Author: Paul Flint

Apart from the traditionally late Kempshott Kourier which covered our Summer Pub Lunch the rest might be described as a “Full House” as all six other monthly magazines ran with the report about the helicopter flight to Alexandria.
There was a full page in the Villager (reduced for copying on to the front cover) with most of the remainder using at least half pages. It was good to see the Loddon Valley Link giving us some rare space and we made it into the printed version of the Basinga rather than in our usual position in their Extra.

Probus Club member David Stiles recalled an experience he would not want to repeat about a long-distance helicopter flight in 1968. He was acting as “Flying Spanner” with two pilots who had to ferry a newly introduced Bell 212 helicopter from Coventry that was urgently needed on a Shell oil drilling ship in the Mediterranean Sea above Alexandria in Egypt.

As an avionics expert he was monitoring an advanced navigation system throughout the flight of 4,500 kilometres. Bell 212 helicopters had a range of under 300 miles which meant many refuelling stops, hence the need for an indirect route.

Difficulties soon arose between the two pilots who squabbled as to which of them was in charge with several instances putting the helicopter, and themselves, in great danger. One decided to take a short cut over the French Alps to Nice instead of the planned route to Marseilles. The Bell 212 did not have de-icing equipment and with cloud up to 9,000 feet the helicopter started to ice up at 10,000 feet. Reducing height to above the top of the clouds they just missed the weathervane at the top of a monastery.

Flying down Italy one decided they should ‘take a look’ at the Vesuvius volcano and descended into the crater. While the volcano was dormant sulphur fumes curtailed this sightseeing.

Severe turbulence became problematic as they crossed Greece and had to fly as low as possible. The Corinth Canal offered calm conditions, flying just a few feet above the water the 200 feet high sheer rock walls were only 15 feet either side of their rotors. They hopped over any shipping returning close to water level.

A nervous Egyptian army insisted the helicopter circle slowly over their army base with their missile site tracking the flight. They checked that no armaments were visible as the Bell 212 was American made with a British crew and both countries had supported Israel in the recent Six Days War which the Egyptians had spectacularly lost.

The Bell 212 had behaved impeccably as had the navigation equipment throughout the flight that had taken a total of seven days.

Returning to England David Stiles left the company six months later, having never been fond of helicopters, and returned to his first love of fixed wing aircraft working for Dan Air at Lasham airfield south of Basingstoke.

The Kempshott Kourier, publishing much later in the month than others, gave half a page to the visit of Mayor Cllr Dan Putty to our July meeting. Five others covered the Summer Pub Lunch held at the Bolton Arms in Old Basing.

The idea of a summer pub lunch was introduced back in 1996 by the then president, David Carwardine and has continued without break in the ensuing twenty-eight years.

He had been a director of the Basingstoke fork truck manufacturer Lansing Bagnall and had a famous father who invented the angle poise lamp. As the president he wanted to bring the ladies into a social event for this men only club.

Selecting the venue traditionally became the responsibility of each president and this year involved a group visit to the Bolton Arms in Old Basing. This was the choice of the current president Stephen Thair, a retired solicitor, who also happens to live in Old Basing.

A mixture of members and wives/lady friends totalling thirty-three dined in this fifteenth century, Grade ii listed building that was reopened early this year after going through a significant refurbishment programme. This has brought this hostelry very much into the modern era providing an extensive food offering to suit all tastes and pockets.

Old Basing was the site for the longest siege of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, where Roundhead met Cavalier during the 23 months of the siege of Basing House. It had been built as a Tudor palace by William Paulet, the 1^st Marquess of Winchester, to rival Hampton Court palace in its size and opulence.

When the House of Stuart was returned to the throne in 1660, King Charles ii returned the lands of Basing to the Paulet family. As a show of gratitude for his loyalty to the Crown, Charles Paulet became the first Duke of Bolton, hence the name of this pub which is still owned by the Bolton family estate.

President Stephen Thair and wife Margaret hosted the event which was held in a private room that just about coped with the numbers. Of the ladies present, four were members of the Ladies’ Probus Club of Basingstoke while it was announced that two new members had joined the men’s club this month. This is a good sign that the club has an attraction for like-minded men.

Due to their early departures there are no photographs of Andrew & Janice Barton or of Paul & Mary Klinger.

Five publications gave us space in their August magazines which was a good result bearing in mind that the Rabbiter, Bramley and Villager do not have an August edition.

Because of the timing differences of when they actually hit the streets the five magazines share reports about the club’s 44^th Annual General meeting or the first meeting of the new Probus year when the Mayor of Basingstoke was our guest of honour.

Basingstoke and Deane’s Mayor, Cllr Dan Putty, was guest of honour at the inaugural meeting of the 45^th year of continuous operation of the Probus Club of Basingstoke.

Newly installed Probus Club President, Stephen Thair, welcomed the mayor who joined the members for lunch and then gave an outline of his background in moving to Basingstoke from his native Mauritius. He worked for the NHS until he retired but became socially active and over 25 years acted as a governor in four schools, he was a JP for 32 years and is the current councillor for the Hatch Warren & Beggarwood ward of the Borough council being elected many times.

It is custom and practice for all mayors to support charities during their year of office. Cllr Putty selected two local good causes, North Hampshire Prostate Support Group, because of his own experiences of this condition, and the Hants & IoW Community Fund, which makes small donations to many deserving cases.

The club made a donation to the mayor’s charity appeal.

Cllr Putty was previously the mayor in 2013 and recalled his visit to the Probus Club when their meetings were then held at Sandford Springs Golf Club at Kingsclere. Shortly afterwards the Probus Club moved to the Test Valley Golf Club near Overton for their business meetings and lunches.

