July 2021 Magazine - Issue 169

News and views

Rotary Club of Gloucester Severn

www.gloucestersevern.rotary1100.org

July 2021

Issue 169

Jeff’s Jottings

W ell here we are. I cannot say that my year
has flown by exactly but, on reflection, it still
does not seem twelve months since I took over
from Past President Mike.

I will take this opportunity to repeat my gratitude
to everyone on Council for their support over the
year. It has been, in true Rotary spirit, a team effort
despite all the problems. We have managed
regular zoom meetings thanks to Hon Sec for
organizing them and Bob finding speakers, which
has been more difficult than normal. Peter Burton
and Richard Allison have done what they could on
Comvoc and International respectively with the
very limited funds we had, having had to cancel both of our major fund raisers. We
are making a major donation to a hospital in Kochi, India to buy specific equipment so
we know that our money is directed and well spent. David Bruce has spent a great
deal of time organizing this.

John Bowman has kept a tight rein on our finances and has always been there for good
advice when needed. The magazine he produces is top notch. Sports under Roger
Barrett have not happened; but John Barnes did manage to organise a couple of social
events for me – the away weekend in Lincoln and the golf break in Cheshire. Both went
well. John will not take either no or cannot do for an answer!

Membership recruitment, not surprisingly, has been on hold but hopefully things will
pick up now that we are back with face-to-face meetings. This is needed more than
ever, I think, given the sad loss of Trevor and John J in the last year. Furthermore, Tony
Jenks, Paul and Ron have decided to hang up their Rotary boots. I do hope that they
will manage to get along to the odd meeting. They will be more than welcome.

Tony sponsored me into club all those years ago – even though I nearly did not make
it because I wore a leather jacket for my initial three meetings and this was, I discovered
later, frowned upon. Things have changed somewhat!!

I was very pleased to be awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship last night - despite the fact
that they did not spell Jeffrey correctly on the Certificate! It is an honour to accept it.

As you will know, Mike and I are organising a joint final fling at Highnam Court on 21st
July, with a tour of the gardens and possibly part of the house. I will be sending out
final details about this in the next few days.

Finally, I will wish Roger and his Council all the best for the year ahead.

Jeff Dawson

Our cover photograph shows Past President Jeff being presented with his Paul Harris Fellowship
by President Roger Hart

-2-

James Rendell

The History of H H Martyn & Son

3 March 2021

W e welcomed James Rendell tonight who was
to tell us about about H H Martyn, his family
and the company that bore his name.

Herbert Henry Martyn was born in the poor
quarter of Worcester in 1842, the last of thirteen
children, and James started by telling us about
the appalling squalor and poverty of his
childhood. However, when he reached the age
of five, Herbert’s mother scraped together the
required 2d a week to send him to school. Such
was his aptitude for learning that, when he was
eight, the school used him to teach the younger
ones and gave him a salary of seven shillings per quarter. He developed an
interest in art and, when he was eleven or twelve years old, a benefactor
recognised his talent and paid for him to go to art school in the evening. He was
thirteen when he first met Fanny Clissold, who was to become his` wife some ten
years later; but soon afterwards Herbert left school to become an art student and
errand boy, then a photographer’s assistant before becoming a railway clerk.

H H then got a job as a journeyman woodcarver for Richard Boulton, a local
contractor who was working in Worcester Cathedral repairing and creating new
carvings. When that contract came to an end, Boulton looked for new work and,
in 1866, decided to move his whole firm to Cheltenham.

And so it was that Herbert Henry Martyn arrived in the town with his new wife; he
and Fanny having married the previous year. They had eight children of whom five
survived into adulthood. One of these was Alfred Willie Martyn, who was born in
1870.

H H decided to leave Fanny Clissold playing with a hoop on a Worcester back street
Boulton’s employ in 1874 as imagined by her great-great-granddaughter Gillian Whitaker
and he set up in
partnership with Ernest
Emms, a stone carver.
Martyn had also learnt to
carve in that medium
whilst working for Boulton
and their partnership was
very successful over the
next fourteen years with a
variety of commissions,
including many as
monumental masons.

Continued overleaf

-3-

The History of H H Martyn & Son - continued from previous page

Emms left in 1888 and Herbert set up H H Martyn & Co.
as stone, marble and wood carvers. Their work still
involved carving gravestones and memorials and also
creating ecclesiastic decorations in both wood and
stone. Like all the best Victorian employers Martyn
believed in self improvement and individual dignity
and his warm social conscience inspired him to provide
classes in art, elocution and history for his workers.

Alfred Willie was taken into the partnership in 1898
and in 1900, when Herbert Henry decided that he
wanted to take a back seat, A W Martyn became the
managing director of the newly incorporated
H H Martyn & Company Limited.

The company grew and prospered over the next sixty

years and became one of the biggest employers in The Speaker’s Chair
Cheltenham, expanding into every field of skilful

architectural enrichment, working on palaces, shops, civic centres and cinemas, as

well as fitting out great ocean liners, including the Queen Mary. They also created

the carvings for the Cenotaph in 1920 and the new Speaker’s Chair in the House

of Commons, fashioned in 1950 to replace the original that had been destroyed by

bombs in World Was II.

This flood of craftsmanship was only interrupted by
the first World War when, with characteristic
enterprise and public spirit, Martyn’s launched into
the design and production of aircraft by forming the
Gloucestershire Aircraft Company in 1917 with
A W Martyn as its managing director. Both
companies continued to trade successfully after the
war; but A W resigned from the board and sold his
shares in 1927 following boardroom differences.

H H Martyn died in 1937 aged 95 having lived an
active but modest life, leaving for posterity many
fine carvings completed by himself and his skilful
employees.

A W was approached in 1935 by a young engineer
called George Dowty, whose design skills and business
brain he recognised and, therefore, he guaranteed his overdraft to help him set up his
firm. A W Martyn became its first Chairman and remained so until his death in
1947.

H H Martyn & Company Limited was bought by Maples of London in 1934 and the
company was eventually closed in 1971.

James illustrated his very interesting talk with many pictures of fine furniture and
carvings in both timber and stone that underlined H H Martyn’s stated intention when
he formed his company that it should produce only ‘The Best’.

Tony Priestley

-4-

Diane Green

Gloucestershire Energy from Waste

17 March 2021

After a number of aborted attempts to visit the
incinerator (or the Gloucestershire Energy from
Waste Facility as it is formally known), tonight the
incinerator was brought to us with an interesting
presentation by Diane Green, the facility’s
Community Liaison Officer.

