21st July 2005

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting, especially the many ladies who were visiting us today.  The chairman went on to welcome our guest speaker Mr John Wallace who was going to give a talk entitled “The Rise and Fall of Musical Variety”.  Frank also explain that the meeting today would be an especially busy meeting, for in addition to it being ladies day, there was also the Ploughman’s Lunch which would follow our meeting as well as the judging of the Photo Competition and the drawing of the raffle prizes, which had been generously donated by many of our members.

Commenting on one of the news items of the day our Secretary proclaimed that those who did not win the Photo Competition were not failures, but were simply “Deferred Achievers”. Our Secretary then went on to read the minutes of the last meeting including a short summary of the talk given by Mrs. A. M. Mculloch on the work of an environmental health officer.

Our Treasurer Arthur Stevens explained the logistics of the luncheon arrangements and our Program Secretary Derek Morton thanked our guest speaker for his efforts to beat the traffic hold-ups across the Pennines, even though this meant he arrived long before the rest of us.

Our Chairman was becoming increasingly concerned as there was no sign of the independent judge who was to judge the Photo Competition. So with worry lines slowly being etched onto Frank’s forehead we broke for coffee.

With coffee out of the way we settled back to listen to The Rise and Fall of the Musical Variety by John Wallace who sang many songs of the era, accompanying himself and those who chose to join in on his banjo. His entertaining talk, interspersed with jokes and music was very well received.

A much relieved Chairman, who by now had located the photographic judge, suggested we retire to the bar before enjoying the Ploughman’s Lunch.

Following an excellent lunch John Towse a professional photographer passed comments on the various photographs submitted for the competition. He did not mince his words as you would expect from a Yorkshire man. His comments and advice were all given and taken in good spirit and good humour. There were two prizes on offer. The first prize went to our Vice Chairman Iain Stronach for his photograph of The Big Wheel when it visited Manchester city centre. The second prize went to Rowland Dunston for his study of a breakfast, an unusual and quirky photo taken when Roland’s wife was away with some friends and he had to cater for himself. He took the photo and then he ate the breakfast.

The draw for the raffle prizes then got underway with our guest John Towse drawing the first ticket out of the bag which fittingly went to one of our lady visitors.

Our Chairman brought the meeting to a close thanking all for attending. Thanking the caterers for a job well done. Thanking our guests John Wallis and John Towse and thanking the many members who had submitted their photos for the competition. The meeting had been great success.

Finally he reminded those who had not won a prize in the photo competition that they were not failures but simply Deferred Achievers.

th July 2005

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and after the usual preliminaries asked Gwyn our Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting including a short summary of the talk on Food Additives given by Mr. A. L. Davis.

Our Treasurer reported that all those who were having the Ploughman’s Lunch at our next meeting had paid him, so there would be no need to chivy anyone for there fees. (I think this was a backhanded compliment thanking members for there prompt payment) The Chairman reminded everyone to get their photographs in, if they wanted to enter the Photograph Competition. Judging would take place at the next meeting [Ladies Day] and would be undertaken by a friend of the Chairman from The Stockport Photographic Society.

Following the coffee break we listened to a talk given by Mrs. A. McCullough a local Environmental Health Officer entitled, “The Work of an Environmental Health Officer”, accompanied by some gruesome slides depicting some very undesirable kitchens and some appalling housing conditions. Mrs McCullough went to great lengths to explain that these were extreme conditions and were the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless; it was enough to put you off dining out for the rest of your life and it seemed totally inconceivable that in this day and age and with all the advantages of today’s welfare state, that anyone could live in such appalling conditions.

Though Mrs. McCullough’s talk was fairly short it was extremely thought provoking. Our usually short question and answer session turned into a marathon event and would have continued for much longer had not the clock reminded us that time was running short. Our Vice Chairman gave a vote of thanks that was warmly endorsed by our members. There was just time for our Chairman to remind all, of the Photo Competition and to make a plea for members to donate raffle prizes for our next meeting, which was our Ladies Day meeting and Ploughman’s Lunch on the Thursday 21^st July.

The meeting then came to a close with our Chairman wishing everyone a safe journey home.

