October 2019 Magazine - Issue 164

News and views

Rotary Club of Gloucester Severn

www.gloucestersevern.rotary1100.org

October 2019

Issue 164

Till’s Trivia

Greetings to Everyone in a New Presidential
year! It was 1987 when I was last President
and, now aged 80, I am now trying to do my best
second time round with the support of Gill and
all the Club Officers.

There have been ‘Ups and Downs’ already this
year.

I must pay tribute to Adrian and Geraldine for an
excellent Presidential year and the courteous
way in which the Club Assembly and Handover
was presented. The Club Jewel is looking a little
worn, like me since it was last round my neck!

The ‘Up’ was that I was so delighted to see Peter
Harris return to the Club after his surgery in remarkably good health. His recovery
is amazing and we were all pleased that he cheerfully joined us on a very pleasant
evening’s walk on Alney Island Nature Reserve. I had always wanted to stand on
the oldest single-span stone bridge in England - mission achieved. The meal
afterwards at ‘Greek on the Docks’ was a good get together and social occasion.

The ‘Down’ was the passing of our Club Member and Past President, Chris Gabb,
who had been a great support to the Club in so many ways. His Memorial Service
is recorded elsewhere. I always found Chris had time to chat and befriend old and
new members and my later association with him was our common interest in model
trains and the layout that he set up in the loft space of his garage. Sue was his
great support and a welcoming hostess. It was a privilege to make a public tribute
to Chria at the Sporting Dinner and a pleasure that he was able to attend that
occasion.

The Sporting Dinner was the first main event of my year and it was a most enjoyable
and successful event. Congratulations to Jeff and all concerned.

The ‘Up again’ was our very recent ‘Autumn Break’ in Chester which was well
supported with a coach full of members and others travelling by car. We were also
joined by Nick and Libby Rowles and by Paul and Ann Simons. More details of our
trip are to be found on page 27.

We had a very entertaining time with an excellent programme organised for us by
John Barnes who acted as Tour Manager, ably assisted by Gordon Wilde. My thanks
to them both for their efforts.

We have a varied programme to look forward to in the next three months, starting
with a talk by Steve Knibbs, the BBC TV presenter, followed by outings to RAF
Cosford and the Everyman Theatre, tenpin bowling, a selection of speakers and
culminating in our Christmas party on 18 December. I look forward to seeing as
many of you as possible at all of these events.

Mike

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Gill’s Jaunts

I should first of all like to congratulate Geraldine
for providing us with such an active and
interesting year. It is going to be difficult to keep
up the standard.

Looking through past Newsletters it was
interesting to find that the ladies did not start
contributing until 1997, in Tony and Pat
Jenkinson’s year, and have continued most years
since. I know that in 1987, when Mike was
President last time round, it was not a duty for
the President’s wife - but we did have to make a
speech at the Ball!

It is a few weeks since we had our planning
meeting and I was so pleased to welcome so many of you here with helpful
suggestions and volunteers to host meetings. We now have a programme which
will take us through until next Easter or so and from then on there are all sorts of
activities involving all the clubs.

My “Jaunts” commence on October 24th when we plan to visit Wobage Farm Craft
Workshops in Upton Bishop, where there is a gallery showing crafts by eight
makers, some of whom may be around to demonstrate their work. Afterwards we
can have lunch at “The Moody Cow” nearby. On November 19th Sue and David
Bruce have kindly agreed to give us a demonstration of Resuscitation and
Defibrillation at Myra Williams’ house. On Saturday, December 7th we are looking
forward to you visiting us for Christmas Drinks and a Buffet Lunch.

In the New Year Sylvia Odell is holding a Silent Auction on January 22nd, Millie
Barnes is having a supper at her house on February 12th and is performing again
on March 25th at Jill Colley’s with a talk on Nutrition. Obviously there will be a lot
more information about these events nearer the time.