Diane started her talk by emphasising that she
would not be talking about the past, somewhat
contentious, political battle that preceded its
construction and commissioning.

But, as background and for those that do not know; the incinerator was designed,
constructed and is now operated by Urbaser Balfour Beatty. The design was thought
to be outdated before construction began but, although the County Council did try to
change things, they had already entered into a development contract that they could
not rescind. Hence, we have what we have. Construction of the plant started on
25 July 2016. It became functional on 12 June 2019 and fully operational on 17 July 2019.

So, Diane’s talk was about the functionality of the incinerator and was technical in
content, she told us that there were only 45 people managing the site which is
operational for twenty-four hours a day, except for an annual shut down period of two
weeks.

The system is licensed to process 190,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste every year
and, presently, Gloucestershire generates 130,000 tonnes of this, with the remainder
being imported from other areas to ensure that the site operates at maximum capacity
and efficiency. There is an ability to process more but this would require the licence
to be amended by Government.

The waste is delivered to the site by lorry. These are weighed before the refuse is
discharged into the bunker. From there the grab crane loads it into the burning area.
When starting up this furnace it is fired by diesel to take its internal temperature up
to at least 8500 C which is the temperature at which further waste is self-igniting when
it is introduced. The normal running temperature is 1,0000 C, but, if it does fall back
below 8500 C, then more diesel has to be burnt to bring the temperature back up to
the minimum level. The diagram on the next page shows the process in some detail.

The heat generated is then used to produce steam in the boiler which, in turn, drives
a turbine to generate 17.4 megawatts of electrical power. 2.9 MW is required to
operate the plant, whilst the remaining 14.5 MW is sold into the National Grid. This
is enough electricity to power 25,000 homes.

There are two by-products created by the process:

• first, bottom ash, from which ferrous metal is extracted using magnets. The
non-ferrous metal is then removed using an eddy current sorter, leaving an ash of
pulverised glass, ceramics and other stuff, which is used in road construction; and

Continued overleaf

-5-

Gloucestershire Energy from Waste - continued from previous page

• secondly, the exhaust fumes that are generated by incineration. These are
subjected to a number of cleansing and filtration stages to reduce them to the
approved environmental level before being expelled into the atmosphere via the
chimney stack. The waste from this cleansing process is taken off-site to a
specialist disposal facility.

Diane’s talk generated a lot of questions on a variety of topics, which she fielded very
well. I am sure we will all be interested in visiting the site when we are able to, so that
we can see for ourselves how it all works.

As you all know, I live in Hempsted, which has been the home of the County’s landfill
site for at least thirty years. It has become very noticeable that, since the incinerator
started up, the flies that were normally the size of bumble bees have stopped, as also
has the four o’clock daily visit by clouds of seagulls. Well done the incinerator!

John Roderick

-6-

Ashley (”Ash”) Jones MBE

How To Avoid Online Scams
and Other Frauds

31 March 2021

A sh spoke to us at our regular Zoom meeting - a
format which has proved very useful during
the period now of over a year where we have not
been able to hold any meetings at Bowden Hall.
He is part of the South West Regional Organised
Crime Unit; which sounds as though it is part of
the police force but is, in fact, a part of the Home
Office. Nonetheless, Ash has had a long and
distinguished career with the police which has
given him the skills necessary to tackle the types
of fraud that have become prevalent in the last
few years which are based largely on our greater reliance and use of electronic methods
of undertaking transactions. From the criminals’ point of view this has become a rich
seam to exploit the unwary.

I was surprised to learn that the cost of transactional fraud to the UK economy in the
last financial year was estimated to have been a massive £190 billion - that’s a lot of
noughts! Of that, some £7 billion is lost each year by individuals within England and
Wales alone from 4.4 million separate incidents and that represents a huge 34% of all
recorded crime. This is the fastest growing area of crime, due to the fact that other
criminal activities have become more difficult to pull off. It’s a form of crime which
affects everyone in society and to make matters worse, once a person has become a
victim they tend to be targeted by fraudsters on multiple occasions.

The scammers take advantage of our tendency to not want to be impolite. However,
the scammer doesn’t deserve our consideration and Ash’s advice in respect of all
unwarranted calls, emails, texts etc. is simply to ignore them, hang up or say no as
appropriate and so not get drawn in to any dialogue.

Ash identified many different types of scam for us. A booklet he issued at the end of
his talk has been forwarded to us all by Secretary Richard, so I won’t run through them
all here. But I would advise everyone to look at it as a useful reminder of what Ash
told us about each one. I will, however, summarise his Golden Rules:-

▪ If it sounds too good to be true it probably is;

▪ If you are put under time pressure then take time out to think it through. Say, for
example, that you don’t have authority to decide on your own;

▪ Never pay for large items in cash. Once the cash is handed over it can’t be traced
and so is lost - as perhaps is the chance to catch the fraudster;

▪ If you are asked to deal in a currency other than sterling that is usually a sign of
something dodgy; and

▪ Never give personal details to anyone who is not known to you. Remember that

if you receive a phone call the person you are speaking to may not be who he or

she purports to be. Continued on page 9

-7-

Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs was created by Roy Plomley and was
first broadcast by the BBC on 29 January 1942 on the
Forces Programme. I guess in the 79 years since that
first recording no one has ever been treated to a more
“interesting” episode than our zoom meeting on the
14 April 2021. Three of our own, John Bowman,
Roger Boucher and Simon Owen, had agreed to
expose their taste in music and to share the stories
of why their eclectic selection of music meant so
much to them. We all know that music can be so
personal, but with such a varied selection there was
truly something for everyone.

First up was John Bowman, whose list ranged from
Trad Jazz via Harry Chapin to Queen. Trad Jazz had
been part of John’s early introduction to popular
music and he started with a track by the Dutch Swing
College Band. Queen was a favourite band of his and
he played us “Killer Queen”, the first track of theirs
that he heard. We then moved on to a song from
Harry Chapin before John introduced us to Elis Regina,
a Brazilian singer, who he used to listen to during his
time living there. Unfortunately, Elis died in 1982 at
the age of 36 from vermouth, cocaine and
tranquillisers. A real rock star’s death and shared by
many great singers. John’s final track was one that
always made him smile, Cole Porter’s “Brush up your
Shakespeare” from the musical “Kiss Me Kate”.