19th May 2005

Our Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and after recording any apologies for absence asked Gwyn our Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting which included a short summary of the talk given by Mr. G. Greenwood on the American civil war.

Our Chairman then announced that our speaker, Ms J. Halman who was to have given a talk on Marie Curie Cancer Care, had been sent to China at the last minute and was therefore unable to attend our meeting. This cancellation came only a few days before our meeting and had really left us with very little time to arrange an alternative. He felt that this sort of situation had to be a Program Secretaries nightmare. However our new Program Secretary, Derek Morton, only a few weeks into the role, had risen to the challenge and produced a rabbit from his top hat in the form of John Glenn, who was going to speak to us on the art of public speaking. John was a personal friend of Derek and had agreed to stand in as guest speaker for which we were all very grateful.

Arthur Stevens reminded those who had not already paid for their Ploughmans Lunch to please do so and Peter Pilbeam reminded everyone of the trip he was arranging on the 13^th October to the Plaza Theatre to see the musical “Me and My Girl”.

Our Chairman announced that he had procured the services of a fellow photographer to act as judge for our Ladies Day photographic competition. He had already received some entries and urged all members to look through their photo collections and enter their best photos. There were no categories, each would be judged on their own merits.

Following the coffee break Mr. Glenn gave us an insight into the up’s and down’s of public speaking. He told how fate had brought him, a Glaswegian to Stockport and how he had joined a public speakers club, which after many trials and tribulations and many years of public speaking, had led to him become the resident Master of Ceremonies at a local hotel. It was an interesting and humorous talk for which our Chairman gave a vote of profound thanks that was heartily endorsed by our members.

Finally our Chairman reminded everyone that the next meeting would be on Thursday 2^nd June when our guest speaker would be Mr. N. E. Clarke whose topic was entitled “My Little Black Book – Diary of a Speaker”. Due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, it would appear that we were going to have two talks at subsequent meetings on roughly the same subject, but no doubt each would be totally different and just as interesting and informative.

5th May 2005

Our Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and announced that thanks to the intervention of our Treasurer, Arthur Stevens, we now have a hearing loop installed for those who are hard of hearing. It was all due to the generosity of a fellow Probus club who had already purchased such a device and were willing to lend it to us for each of our meetings. In return we have made available our amplifier for there meetings. Our Chairman therefore asked those who had hearing aids to set them to the “T” setting whereupon they should be able hear the rest of the meeting much more clearly. Following the usual business of asking for any reported absences, our Secretary Gwyn Phillips read the minutes of the last meeting including a short summary of Mr. P Heaton’s talk on the Nineteen Forties.

Arthur Stevens Announced that the Ploughman’s Lunch on the 21^st July would cost £5.50 and he would be happy to relieve us of our money any time we felt like paying him. He also announced that the two soups on offer would be different colours this year as there seemed to be some confusion last year as to which soup people were being served.

Peter Pilbeam gave more details of the visit to the Plaza Theatre to see the musical “Me and My Girl” that he was hoping to arrange on the 13^th October.

Following the coffee break we listened to the third installment of Mr. G Greenwoods talk on the American Civil War entitled “Grant Takes Command.” Mr. Greenwood’s enthusiasm and undoubted knowledge of his subject had everyone hanging on his last word, but apparently we will have to ask him back for the final installment if we want to know who won the war! Our Secretary gave a vote of thanks and our members responded with an enthusiastic round of applause.

Our Chairman reminded everyone of the Photographic Competition he was organizing and asked everyone to get snapping. The competition will be judged by an independent judge at our Ladies Day meeting on the 21^st July.

The meeting was then brought to a close reminding everyone that our next meeting would be on the 19^th May.

21st April 2005

Our Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting on a glorious spring morning.  For various reasons we seemed to be a bit thin on the ground and there were many apologies for absence.  Our Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting including a short summary of Mr. D. Benson’s talk entitled, “So you think you know Stockport” accompanied by numerous interjections on the state of the country.  I’m not sure just how much shorter these new shorter versions of the minutes are?

Our Chairman had to apologies to those who were looking forward to our trip to the East Lancs Railway, as he had had to postpone the visit owing to the fact that the summertime table did not start until May and that at the moment trains only ran at the weekends. It seemed we had jumped the gun. A hasty discussion between himself and the Vice Chairman resulted in the venue being changed to the National Railway Museum at York and we would try and arrange a trip to the East Lancs Railway later in the year.

