J ou rn al o f t h eJ ou rn al o f t h eJ ou rn al o f t h eJ ou rn al o f t h eJ ou rn al o f t h eWWWWW AAAAA TLIN G STREET CLU BTLIN G STREET CLU BTLIN G STREET CLU BTLIN G STREET CLU BTLIN G STREET CLU BJ an /Feb 2 0 1 4J an /Feb 2 0 1 4J an /Feb 2 0 1 4J an /Feb 2 0 1 4J an /Feb 2 0 1 4VVVVVo lu m e 6 Issu e 4o lu m e 6 Issu e 4o lu m e 6 Issu e 4o lu m e 6 Issu e 4o lu m e 6 Issu e 4

STREETWI SE

STREETWI SE

David gets some tipsfrom Frank Batt’s own

book of poemssee report on later pages

List o f Sp eakers &Even ts D iary

A n y su g g est ion s fo r sp eakers o ro t h er ac t iv it ies t o D av id Tu rn er.On e m em b er p er m on t h w ill b eresp on s ib le fo r f in d in g a sp eaker -o r sp eak t h em selves .Please N o t e: Please N o t e: Please N o t e: Please N o t e: Please N o t e: U n av o id ab le ch an g es t ot h is l is t m ay occu r f rom t im e t o t im e.Refer t o t h e c lu b w eb s it e fo r t h e lat es tu p d at es :w w w .w at lin g s t reet c lu b .co .u k

Chairman David TURNERChairman Elect Robert DOODYImmPast Ch’mn John DAVISSecretary Mike CHAPPLETreasurer Alan BINGHAM

Fellowship John FRANCISFund Raising Patrick WARD

Speaker prog. David TURNER

Publicity & Tony GOMERSALJournal EditorArchives

Meeting place : The Old HuntersLodge Whipsnade

Meeting time : 19.30 for 20.00

Apologiesfor absence Alan BINGHAM

Items are accepted for publication at theEditor’s discretion.The Editor reserves the right to edit for clar-ity or length.Contributors are responsible for ensuringmaterial submitted by them does notbreach copyright or they have obtainedpermission, in writing, for its reproduction.Content is subject to copyright.

Formed 5th Nov 2008First meeting 13th Nov 2008First Chairman Neil MUNRO

Jan 02 No meeting 09 Poetry Evening Frank Batt 16 BUSINESS MEETING

18 ITALIAN EVENING Fellowship Patrick & Janet

23 LADIES NIGHTSteam Trains Pat Sutcliffe

30 Memories of a Registrar Richard SelbyFeb 06 A goalkeeper’s life George Wood 13 Weatherfield School Joe Selmes 20 BUSINESS MEETING 27 LADIES NIGHT

TBA

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CHAIRMAN’SCHAIRMAN’SCHAIRMAN’SCHAIRMAN’SCHAIRMAN’SCOLUMNCOLUMNCOLUMNCOLUMNCOLUMN

Happy 80thBirthday x2 !!Verna and John both cel-ebrated this milestone atDunstable Downs Golf Clubin the company of familyand close friends on Sunday12th January.Congratulations to them.

After a very successful Christmas collectionat Aldi, we are in the process of decidingwhere our funds are directed. It’s importantthat every member has a say because eachsuggestion affects the overall total as I’mworking on an average of all the figures sentto me.

The Italian Night started off our fellowshipcalendar in great style. This is entirely downto the hard work of Robert Doody, Brian O’Hara and of course John Francis whomasterminded the whole event. It was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed byeveryone present and I feel that events like these help to make the Watling StreetClub so special.

Neil Munro has been busy organising the conference for the Association of PastRotarians and initially there was some confusion about the level of assistanceexpected from our members. Now that has been clarified, and our involvementisn’t going to be too onerous, I hope that Neil gets a good response from membersto attend some of the events in May.

I trust that the meetings calendar continues to be interesting. I believe that thecurrent arrangement where club members have a slot to speak, or provide aspeaker, each month is working well. It helps to provide topics that wouldn’tnecessarily come to mind when the speakers’ list is being compiled and givesmembers a say regarding programme content. Keep up the good work!