Roger Boucher was next to guide us through his choice
of music and his experiences of the 1960s and 1970s
struck a chord with many of us. Not surprisingly, Roger
started with the Beatles. What was possibly surprising
was the track he selected: “A Day in the Life” from
Sgt. Pepper, which Roger thought best demonstrated
the combination of the writing styles of John Lennon
and Paul McCartney. Roger had developed a
sophisticated rating system to narrow down the artists
and tracks he was going to present. The track that was
played next was “Thrasher” by Canadian singer-
songwriter, Neil Young of Crosby, Stills, Nash and
Young fame. Then came Miles Davis, well known for
playing a mix of experimental Jazz and Jazz Fusion.
Roger admitted that he found this type of music hard
listening but felt that if you persevere something good would come out of it. Roger
finished by playing snippets of other artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Van Morrison, ELO
and others.

-8-

Our final contributor to the evening was Simon Owen.
Simon’s first track was from Starlight Express. He told
us that his love of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals
comes from his parents, who frequently took the
whole family to London’s West End to see various
productions. Simon’s second choice could hardly have
been more different. We jumped from Musical
Theatre to Dance Music when Simon played a track
from Eurodance group Snap. Although Simon’s
formative years were during the height of the media
hype about the rivalry between Oasis and Blur, he
demonstrated it was possible to like both when he
played “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Oasis and
“Parklife” by Blur. He then played “Fix You” by
Coldplay, another of his favourite bands. The final
track of the evening was “Shotgun” by George Ezra.
During the song Simon told us that George was someone that he had always wanted
to see live. Simon was at the Barn on the Farm music festival a couple of years ago,
when their mystery guest was to be someone called Reggae Zero. Simon figured out
the anagram and made sure he was at the front when “Reggae” was due to start. Sure
enough it was George Ezra and Simon enjoyed a perfect view of his set. Some people
are born lucky!

Everyone in the Club agreed that our version of Desert Island Discs had been a great
idea and an enjoyable evening. The Club wishes to give a big thank you to the three
brave souls who agreed to share their influential songs with us.

David Threlfall

How To Avoid Online Scams - continued from page 7

And, if the unfortunate does happen and
you realise too late that you have been
conned, then firstly and immediately
report it to your bank as they may be
able to stop the money being lost.
Secondly, report the incident to Action
Fraud on 0300 123 20 40 or, if the fraud
is still in the course of being committed,
call the police on 999.

Ash’s talk was a helpful reminder that we all
need to be vigilant and he gave us some very
useful guidance on the things to look out for to keep us all safe. It was well worth
spending an hour or so listening to what he had to say and I would commend to your
reading the booklet that he sent to us all.

Adrian Smith

-9-

There’s a New Marshal in Town!

At the launch of the Covid Vaccination Centres Rotary was
quick to act and District appointed a district officer to
coordinate Rotary’s response. However, there was such an
enthusiastic wish to help and, with lockdown, plenty of people
with time on their hands. The immediate result was a surfeit
of volunteers

Several members of our club volunteered at the Churchdown
Community Centre and I was soon called up to do a session - but was then rapidly
rejected when they reassessed the system and told me that, in view of my age, I should
go away until I had received my first dose of vaccine! I understand some younger
members of Gloucester Rotary helped at Rosebank but offers by our Club were
unheeded as they were fully staffed.

District asked for help in manning the Ashton Gate Vaccination Centre in Bristol, but
the consensus was that it was a bit distant for us.

I have now done about ten sessions at Churchdown Community Centre and it is a
well-oiled machine. I know Richard Colley, Gordon Wilde, and Steve Markham have
all helped there; whilst Martin Odell has helped at his daughter’s clinic. A small number
from Rotary at Kingsholm are also helping.

They are vaccinating about 650 people in a session all with
a minimum of delay and largely without incident. They are
using ten marshals in the car park and, I think, a similar
number inside. Being blokes we largely finish up outside
whilst the delicate ladies work mainly inside.

Initially things were more exciting when the elderly were
vaccinated and the parking was less accurate. Recalling
where the car was parked when they came out after their jab was a bit slow too!
Emotions and excitement ran high as people had their first outing for months to get
their first jab. One notable day we recorded three car bumps in an afternoon!

My highlight so far has been meeting a Covid denier who I know from the golf club.
When I ran into him there he was adamant that Covid was all a cover up by the Italian
Catholics to hide their child abuse. He then brought his mother to the Centre to have
her Pfizer vaccine. I had to spend the fifteen minutes waiting time listening to him
assuring me that it was all due to Big Pharma making money and that the pandemic
was burning itself out without all this fuss!

We are now down to the under 30s and, interestingly, the size of the cars has increased,
whilst the ability to remember where your car is parked is largely unchanged and the
number of faints has also drastically increased!

I have been rewarded for my efforts with three coffees plus cake on each session, free
pizza and nearly a free bottle of wine.

Looking to the future, these large vaccination sessions will have to continue through
the year and, whilst we may well need fewer marshals, volunteers will still be required,
especially as we return to normal activities and go on holiday.

My experience has been very positive and working with the team of marshals has been
friendly enjoyable and useful. Rotary’s contribution has been small but significant.

Bob Paterson

- 10 -

Wine By Wire

Some two dozen Rotarians and partners enjoyed a unique experience on 21 April – a
video wine tasting evening hosted by Lloyd and Jenny from Laithwaite’s Wine. Lloyd
had selected half a dozen wines for us to try – three white and three red - Bob had
kindly collected them for us and each household had six quarter-bottles to sample.

Lloyd began by telling us that this was a new event for them as well, as this was the
first Zoom tasting for retail customers that they had held. So we were all on a voyage
into the unknown!

We began with Nika Tiki, a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Jan and I particularly enjoyed
this wine, so it was a good start to the evening. As we sipped our way through it a
discussion began about the disparity of prices for some New Zealand Sauvignons (this
one was comparatively expensive at £12.99 a bottle) when compared to many in the
supermarkets. Jenny took us through the difference in the production process for the
smaller vineyards, where more care is usually taken with irrigation and harvesting, so
producing grapes that are more intense in flavour; whereas the mass producers are
more mechanised and this can result in a wine which lingers on the palate for less time.

