Author: Paul Flint

How would you react if a “live” radio microphone was thrust in your face needing a response to some world events or homegrown problem currently in the public domain?

Who are these people seeking opinions from the public and who broadcast replies to regional, national and worldwide audiences?  Many inquisitors become well known working for the BBC, especially if on TV, whereas radio reporters, having no visible presence, have a lower profile which might be of benefit in their private lives. One such was Alan Jones who was the latest speaker at the Probus Club of Basingstoke.

Alan chose to join their ranks in his late thirties and after completing a specialised training course in journalism he discovered he had a “face for radio”.  Always working as a freelance journalist for the BBC, his new career endured more than twenty years. During this time he provided over 25,000 reports for many national radio programmes and the regional BBC Radio Solent. He worked as a reporter, producer and presenter but carved out a niche of his own as a roving reporter travelling across the south and central southern England. He had a specially adapted mobile studio which was sometimes thought to be a TV Licence detector as it had several aerials, one of which could be extended over 30 feet high.

We were introduced to a nervous Bishop at the top of the partially built Portsmouth Cathedral, uncovered the naked truth of nudity in Alton, wrestled with snakes on the Isle of Wight.

 

He boarded warships at sea and a lunatic Frenchman who wanted a Guinness Book of Record for using a drum kit at altitude in an old Dakota. He had to use a high wire “tight rope” interviewing an artiste of the Moscow State Circus, questioned exhibitors at a rabbit show when the producer demanded that the rabbits could be heard making a noise.

 

 

He walked with Royalty when HM Queen opened the finally built Portsmouth Cathedral. Her Majesty usually enquired of crowds “Have you been here long? or, Have you come far?”

During his interesting talk, Alan took his audience on a journey of adventure, mishap and fun, proving that “if something can go wrong it probably will, especially if you are holding a live microphone”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been another successful calendar year for the Probus Club of Basingstoke. You know the one, just for retired male managers; but it’s not all male domination as their social events involve the ladies.  Just like their black-tie Christmas dinner held at the Test Valley golf club where over forty people had an enjoyable night accompanied by 60s and 70s music and dancing.

President Richard Wood is confident that the future looks rosy with several trips in the pipeline which wives and friends can attend. The world-famous Morgan car factory in Malvern will be an attraction not just for car buffs but maybe a spot of shopping and taking in the local medicinal waters will add something to the day.  And what about a visit to Highgrove House where their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall allow garden tours with expert guides. Or a visit to Bletchley Park that played such an important role in WW2 with the cracking of the German Enigma code and was the birthplace of modern information technology.

Richard waxed lyrical about the monthly business-style meetings where guest speakers entertain members with a diverse range of subjects. January has retired radio reporter Alan Jones, who will give examples of weird and wonderful and downright crazy stories, from nudists to royalty, dangerous animals and nervous bishops, giving truth to what can happen and go wrong when there is a live microphone.

February has member Stephen Thair, who had a private pilot’s licence, discussing Birds and Planes with shared names and features and some exotic species from his time working in the tropics.

March has author Mel Rees with amusing observations about his family and the national scene all in a very none politically correct style which guarantees laughter throughout his presentation.

Richard continued “We welcome new members, irrespective of how many years they have been retired.  Contact our secretary Jonathan Ratcliff on 07501 271547 if you would like to come along for a taster meeting.”
See http://www.probusbasingstoke.club for more information.

 

 

And so another calendar year has passed in the Probus Club of Basingstoke and was celebrated as usual with a Christmas dinner at Test Valley Golf Club.

Hosted by President Richard Wood the arrangements had been made by Liliane and Alan May with their now legendary expertise which ensured that every one of the forty one attendees received the food selections they had pre-ordered.

Not only that but they created a cryptic puzzle to get the grey cells working throughout dinner all about the shops in Festival Place. Possibly little contribution was made by the men folk to solving this task. And on top of that they purchased and wrapped all the prizes for the raffle.

