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The Bridgwater Blake Probus Club meets at the Pantomime Society Headquarters in Wembdon Road and the access is via the side lane alongside Biffens. The Club is a meeting place for men who are either retired or semi-retired. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday morning of the month for a sociable get together just before 10 o’clock and after a cup of coffee we settle down and listen to an entertaining speaker for about 45 minutes.

 

The room looks bigger because of the mirrors at the far end. Sonny Thompson got a candle on his 2011 birthday cake

Our Speakers list is shown under the Events heading and for those who are interested, a Lunch visit to a local eating place is arranged for the second Wednesday of each month

After the talk our Club Domestic affairs are discussed – usually in an entertaining manner and we wind up by 12 noon.

We are always ready to welcome new members and anyone who is interested can come along to a couple of meetings and see if it would suit them. The membership fee is a modest one set to cover the cost of hiring the hall and paying the Speaker and we usually have about 40 members present at each meeting.

Our Honorary Secretary’s phone number is shown under the ‘Contact Us’ heading.

There is a Car Park alongside the building and you will be most welcome.

December is Paper Hat time

 

Our President Stan Homer with East Quantock President Stan Robson.   Mrs. Homer alongside Hon.Treasurer Jon Smith. Sonny Thompson alongside his smiling lady - waiting for their dinners. Mr. & Mrs. Mike Needs. Mrs. Kitton doubts whether Richard Lennard is about to make his dinner disappear.   Gerry Kitton has made his dinner disappear and Mrs. Lennard thinks it was a very good trick. Vice President Terry Green and his wife Edna Beryl and Robin Mobsby pause for the photographer. Thanks go to Geoff. Parle who was able to take the photos  at our Annual December 'Luncheon with the Ladies' using his mobile phone.

 

 

 

 

  CLICK HERE to see our MEMBERS' PHOTOS

October 2011 and a story of great mystery

Graeme Turner was in the Chair and welcomed our speaker, Ken Atherton whose subject as you can see, was

'The Mysterious Fate of Commander 'Buster' Crabb OBE. GM. RNVR

The story is one of facts and intrigue but Commander Crabb was an underwater expert at dealing with mines and bombs in the wartime and was duly decorated for his gallant actions particularly around Gibraltar where Italian two man chariots were active.  When he left the navy he became a member of the RNVR and was still involved in peacetime diving activities from time to time, developing and testing diving equipment along with naval personnel.  He was employed by MI6 who deal in secret intelligence activities and was on a diving mission in 1956 when he lost his life.

There was a modern Russian Navy Cruiser in Portsmouth at the time and some say that he could have been checking aspects of its underwater design.

However there were Russian V.I.P's on board and they had reports of a frogman seen nearby and duly complained to our Prime Minister who was not best pleased with MI6.  Fishermen trawled up a headless and handless body of a frogman in his suit the following year and from the style of the suit it was said to be Commander Crabb.  Part of the official report was released after 50 years and the full version will be available in 2057  -- such are the ways of the Secret Service.

Ken told and illustrated the story very well and Geoff. Parle proposed the vote of thanks followed by the applause of the members.

The monthly Draw winners were Mike Needs, Dennis Barker and Les Till whilst Bill Lefort recounted a Magic Moment.

Elwyn Davies reported on the members who were not too well and our best wishes went to our President, Stan Homer who was in hospital for an operation that very day. Our Ladies are invited to the November meeting and we will finish up with some cheese and wine.

September 2011  Along the Oregon Trail

34 Members were present and Vice President Terry Green welcomed the speaker, the Reverend Martyn Wratten who is a member of the East Quantock Probus Club who said we would be very welcome to join in their annual church service on Sunday 23rd October at 10.30 a.m. North Petherton Church. His subject was "Along the Oregon Trail".  He took us back to 1800 when there was a French interest in the United States, hence Louisiana stemming from Louis XIVth. President Jefferson required his people to develop a trade route from the south east to the north west coast which they did over very many years by following the great rivers and trails linking villages and settlements.  The full range of life in the Wild West was covered - Trappers, Wagon Trains, the Gold Rush and crossing the rivers with cattle all involving great hardships and many perished. Martin had travelled along sections of the trail and was able to describe the wilds and beauties of it all.  Colin Green proposed the vote of thanks which was well supported by the members.