As well as these jaunts you will realise that Jill has already organised the first round
of Ladies’ Lunches and I understand that more people than ever are taking part.
Pauline Sugdon is also arranging the Christmas afternoon tea. For the Sewing
Group, we shall be hearing from Lynda Hart in due course when we should start
oiling our sewing machines.

We have also been invited to two meetings with the men, both of which should be
very entertaining. On October 2nd Steve Knibbs, a local BBC reporter, is going to
tell us about his work in the area. He is often on the TV after the main BBC News.
In April we are having a visit from one of the Guides from Saltaire who, in costume,
will tell us about life in Saltaire in its heyday.

We greatly enjoyed the Club break in Chester and were very pleased that so many
could join us to explore this beautiful city and the surrounding countryside.

Gill

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Peter Badham

The History of Pharmacies

3 July 2019

P eter Badham runs the Badham’s
pharmacies with his wife, Linda, and
their son Charles. Peter’s father,
Richard, opened his first chemist’s shop
in 1940. The business has grown over
the years and Peter and his family now
operate twenty pharmacies in Bristol
and Gloucestershire. Pharmacy clearly runs in the Badham family: three of Peter’s
four brothers are pharmacists, as are both his children!

Peter gave us a wide-ranging talk but, unfortunately, there is only room here to
touch on a few of the many issues that he covered.

He started by asking what we thought was a simple question - who came up with
the original idea for the NHS and when? We all got it wrong – apparently the NHS
was the brainchild of a man called Lord Dawson in 1921 and it was intended to help
the injured troops from World War I. The plan was shelved because of the Great
Depression and was only revived after the Second World War.

Peter then showed us photographs of their original shop and explained how the
offer has changed over the years. In 1940 the shop window was loaded with jars
of medicine, appliances etc to show everyone the breadth of their stock. Today,
the reverse is the case: customers are encouraged inside to find out what is on
offer and to discuss their requirements with the staff. When the first shop opened
there was no NHS so Richard would undertake all sorts of minor operations as well
manufacturing and dispensing medicines. Peter highlighted how things have come
full circle – in the 1940s pharmacies were very proactive; they then evolved to
become medicine dispensing shops; but now they have become proactive again,
offering many services in addition to their core function.

These days they have an enormous range of things that they do: from dispensing
the morning-after pill, performing blood pressure checks, giving flu jabs, and
supervising the consumption of controlled drugs by addicts; to giving out condoms
in small plain envelopes. Curiously, Mr Markham pocketed the free samples
provided, fond memories no doubt! They also ambush retired GPs (and others) to
check they know what they are taking, why, when and how with any side effects
noted. This takes some workload off the overworked and underpaid GPs!

In 2018 Badham’s won the Pharmacy Innovator of the Year award for their work
on the flu vaccination programme for Gloucestershire County Council’s staff. The
award was presented to them at a celebratory lunch held at the House of Commons.

All in all, this was an excellent talk, well received by all.

Martin Odell

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Major Alex McDougall
My Life in the Army

10 July 2019

I t is not every Wednesday evening that
someone drives down from Pirbright to talk to
us, but that is indeed what happened tonight.

Alex McDougall, who also happens to be a
neighbour of mine in Harescombe, started ​ ​his
military career as an officer cadet at Sandhurst
and was commissioned into the Royal Welch
Fusiliers, which later merged with the Royal
Regiment of Wales to become the Royal Welsh.
He is now with the Welsh Guards and his company is currently doing a tour of
ceremonial duty at Buckingham Palace where he can be seen marching wearing
his bearskin and with a sword in his hand on a daily basis.

This is a much tougher task than we might have thought: it is a very long day
starting at 3:30 am when they gather their equipment before being transported to
the Palace in advance of the rush hour traffic. Rehearsals then follow so that all is
ready for the Changing of the Guard at 11:00 am. This is then followed by two-hour
turns of guard duty through to the next Change on the following day.