David

MyGuide Dog

28th NovemberRay Palcic

Most guest speakers with charity organi-sations are professionals who are em-ployed to present slick well illustrated talksabout the organisation and its achieve-ments, but Ray was not one of those.Partially sighted himself, Ray is an ‘end-user’.He enjoys the benefit of a guide dog pro-vided by Guide Dogs for the Visually Im-paired.Sparky, his handsome labrador, stayedfaithfully by his side whilst Ray gave abeautifully deconstructed talk about theorganisation that had helped him, his ownexperiences in learning to handle a guidedog and the benefits that has brought him.Ray suggested that there are over 180,000visually impaired people who are unableto leave their home alone. It was also sur-prising to learn that just 5% of guide dogowners are blind, most have some vision.The dogs themselves cost £50,000 to trainover a period of 18 months. During thisperiod they begin with ‘puppy walkers’ toobtain basic skills, then spend 6 monthswith professional trainers before beingpaired with their owner who spend twoweeks in an hotel where they learn how towalk correctly with the dog - and to be pa-tient.Eventually the dog will reach a point at age9 or 10 when they lose concentration andare retired. At this point a new guide dog isrequired.David, who had met Ray whilst walking hisown dog on the Downs, thanked him fortelling of his experiences which was en-dorsed by the club.

SantaSantaSantaSantaSantaCollectionCollectionCollectionCollectionCollectionat ALDI

Following the debacle that was the can-cellation of the Round Table Float, it wasquickly decided that we needed an alter-native collection of some kind. Our pre-vious experience of collecting at ALDI forthe Poppy Appeal seemed to be a strongpossibilty and would u tilise our existingconnection with the store. Happily th isproved to be the case and with the ben-efit of the proximity of the store to David’shome and Tony’s office we knew we couldmanage it successfully.In the end virtually everyone in the clubwas able to participate and we raised over£2000 for local charities. Hooray!!

Jim Page (onleft) was firstto try on theSanta suit-minus thebeard.

Yes- th is reallyis Robert withPauline.

The terrible twins Norman and Dave- can you tell which was which??

5th Dec. 2013Peter Gardini,

Peter Gardner is his real name, but as there was another performer already registered in thatname, he became Peter Gardini.Well how do you produce in a few words what turned out to be a demonstration of the ‘art ofmagic, illusion and confusion’ (and I don’t do adequate sketches)!Peter began with a brief resume’ of the formation of ‘The Magic Circle’. Its members haveincluded Harry Houdini, The Chinese magician ‘Chew Ling Soo’ actually an American namedWill Robinson, and ‘The Great Lafayette’.Some 10 years ago the ‘MC’ obtained a lottery grant which enabled the purchase of an oldwarehouse in Stephenson Way behind Euston Station. This has now been converted into amembers office, meeting rooms, an exhibition area and a small but well equipped theatre.Open evenings are publicised, where new and old members/performers are given the opportunityto demonstrate their skill to an appreciative audience of no more than 100.

Peter went on to give us some detail about those famous members notably ‘Houdini’, whosedemise has not perhaps been fully explained. He apparantly drowned whilst performing hisfamed escape trick from a sealed tank of water. He had mastered the art of holding his breathfor a much longer period than normal, however, on the day of his last performance, he hadbeen dealt an unexpected blow to the abdomen, which was later shown to have ruptured hisappendix. Accepting such blows to the body was a part of the build up to his act, but this timehis luck had run-out. It was this burst appendix that apparently lead to his death.‘The Great Lafyette’ also died whilst performing in front of an audience. His illusion was to catcha bullet in his teeth, fired from a double barrelled flint lock rifle by an associate. He was in greatdemand to perform this seemingly impossible act, but failed to take account of the inevitablecorrosion that had taken place due to the barrels not being kept clean following use. The trickinvolved placing the bullet in one barrel, in sight of the audience, and being charged withpowder and wadding, but it was the other barrel that was actually ignited when the trigger waspulled, emitting a loud bang and smoke which startled the assembled audience. On that fatalevening, a split in the dormant barrel caused the powder in the other barrel to ignite. The bulletwas ejected and entered the performers chest, the injury put him in hospital, where he diedlater.Peter then demonstrated a trick with two straws, and a folding paper, which we all had a go at.Both need practice, but were quite entertaining. He also went on to describe the derivation ofthe term ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ I will leave this for you to research!Peter performed a number of sleight of hand tricks, and reminded us that we should never beenticed into playing ‘Find the Ace’ and dice under cup etc. these are scams and you will onlylose.An entertaining evening, thoroughly enjoyed by all present. David gave the vote of thanks,which we all endorsed. This report by John Stevens

TheMagicCircle

WSCWSCWSCWSCWSC

Christmas PartyChristmas PartyChristmas PartyChristmas PartyChristmas Party

A traditional turkey dinner was

followed by entertainment with the

4Strings ukelele band.