We then moved on to Visionario, a white wine from the Venezie region of Northern
Italy, made from the local Friulano grape combined with Sauvignon, Chardonnay and
Gewürztraminer. Unusually, the maker ferments the mixture of grapes together rather
than blending the wines after the fermentation process. It was a less acidic wine than
the previous one and we enjoyed it, but perhaps not as much as the Nika Tiki.

Next we were off to Spain for a white Rioja made from a blend of Viura, a local grape,

and Chardonnay then aged in oak barrels for six months. I wasn’t that keen on it but

Jan thought it quite palatable. Continued overleaf

Our selection of wines
- 11 -

Wine By Wire - continued from previous page

We stayed in Spain for our next wine, La Cantera, a red from the Cariñena region made
from the Garnacha grape and then aged in oak. Whilst others found it to be very
smooth it was too oaky for both of us, although we might have enjoyed it more with
a meal.

Back to Italy next for Saracosa, a Tuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot
part-aged in oak. A very smooth wine that we enjoyed.

And, finally, we headed for Portugal for a bottle of Lobo e Falcão; from a former royal
falconry in the Tejo region. It was a struggle to get into the bottle – the screw top
seemed to be welded on! But it was worth it when we got in: made from a blend of
local grape varieties it was rich and full of flavour and, at £10.99, great value for money.
It was my favourite wine of the evening: Jan’s was the Nika Tiki - the most expensive;
no surprise there!

This was a splendid event, well hosted by Lloyd and Jenny, who were a fund of
knowledge about their wines and wine-producing generally. There were many lively
discussions and opinions shared during the two hours that we spent sampling, which
added to the enjoyment. I know that wine is a subjective thing and others will have
loved those that we were not so keen on and vice versa, but that is one of the great
pleasures of drinking the stuff!

Our thanks to Lloyd and Jenny for entertaining us and also to Bob for putting it all
together. I know that we shall be placing an order for some of the bottles that we
particularly enjoyed and I am sure that many of the others will do so as well.

After having consumed the lion’s share of our six quarter-bottles I slept very soundly
that night!

John Bowman

MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

Duncan Lord celebrated his 70th
birthday on 2 April, although with the
lockdown restrictions it was, as he
told me, a “quiet day”!

Duncan doesn’t drink a lot of beer so
he felt that the money that we would
normally have spent on buying him a
commemorative tankard would be
better used in supporting our charity
account instead. So we have done that
and thank him for his generosity.

Now that life is getting a bit easier we
hope that Duncan will be able to
celebrate his milestone properly!

- 12 -

After being locked down for most of 2020 and the first
part of 2021 with all the Golf courses partially or
completely closed, all the eager Golfers had been
expectantly waiting for the day when they would be able
to chase the little white ball along the fairways again!
The weather had been abnormally wet last winter and
certainly at my course, it was no loss not having to splash
about in the mud! However, we were still frustrated! We
were not even able to go to the driving range and I am
certain that some of our golfers have been spending their
time in captivity practicing their putting on the lounge
carpet and chipping on the back lawn, if they have one!
Eventually though, at the end of March the day did dawn
when it was deemed OK to go out in groups of
four  -  suitably socially distanced, of course, (not
something that I find difficult to achieve in my game)!
Although you weren’t allowed to touch anything that you
didn’t bring with you, flags had to be left in the hole
(untouched) and you couldn’t pick up any stray balls.
Generally, none of the Club bars were open either, so it
was turn up, play and go home again – but we were finally
back playing!
Incidentally, at last the new World Handicap System had
been implemented, resulting in a few changed handicaps,
although some of the changes were not so well received!
So far, the weather has been so dry that the courses are
playing like they would in the heat of summer – loads of
run on the ball and stopping it on the green has been a
bit of a challenge! However, if you tee off early in the
day, it is still be bit nippy until the sun comes up. So some
warmth would be appreciated.
Thankfully though, things are gradually returning to
normal, although wearing face masks inside clubhouses
is still required. Club competitions are also restarting.
The thrill of striping a ball straight down the fairway
off the tee, or of a pitch that lands (and stops) by the pin,
or holing that monster putt, is back again - hopefully for
good this time!
The Rotary Club golfers are now looking forward to their
annual Club weekend away in June and to our visit to
Ashbury in September. Things are looking up!

(frustrated golfer)

- 13 -

Professor Neil Shepherd

Pathology in the Real World

28 April 2021

P rofessor Neil Shepherd joined us via Zoom to
enlighten us on the role of ‘Pathology in the real
world’. Neil began his career here in 1988 and, as
Richard Allison worked with Neil for over half of his
career, the evening brought fond memories for
both Richard and also Roger Hart from their careers
in the Pathology Department.

Neil told us that he has experienced much
misunderstanding of pathology, due to the
assumption that the work is all about autopsy and
forensic work; as made popular on TV. I did think,
however, that Neil would be an impressive figure clad in a white suit in Midsomer! A
practical advantage of this branch of medicine is the predictable working pattern and
the opportunities for research and participating in other academic activities

Pathology has its departments split between Cheltenham General Hospital (CGH) and
Gloucester Royal Hospital (GRH). Proposals to concentrate departments and
specialisms to single locations have been in the news recently and Neil supported the
advantages of having the best expertise available for patient care and support. Often
tucked away within a large hospital, the pathology department at CGH is lucky enough
to have a corner position with a good view of the world outside and some very
attractive buildings.

Neil has carved out (groan, thanks
Richard!) a very successful career not only
in the core clinical work, but also in
teaching, research and legal work. He
showed us pictures of a typical day with a
heap of case notes awaiting his attention
and a large microscope representing the
primary ‘tool of his trade’

The main fields of pathology are the study Slicing and Dicing in the Lab
of disease; histopathology; haematology;
immunology; medical; microbiology and
chemical pathology.

Histopathology, the study of tissue and cells, and the gastro-intestinal area (i.e., top of
oesophagus to bottom of bottom) is Neil’s particular specialism. 95% of the work
involves the individual study of samples taken from endoscopic biopsies and this
remains the ‘gold standard’ for diagnosis of, for example, colorectal cancer.

On a lighter note, Neil recalls that in 1988 there were four pathologists in
Gloucestershire, now there are fifteen. Neil’s department is made up of 60 – 70 staff
and the overall combined pathology department numbers somewhere between 300
and 400, providing services to around four hundred consultants within the Trust.

