Les Till shows he has
still got it.
November 2016
Michael Malaghan amused and entertained his audience by recounting many anecdotes as he told us of his journey to become a writer of some note. He has written in several genres; children’s books, articles for women’s magazines and tv scripts mainly for children’s programs. His fifty minutes talk often amused his audience who enjoyed the easy and clear delivery. It was a disappointment when, at the President’s request, the talk reached its time limit and Michael dutifully delivered his punchline.
John Edney expressed our thanks and there was a generous and genuine round of applause, partly for John but mainly for the popular speaker.
December 2016
Kevin Little proceeded to deliver an excellent talk which in truth was a series of extremely amusing anecdotes. Kevin is a very successful fishmonger and many of his tales related to his obvious dislike of Health and Safety. Along the way we were regaled with story after story of his adventurous life and his involvement and obvious love of animals. His audience were laughing loudly making some of the more elderly members anxious for the comfort break. Kevin revealed his second-most embarrassing moment and promised to reveal his most embarrassing moment should he be asked to return; he will undoubtedly be asked to return.
October 2016
Our speaker Tony Bagwell, revealed that he was making his third appearance at our club. Tony’s subject “Aspects of WW1 took the form of a beautifully constructed slide show of various battle sites and included the moving poem “Flanders Field”. There was a section on The Grateful Villages of Somerset which was most moving. Sadly, in the Secretary’s opinion, this segment of Tony’s talk lasted only about 30 minutes and was followed by another slide show, this time of Switzerland, a country not involved in WW1. The scenes were spectacular and revealed Tony as an extremely accomplished photographer. The talk was rounded off with a sequence on sand sculptures.
President Tony on our behalf expressed out thanks and reiterated our appreciation that Mr Bagnell’s fee is contributed to Clic Sargent.
September 2016
Introduced by John Edney, our speaker Mrs Sandra Bateman proved to be an able speaker who was able to be clearly heard as she expounded on the love of her life, The Minack Theatre. Sandra’s talk consisted of two parts the first being the history of the theatre and the second her personal involvement and happy memories.
The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade (2 August 1893 – 1983) and we were told of how this wonderful lady with very little help, managed to carve a working theatre out of the rocky coast of Cornwall. Sandra’s personal involvement stretched back to her childhood with aspiration to tread the boards, to the present day. The talk was much appreciated by the audience and President Tony led the applause in his vote of thanks.
April 2017
Dr. Frances Burroughs turned out to be of the male persuasion and immediately projected a rather grumpy, lugubrious manner. His subject, “A Victorian Head Gardener’s Story”, proved to be a most interesting account of the life of his father who worked on the estate of one of the landed gentry in Norfolk. As Dr. Burroughs warmed to his task so we warmed to him as his fascinating story was punctuated by shafts of wit. We were told how Burroughs senior started his working life at the age of 12 for a salary of 63 shillings and 8 pence per week, less 2 shillings and 9 pence apprentice fee. It was later revealed that a Head Gardener’s expected salary, including accommodation and food, could be the equivalent of £80,000 in today’s money, more in fact than the head butler’s. Several artefacts were shown and concluded a very well delivered talk, without notes or complications caused by electronic projection equipment. Ron Allen gave an excellent vote of thanks even though called on at very short notice. Ron’s vote of thanks was swiftly followed by a further question to the Speaker by the incorrigible Stan Homer who had been roused by the loud applause.
John Edney is seen wearing light coloured trousers while waiting for the speaker on a cold morning. A magnifying glass is recommended.
May 2017
The Speaker this month was our own Secretary, introduced by John Edney. The subject remained a mystery as the subject, A E I O You, was still a closely guarded secret. Geoff started by asking President John’s help in praying that the projector and computer would behave properly. Sadly our prayers fell on deaf ears as immediately it became evident that a vital part of the equipment was missing and the current Mrs Parle was dispatched to Cannington to collect the missing part. Undeterred President John decided that on this occasion Business would precede the talk.