Alex’s life in the Army has been far from ceremonial for most of his service. During
his career he has served tours of duty in South Armagh, Basra, Afghanistan (twice)
and Iraq, among other places. Alex outlined a few of the complexities of modern
warfare in some of these theatres and then told us some interesting tales about
these experiences. He then moved on to expound on his current role of developing
leadership qualities in his company.

Leadership training starts with the basics by making sure that recruits understand
the Values and Standards of the British Army – which may not necessarily be how
they had been used to behaving in Civvy Street. The required Values are courage,
discipline, respect for others, integrity, loyalty and selfless commitment; and the
expected Standards, particularly for NCOs and Officers, are lawful and acceptable
behaviour at all times, together with professionalism. Alex made it clear that these
are full-time expectations, not just whilst on duty.

There followed a lively question time when Alex was bombarded with an array of
questions on a wide range of subjects which he answered with candour.

All in all we are grateful to know that we are defended by probably the best armed
forces in the world and after this talk we are somewhat the wiser as to why they
are the best.

Neil Normington

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Sporting Dinner

11 July 2019

W e were delighted to welcome over four hundred guests to this year’s Sporting Dinner
and to be entertained after the meal by our guest speakers; Maggie Alphonsi MBE,
a key member of the England Women’s Rugby team and a World Cup winner in 2014; and
James Haskell, the former England international back row who played 77 times for England
as well as making over 250 appearances at club level, 195 of them for Wasps.

Maggie and James were interviewed by our MC, David Kurk. David is a former Premiership
match official and his knowledge of rugby added greatly to the conversations.

Maggie was first up and started by telling us about her early days in South London. She
was a bit of a tearaway as a child, but had always loved all sports. Her PE teacher introduced
her to rugby which she took up enthusiastically, using it as a means of channelling her
aggression. She believes that the game saved her from going off the rails. Eventually she
joined Saracens WRFC, for whom she played as a flanker for the whole of her career.

She was first called up to the England squad at the age of 19 and managed to score a try
on her debut. She went on to represent her country 74 times, scoring 28 tries and was part
of the team that won the Women’s Six Nations Championship on seven consecutive
occasions. Not for nothing was she given the soubriquet “Maggie the Machine”!

The culmination of her career was participating in – and winning – the World Cup in 2014.
The England team was in a group with Samoa, Spain and Canada. They beat both the
Samoans and the Spaniards but could only manage to draw 13-all with the Canadians.
However, this unexpected result had a silver lining – the arcane mathematics of the
qualification process meant that the New Zealanders now failed to qualify for the knockout
stages!

We learnt a lot about the training and motivation that resulted in the team reaching the
final where they were to play Canada – again!

By then the team members were cutting themselves off from the world to focus on the
match and Maggie said that they were no longer looking at their emails or any social media.
It was not until they turned their phones back on afterwards and the floods of messages,
tweets, emails etc poured in, that they had any sense of the following and excitement their
victory had created back home. They returned to a victory parade, television coverage and
were the BBC Sports Team of the year.

Maggie retired shortly after the World Cup and has forged a successful new career in the
media as a commentator and newspaper columnist.

This was a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at women’s rugby’s growth from a game
played in the park in front of a couple of spectators and a dog, to a major sport attracting
broad coverage and ever-increasing crowds.

James Haskell then took the stage and my first impression was how big the man is! Not
overly tall for a rugby player – a mere 6’4” – but broad and imposing. James started at
Wasps in 2002 and first told us about Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards: the former very
professional and the latter – simply terrifying to a young player beginning his professional
career! His hero at the time was the Shed’s favourite villain – Lawrence Dallaglio – and
James regaled us with some stories about him. This led him on to teasing us about the
barracking that Wasps used to received from the Shed - always the same but always funny.