 

The entertainer for the evening, returning from his success at the Christmas dinner in 2017, was Billy Clayton. With a musical repertoire that included many of the pop songs from yesteryear we knew the words and were able to sing along lustily. It was helped by the distribution of a range of “timpani” type instruments which gave the impression that some enthusiastic players with tambourines had joined the Sally Army.

And there was plenty of “dad” style dancing to be seen as many couples took to the floor possibly for the first time since last year.

The Mayor’s Carol Service held in St Michael’s Church on Sunday 8 December was a full house, and quite rightly so. It was a wonderful quality occasion, a celebration of Christmas music performed by choirs, soloists and the congregation, held in the Christmas spirit of support to the charities HeartSmart, Real Change not Loose Change, and Besom in Basingstoke, all of which are very dear to the Mayor.

The Service began with a child soloist singing without musical accompaniment. There followed all the seasonal favourite carols, the congregation accompanied by the choir, and interludes of readings and performances by the choir, a soloist, and the Hatch Warren Infant School Choir, all very charming. The Bishop of Basingstoke also gave a rousing blessing, before the finale of The Hallelujah Chorus, splendidly performed by the choir, with the congregation invited to join in if they felt able.

Afterwards, all participants mingled together to enjoy some mulled wine, mince pies and other sweet treats prepared and served by catering students of BCOT.

In the last 100 years the British army has moved on from using horses and fairly basic transport to today it has at its disposal great technical as well as mechanical equipment so necessary to defend our way of life and support overseas missions. It also has the benefit of working closely with the RAF and Navy to ensure victory in the field.  But what will it be like in twenty or thirty years from now?

This is the question posed by Lt Col Richard C O Grover MBE who told of his experiences as an officer in today’s infantry regiments at the latest Probus Club meeting.

In the eighteen years since graduating from the Sandhurst Military Academy he has risen up the ranks and in 2020 takes command of the 2^nd Battalion of The Mercian Regiment. Getting to this position has not been easy with exposure to great personal risk and deep sadness from the loss and injuries to his troops on the battlefield.

Richard’s first posting was to Northern Ireland where he was stationed in Dungannon. He had great respect for the police force.

On detachment to Afghanistan and the night the England football team were playing a world cup match they determined to keep safe in their compound but the Taliban had other ideas. Thirty insurgents attempted to overrun their base. Richard was full of praise for the NCOs, the backbone of the British army, who were able to take the firefight to the enemy so that despite the action of the Taliban his men suffered no losses. During their time in that country, of his company of 130 men, eleven lost their lives and 30 suffered wounds, some life-changing. As a result of his activities Richard Grover, a major at the time, was awarded the MBE.

Iraq proved to be a different experience being involved with the post-war clear up of Basra. The vagaries of the British weather he considered to be a plus point in handling some of the climate extremes they encountered.  The summer heat reached 50 degrees and without air conditioning was difficult to cope with but the winter was cold.

Somalia was different again but this was a small operation engaged in trying to prevent internal conflict.

Recent time spent at the Staff College was very much involved with anticipating changes that will occur with the increasing use of cyber attacks and fake news.

Equally, the positive interaction between the British population and the military, which mainly becomes clear around Remembrance Day in November, has to be managed carefully. The British taxpayer needs to continue to support the army that consumes 25% of the defence budget. And it is reassuring that the British military is apolitical and therefore will always follow the ruling of which shade of government is in power.

Sunday 10 November was a dry and sunny day and probably helped in swelling the congregation at the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the War Memorial situated outside of the Basingstoke Civic offices.

Our Probus Club was amongst many organisations present to place their poppy wreaths in tribute to the fallen in all conflicts in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Our Hon Secretary, Jonathan Ratcliff, laid our wreath, accompanied by Vice President David Wickens who was also there in his Scouting role.  Executive Committee member and Borough Councillor, Paul Miller attended in a civic role and Derek Roberts sang in the Basingstoke Male Voice choir. Publicity Officer Paul Flint with partner Janet Fagg were members of the congregation.

Both Jonathan Ratcliff and Paul Miller also attended a shorter service at the War Memorial on Monday, the actual Armistice Day of 11 November.