The Probus Club also have a social pub lunch, which includes wives and friends, on the fourth Thursday of most months at the Queen’s College Arms on the Aldermaston Road at Pamber End.

The speaker at this meeting was member David Wickens whose topic was ‘Lord’ George Sanger, who, in his day at the latter part of the 19^th and early 20^th century, was described as Britain’s greatest showman.

Coming from a showman’s family and being born in Newbury, it was his father who gave him the moniker of ‘Gentleman George’ due to his sartorial elegance. Following a fall as a trapeze artist he started out as an independent travelling showman. He progressed over the years from having peep shows and magic lanterns, being a magician, animal trainer, circus proprietor with elephants, camels, horses and acrobats and married a lady who was a lion tamer.

He progressed into permanent building in London while continuing with travelling circuses and had many European tours and partook in several royal parades in support of Queen Victoria. He built premises in Margate, Kent, which ran for many years only being demolished in 1961 to make way for the Dreamworld entertainment complex which exists to this day.

Taking legal action against Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West circus he noticed the judge referred to his opponent as the Honourable William Cody so he decided that he would elevate himself and became ‘Lord’ George Sanger. He lost the case.

In 1903 he presented a statue of Queen Victoria to the town of Newbury insisting it be positioned in the marketplace over the spot where his father once had a stall. Today the statue is positioned in the town’s Victoria Park.

He sold up in 1905 and retired to Park Farm in East Finchley where, in 1911, he was murdered with an axe by a disgruntled employee, Herbert Cooper, over suspicion that he had stolen fifty pounds. There was a well-publicised manhunt with the miscreant committing suicide on the railway. However later investigations indicated a different scenario of an altercation between two former employees that George Sanger tried to intervene, slipping and falling, killing himself in the process.

In his will, written two years earlier, George Sanger left fifty pounds to the same Herbert Cooper.

The funeral of ‘Lord’ George Sanger became a public spectacle, initially in London and again in Margate with a large procession through the town to be buried next to his late wife.

From humble beginning and with no education George Sanger had made himself probably the most successful showman ever seen in this country, the like of which will probably never be seen again.

An excellent month for coverage in our local media including appearing in the Basingstoke Gazette and within the printed edition of the Basinga and also in the Loddon Valley Link magazines.

Because of calendar variations when some are published means that the Kempshott Kourier and the CommunityAd magazine for Oakley, Overton & Kempshott each carried the trip to Winchester.

With 45 years of continuous operation the Probus Club of Basingstoke has just held its 44^th Annual General meeting.

It was formed in 1979 under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Basingstoke to provide fellowship for retired professional and businessmen. Today membership consists of men with a wide array of backgrounds from ex- military, legal, scientific, medical, civil engineering, insurance, local government, civil service, car dealerships, small business owners and managers with international experience.

The newly appointed president, Stephen Thair, is a retired solicitor and the vice president, John Swain, was a bank note design manager. Secretary Andrew Barton worked five years at the EC in Brussels followed by an international oil company, Treasurer, Dr Jeff Grover was a nuclear scientist, Publicity officer, Paul Flint had a design and printing business in Basingstoke, and Outings Organiser, Chris Perkins MVO, retired from the RAF with the rank of Squadron Leader.

The club’s officers are completed with Michael Luck as Programme Secretary (speaker finder) who was a consultant specialising in credit card payment systems and Dr Nick Waring, a retired GP, is the Welfare officer. Paul Miller will provide specialist support in some circumstances.

When the Equalities Act came into force, it gave protected interest groups freedom to choose their rules about membership. There were some Probus Clubs across the UK that decided to accept women members, however, this was not the case in Basingstoke. Although the decision reached was to remain purely as a club for retired men, this was assisted by having a well-established Ladies’ Probus club in Basingstoke, that also decided to remain true to their founders and not to admit men to their ranks.

That is not to say that the genders remain separate as most months there are occasions when they meet up or simply that the wives of members join their menfolk for meals and outings to interesting places.

The Probus Club of Basingstoke have their business meetings at the Test Valley Golf club followed by lunch. Their July meeting has as their speaker, member David Wickens, whose subject is ‘Lord’ George Sanger – who, in his day, was described as Britain’s greatest showman. August sees their annual Summer Pub lunch which includes their ladies, due to take place at the Bolton Arms in Old Basing.

Grouping together the visit to Winchester Theatre Royal and Winchester College ensured that we had good coverage in most of the local magazines. The Link (Oakley & surrounds) did not feature us and at the time of publishing this report I have not seen the June edition of the Loddon Valley Link (Sherfield) but they are reluctant to carry our reports.

You will see that the Kempshott Kourier, continuing to be two weeks late, is their May edition where they gave a good deal of space for the S.O.E. training at Beaulieu. Likewise, the CommunityAd magazine for Overton, Oakley & Kempshott being behind our schedule also gave good coverage to the Beaulieu report.

The annual Spring Ladies’ lunch was held at the Test Valley Golf club where together with their wives/lady friends the members enjoyed a splendid lunch. The president of the Basingstoke Ladies’ Probus club, Val McKenzie, was the guest of Honour and felt at home as several of the wives/partners are themselves members of Ladies’ Probus. This is their thirtieth year of continuous operation, and they meet monthly in the restaurant at BCOT.

A reciprocal arrangement will take place at the next meeting of the Ladies’ Probus club as the men’s president, Dr Jeff Grover, will attend as their guest of honour. This will be his final representation as president as his period of office concludes at the club’s 44^th AGM which takes place in June.