-6-

He did feel that he was very lucky to have been a part of the Wasps setup and, consequently,
to have been in a team that won two Heineken Cups and two Premiership titles. However,
at the age of 24, having failed to agree a new contract with the club, he decided to move
on and joined Stade Français.
At that time Stade were owned by the very flamboyant Max Guazzini and he recounted
tales of match days where the team and supporters were all clad in bright pink shirts and
the pre-match entertainment could include elephants spray-painted pink, tigers on chains,
live music and very scantily clad Moulin Rouge girls. I think that we are perhaps missing a
trick or two at Kingsholm!
We learnt about the Dieux de Stade calendar, produced annually by the club and containing
artistic photographs of naked and semi-naked rugby players. James’ stories of the time
that he was asked to pose for the front cover were hilarious, if, unfortunately, too risqué
to repeat!
After a couple of years in Paris, James wanted to find new challenges and moved to Japan
and then on to New Zealand for a couple of seasons before returning to Wasps for a further
five-year stint. He played for Northampton last year before finally announcing his
retirement a couple of months ago.
Both James and Maggie were very entertaining and gave us a valuable insight into the world
of professional rugby. We thank both them and David for joining us.
This was our 19th Dinner and, prior to tonight, the event has raised more than £215,000
for cancer-related charities. The generosity of our guests and our sponsors will ensure that
there will be a further substantial contribution this year and we thank them all for their
support.
The Sporting Dinner was the brainchild of our friend, colleague and Past President, the late
Chris Gabb, who not only organised the first one but also underwrote the cost of it to ensure
it went ahead. Its continuing success is a fitting tribute to his memory.

More photographs overleaf
-7-

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-9-

David Lees

Jerusalem - Whose City?

17 July 2019

David Lees gave a fascinating and erudite talk
on the history of Jerusalem spanning more
than 5000 years. His ability to pull out key
events and weave them into an interesting
timeline was notable; it would have been easy
for this to have been a dry topic but David
ensured that it definitely kept all the members
focussed.

Archaeological evidence suggested that the city was founded near the Gihon

Spring; water was essential for early settlements and the Canaanites built walls to

protect this precious commodity in the 17th century BC. This was followed by King

David’s sack of the city in 1000 BC and many years later King Solomon built the

Temple of Solomon as well as other important structures. A split of the lands

followed and Jerusalem became

the capital of the Kingdom of

Judah, while Shechem became

the capital of the Kingdom of

Israel. Political instability was

rife in the region and Jerusalem

was subsequently sacked or

occupied by Babylonians, the

Greek Empire and the Roman

Empire amongst others. The

Romans held sway from about

63 BC until 324 AD. The Dome on the Rock

In the Middle Ages, the hadith asserted that Muhammad ascended to heaven in
the Night Journey and the city was one of the Arab Caliphate’s first conquests. The
Dome of the Rock was built at the site of his ascent and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was
also built in Jerusalem. After a period of religious tolerance, the Caliphate entered
a period of decline and the Crusader period followed before Jerusalem was
recaptured by Saladin in 1187. The Mamluks then took over the city for 3 - 400
years before it came part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 19th
centuries and enjoyed a period of renewal and peace under Suleiman the
Magnificent when the Dome of the Rock was restored.

- 10 -

Inevitably, that Empire also declined
and the city had a heterogeneous
make-up of Jewish, Christian, Muslim
and Armenian populations because of
its significance to Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. The communities were
located around their primary shrines
and these formed the basis of the four
quarters at the time of the British
Mandate from 1917 – 48.

Inside the Dome on the Rock The decline of the Ottoman Empire had
led the European Colonial powers to try

and establish footholds in a historically significant city. However, there was

increasing tension between the Arab and Jewish communities as well as

resentment of the British with increasing violence; including the blowing up of the

King David Hotel in 1946 by a Zionist group which lead to the death of 91 civilians.

In 1947, the UN General Assembly approved a plan to divide the British Mandate

of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states; the city was ultimately divided between

Jordan and Israel from 1948 – 67. However, the Arab area of the city was captured

by Israeli Defence Forces in the 1967 Six-Day War.