- 14 -

The presentation included photos of the
department showing various pieces of
machinery for automated testing, and
experts at work preparing individual
samples, involving transforming pieces of
soft human tissue into 5-micron slides.

A very large number of tests are carried out
daily, approximately 40,000 per year, each
of which may be tremendously important
for the treatment of any individual patient.

The number of autopsies carried out has

fallen considerably over time, and none are

now carried out in NHS hospitals. Most now The Medical Microbiology Laboratory

relate to those carried out by the Coroner’s

department (We had a talk from the Coroner’s office some time ago). A side-effect of

this is that the educational value for doctors from taking part in these procedures is

being lost.

As a club made up of mature males it was no surprise that the subject of prostate cancer
screening was raised. Neil described the criteria for a worthwhile screening programme
which concluded that this will not happen for prostate cancer, although it is very
effective for breast, cervical and colon cancers. Neil commented that many prostate
illness sufferers ultimately died of some other condition.

The presentation was an absorbing insight into the world of pathology, and Neil
concluded the session with the comment that pathology ‘is more about the living than
the dead’. Hopefully his colleagues find Neil’s enduring enthusiasm as infectious as we
did.

Derek Thomas

Birthday Greetings

Hopefully we will be getting back to a normal quarterly basis now. So many
happy returns to those who will be celebrating their birthdays up to the
end of September

Roger Boucher 10 July Nick Bishop 15 July

Andrew Davies 17 July John Roderick 27 July

Derek Thomas 4 August Mike Till 4 August

Gordon Wilde 5 August Simon Hewer 12 August

Mike Beard 15 August Richard Dare 25 August

Andrew Wilson 11 September Mike Frost 28 September

Maggie Holyoake’s Memorial Service
For obvious reasons the service that had been planned for 11 May had to be
rescheduled and it will now take place on Tuesday, 31 August at 3 p.m. Further
information will be provided closer to the date.

- 15 -

Nikki Budding

Hope for Tomorrow

12 May 2021

Nikki Budding is the Chief Fund Raiser for Hope
for Tomorrow, a charity that provides mobile
clinics for cancer treatment. It has been chosen as
the main beneficiary of the funds raised at this
year’s Sporting Dinner.

Nikki told us about the origins of the charity, its
aims and objectives, its expansion through the
years and gave us some details of how the charity
is financed. She then showed us a video that
included some case studies.

Christine Mills’ husband, David, was suffering from spinal

cancer which was being treated at hospital and this

necessitated him making a frequent 60-mile round trip

from Tetbury to Cheltenham. David eventually lost his

fight, but his consultant, Dr Sean Elyan, had a vision of

creating mobile treatment units to alleviate patients’

stress and anxiety and to bring treatment nearer to

patients’ homes. Christine decided to help and set up the

Hope for Tomorrow charity in 2002 with the aim of raising

enough money to purchase a mobile clinic to provide

treatment and care for those in a similar position to her

husband. Christine Mills MBE

After four years of hard work and fundraising “Helen”, the first mobile chemotherapy

unit in the world, was completed and went into service in 2007. The charity now has

thirteen active units plus a reserve to cover for repairs etc, each of which costs some

£270,000 to build and fit out. In 2020 they treated over 22,000 patients; so taking

some strain off the NHS and making life a little easier not only for the patients but also

for their carers. Christine was awarded an MBE in 2011 in recognition of her work.

The charity provides the mobile units including a support vehicle, but the treatments
are administered by NHS staff. They have partnered with eleven more NHS Trusts and
these now have their own units with a support vehicle. Fundraising is a constant
challenge as all the units are purchased by the charity without support from the NHS.

It had been hoped that funds “Helen”
raised by the Sporting Dinner
would assist them in giving this
very practical help to those in
need; however, as we know,
the non-lifting of Covid
restrictions has meant that this
will not be possible this year..

Richard Sugdon

- 16 -

Dr Will Knight

A Very Modern Pandemic

26 May 2021

Will Knight is a Consultant Neurologist at the
Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust and is also
Neil Normington’s son-in-law..

He was not going to talk to us about the Covid
Pandemic but was, instead, going to highlight a
pandemic in Neurology that he was anticipating.

Brain-related issues and the accompanying problems
associated with those - i.e. a person’s mental state, depression and a whole host of
other related issues which are now present in everyday society have become more
widespread due to Covid and the country having been in lockdown at times. Will
explained the catastrophic and growing effect that this was having on the NHS; hence
he believed that it could turn into a pandemic of enormous proportions.

Will shared simple but serious stories, with names changed, of patients undergoing
severe psychological problems and the neurological malfunctions of these. The brain
pays attention to certain parts of the body and therefore it is not a wholly conscious
process.

There is no doubt that this is a really complex subject involving a significant number of
people in our population and it was instructive to have it explained to us by a specialist
in the field.

Gordon Wilde

Retirements and Departures

The end of the Rotary year saw the retirement of three of our members who have reluctantly decided
that it was now time to start to take things a bit easier. All three are past Presidents and two were
also founder members of our Club. Over the years they have either chaired or served on most of
the committees and I shall not list their considerable service. They have all devoted a lot of time
and effort to Rotary and they have contributed enormously to the success of Gloucester Severn.

Tony Jenkinson and Paul Rosewell were founder members and were Club Presidents in 1997/98
and 1983/84, respectively. Ron Jones joined in 1985 and served as our President in 1994/95.

Also, two members have left us for pastures new. Colin Harvey has been a member since 1985
and followed Tony to become our President for 1998/99. He and Val have now moved to West
Sussex to be close to their family. Colin is planning to join a local club once they are settled. Phil
Witcomb is a comparative new boy having joined us in 2013. Phil started a new business in Hereford
a couple of years ago and I am told that it is going from strength to strength despite lockdown. Its
success means that it is no longer viable for Phil to continue to commute; so he and Carol have now
moved there. Phil has joined Hereford Rotary Club, so he is not lost to the movement.

We thank all of our retirees and leavers for everything they have done for Gloucester Severn and
wish them and their families all the best for the future. Hopefully we shall still see them all from time
to time.

- 17 -

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

9 JUNE 2021

We held our 2020/21 Annual General Meeting by Zoom because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

President Jeff opened the meeting with a summary of the year’s proceedings, which have
been conducted almost exclusively by Zoom - although, thanks to John Barnes’
organisational skills, the Away Break to Lincoln had been able to take place and was
thoroughly enjoyed by all who went. Jeff went on to thank Council for its support in a difficult
year, particularly Bob Paterson and Richard Colley who, respectively, organising a varied
programme of speakers and sorting out the technology for everyone to participate via the
Zoom link.