Should she be worried at the thought of giving her talk for the first time to the all male audience of the Probus Club of Basingstoke? After all she had almost thirty years’ experiences to call upon, all far more serious than this. The good, the bad and the downright funny is how Jackie Dimmock described situations she encountered as an officer in the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police. Discounting the usual Powerpoint slides, instead she used her hobby of quilting to amusingly illustrate some of her varied incidents as customs and practices changed over the years.

The W in WPC eventually went missing, as a Police Constable had that rank irrespective of gender. However, the uniform did not change until later so she had a straight skirt, stockings and suspenders. Not the most practical attire when responding to a reported break in and forced to climb over a school wall after her male colleague jokingly told her that the gate was locked.

In those days she was issued with a radio but had to buy a pair of handcuffs and a small truncheon that fitted inside her shoulder bag which she would swing with great effect at miscreants.Trousers came later, but these were men’s trousers and consequently fitted women badly. Today female Police Constables have tailored trousers, advanced radios, CS sprays, handcuffs, cameras and stab vests.

Undertaking a police driving course, Jackie was inexplicably taught to double de-clutch even though the car had a synchromesh gear box. Let out in a small car, although fitted with a blue light it had no siren so she had to use the horn to get through traffic. On her first outing she made the classic error of driving the wrong way up a one way street. Chasing a suspect would have been her excuse had she been reported.

At a meeting led by the then Chief Constable she failed to ask about a report that 99% of female officers suffered sexual harassment at work. Being news to Jackie she afterwards quizzed the Chief Constable as she wondered if she was the missing one percent. He said that to rectify matters she would be welcome to visit his office anytime.                          How times change.

Following on from serving five years in the Child Protection Unit Jackie become a Schools Liaison officer. She was able to tease information out of children relating to domestic problems. Children told of drug addict mothers using a lighter under a tea spoon in the kitchen. Others being abused and their siblings in the same school equally suffering were unknown to teachers. Fathers who drove while drunk or did not wear a seat belt were all reported by the children.

Drug raids required a female office to be part of the team as she would be needed to handle women suspects. One raid on a bungalow the suspect escaped out of a window. Jackie leaned out trying to spot him. An inquisitive donkey came up to the window and bit Jackie’s left breast. Everyone said that they should examine the damaged area as it needed to be recorded in the accident book.

In the early days of DNA she became a scene of crimes officer.  A girl had been murdered alongside the Basingstoke canal in 1981 with no suspect emerging. All the evidence was kept in Basingstoke. In 2002, in the north, a wife reported her husband for assault. Using familial DNA profiling he was eventually charged with the murder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always known as Bert within the Probus Club, twelve members attended his funeral service at the crematorium on Tuesday 1^st October 2019.  What an uplifting experience it turned out to be.

Arriving differently to custom and practice, Bert’s wicker coffin was transported not in the traditional hearse but in a motor cycle’s side car that had caused quite an interest as it travelled through Basingstoke.

 

Family pall bearers each had a miniature whisky before they carried him into the crematorium where one of Bert’s grandsons played on an electronic piano during and at the conclusion of the humanist style service.

Led by Bert’s eldest son, Martin, this was very much a family affair along with the younger son, Jerry, grandsons and granddaughters celebrating Bert’s 96 years.  Each gave a snap shot of Bert’s impact on his family as his career took them from Lancashire, Staffordshire, Scotland and eventually to Sherfield on Loddon. His profession as an analytical chemist progressed until his final posting at Burghfield where he was CinC – Chemist in Charge.

Typically of course we learned a great deal about Bert’s private passions – his two sons as they grew up as he taught them about the natural habitat and then their children, his piano playing apparently a daily occurrence, his interest in motor bikes even to having one after retirement, being a writer to his family especially when he was given an iPad which allowed him almost daily emails keeping his family up to date about his various activities.

A touching symbol at the conclusion of the service Martin handed out single stemmed roses for virtually everyone to place on Bert’s coffin.