Peter Pilbeam asked members to let him know if they were interested in visiting the Plaza theatre later in the year. If enough were interested he would make the usual arrangements. (More details later in the year)

Following the coffee break we listened to a very interesting talk by Mr. P. Heaton on the Nineteen Forties. Memories came flooding back to those old enough to remember, Evacuation, Anderson Shelters, Air Raid Wardens and Rationing to mention just a few of the topics included in Mr Heaton’s talk. He gave an interesting talk that invited participation from his audience and most members did.

Leslie Williams gave a vote of thanks that was endorsed by a round of enthusiastic applause.

The meeting then came to a close with our Chairman wishing everyone a safe journey home on this glorious spring morning.

PS.

Following the meeting the Chairman and Vice Chairman retired to the local Pub where they sat outside at one of the picnic tables eating fish and chips in the warm summer sunshine.

“It‘s good to be alive on a day like this”, said Frank

One week later life got even better, he became a Granddad.

7th April 2005

Our Chairman welcomed one and all to the meeting and after the usual preliminaries, asked Gwyn Phillips our Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting. These were of course the minutes of the meeting dated the 3^rd March our “Chairman’s Morning”, as the last meeting was our AGM. Gwyn’s minutes were in the new shortened form that had been agreed at the AGM, but seemed to cover just as much ground as before but didn’t take up as much time.  Arthur Stevens informed the members that our Ex Chairman, Peter Pilbeam, had been awarded the Silver Wolf for his contribution to the Scouting Movement. This was a very rare and distinguished award that was warmly applauded by all the members.  It was also announced that Leslie Williams book “Reminiscences of a P.O.W.” had raised £800 to date for the Red Cross which was again warmly applauded.

Derek Morton our new Programme Secretary, appealed to members to let him know if they experienced any interesting talks or knew of anybody who was interested in giving a talk to our club.

If members would let him know the details he said he would do his best to incorporate them into our future programme. Our Chairman once again thanked Derek for taking on the role of Programme Secretary and also thanked our retiring Programme Secretary, Brian Jones, for all his endeavours on behalf of the club over the last few years.

Following the coffee break we listened to Mr. Benson who was making a return visit to our club. His talk this time was entitled, “So You Think You Know Stockport” and of course we all thought we did. Nevertheless, Mr. Benson still had some surprises up his sleeve and his talk was very well received by the membership.

Finally our Chairman announced a trip to the East Lancs Railway at Bury on the 27^th April, to which several members expressed an interest.

All too quickly the clock announced that our time had run out. Our Chairman brought the meeting to a close reminding all that our next meeting would be on Thursday 21^st April

17th March 2005

Today was our Annual General Meeting, and therefore the format was somewhat different. Following the Chairman’s opening comments and after receiving any apologies for absence Gwyn Phillips our Secretary should have read out the minutes of the last meeting [ that's the AGM twelve months ago] but as this could be a bit dry and most members could remember what happened it was decided not to bother. This was received with much relief by most of the assembled members.

The chairman summarised the highs and lows of the year, from the moment when, halfway through the AGM one year ago, he unexpectedly took over the reigns, to the loss of a number of colleagues during the year, and finally, the presentation of his Chairman’s day talk. He said he could not have got through the year without the help of the other club officials, but that it was the warmth and friendship of all the members that had made his job so enjoyable and satisfying.

Iain Stronach our Vice Chairman also said that he had enjoyed the year. It was a year since he launched the club website, which had been well received. He had enjoyed standing in for both the Secretary and the Chairman during the year and reporting to the members on a number of club outings.

Gwyn Phillips vowed to carry on as Secretary for another year, though he thought the practice of reviewing the previous meetings talk should be discontinued. Most other club’s minutes did not go into such detail.

Brian Jones reported on another successful year as Program Secretary, but thought that it was time to bring fresh blood to the job. It was with much pleasure that we subsequently learnt that Derek Morton one of our newer members had agreed to take on this role.