The other officers and committee chairmen then gave their reports. Both Peter Burton
(ComVoc) and Richard Allison (International) reiterated that the loss of income because of
the pandemic had severely restricted our ability to support those in need. However,
ComVoc had made donations totalling £4,000 and had allocated a further £8,200 for
payment once a number of conditions had been met. The majority of this money had been
spent locally. International had donated £2,000 to date, with a further £1,500 allocated for
supporting the Covid relief effort in India (since paid - Ed). Jeff Roberts and Nick Bishop
confirmed that last year’s fundraising events had been cancelled but that they were hopeful
that both the Sporting Dinner and and the Dragonboat Festival were on track for 2022.
Other than Bob summarising last year’s programme, the other committees had little activity
to report. Finally, John Bowman confirmed that our financial situation was satisfactory.

Twenty-three members had logged into the meeting, which is greater than the one-third
quorum requirement and, consequently:

● The operating budget for 2021/22 was agreed;

● The 2021/22 subscription will be £132, to be paid in two instalments;

● The officers for 2021/22 had already been confirmed at the Special General Meeting
held in December last year and will be: President - Roger Hart: President Elect - John
Barnes: President Nominee - Adrian Smith: Immediate Past President - Jeff Dawson:
Secretary - Richard Colley: Treasurer - John Bowman;

● The appointments of Richard Allison, Roger Barrett, Nick Bishop, David Bruce, Roger
Boucher, Simon Owen, Bob Paterson and Jeff Roberts to serve as members of
Council were confirmed;

● Tony Priestley and David Wrigley were re-appointed to examine the accounts for the
year ending 30 June 2021 on behalf of the members;

● The honorary memberships of Roger Atknison, Geoff Cooper, Roger Head, Michael
Holyoake, Paul Simons and Roger Smith were re-confirmed. Two of our Founder
Members - Tony Jenkinson and Paul Rosewell have decided to retire from the Club
at the end of June and it was agreed that they should be offered honorary
membership; Ron Jones is also retiring and will be offered honorary membership.

● Voting delegates for District meetings will be Roger Hart, John Barnes and Adrian
Smith with Richard Colley available to act as substitute for any of them; and

● Roger Hart, Richard Colley and John Bowman were appointed to act as Trustees of
our charity monies for the coming year.

- 18 -

It’s Good To Be Back!

23 June 2021

Relaxation of Governmental Covid
restrictions meant that we were
finally able to resume our
face-to-face meetings tonight, albeit
with restrictions still in place on numbers and
limitations on our ability to interact socially. But, even with these difficulties, what a
pleasure it was to be able to meet and put the world to rights over the dinner table!

After dinner we were entertained by Roger Boucher, who had put together one of his
quizzes to exercise our brains. Each table was designated as a team – there were four
of us on our table with Peter Harris appointed as our captain. And so we began...

The last time Roger had put one of these together he had begun by inviting us to identify
brands of beer from illustrations with any helpful lettering removed. This time he had
repeated the trick with chocolate bars and our team crashed and burned with a score
of three out of ten. Others fared better with John Barnes’ table top-scoring with
seven - mind you there were six of them in the team!

Things looked up, though, with the next round on spelling, where we and two other
teams scored eight, which made us feel better, particularly as we had played our joker
and got double points.

We then moved on to photographs of current personalities when they were young.
I’m useless at that and contributed little, but fortunately the others were good at it,
particularly Peter, and we scored well. A pot luck round was next, followed by a music
round where we were asked to identify the movie in which the track had featured.

The final round featured photographs of pop stars with a list of their real names and
we were required to match their photograph to the name and also give their stage
name. We did well on that and much to our surprise we then discovered that we had
come out as the overall winners. The team captained by John Barnes were runners-up,
with David Wrigley’s and Jeff Dawson’s teams third and fourth.

Roger puts a lot of time into setting his quizzes and then putting them into a very
professional PowerPoint presentation, which adds to the enjoyment. Thank you Roger
for an excellent evening’s entertainment – and I’m not just saying that because I won!

John Bowman

1. Team Harris Final Scores 37.0
3. Team Wrigley 43.0 2. Team Barnes 25.0
27.5 4. Team Dawson

- 19 -

Jeff Dawson’s patience was rewarded
when he finally got to host the first
proper dinner meeting of his year after
a slight relaxation of the Covid
restrictions meant that we were
allowed to return to Bowden Hall on
23 June after a fifteen month absence.
His predecessor, Mike Till, was away
swanning around the Lake District, so,
only 11 months’ late, Richard Colley
presented Jeff with the Presidential
Jewel on his behalf.
It was but a fleeting honour, however,
as Jeff was obliged to pass it on to
incoming President Roger Hart at the
handover meeting the following week!

Catching Up With The Tankards

Now that we are back at the hotel we had the opportunity to present 70th birthday
tankards to two members who had reached that milestone while we were in lockdown.
Steve Markham had celebrated his birthday on 31 January and was followed shortly
thereafter by David Threlfall who had turned 70 on 10 February.
President Jeff got carried away with enthusiasm and also gave Roger Boucher his
tankard before he reached his birthday, which would not be until 10 July; but to
confuse things further Roger Hart then presented David Threlfall with his tankard at
the following meeting, despite his birthday having been in Jeff’s year!
All the recipients said a few pleasant words before returning to their seats to
contemplate the passage of the years.
Many happy returns to all of you!

The birthday boys (L to R) Steve Markham, David Threlfall and Roger Boucher
- 20 -

The Indian Covid Crisis

W e became aware of the escalating
Covid crisis in India toward the end
of May and Council agreed to
International’s proposal that we donated
£1,500 to the relief effort. That was the
easy bit!

We were concerned that our contribution

should not disappear into some vague

The Amrita Institute “pot” and wanted to ensure both that we

purchased equipment that was needed and that we targeted a named medical facility

where there was that need. Fortunately, David Bruce had a medical contact who was

both a Birmingham Rotarian and active in charity work on the sub-continent, so he

contacted him to begin a dialogue to establish some facts.