At the end of the The Al-Aqsa Mosque
meeting, we were all
better informed and
had greater insight into
the complex issues
surrounding the city of
Jerusalem. It is a unique
city with fundamental
importance to five main
monotheistic religions:
Christianity, Judaism,
Islam, Baha'i and Druze.

David probably summed it up well by concluding with the statistic that Jerusalem
has been captured 44 times, attacked 52 times, besieged 23 times and destroyed
twice. There was no easy answer to his question ‘Jerusalem – Whose City’.

David Bruce

Our cover photo is of President Mike with our Sporting Dinner speakers
L to R: James Haskell, Mike Till, Maggie Alphonsi and David Kurk

- 11 -

As is the tradition, the winner of the last
Championship organises the next year’s; and
so it was that (President elect) Jeff Dawson
was doing the honours.

Again, the event was held at Gloucester
Golf Club and it was a warm and sunny
afternoon, perfect conditions for playing
golf.

Fifteen members took part, the first group
teeing off at one o’clock. The course was in
good condition, albeit a little dry and
parched in places; and the bunkers were
quite hard sand, but with masses of run on
the ball, it was there for the taking!

Following the competition, we
assembled in the bar and enjoyed a very
good two-course meal. Well done to Jeff
for organising a great afternoon of golf
and getting the weather right!

The results were surprising! Colin (who
was in my group with Bob) only hit two
decent tee shots all afternoon!
However, with his superb short game, he
came in with 38 points – we thought this
would be enough to win. But no - second
place went to Gordon, who had not hit a
golf ball in anger for 12 months. He
also came in with 38 Points, but with a
better back nine! How does he do it? The handicap committee must be

convened I feel!

The winner however, defending his title, was
Jeff, with 40 Points! I don’t recall any other
player defending his title in this Club’s
championship, but I may be wrong. Anyhow,
it was well deserved, so congratulations to
Jeff.

A great afternoon, great weather,
and some good scores followed by
a fabulous meal.

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Peter Petrie

Whisper of Eternity

24 July 2019

T he subject of Peter’s talk was Edith Cavell
and he gave us a very eloquent and
fascinating insight into the life, achievements
and the ensuing fame of this quiet but
dedicated, determined and heroic nurse.

Edith Cavell (rhymes with travel!), the
daughter of a vicar, was born near Norwich in
1865 and executed by the Germans in October
1915 in Brussels.

After time spent as a governess, partly with a
family in Brussels and other roles, she entered nursing training in London at the
age of 30. She developed skills and enthusiasm in the management and teaching
of nurses and, interestingly, was impressed by the quality of nursing and the
training of nurses in Germany.

In 1905 the opportunity came to join a
Surgeon, Dr Depage, at his Institute in Brussels,
where he was making efforts to reduce the
risks of infection with surgery and had set up a
training school for nurses. At the onset of war
in 1914, Mme Depage was on a fund raising trip
in America, but her urgent return home was
thwarted as she sadly chose to travel on the
Lusitania.

With Belgium invaded many allied troops found
themselves isolated and lost, mainly in the
forests around Mons. These soldiers turned to
the local population for help and safe houses
were set up to complete an escape route across Belgium to neutral Holland. Edith
became involved and had participated in the repatriation of around 200 allied
soldiers by 1915. Unfortunately the escape route was infiltrated and 35 of the
organizers were arrested, including Edith. Edith had been taught always to be
truthful, so admitted her activities to the Germans, who were ruling Belgium by
creating a climate of fear with threats of reprisal. The death penalty was in place
for sheltering or helping allied soldiers and no exception was to be made for Edith.

She was executed by a firing squad on 12 October 1915 despite the glare of
publicity and multiple protests from around the world.

Continued overleaf

- 13 -

Whisper of Eternity - continued

Edith became a cause célèbre and the news of her execution was spread widely in
Britain and America as an example of the cruelty and injustice of the Germans.

