated a major programme to provide a national road network which eventually materialised as the Interstate Highway System, justified on security grounds with the need to move military equipment round the country.
His career stalled in the difficult conditions of the1920s and 1930s. So called “Hoovervilles” grew up on the outskirts of the capital, created by those who had lost everything in the Great Depression. Many of these destitute people were WW1 veterans and the Army was ordered by President Hoover to clear them away. He thought market forces would solve the problem of the Great Depression, which was wishful thinking. The bitterness of the camps was exacerbated by the fact that most residents of Washington were Government employees and had not suffered from the Depression. General MacArthur was all for being heavy-handed and Ike’s antipathy to him dated from this time. Hoover was not re-elected, being replaced by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Ike learned to fly when an adviser to the Philippines Government, obtaining a pilot’s licence. In 1941 Ike was appointed Brigadier-General and Asst. Chief of Staff to General George Marshall. Ike appointed Patton i/c the Eighth Army in North Africa over Monty. In 1942 Ike was appointed C in C American forces as Lt. General. In 1943 Monty’s victory at El Alamein was the turning point in North Africa and Rommel’s forces surrendered in 1943. 250,000 troops were taken prisoner, many of whom were held in America. After Italy’s total surrender in 1943 Ike became Supreme Commander Europe and oversaw Operation Overlord, the planned invasion of Europe in 1944, delayed from 1943. His elevation to this job was due to his ability to get people to work together, even Monty, who had opposed his appointment because he had never seen action.
Nigel played an excerpt from Ike’s speech to the invasion forces on 6th June 1944. Monty made the final plans. When the European war was concluded, Ike insisted that a detailed photographic record be made of Nazi atrocities so that no one could belittle the scale of what went on in the concentration camps (holocaust denial). Ike met Stalin in Moscow and became military commander of the US Zone in Berlin where he ensured the non-Nazi civilian population were looked after and not penalised. He had not agreed that the Allied forces should press on to Berlin and prevent the Russians from entering the city. In 1945 Ike was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army. He disagreed with the decision to use atom bombs against Japan but, as Supreme Commander of NATO, containment of communism was the aim as Ike had concluded that Stalin was worse than Hitler. Although Stalin died in 1953, and there were signs of improvements in the USSR, in fact the extension of the Communist system continued and the Cold War intensified.
In 1952 he stood for President with Nixon as his running mate to combat isolationist policies and reduce federal deficits. The expression ‘I like Ike’ was coined for the campaign. He won despite having held no previous political office. Despite having a heart attack in 1955 he stood again, successfully, in 1956 and was the last President to serve who had been born in the nineteenth century. The Constitution was amended to restrict a President to two terms. Ike had proposed Atoms for Peace but Kruschev was opposed to the necessary inspections. The open skies policy fell apart when Gary Powers, flying a high-altitude spy plane, was shot down. The launching of Sputnik space satellite was a profound shock to America and NASA was founded in 1958 to boost the US space programme, although Ike thought the notion of a putting a man on the Moon was “nuts”. Ballistic missiles such as Polaris were introduced which led to escalation of the Arms Race with the aim of Mutual Assured Destruction, appropriately known by the acronym MAD.
The Korean War ended in 1953 with an Armistice and the country remains divided to this day. Taiwan was confirmed as the legitimate government of China which also is the USA’s position today, however unrealistic that might appear. The battle for supremacy in French Indo China led to the USA’s disastrous intervention in South Vietnam in 1953 which tore America apart. In the Middle East the USA supported a military coup to achieve the return of the Shah of Iran in order to safeguard oil supplies, another policy which backfired. The UK, Israel and France were forced to withdraw from the Suez operation. Ike opposed segregation and Civil Rights were enforced by deployment of Federal troops. McCarthyism continued, even the nuclear scientist Oppenheimer being accused of being a Soviet spy.
In 1956 the Interstate Highway system was eventually initiated, a personal hobby horse of Ike’s for over 35 years.
Despite his long military career, Ike commented on the cost of the military, coining the phrase “military-industrial complex” and warning that it could endanger personal liberties. Ike had increased health problems, no doubt exacerbated by being a heavy smoker all his life. He died in 1969, widely respected as one of the world’s greatest leaders and one of the top ten US Presidents.
Nigel’s presentation was a comprehensive account of Ike’s life and achievements. His varied military and political career demonstrated he could be described as “A Man for all Seasons”.
Alan Smith
PROBUS TALK 07.03.2024
Our speaker on 7th March was Kate Bellamy, a regular and popular speaker at the Club whose subject was The Joy of False Memory. She quoted from Sir Frederic Bartlett’s book of 1932. He was the first Professor of Experimental Psychology at Cambridge and the forerunner of cognitive and cultural psychology. He asked the question “how do we remember?” and undertook a scientific study into whether memory recall was accurate. He found by experiments starting in 1914 that our recall was dependent on gaps filled in with the aid of previous experience, cultural and personal habits rather than direct recollection of past events. Recall is therefore highly inaccurate which is why eyewitness accounts in courts are given low priority these days, particularly as cases are now taking so long to reach court. Scientific evidence such as DNA and fingerprints take precedence. People always see different things. Kate quoted the study which asked a group to watch a video and count how many passes were made at a basketball game. In the background was a gorilla but no one noticed!
Professor Elizabeth Loftus, expert on memory, said that if you don’t use your memory you use lose it. If that happens, you embellish it and suggestions from others can make you change your memory. Some people can’t recall true memory and have false recall.
Kate gave us a personal example concerning the 25th Challenger space shuttle launch in 1986. She was very keen on astronomy and space travel and bunked off school early to watch it. Her memory was that it was a beautiful summer’s day in England whereas it was in fact in January, but of course at the launch site in Florida there was blue sky. She pointed out that it was a troubled time for her, being at the awkward age of 13, her parents divorcing, losing her beloved dog to her father, also the fact that one of those on board the shuttle was a female teacher. She immediately gave up the idea of being an astronaut. All these factors caused the false memory. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is now treated by removing the bad memory.
In answer to a question as to whether the media’s questioning of witnesses to an event contaminates evidence, Kate agreed and pointed out that after the 7/7 Underground bombing in 2005, the media were kept well back.
This was the usual thought-provoking presentation we have come to expect, delivered with humour and in a way that is always accessible, an art many teachers would do well to adopt, particularly for such a difficult subject. Kate’s talks are always looked forward to, but it seems that this may well be her last for us . If so, we shall miss her.
Alan Smith
Annual General Meeting
The AGM scheduled for 22nd February was postponed because of the threat of flooding so was held on 29th February.
At the AGM, Phil Bawn succeeded John Cotton as President. Christian devised a quiz to test our memories of last year’s Probus events, in place of the usual entertainment which it was not possible to re- arrange at short notice. We then enjoyed a buffet lunch laid on by Suzie.