Author: Paul Flint

Judith Charmer, the Fund Manager for The North Hampshire Medical Fund gave a presentation to the Probus Club of Basingstoke about the activities of this charity founded by the Earl of Carnarvon some 35 years ago which is probably unknown to most local people. Its purpose is to raise money to buy specialist equipment for Basingstoke hospital that the Health Service budget is unable to provide.

The equipment procured for Basingstoke has aided the improvements in on-site diagnostics, pain reduction and obviates the need for lengthy journeys to other centres for treatment. In many instances, equipment purchased by The Fund has been used for training medical staff in the most up to date procedures. Access to updated technology has also enabled the hospital to attract the best consultants. Their skill and expertise has helped to spread the hospital’s reputation as a centre of excellence and ensured a better quality of care for the thousands of people who use its services..

In the past two years 21 pieces of equipment have been funded and supplied to the North Hampshire Hospital. They include £450.000 for a new unit housing a Radiotherapy Planning CT scanner for targeting cancer with advanced technology and £10,500 for a Cardiotacograph machine for the hospital’s antenatal unit. This will save lives and reduce the incidence of complications, stress or harm to mother and baby. They have a current target of £130,000 for an Endobronchial Ultrasound which looks inside airways and allows samples to be taken from a lymph gland or tumour around the chest. Patients presently have to travel to Southampton or Oxford for these procedures with a waiting time of 4/5 weeks, and a tumour can double in size in that time.

The Fund is the only charity in the county dedicated to raising funds for equipment to help the hospital keep pace with advances in technology. However, technology is expensive, and NHS budgets cannot always stretch to pay for all the equipment that can help save lives, improve diagnosis and treatment or reduce pain. By continued support, The Medical Fund will keep the North Hampshire Hospital at the forefront of patient care.

The Probus Club of Basingstoke has also been in existence for as many years as The North Hampshire Medical Fund. A social club for retired professional and business managers it meets twice most months and more information can be seen on their web site http://www.probusbasingstoke.wordpress.com or call their secretary Paul Flint on 07770 886521 for an informal chat.

The Probus Club of Basingstoke, the social club for retired professional and business managers, heard Ann Orr update the legal situation about some matters that had changed in the six years since her last visit. Working for Collective Legal Solutions, the largest independent legal service providers in the UK meant that she was an expert about problems that can sometimes surround the matter of inheritance.

There is a danger that having made a Will, it is safely put away until the time it is required, but her recommendation is that a Will is reviewed at least every five years to check that it is up to date and fit for purpose. One specific benefit of such reviews was that it is a simple check that the solicitor was still conducting business and had not moved location. And seeing the original Will is important as a copy is not considered a legal document. Any appearance of grandchildren should give good cause to revisit the Will to properly target any inheritance. She also said that if anyone remarried then their Will prior to that event would be null and void and a new document would be needed.

A surprise to most of the audience was that any property owned abroad cannot be included in an English Will as a separate Will is required to be written in the country where the property is situated.

Consideration should also be given to incorporating medical decisions in a Lasting Power of Attorney. The rights involving dispensing of medication were explained and any individual wishes will need to be included within the LPA. Monetary considerations if a partner enters a care home were highlighted together with possible funding implications and to what extent assets will be taken into account.

The rules surrounding Probate were outlined and there are considerable pricing differences for executive services provided by banks compared to solicitors or specialist company executors.

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.