Posters depicting her execution were said to
have doubled recruitment for the British army.
Her body was repatriated after the war and
there was a grand state funeral in Westminster
Abbey before she was reinterred in her home
city of Norwich.

Peter speculated that the publicity of Edith
Cavell’s execution coupled with the sinking of
the Lusitania and the burning of the town of
Louvain may have influenced the American view
of German behaviour and contributed to their
decision to join the Allies, although the final
trigger was probably the U-boat activity off the
American shores.

Nonetheless, Edith Cavell was clearly a real
heroine of a very modest and honest nature
who achieved real progress in the nursing world. At her last communion she
stated ‘Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred towards anyone’

An inspiring tale well told and I am pleased to relate that Peter takes no fee but
talks in return for a donation to CLIC Sargent.

Bob Paterson

The Severn Trows

Boules is a very simple game
played on grotty gravelly pistes in which luck
is the major factor. Well so say I as the
organiser of the Severn Trows, Gloucester
Severn’s premier team. Hence we were
unfortunate to lose our first two games despite excellent
bouling. I have to thank our team, at times depleted, for
turning out and giving of their best.

Particular thanks to Paul Rosewell, our previous organiser over some
years, for even winning quite a few matches and running the very successful
Trows

The evenings are enjoyable and convivial with mostly friendly fellow Rotarians
and if any of you are interested in a game, the Trows are very happy to
increase their pool of players - skill irrelevant!

Bob Paterson

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Alney Island Walk

31 July 2019

It was a warm and breezy evening when twenty-eight
of us set off from the North Warehouse for a
stroll around Alney Island. Most of us had little
or no knowledge of the area and
were surprised by the extent
of the woodland and, apart
from the sound of traffic, we
could have been a long way
from any civilisation.

At the furthest point, we paused on
Telford’s bridge to admire the view.
The return section seemed to take
less time, as the distant smells of food and the thought of cold beer gave us an
incentive.

We arrived at Greek on the Docks on time, exactly as predicted by JR. The
restaurant was busy – made more so by a very long table being set aside for our
group. We were able to choose from the menu and the waiter coped well with
all of our choices. I did notice that there was no bouzouki music in the
background, but that was probably a good thing! Many thanks to JR for organising
this successful event.

Derek Thomas

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Chris Gabb

1949 - 2019

I t was with great sadness that we learned that
Chris had finally lost his long battle with
mesothelioma on 19th July and our thoughts are
with Sue, their children and the rest of the Gabb
family.

Chris joined our Club in 1983, soon after it was
chartered, and immediately threw himself into
making it a success. At the time he was our
youngest member and in the early years was
involved in organising our social events and
speakers. By 1992 he was chairing the Sports and
Social committee before moving on in 1995 to
become a member of the Boxing Evening
committee.

Chris became our 17th President in 1999 and guided us into the millennium year.
As with everything that Chris turned his hand to, his year in office was a great success.

All of this is a picture of a very committed and successful Rotarian: however, there
is much more to Chris’ story. Early in 2001 Chris was on a skiing holiday with Jeff
Roberts, among others. Late one evening, after a few drinks, their conversation
turned to organising a charity dinner with a sporting theme to raise funds for cancer
charities. Surprisingly, they both remembered the chat the next morning and, in the
cold light of day, still thought that it was a good idea! When they got back they
approached King’s School about using the marquee that they put up every year to
accommodate their prize-giving and end-of-year celebrations and, much to their
delight, it was agreed that we could use it on the Thursday night. The idea was rapidly
put to the Club and, when some concerns were raised about the financial risk of an
untried event, Chris dealt with it in his typical direct fashion. “Don’t worry”, he said,
“I will underwrite the costs so there is no question of making a loss”! Needless to
say, with Chris and Jeff at the helm and Will Carling and Dame Mary Peters as the
speakers, the evening was a great success and, to date, our Sporting Dinner has raised
over £250,000 for charity.