Arthur Stevens our Treasure reported on another successful year in which he managed to balance the books without drawing on previous surpluses, despite the rising cost of speakers.

Gwyn Phillips read out a report from John Hayes our Catering Organiser who was not well enough to attend the meeting; though hopefully will be back with us soon. Again, another successful year, but John had itemised a number of changes that need to be voted on.

Following the coffee break a number of items were fully debated and voted for or against, not the least of which being that the subscription charges should remain unchanged.

Rowland Dunscombe asked whether it would be possible to give Leslie’s book a mention on the web site. (See the News page for full details)

All the present officers were re-elected except Brian Jones who was replaced by Derek Morton.

Doug Coombs offered a vote of thanks to the Chairman and his team for yet another successful year which received a welcome round of applause.

We were to have listened to two short talks from members of the club but time only allowed for one. Chris Ward, one of our newer members gave an interesting insight into the countries coal mines and the difficulties he experienced trying to understand the different dialects of various mining communities around the country.

Finally our Chairman gave details of a forthcoming trip to The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford and then wished everyone a safe journey home reminding all that the next meeting would be in three weeks time.

3rd March 2005

Our Chairman, Frank Johnson, welcomed one and all to his big day (Chairman’s Morning). The meeting being well attended, there were few reported absences. Our Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting together with the full report of the talk given by Mr. B. Hallworth on the workings of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

Our Secretary, Arthur Stevens brought the matter of receiving medical assistance while traveling abroad to the attention of our members, in particular, the filling in and completion of form E11. This form had changed considerably and though nothing to do with the club itself he felt that members would be interested in the changes that had recently taken place.

Our Program Secretary reported that he now had two members who would give short talks at the AGM.

Leslie Williams announced that the book he had been working on for so long had finally been published and that if anybody wanted a copy he would be selling copies during the coffee break with all the proceeds going to the Red Cross.

After our break and feeling suitably refreshed we settled back to listen to our Chairman’s talk on his hobby of Photography. The first half of his talk was on the history of Photography illustrated by copies of various early photographs [not taken by a Frank] but by early pioneers of the art, together with some later photographs of Frank’s ancestors taken in the days when one sat for a photograph in a studio, the introduction of the personal camera coming sometime later. The second half of the talk was based around the photographs taken by Frank and exhibited at the Stockport Photographic Society, which he had recently joined. It was interesting to hear Frank relate some of the judge’s comments on what to all appeared to be very good photographs. It just goes to show that beauty and perfection are very definitely in the eye of the beholder and that it is impossible to please all of the judges all of the time.

The chairman’s talk was well received by all and our Program Secretary gave a vote of thanks that was followed by a round of applause.

The meeting came to a close with our Chairman wishing all a safe journey home and announcing that our next meeting would be our AGM on the 17^th March.

17th February 2005

After the usual pleasantries and reported absences our Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting together with a short summary of the talk on the Commonwealth Games given by Mr. B. Fields.

Our Program Secretary announced that one member had offered to give a short talk at our AGM but he was still looking for another member to give a talk. If any members felt they could help in this matter, he asked that they please let him know as soon as possible. The other Club Officers had little to add to the meeting and so following the coffee break we settled down to listen to Mr. B. Hallworth from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

We were surprised to learn that the RSPB originated on our doorstep at Fletcher Moss in Didsbury and gained its Royal patronage when Queen Victoria instructed the armed forces to remove all feathers from their head gear. The talk proved most interesting and a lively question and answer session ensued especially on the merits of all year round feeding of birds in the garden.

The chairman brought the meeting to a close hoping all would attend the next meeting on the 3^rd March which was the Chairman Morning, though he gave nothing away as to the content of his talk.

3rd February 2005

Our Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and duly accepted any apologies for absence. Gwyn Phillips our Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting including a short summary of the talk given by Rev Davidson on “The Magic of Music Hall.”

Our chairman thanked Arthur Stevens our Treasurer for organising what everyone agreed, had been an excellent Annual Dinner.

Iain Stronach our Vice Chairman explained that he had placed some photographs at the back of the room for all to see. He said the photographs weren’t going to win any awards as the camera seemed to have caught most members and their guests either looking away from the camera or with odd expressions on there faces. However, he thought they did give a flavour of the occasion.