Fifty minutes later Geoff was able to deliver his talk revealing that the acronym A E I O You stood for what he suggested should be vital ingredients of any talk, in different measures, Amuse, Entertain, Inform and Oh My God moments, tailored for You, the audience. Happily the gods smiled on the electronic equipment which finally behaved impeccably.
In her vote of thanks Mrs Sheila Allen assured everyone that she hadn’t put a hex on the equipment.
June 2017
Introduced by John Edney whose escutcheon was mercifully un-besmirched, John Burgess made a welcome return with “Tales of Exmoor, part 2” and we eagerly anticipated many sound bites, recorded when John was a BBC sound recordist. Rather disappointingly, John only played 3 recordings the rest of his talk concentrating on the history of the Moor itself.
In an extended vote of thanks Tim Jackson revealed himself as quite an orator and incited the gathering to a generous round of applause. Equal amounts for Tim and the Speaker!
July 2017
Nick Morgan (who arrived in good time and not needing the dreaded electronic presentation equipment) proved to be a most enthusiastic speaker whose subject was “Tips and Pitfalls of Car Buying.” His audience was immediately engaged as Nick elicited our wants and needs when purchasing a vehicle. The best responses were rewarded by the gift of a personalized pen. The information received by Nick led to a full hour discussing all aspects of suitability, projected time requirements, finance, car dealership and many other topics. The information was thoroughly enjoyable and informative.
December 2017
After laboriously setting up his projector and (his own) screen Richard Raynsford told of the impact the Glastonbury Festival has on the nearby residents. Unfortunately the computer curse struck and both Richard’s pointer and his remote picture changer failed to work. A good Samaritan from the audience bravely sat at the computer and advanced slide after slide. The body of the subject was many (but not too many) excellent photos of the village of Pilton and the locality of the Festival. We were shown photos of high quality of the stuctures within the walls together with amusing pictures of the revelers having great fun. It was good to know that the toilet facilities problem is being addressed. This was a most interesting talk and John Edney had no trouble in getting the deserved acclaim from the audience.
January 2018
Our own member, Geoff Bryant, entertained us for the next hour first with the background of his 18 month's working in Nigeria followed by an excellent video presentation, thus trusting his luck to the idiosyncrasies of his rather ancient projector. Occasional sharp smacks to the sensitive part of the projector kept the machine going, much to the relief of all. Geoff went to Nigeria in the early sixties very much under the influence of James Bond, having read all the Ian Fleming novels. Armed with a firearm (to protect himself from the wild animals) he set about trying to institute a water supply in extremely difficult conditions. Most of the hour showed much leisure but little work. As we have come to expect the visual presentation was made to the highest quality, the photography, commentary and editing being to professional standards. VP John Edney, eloquent as usual, thanked the speaker and invited the audience to give a well-deserved appreciative applause.
December 2017
Kay Townsend whose subject “My Life on the Fairground” started, interestingly, by explaining the difference between Gypsies and the fairground fraternity. Sadly, throughout the ensuing 45 minutes the numerous slides were of poor quality made worse by being out of focus in spite of an attempt to rectify this when prompted by her audience. Contrary to the title of her talk there was scant description of Kay’s personal involvement with the fairground. John Edney, diplomatic as ever, roused the rather somnolent audience to give an encouraging round of applause.
November 2017
John Edney introduced M/s Sandra Bateman whose subject “The Brontës proved to be much more entertaining than the novels of the three sisters (i m h o). Going into minute detail Sandra spoke at length of the patriarch Brontë, Patrick Brontë, who was born in Ireland. His pastoral work moved him to Yorkshire where he married and had six children with 5 girls and one boy. Sadly 2 children died leaving three daughters who were to become famous, and a boy who became an alcoholic and drug addict. Indeed the saga of the Brontë s was in itself an interesting but melancholic story. It is widely considered that the children led a miserable, impoverished life but Sandra challenged this and explained how their tough upbringing was put to good purpose as reflected in their boring (i m h o) novels.
Geoff Parle incited those present to a hearty round of applause in thanks for a well delivered talk.
Sandra and President John compare chains while Andrew Vickery tries to remain neutral.