The highest accolade that Rotary can give to someone who makes a special
contribution to the organisation and to the community is the Paul Harris Fellowship
and we were delighted to be able to present Chris with his Fellowship in 2010.

A memorial service to celebrate Chris’ life was held at Gloucester Cathedral at the
end of August. The service was conducted by the Very Revd Stephen Lake, Dean of
Gloucester, with contributions from members of the Gabb family, Jeff Roberts, and
the Choir of St Thomas Medina of Seattle, who are presently in residence.

The Cathedral was packed with more than 800 people: family, friends, Rotarians,
business colleagues and many others. Some had travelled long distances and others
had broken their holidays to commemorate the life of a good friend and a
businessman known for his straightforward dealings with both his staff and clients.

- 16 -

After an opening address by the Dean, a hymn and a reading by members of the
family, Chris’ daughter, Niki, told us a bit about her father and his life.

We learned that Chris married Sue in 1969 and that they set up their first home in a
rented one-bedroom flat. To help make ends meet, as well as his day job Chris took
an evening post at Gloucester Tech, teaching maths to the carpentry apprentices.
Sue also returned to work and together they saved enough to buy their first house.
In 1971 Chris made a life-changing decision when he decided to join Barnwood
Joinery - a brave move as it initially meant a drop in his pay. However, with the
mentorship of Bert Davies, one of the founder directors, his career blossomed.

Niki told us about Chris’ involvement with Dinglewell School as a member of the
PTA - including building a temporary skittle alley for the school fete, apparently a
magnificent structure complete with balls and pins borrowed from Walls Social Club.
The family were greatly relieved when this was delivered on time as he did have a
reputation at home for starting but not finishing his DIY projects!

The harder Chris worked the stronger his bond with Sue became and they were forged
into an inseparable team. Chris continued to advance his career at Barnwood,
eventually becoming the Group Managing Director, a position that he held until he
retired in 2014.

Jeff, in his tribute, told us how Chris never allowed time or distance to get in the way
of where he wanted to be or what he wanted to do. He once took Sue away for a
long weekend to see their daughter – in Australia!

He told us about Chris’ loyalty to his employees and cited the time that he was invited
to a meeting in London with one of Barnwood Shopfitting’s competitors. At that
meeting he was offered many millions of pounds for the company – not the group,
just the shopfitting subsidiary! As the major shareholder he stood to receive a huge
sum of money. For most people it would have been very easy – say yes! However,
for Chris it was an easy NO. Shopfitting was his baby and he knew that selling it would
have resulted in the loss of the jobs of many of the people who had worked alongside
him to make it a success.

Jeff felt that this story summed up the essence of a man who sought neither celebrity
nor reward but preferred to operate under the radar to do the right thing.

Jeff told us that, despite his illness, Chris was determined that he would celebrate
his seventieth birthday and also his fiftieth wedding anniversary that preceded it by
a couple of months. Around that time, he was going through a very bad patch, but
there was not a moment’s doubt that he would be there, with his family and close
friends, to celebrate both of those events.

After the service the majority of the congregation retired to the Chapter House for
refreshments and to share our memories of a remarkable man who will be much
missed.

Editor’s note: when creating this article I have had to abridge both Niki’s and Jeff’s tributes considerably because
of space constraints. The full text of both can be viewed on the Club website for a period, together with a
tribute by Richard Graham MP.

- 17 -

Council Lunch

Council met at Bowden Hall on Sunday, 18th August for their annual lunch. After
preliminary drinks in the bar we were ushered upstairs to the Ambassador Suite
where we enjoyed a very nice meal whilst seated around a single large table. The
conversation was lively and the world was put to rights - without, thankfully, lengthy
discussion of Rotary matters!
Our thanks to Mike and Gill for their generosity and for organising the afternoon.

- 18 -

Simon Owen

An Apple a Day

7 August 2019

I n Simon’s own words, this was an insight
into his first 44 years - the highs, the lows,
and the challenges. Oh, and just for those
that didn’t know - he might also have
mentioned his love for anything Apple and
his propensity for being an early adopter of
all of their products - indeed he brought
some early machines along to show us. Simon used the changes in the firm’s share
price over the years to punctuate his vocational.