Chairman David presented a Christ-

mas thank you to Sharon and the staff

of The old Hunter’s Lodge in appre-

ciation of their care and attention and

good food over the preceding year.

Kay and Sheila’s team won the quizand the goodies!

9th January

Poet’s CornerFrank Batt

Frank lives in Bedford, but is a member ofToddington Poetry Society which originated at theSow & Pigs in Toddington. Sadly this village lifegem has now closed and has been turned intohousing. Currently the society meets atStockwood Golf Club, Luton.Frank was encouraged in the use of English by hisBeford Modern school teacher ‘Toots’ who be-came the subject of one of his poems.Frank entertained us by reading, in appropriatestyle, a selection of his work.Those he chose to read included references tolocal villages and towns often with a pre-dictably enjoyable ending.This is our tribute to Frank:

Frank told us a little about his lifeand was more than happy to sell toclub members, signed copies ofone of the three books he has hadpublished to date.

This is Frank in action telling thetale of his bicycle ride from Bed-ford to Sandy in a poetic styleredolent of W H Auden’s wellknown railway poem -The Night Mail.

At the Old Hunters Lodge, toWhipsnade’s eastIs where the Watling Street Clubmembers enjoy a feastEach Thursday night, a speaker boldA tale or story they will unfoldThis week a poet, by name Frank BattEntertained us, whilst we all satAmused and bemused by his wit andabilityHis themes were local, and ended…….predictably

Saturday 1 8 th January

‘The y do n’t g e t much big -g e r than this ’ Jo hn bo as te das he o ffe re d pe ppe r fro mhis mill.

The kitche n was bus y pre p-ping the me als ... . .

. . .whils t the lo cals we relo o king fo rward to the irant i -pas ta s tarte r.To be fo llo we d by to matoand bas il s o up,ravio li,Tiramis u, che e s e and bis -cuits , co ffe e and bis co tt i.

The re s taurant g ue s ts be -g in the ir s tarte rs ... .

. . . .whils t the bis tro g ue s tsare e nte rtaine d by ho s te s sJane t .

The

ItalianEve ning

Caug ht in the act!Typically, the me n,wo rn o ut by the ire ffo rts , co llaps e intoa chair whils t thewo me n are g e t t ings tuck in to the was h-ing -up!

David pre s e nts a bo u-que t to Jane t , thank-ing he r fo r the us e o fhe r ho me fo r thee ve nt .

David thanks e ve ry-o ne fo r co ming andthanks Jo hn and histe am o f he lpe rs fo r amo s t e njo yablee ve ning .

Pat SutcliffePat prefixed her talk about the

evolution of the steam engine andpassenger carrying railways between1804 and circa 1890, with a brief ex-planation of her life-long interest inthe railways and particularly BritishSteam Trains. Journey’s to Scotlandon family holidays by train were a highlight. Her husband, our member Mike, is askeen on steam trains as he is in renovating buses; a hobby for which he is nationallyknown. Pat punctuated her talk with some excellent pictures of early rolling stock andpioneering engineers and financial backers involved in the development of the variousRailway Companies throughout the UK.

From the first public railway in the world, worked by horses in July 1803 – the Surrey Iron Railway, there followedRichard Trevithick from Cornwall who invented a steam road engine in 1803 and later a locomotive that ran on a track in1804. In 1813 came Puffing Billy , but the first ‘proper’ railway was the Stockton & Darlington which opened in 1825. Thiswas an industrial railway, not for carrying passengers. Named Locomotion, its inaugural journey speed was 15 mph,pulling several wagons, 6 carrying coal which was distributed to the poor along the way, and 2 wagons complete with abrass band. George Stephenson, although not a qualified engineer, designed and had built the ‘Rocket’ which won theprize of £500 offered by the promoters of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson was made Chief Engineerand the railway era had begun. He went on to design the Planet which set the parameters for the design of futurelocomotives.

Railways presented the largest programme of heavy public works that had been known since the construction ofthe great cathedrals and abbeys in the middle ages. This labour intensive work was undertaken by ex-navvies from thecanals, and ex soldiers who had returned from the Napoleonic Wars.