October 2017
In the absence of John Edney (how we missed the red trousers) Roy Deakin introduced Ken Crane, a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Having surveyed the aging population Ken decided against his 90 minute address and opted instead for the 35 minute abbreviated version of “A history of Driving in England”. This turned out to be a most interesting talk covering the development of cars (the first being an 1884 Benz), the Highway Code, road markings and pedestrian crossings. Ken finished with a still alert audience after the 35 minutes, buzzing with numerous questions.
President John in thanking Ken, could remember his father’s first car 87 years ago.
September 2017
Introduced by the sartorially elegant John Edney Mike Rendell proved to be a most capable speaker having a thorough knowledge of his subject “How the Georgians enjoyed themselves.” Using a Powerpoint presentation. Mike’s reading of the script gave us a word perfect description of the many slides shown. The 45 minute presentation looked at everyday life in the 18th century, based upon family diaries and covering the life of his ancestor who was born and bred in London and who then retired in 1780 to live in the Cotswolds. Mike’s great great great great grandfather, an eminent shopkeeper Georgian himself was a great hoarder, a trait afflicting subsequent generations resulting in Mike needing no less than two properties to store the records and memorabilia. Many contemporary cartoons were shown revealing a huge variety of sports from Archery to Wrestling, each with an interesting and clear description. Several gems were included such as the derivation of “cue” in billiards and “up to scratch” in boxing. Music, theatre, dancing were all thoroughly enjoyed by the Georgians. But they took care to leave sufficient time for their most enjoyable pastime, eating.
Tim Jackson (not quite so sartorially elegant) gave thanks at great length with an impromptu address suggesting that our speaker was not the only Georgian expert present!
August 2017
Robert Tinker arrived eventually and after laboriously setting up his equipment and with the help of a microphone proceeded to address the impatient meeting on “West Country Piers”. This proved to be a most interesting, detailed description of the engineering wonders of piers made mainly for the glorious Victorian holiday makers. Innumerable piers were mentioned, not least our own at Weston-Super-Mare. Robert chuckled often at his own remarks, as he thoroughly enjoyed his talk. The audience too enjoyed the talk which was well presented with a skillful PowerPoint presentation. Two pointed requests to bring closure were needed to bring Robert to a halt due to time constraints. John Edney gave an unusually short vote of thanks, again due to time constraints and not due to lack of respect or sincerity.
March 2017
Tony Jay was thoroughly captivating when describing the incredible story of Fred and Rosemary West. As Tony was part of the police team investigating the case we heard the firsthand account of the atrocities committed by the evil couple. We had been offered the gory or the very gory version and we had opted for the very gory so some of the details revealed were indeed not for the faint hearted. The Wests' story was followed by a briefer account of London bombers again with the benefit of Tony’s personal involvement when seconded to the Met. The enthralling hour was finished on a lighter note of some personal experiences of Glastonbury. The lively questions session that followed was testimony to the sadistic and macabre nature of our club. This was a truly memorable visit and Tony will be asked to return.
February 2017
Mike Spencer’s subject, “Mountains and Maharajas” proved to be an excellent and entertaining sixty minutes describing firstly the sponsored trek in the Indian lowlands followed by a guided tour of the phenomenal buildings in Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. The party of about 30 volunteers raised over £140,000 for St Mary’s Hospice, just reward for such an arduous tour. Mike spoke unerringly without notes or hesitation. Having been on other tours Mike will be asked to return and address us on “Walking the Great wall of China”. A vote of thanks was given by a blushing Geoff Bryant who by this time had switched off his mobile phone!
January 2017
Mac started well with a well-timed joke with a good punchline and captured the attention of his audience straight away. Sadly the subject “World Wide Smuggling” proved to be a stream of facts and figures regarding successful seizures of drugs which only highlighted how improbable it is for smugglers to be caught. Some interesting methods of smuggling were described including donkeys, boat fenders and even a Russian built, remote controlled submarine in Bogota! Was this the torpedo vessel that Ron Allen worked on? (Please refer to last month’s minutes for an explanation.) Mercifully, Mac finished with another joke after speaking for the full hour.
John Edney gave the vote of thanks and the members were polite though not too enthusiastic in their applause.