Peter Patel consulted with his contacts in India and reported back that a good recipient
for our contribution would be the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, who are based
at Kochi (formerly Cochin) in the State of Kerala in South-West India. Peter has worked
previously with the Institute and was confident that it was reliable and would also give
us some feedback of how the equipment that we bought was being used. Peter
volunteered to route the purchase through the Rotary Club of Birmingham’s Charitable
Fund, thus obviating the need for us to become involved in foreign exchange.

We agreed this was a sensible way

forward and decided to see if any of our
members would like to make a personal
contribution to increase the amount

we could make available. Pleasingly a

number of them did do so, with the

result that we were able to more than

double the donation; the final total

being £3,050. The Alaris syringe pump

Peter reported back that the current need was for syringe pumps and infusion pumps.
David recommended that we went with the former and explained that, although a
ventilator/oxygen concentrator had initially appeared to be an attractive option,

syringe pumps can be used not only for Covid patients but also for those with other

critical illnesses in the future – i.e. they would offer more flexibility and longevity.

Our money has been used to purchase six BD-Alaris GH Plus syringe pumps and the
Birmingham club are adding four further units. The order has now been placed with
the suppliers in India and the equipment will shortly be delivered to the Amrita
Institute.

The whole process has taken less than a month from start to finish and members can
feel that we have made a positive contribution to resolving the problem.

David has worked extremely hard to make this happen and we are very grateful for his
efforts.

- 21 -

Paul Rosewell Looks Back

Y ou may have heard that health issues have forced me to resign from the Club at
the end of this Rotary year. The editor has kindly given me some space to share
some very fond memories of my thirty-eight years as a member, which have been
packed with happenings of all sorts.

So, to begin at the beginning, as a famous Welsh author once wrote:

I had been part of Gloucester Round Table for five or six years but, as all members
were, I was asked to leave when I reached the ripe old age of 40 at the end of 1979.
After a brief skirmish with Gloucester Lions I let life take its course.

But, in about December 1982 I had a phone call from Paul Simons, who was a good
friend from my Round Table days. He said that he had been asked to be part of a new
Rotary club which would be meeting in the evening. Because I worked in Wiltshire I
had previously had to refuse invitations to join the Gloucester Club, as it met at
lunchtime.

And so it was that I turned up at the initial pre-meeting of Gloucester Severn on the
first Wednesday in 1983 at the old Gloucester Club building in Brunswick Road. It was
conducted by Graham Choyce as the lead member for Gloucester Rotary, who formed
us. It all seemed very businesslike but there was a great buzz amongst the twenty-odd
guys who were there and there was no doubt that we would all continue to come to
future meetings.

The rest, as they say is history and memories of each year are detailed in Steve
Markham’s excellent ‘Potted History’ up to 2000. If you have arrived since then and
you have any interest in the past, get hold of a copy*.

Anyway, when it came to elections for Council jobs, I felt it was important to be as
involved as possible and Roger Atkinson asked me to be the first editor of the Club’s
newsletter. I was delighted and it got me involved in all aspects of the Club’s activities.
The style, it has to be said, now looks very old fashioned - but it was of its time and its
production took me endless hours in the evening. Nevertheless, we got there and the
content was good enough to win first prize in the District newsletter competition.

I did the job for three years, I think, and did several committee jobs along the way. I
had never wanted to be Treasurer but I did agree to take over that role from Ray Lewis
when he became so ill. But anyone of you who has been President will say that that
was their very special year and I am no exception. I was the 7th President in 1989/90.
As the ‘Potted History’ records we hosted the first ‘International Weekend’ with
Deventer of Holland, and we got the Special Olympics featured on TV with 200
competitors. At the District Conference we won the attendance cup for the highest
attendance, enjoyed Ken Dodd (well Mike Till did!) and Kenneth Clarke. Clive Townsend
led a presentation from the Group Study Exchange team who were about to leave for
Minnesota. It is the all-encompassing nature of being President in Gloucester Severn
with so many great guys supporting you which makes it so satisfying, even if some
difficult problems occur (and they did).

Hard to follow that year but I did two years as Secretary and several bouts as Chairman
of ComVoc. I just took pleasure from being part of a very successful Rotary Club,
enjoying the friendship of many people which, despite the male orientation, gave many

- 22 -

opportunities to enjoy the company of our wives and partners. We could not get very
far without the support of our ladies, of course, and I certainly am very aware of all
that Diana has done for me throughout all these years. I couldn’t have done it without
her.

The international nature of Rotary can lead to rare opportunities. In 1989 we all
received a letter from a couple in Sacramento, California looking to do a house
exchange with someone in Gloucester (they had been planning one with someone who
had pulled out). We decided that it was a very rare chance to experience the American
Dream so we had three brilliant weeks. He was a Federal Judge so we felt pretty safe!

It’s impossible not to compare Rotary life now with those early years. As in life generally
the glamour of the way we were then and the way we socialise now has changed. Our
Ladies’ Nights were glitzy affairs and that element has dwindled; in my view it is not
for the better, but I guess it can’t be helped. We had some great bands at our Ladies’
Nights – I remember Aquarius at mine. Their lead guitarist was also my Chief
Accountant at work!

Inevitably over all these years we have lost good friends in the Club and they are fondly
remembered.

I will miss the weekly meetings, of course, but as an Honorary Member I hope to join
you as often as I can. I wish all of you the best of success in the years to come.

Each Rotary year has a theme recommended by the incoming District Governor, who
was Alwyn Davies in my year. I offer his theme to all of you - ENJOY ROTARY!

Best wishes to the Club

Paul

And a word from Diana

When Gloucester Severn started and our men were getting to know one another, we
ladies were invited to a meeting. I looked at the members’ list and thinking which lady
went with which member. I spoke to Roger and Jenny and offered to have a get
together of all the ladies at our house. So we did an American Supper, with each lady
bringing a plate.

The evening was a great success and so it started the tradition of the President’s lady
leading the ladies’ programme for the year. So each year we enjoy our coffee mornings,
theatre visits, lunches and so on.

I am very pleased that we also include those ladies whose husbands have, sadly, died.

My father was a member of the Gloucester Rotary Club. So from the age of eleven
years old, Rotary has been part of my life.

Stay in touch

Love to you all

Diana

* there is a digital copy of Steve’s Potted History available in the archive. Please contact
John Bowman if you would like a link to access or download it.