 

 

Wacky, weird and wonderful are some of the thoughts that come to mind hearing about and viewing some of the inventions covered in an illustrated talk by Nick Brazil to the Probus Club of Basingstoke.

Of course all the inventions were from past ages but some had the germ of an idea that came to fruition and can be seen today. Although some inventions made it into production the vast majority got as far as the Patent Office and no further. Many offered labour saving as their main attraction such as the canine powered sewing machine where a dog ran on a turntable replacing the traditional treadle. And the dog powered turn spit saving servants the labour of continually rotating the carcase of meat over the fire. A type of dog was bred for this task and it is said Queen Victoria had two of them. The breed died out after the invention of different cooking equipment.

Multitasking is nothing new. What about the machine that was a combination baby rocker and butter churner which enabled the busy farmer’s wife to also have free hands to continue with her knitting. Or the fresh air bed that had a large trumpet shape over the sleeping person that brought in fresh air from outside. The problem was that on waking and sitting up the person banged their head on the trumpet.

The sweat bed, designed to rid the occupant of a fever, had a boiler at its foot to heat up pipes under the mattress. The electric under blanket today offers the same result. And the swooning chair that provided some sort of recovery to ladies fainting in their tight corsets and clothing in the heat of an airless room. By sitting on a chair with a descending cushion it caused two paddles to fan the face of the distressed young lady.

Talking of hot rooms there was the invention of a table railway that brought food to diners that overcame the need for servants to be skilled in the art of silver service. Similar ideas can be seen in several restaurants today.

Britain has always had variable weather conditions and the thought of being out in a thunder storm and being struck by lightning saw the invention of the lightning conductor umbrella. This had a tall aerial to attract the lightning and a wire to take the strike to ground. It was modified for some ladies’ hats. Not to be outdone in the millenary department there was the portable umbrella built in to the hat which is something that keeps coming up these days. One idea in the not really successful category was the invention in the German army in Africa of a rain collecting hat complete with a small tap.

Aerial photography developed by using pigeons with a camera strapped to them. The picture was taken at a particular height caused by atmospheric pressure. Two photographs could be taken by strapping two small cameras to the pigeon. This was superseded in WW1 with early planes fitted with cameras for reconnaissance purposes. The Lumiere brothers in France developed a successful type of colour photography known as autochrome that only stopped in the 1950s.

Transport had many eccentric developments. The Danish Hunting Monocycle could travel at 24 mph and the American Monocycle beat that at 30 mph. The Dutch military Multi cycle in 1887could transport twelve soldiers on one vehicle and for something completely left field was the Telegraph Wire Bicycle in 1890  which, as the name suggests, was suspended from telegraph wires rather than running on the ground.

And was there a castle in the air? There certainly was when at the Antwerp exhibition in 1894 the idea was promoted of using 150,000 cubic feet of lighter than air gas in a balloon to support the building of a town. Residents would ascend and descend using elevators. Naturally it was all hot air and it never saw the light of day.

 

 

 

Geoff Twine (as the current holder of the Shield) organised this event and 7 members attended. Geoff Twine, Bryan Nagle, Alan May, Richard Stettner, Jeff Grover, David Wickens and John Swain all battled it out for the 2019 honours in this Stableford Competition. This means that points are awarded on completion of each hole depending on how many shots it took and what handicap you are playing off. The person with the most points is declared the winner.

The day was just right for a game of golf after the preceding days had been quite rainy. We all posed for our photos at the first tee before setting off at 10 am. In the first group was Bryan Nagle and Alan May in a buggy together with Richard Stettner.

 

The other four all played together and Geoff Twine is seen putting on the 18th green.

 

As usual it was a day of some good shots and some bad and after all the scores were in and checked it was surprising that very few points separated all 7 players but the winner by 1 point was Richard Stettner who was presented with the Shield by Geoff Twine.

 

Everyone enjoyed an excellent golfer’s meal of ham, egg and chips together with a small libation and plenty of chat about what had gone on throughout the day.

Let’s hope that Richard can organise another super day out next year.