Jon Smith described working in India where an elephant did a wonderful job of moving and placing heavy machinery for him and it was indeed a magic moment when he saw it all in place.

Winners in the draw were Sonny Thompson, Jon Smith and Dennis Barker.

John Bishop went over the details of the trip to Windsor Castle on Thursday the 15th September.

On the previous day, Wednesday 14th., the monthly lunch will be at The Friendly Spirit at Cannington 12.30 for 1p.m.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR TRIP TO WINDSOR CASTLE

August 2011  Your Garden and Theirs

Probus Member Brian Gandy gave us a useful and interesting talk.  He gave us tips as to what we should be doing in our gardens and then outlined his career and business progression as he followed his passion to become a Landscape Gardener in Hampshire.

We must keep the Hoe going and water the Hanging Baskets even when it rains as the leaves act as an umbrella to the plants and we must feed them regularly.  We should leave our grass long enough to retain the dew and keep the lawn moist. Any fruit trees need treating with long life fertiliser in the Springtime and now they have fruited the branches should be snapped just beyond where you will be pruning in September.

When transplanting a shrub from a tub into a hole you have dug you should immerse the root ball in a bucket of water to give it a good start in its new abode.

With a little space and a tripod of canes you can keep yourself well supplied with Runner Beans.  Gardening means creating order out of chaos and there are no fixed working hours but Brian says it is a very relaxing form of healthy exercise.

In the 1950's Brian and his Wife moved to a new abode and found themselves next to a Nursery Garden whose owner was retiring and they ended up buying the Nursery and restoring it.  A partner joined him at a later stage and this set him on a career path to becoming a Garden Constructor.

This took them to many new sites where new homes were being built.  On some sites major tree stumps had to be got out with the aid of a substantial jack and one owner hid dog biscuits down in the roots and his Labradors did a great job shifting soil to aid the removal process.

They found a hand grenade with the pin in and took it to the local Police Station who got the Army to come along and deal with it.

One challenge was to plant a crescent of azaleas in a chalk sub soil when they don't like chalk. Bowls  were dug out and filled with Irish Moss Peat and eventually a very fine display developed.  Incidentally if you are planting a tree you need to have an idea of its final height and then plant it one and a half times that distance from the house.

Past President Mike Needs proposed the Vote of Thanks and suggested that Brian would no doubt be very welcome at any of the Members homes.

Our Speaker Brian Gandy has a rest whilst Steve Cairns checks Phil Alison's hoeing technique

July 2011  Trekking on the Inca Trail in Peru

DEREK and PAT BRIGGS told us all about their Trek on the Inca Trail in Peru and the work of the Children's Society

29 members were present and President Stan Homer introduced our Speakers for today who told us in some detail of their massive trek on the Inca Trail in Peru.  Their talk was well illustrated and there is no doubt you have to be very fit to undertake such a challenge.

Before setting off there was a year of fund raising with the proceeds going to the Children's Society who do so much good work for under privileged children in the U.K.

Having got suitably fit they flew off to Lima in Peru and set off steadily on their climbs.  The challenges in front of them were four or five times higher than any mountains we have in the U.K. and they had to take it steady in order to get used to the rarefied atmosphere.

They tackled the trip in three stages and the footpaths and trails showed up well on the slides and there was little room for errror.

The Inca was the ruler some 600 years ago and amongst other things they saw his Palace en route along the final trek of some 40 kilometres to their goal which is known as Machu Picchu.  Then of course they had to come down which tested everyone's knees.

Mike Chamberlin proposed the vote of thanks which was heartily endorsed by the members.

Having got our feet back on the ground we proceeded to the monthly draw which resulted in prizes for Jon Smith, Les Till and Roy Deakin.

John Bishop recalled an experience when on guard duty in the Army.

Elwyn Davies reported on the progress of Eric Pasco, Ron Thomas and Jack Napthine who are recovering from injuries due to falls and the evergreen Steve Cairns reported back after a dodgy infection in his arm.

The monthly lunch is at the Enmore Park Golf Club on Wednesday 13th July.