Arthur Stevens our Treasurer explained that he was pleased everyone had enjoyed the meal and that he had therefore taken the liberty of booking the venue for next year. All members seemed to be quiet happy with this arrangement.

Brian Jones our Programme Secretary was still looking for volunteers to give a short speech at the Annual General Meeting. One member had agreed to give a short talk but he still needed one more speaker.

Following the coffee break, Mr. B Fields gave an interesting talk on his role as a volunteer at the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester in 2002. It was interesting to hear how the volunteers had been recruited, organized and kitted out in their colourful attire. Mr. Fields said that there had been many doubters who did not think that Manchester could put on such an event as the Commonwealth Games but that they had all been proved wrong for the games had been not only a great success but a financial success as well. It was interesting to hear that not everything ran smoothly, though thankfully everything seemed to run as planned as far as the public were concerned. Following an enthusiastic question and answer session, Iain Stronach gave a vote of thanks and members showed their appreciation with a round of applause.

The chairman announced that he was arranging a visit to the Big Wheel in Manchester city centre. If anybody was interested would they please add there names to the form on display at the back of the room.

The meeting was then brought to a close with our Chairman wishing everyone a safe journey home.

20th January 2005

A worried Chairman welcomed all to the second meeting of the year, for at the start of the meeting our guest speaker had not arrived. Hasty talks between club officers resulted in a proposed Community Morning in which members could discuss items of interest with the rest of the club in a very informal manner.

Following the usual request for absences, our Secretary read out the minutes of the last meeting including a synopsis of Arthur Clark’s talk on Samuel Oldknow. Gwyn had to admit that he had only scratched the surface of the wealth of detail that Arthur had provided in his talk.

Our Vice Chairman enquired about the state of “Raffle Prizes”, for our forth coming Annual Dinner at Marple Golf Club, and was assured that there would not be a shortage of prizes due to the generosity of our members who had over provided us with a wealth of items for our last raffle.

Arthur Stevens our Treasurer gave final details of the arrangements for the Annual Dinner including notice of a sophisticated menu system that would ensure that all members would receive exactly what they had ordered no matter where they sat.

John Hayes our Catering Organiser announced that the cost of our coffee was being increased by 5p from today. Though this seemed a bit hefty to some members it was pointed out that the cost of a coffee in some commercial outlets was some 400% dearer.

A happier Chairman who had just witnessed the arrival of our guest speaker announced that coffee was ready.

Following the coffee break we were entertained by Rev Davidson as he gave a most entertaining presentation on “The Magic of Music Hall”, including Music, Magic, Songs and Monologues. All agreed that the talk had been most enjoyable, bringing back memories of an earlier age.

Our Chairman brought the meeting to a close reminding all that we would next meet in one week’s time for our Annual Dinner.

6th January 2005

Our Chairman welcomed everyone to the first meeting of 2005 and wished all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Sadly our first duty of the New Year was a minutes silence in memory of Bill Shaw who died suddenly at his home while preparing to come to our last meeting. It was a measure of the esteem that Bill was held in by members of our club that fourteen members attended the service at Stockport crematorium.

Bill will be very sadly missed.

Our Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting which seemed a long time ago, so it was good to be reminded of the light hearted talk given by Mrs A Davidson entitled, “A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That”.

Our Chairman announced that due to the generosity of our members, the Christmas raffle had raised over £40 which would be used to offset the ever increasing cost of guest speakers.

Following the coffee break we settled down to listen to the talk about Samuel Oldknow given by one of our own members, Arthur Clarke. Samuel Oldknow came to Stockport in 1785 when he employed three hundred outworking weavers to manufacture muslins. He died in 1828 having built Mills, Lime Kilns, Canals, Railways and Farms in the districts of Marple and Mellor. He was a model employer and looked after his workers well. Many of the structures he built remain to this day.

Such was Arthur’s knowledge and enthusiasm for his topic it soon became clear that he was never going to finish by 12 o’clock. Arthur immediately adjusted his talk to the shortened version and still managed to overrun by fifteen minutes, but such was the interest in his talk that nobody minded.

Our Chairman quickly brought the meeting to a close by wishing everyone a safe journey home.