Author: Paul Flint

John Pitman was born at Headbourne Worthy, near Winchester, 71years ago and therefore is Winchester born and bred. An experienced raconteur he entertained the members of the Probus Club of Basingstoke with his experiences of Hampshire village life as he grew up in what he may have considered then was a rural idyll and now appears to be a very basic existence.

He has lived and worked around Winchester all his life and his roots in Hampshire village life run deep being connected with many social groups in his locality. Village Hall committee for 40 years, being chairman for 26 years; drama groups where he has established a reputation for playing pantomime dames and being Vice President of a brass band are some of his interests. He is also chairman of the Southern Water Retirement Association for Hampshire having worked in their finance section based in an office in Otterbourne.

John’s talk on “Village life in the 1940s and 1950s” centred on his family life during war time and the immediate post war ‘austerity years’ and it brought back wonderful memories for many of the assembled members.

With great humour, he meticulously took us through the country seasons as seen through his eyes as a child living in Headbourne Worthy. It was a detail of life before ‘The Good Life’ shop in the village.

During daily life in a farm worker’s cottage on a 2000 acre country estate, he vividly described how he and his parents coped without running water, an outdoor ‘copper’ for washing clothes and an earthen closet loo at the top of the garden. The only electrical appliance in the cottage was a ‘wireless’, powered initially by an accumulator battery and, when electricity came to the village, by an adaptor from the ceiling light. Many of the familiar and favourite family programmes of the period were recollected.

Engine House

Chris Barton

Sunday 28th September saw members of our club visit the Kempton Water Works Museum for one of its “In Steam” open days. An easy drive up the M3 to where it becomes the A316 and the magnificent art deco engine house is highly visible at the side of the road.

This was one of their weekends that included a classic car and motor cycle display with some wonderful examples of engineering of the four and two wheeled type. But this was nothing to compare with the “Wow” factor when entering the engine house and first seeing the gigantic triple expansion steam engines that pumped water to north London from 1928 until 1980. Two engines face each other with space between for the installation of a third one that did not materialise as technological advances meant that equivalent pumping power could be obtained by smaller engineering.

One of the engines has been fully restored and is described as the largest triple working in the world. The other is a static display which allows visitors to climb over the complete engine as part of a guided tour. Several of our members and their wives could be seen at the pinnacle of this wonderful example of British engineering. At a height of almost 63 feet and weighing 1000 tons the engines had to be completely assembled in situ. The three drive wheels each weighing over 32 tons had to be designed in two halves as there was a road weight limit of 16 tons.

Those members that went were completely impressed by what they saw. For those who did not make the trip they can get a feeling of what they missed by looking the web site www.kemptonsteam.org

The annual golf match between Basingstoke Probus and Deane Probus clubs took place on 28th August at Sherfield Oaks Golf Club.

Our team consisted of Geoff Twine, Richard Stettner, Alan May and Phillip Jones and had two guest players, Barry Allard and Phil Stephens. Both teams of six players played three four ball matches. The first match ended in being halved, as did the second match. The overall result was therefore dependent on the last group of four – a cliff hanger!! In the end it was a win for Basingstoke Probus Club. The twelve players then retired to the Club House for a well earned drink and meal.

All agreed that it was a very enjoyable day and played in good spirit.

New President of Probus, David Tivey, being presented with the chain of office by out going president Paul FlintThe Probus Club of Basingstoke has recently entered its 37th year of operation and will be happy to hear from applicants who would like to join this organisation for retired professional and business men.

President David Tivey explains “We are a social club for like minded men that meets twice during most months; for lunch on the second Tuesday at Test Valley golf club and on the evening of the fourth Thursday at Christ Church in Chineham where we have a guest speaker. The subjects are wide ranging, for example during the autumn we shall be having a glimpse of village life in the 1940/50s, followed by military experiences of getting your knees brown and guidance on how to have a happy and wealthy retirement.”

“In addition we have external trips and occasions that involve our wives and partners. We are going to the Kempton Water Works ‘in steam ‘ weekend to see one of their famous engines running and there will be a classic car and motor bike display, we have a trip booked to RAF Hendon museum and then we shall be having our black tie Christmas dinner”

“In the new year we are planning visits to the Marie Rose exhibition, the Supreme Court and a three days trip to the WW1 battlefields”

David Tivey is a retired Government Factory Inspector and previously had never considered himself a “clubby” person but was introduced to Probus by an ex-colleague. He was surprised how quickly he felt at home with men who had such a wide variety of professional and business experiences. Some had worked overseas but the majority had been the movers and shakers in and around Basingstoke.