- 23 -

Golfing in Cheshire

27 - 29 July

A late change of venue meant that this
year's "Rotary Golf Weekend Away" took
place in the rolling hills of Cheshire, with the
MacDonald Portal Hotel playing host. Some
10 players, and wives, gathered together to
enjoy our usual alcohol-fuelled banter, and
given that, in some cases, we hadn't seen
each other "in the flesh", as it were, for some
15 months or so, then here was a welcoming
opportunity to catch up on family news!

Then, of course, there was the golf!! Two

Overall winner - John Barnes pleasant, rural courses set the challenge, met
with the usual mix of groans, oaths and

cheers...and the occasional "plop" as balls disappeared into ponds, never to be seen

or hit again!

And after two rounds the Winner was ...the Organiser,
yes "Bulldog Barnes", hotly pursued by Runner-up
"Arnie" Paterson. The "Putting Winner" turned out to
be "Retief" Harvey, and as for the "Nearest The Pin",
well, after a steward's enquiry, Bob, whose ball was,
in fact, the only one to soar over the pond fronting the
14th green, was declared "nearest" ...even though it
actually lodged in a bank fronting the green!

But who cares who wins or loses (says me, nowhere
near a winning score!), it beats work, the weather was
good, the scenery attractive, and the company
invariably jolly (well, most of the time!)

The ladies meanwhile Putting Winner - Colin Harvey
went off to nearby Tatton Park, and, it seems, enjoyed
their visit, so well done to Viv for arranging that. All
in all, as always, it was a really agreeable way to spend
a couple of days with friends, natter till the cows come
home, quaff a few beers/wine, and lose a few balls in
the water!

Well done John Barnes for his excellent organising
skills (though should the Organiser be allowed to walk
off with the First Prize?!), and no doubt to Millie too
for her help in the background.

So where to next year?

Steve

Nearest the Pin - Bob Paterson

- 24 -

The “Magnificent Ten”

- 25 -

Handover

30 June 2021

So we arrived at the end of another Rotary year and it was time for the Handover - or
should that be handovers as we were unable to meet last year for a formal passing
over of the baton?

Past President Mike kicked off proceedings
with a summary of his year – or eight months
as it turned out to be after everything ground
to a halt in early March 2020 – before moving
on to congratulate Jeff on his year in office
which he felt had gone very well given the
difficult conditions in which we were having
to operate. He didn’t pass the Presidential
gong over to Jeff as that had happened last
week, although Mike had, unfortunately, not
been able to be there. Jeff then presented
Mike with his Past President’s badge and
reminded everyone that Mike had also been
awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship at the end
of his term of office.

Jeff gives Mike his Past President’s badge

Jeff then talked briefly about his year as he
had already gone over it in detail at the AGM
a couple of weeks ago. He mentioned that
we had received some funds from Roger
Hart’s walk and also from donations in
memory of John Jameson and Maggie
Holyoake. He felt that we had done the best
we could with our limited resources to
support the Covid relief efforts both
domestically and abroad. He thanked
Council and the members for their support
during his year before handing over the
Presidential jewel to Roger Hart.

Roger presented Jeff with his Past President’s
badge and, much to Jeff’s surprise, with a
Paul Harris Fellowship* in recognition of him Jeff presents Roger with his President’s jewel
not only stepping forward to serve a second presidential term at a time when we had
concerns as to the Club’s continuing survival, but also in then navigating it through the
choppy waters of the pandemic and bringing us safely out the other side.

Next up, Roger gave John Barnes his President-Elect’s regalia and Adrian Smith his
President-Nominee’s badge.

* our cover photograph

- 26 -

Finally, Richard Colley and John Bowman got
their Secretary’s and Treasurer’s medallions.

The presentations completed, Roger

outlined his thoughts for the forthcoming

year starting with a hope of being able to

maximise our impact in the local community

by working in cooperation with the other

three Gloucester clubs. He then moved on

to say that it was felt that the pandemic had

changed how Rotary operates, with some

clubs reducing their meetings and others

now designated as ‘dining clubs’. Whilst we

could, perhaps, be regarded as a dining club,

Roger believes that this social interaction is

John gets his President-elect’s gong an important part of what we do and acts as

a catalyst to motivate us to work together to

raise many thousands of pounds year-on-year to benefit a wide range of worthy causes.

He then moved on to talk about various

Rotary initiatives and expressed the hope

that we would do our bit to advance them.

Roger concluded by promising to do his best

for the Club during his year and inviting

anyone who had any ideas as to how the

Rotary experience can be improved to

discuss them with him.

The incoming officers and committee And Roger congratulates Adrian
chairmen were then invited to outline their
plans for next year, which they duly did.
Basically, it was ‘steady as we go’ with the
hope that we would be able to hold both the
Dragon Boat Festival and the Sporting Dinner
in 2022 to generate funds to replenish our
charity account.

Assistant Governor Charlie Coats was our guest for the evening and he told us that,
apart from Severn Vale, whose breakfast meeting he had attended last week, we are
the only club in District to have resumed regular meetings. He felt that Rotary is
particularly strong in Gloucester – we have some 160 members between the four clubs,
which compares very favourably with other, much larger, conurbations: Bristol has
about 140 Rotarians and Swindon only 95. Membership will be a major District
initiative, as will the environment and the growing issue is modern slavery, which is
more prevalent in our area than we might imagine. Charlie also told us that he was
going to be involved in reviewing communications between District and the clubs to
simplify the message for greater clarity. He concluded by wishing us a successful year.

After a couple more bits of business we wrapped up proceedings at about 10:00 pm.

- 27 -

The Ladies at Tatton Park
Whilst the men were golfing at Tarporley the ladies visited nearby
Tatton Park. Here are a couple of photographs of their outing.

THE LAST WORD

A very full issue so not a lot of space left for me - suffice it to say that it’s good to be back at
Bowden Hall. Let’s hope that we shall soon be fully free from this wretched lockdown!
As always, my thanks to those who have written articles and sent photographs to me.
John Bowman

We normally meet on Wednesday evenings at the Bowden Hall Hotel, Upton St Leonards; at
7:30 pm for an 8:00 pm start, unless otherwise advised. Details of the programme can be found on
our website: www.gloucestersevern.rotary1100.org.
Apologies for absence should be given to Mike Beard no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Monday
preceding the meeting, otherwise you will be charged for your meal and a share of any other
non-recoverable costs. Apologies may be given by email to [email protected], via the
apologies section of the website or by phone to 01453-882519 (land) or 07799-110065 (mobile).