Competition during the 1830’s and the 1840’s was intense with massive expansion of the railways. George Hud-son, the then Chairman of the York Railway was brought in to amalgamate the various railways in the Midlands, whichbecame the Midland Railway, headquartered in Derby. GWR now lead by Daniel Gooch pioneered Brunel’s broad gaugeand by 1844 there was 223 miles compared with 2000 miles of ‘standard’ (narrow) gauge. Whilst it was accepted that thewider gauge afforded a more comfortable ride, a government ‘Gauge Commission’ was set up in 1845 to decide on thebest gauge. Comparative tests were undertaken and whilst the tests were far from conclusive, the ‘Standard’ (narrow)gauge was adopted. GWR was forced to abandon the broad gauge in 1892. The only Broad gauge tracks remaining area short preserved section at Didcot. However the ‘railway mania’ boom evaporated when soaring share prices collapsedin 1846 and many speculators were ruined, resulting in suicides. George Hudson, known as The Railway King left thecountry, a broken man. He had been accused of shady dealings and paying shareholder dividends out of capital.

Many of the early pioneers of the railways died in the late 1850’s including Brunel, worn out by a life of habitual toiland misfortunes, in particular around his huge ship ‘The Great Eastern’.

In these early years there were inevitable disasters, and disputes. One of the most tragic accidents was at ClaytonHill Tunnel near Brighton caused by the ill timed release of three successive northbound trains on the same track. Theline was worked on a time interval system with each train separated by at least 5mins. However the three trains had leftwithin 7 minutes. All three trains ended up in the tunnel at the same time. The second train actually started to reverseback to the south end when it collided with the speeding third train. The collision resulted in 23 deaths and the resultantinquest found the assistant stationmaster at Brighton negligent. In 1889 a disaster in Armagh resulted in 80 deaths.Many were children on a Methodist Sunday School outing. Uncoupled carriages plunged down an embankment andbecause it was then common practice to lock carriage doors, there was little chance of escape. Within the year a law waspassed which made the automatic brake compulsory on all passenger trains in Great Britain and door locking wassuspended.

An image entitled ‘The Swindon Dump’ showed a large number of locomotives awaiting dismantling and scrap-ping. Pat reaffirmed that whether it be trains, cars, planes or even buses, constant development drives change. We werereminded of that popular pastime ‘train-spotting’. Pat wondered how many of us men have still that pocket sized note-book (published by Ian Allen). She knows a man who has!

A well researched and presented talk, which all present endorsed. This reporrt by John Stevens

1880’s Steam Trains23rd January 2014

You can’t take it with you!You can’t take it with you!You can’t take it with you!You can’t take it with you!You can’t take it with you!Edinburgh man Wullie McTavish is onhis deathbed, knows the end is near,is with the nurse, his wife, his daughterand 2 sons.“So”, he says to them: “Bernie, I wantyou to take the Braid Hills houses.”“Sybil, take the f lats over inMorningside and Bruntsf ield.”“Tam, I want you to take the off ices inCharlot te Square.”“Sarah, my dear wife, please take allthe resident ial buildings in the NewTown.”

The nurse is just blown away by allthis, and as Wullie slips away, she says,“Mrs. McTavish, your husband musthave been such a hard working man tohave accumulated all this property”.

Sarah replies, “Property? ....Property mya**e... the b****r had a paper round!”

Here is an actual sign postedat a golf club in Scotland: 1. BACK STRAIGHT, KNEES BENT, FEET SHOULDER WIDTH APART.2. FORM A LOOSE GRIP.3. KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!4. STAY OUT OF THE WATER5. TRY NOT TO HIT ANYONE.6. IF YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG, LET OTHERS GO AHEAD OF YOU7.DON’T STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OTHERS.8.QUIET PLEASE...WHILE OTHERS ARE PREPARING.9.DON’T TAKE EXTRA STROKES. 10. WELL DONE.. NOW, FLUSH THE URINAL, GO OUTSIDE,AND TEE OFF

Did I read that signcorrectly? In an office: TOILET OUT OF ORDER....... PLEASEUSE FLOOR BELOW In a Laundromat: AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES:PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOURCLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOESOUT In a London department store: BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS In an office: WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOKTHE STEP LADDER YESTERDAYPLEASE BRING IT BACK ORFURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN In an office: AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULDEMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STANDUPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAININGBOARD Outside a second-hand shop: WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING -BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES,ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFEALONG AND GET A WONDERFULBARGAIN? Notice in health food shop window: CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS Spotted in a safari park: ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOURCARSeen during a conference: FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDRENAND DOESN’T KNOW IT, THERE IS ADAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR Notice in a farmer’s field:THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TOCROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUTTHE BULL CHARGES. On a repair shop door: WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING.(PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THEDOOR - THE BELL DOESN’T WORK).

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Our back page humour this month is provided by David Tearle and John Francis