The first speaker of the 36th season for the Probus Club of Basingstoke reassured the audience of retired professional and business men of the high safety standards when travelling by train. The topic “Training the Train Drivers” was expertly covered by Chris Vickers of South West Trains who became a train driver fourteen years ago. For the last seven years he has been a Driver Instructor, including eighteen month’s secondment to the training centre at Basing View in Basingstoke.
There is fierce competition to become a train driver with a waiting list of several years before the applicant gets to the initial interview. Typically, from 350 applicants only one is normally accepted on to the training scheme. Even then there is fall out as a result of candidates failing some of the rigorous examinations during the fourteen months in training.
The curriculum covers every aspect about the tracks, signalling, stations on each line, safety standards and that is before they reach the stage of getting their hands on a real train. Initially they are taught with simulators. The simulators, similar in principle to the ones used to train airline pilots, are based on the Desiro trains used by South West Trains. They are used to assess trainee drivers as well as qualified drivers on their knowledge of the latest rules.
Eventually the trainees are assigned to a Driver Instructor who acts as their mentor and sits with them in the cab whilst gaining experience driving real trains. Having completed all the necessary training they will take a final assessment that lasts for five days. Having passed that hurdle they have to learn the routes that they will drive over. The first time a driver goes solo is something they will never forget. Gaining a train driver’s licence is the fulfilment of the ambition of many but achieved by only a few.

The first lunch of the 36th Probus season was held at Test Valley Golf Club on Tuesday 8th July 2014. Newly elected President David Tivey welcomed the guest of honour, the Worshipful the Mayor of Basingstoke & Deane BC, Cllr Roger Gardiner. The Mayor spoke about the three charities he had selected for his sponsorship during his year of office and President David Tivey presented him with a cheque from our club in support of his target.

This is the third year running that the club has been visited by the mayor at the inaugural lunch.

Despite inconvenient road works close to the golf club which had the potential to cause delays members arrived on time and enjoyed a good lunch.

Thanks are due to Dr Raja Cavale for being behind the camera. More photographs of the lunch can be seen in the Picture Gallery which you will find in the drop down menu MORE.

At the 35th Annual General Meeting of the Probus Club of Basingstoke David Tivey was appointed President for the ensuing year. A retired Factory Inspector, he lives with his wife Bridget in Cliddesden Court near Queen Mary’s College. He moved to Basingstoke from Derbyshire in 1976 with his wife and family. He has two sons, both married and five school age grandchildren, all living in Hampshire.

“I was introduced to Probus by a former colleague but had not regarded myself as a “clubby” person. I found a very warm welcome from a group of men, many of whom had remarkable life experiences and had some great tales to tell. I immediately felt myself at home in their company.”

He went on “I want, in my year of office, to rebuild our membership towards the constitutional figure of 55 and to encourage more members and their wives and partners to join in and enjoy the social programme we arrange.”

The retiring Secretary, Gerry Anslow, from Kempshott, was presented with an engraved glass bowl by the outgoing President Paul Flint, to mark Gerry’s ten years of service on the club’s committee. Paul Flint of Hatch Warren will become the Secretary and Alan Porter of Bramley returns to the committee as Vice President.

Following the meeting the members enjoyed canapés provided by Lesley Atchison, wife of Tony, the Outings Organiser, and wine provided by Gerry Anslow. Lesley was presented with flowers and wine in appreciation of her support during the year.

Probus given Further Amusing Glimpses of Army Life

This was the title of the talk given to the Probus Club of Basingstoke by retired Major General Peter Chambers and his wife Valerie. They had previously given a talk to this club for retired business and professional men in October 2012 which was so well received that they were invited to be the last speakers in the current season. This couple rose to the occasion with great aplomb with stories about their experiences as Peter advanced up the ranks to become Deputy Chief of Staff UK Land Forces while Valerie had to cope with the pressures of domestic issues with various postings and housing problems.

Valerie and Peter described various incidents and aspects of life in some of the places they had lived and served. They spoke of amusing and light hearted experiences though occasionally with a serious undertone. They were able to give glimpses of the variety and advantages of service life whilst Peter expressed some concerns about current military capability.

They lived in Germany, on and off, for 12 years during the Cold War. Inevitably therefore, much of their talk was focussed on service life in Germany and in particular on Berlin. They quoted many examples of soldiers’ humour and of the resilience of Army wives, whose husbands spent long periods away from home on operations and training. Valerie described what life was like living in married quarters, a subject she knew something about as they had 26 moves in 33 years service!

They have recently returned from a visit to Moscow. This was essentially an international reunion of officers and civil servants who had attended a year’s course at the London based Royal College of Defence Studies in the 1990s when Peter was the Senior Army Member on the teaching staff. They were in Moscow for the May Day Parade and for the build up to the Victory Day Parade on 9th May and described some aspects of the atmosphere there during this period.