Simon was born in Cardiff on 7th January 1975 to proud parents Neil and Penny. At
this point in time the computer world was coming to terms with BASIC programming
language and Status Quo was rocking the top of the charts with Down Down. It was
only one year later that Messrs Jobs and Wozniak founded a company from a garage
and sowed the (Apple) seed that would feature throughout Simon’s future years.

Two years later and Simon had a little brother Jeremy to contend with. Like all those
with younger siblings the early years were a battle, but, like a good wine, their
relationship matured and they are now best friends and confidants.

In 1980 Neil got a new job and the family moved to Gloucester. Simon started at
Upton St Leonards Primary School and soon found himself in a successful school cross
country team, and even had a spell in the school orchestra.

Then it happened: he got his first computer, a Sinclair ZX81 - even his school report at
the time said his talent and knowledge of computing should be encouraged.

1984 - Apple launched the Macintosh. Apple’s share price was then $0.44.

The Crypt years, from 1986 to 1992, were not apparently the best years, but during
that time he did attend his first gig at Gloucester Leisure Centre; and he did meet Lou
for the first time. By 1992 Apple’s price had risen to $2.12.

After leaving Crypt, Simon spent a couple of years at GLOSCAT before gaining a place
at Loughborough to study for a HND in Graphic Design. And where did the student
loan go? Yes: it bought Simon’s first Apple Macbook.

Simon graduated in 1996 and was back at home and in need of employment. He
managed to get a job with PIP Printing in Gloucester. By 1999 Apple’s share price has
increased to $3.57.

There were a couple of ups and downs in the business and, before he knew it, the
Gloucester shop closed and the firm was only trading out of Hereford. However, Simon
was invited to buy into the partnership – which he did.

2001 - Apple introduces the world to the iPod.

2005 and Simon is finally a partner in the business and has also developed a taste for
Gloucester Rugby Club (the start of some enjoyable away trips to foreign shores).

Continued on page 23

- 19 -

Chris Evans

The Butterfly Garden

14 August 2019

C hris Evans is a committed and
exceptionally keen gardener with an
enthusiasm for life which is probably

unique. Dundry Nurseries is in Bamfurlong

Lane and was started by his grandfather in

1947. This man had a strong forceful

character, had flown Sopwith Camels, the

President Mike presents our donation to Chris First World War fighter, for the Royal Air
Force and rose to the rank of Squadron

Leader in World War ll. Granddad had a strong impact on Chris.

The family moved from his father’s greengrocer’s shop to the nursery when Chris was nine
and he thought he was in heaven, what with the seed sowing etc. He went to study for a
horticultural degree - but hated the course and left after six weeks. He came back, started
working in the nursery and has never left! As far as Chris is concerned life is an adventure
with plants, he started experimenting by growing sixty-five varieties of lettuce before
moving on to cultivate a fair number of the 10,000 types of tomato and the 7,500 varieties
of potato!

He was very happy, not feeling the need for holidays. Every The Wagner Blue tomato
day is different! He still lives at the nursery, but last year was
hijacked by his two daughters and wife for a holiday in the
town of Annecy in France. After a few days of boredom he
rediscovered happiness when he found the municipal
vegetable plot. Chris summoned up his best French and tried
to quiz a woman who was on the plot about the varieties,
particularly the Wagner Blue tomatoes he now grows. After
several attempts and having received no reply, Chris took a
step forward and the woman scarpered with the haul of
vegetables that she had been in the process of stealing!

Seventeen years ago someone brought half-a-dozen autistic children into the nursery and
Chris was asked if he could spare a little time to tell them something about gardening, as
they were going to start a garden at school. Chris felt unable to say NO, as it is not in his
nature, and said they could come each week to learn more if they wanted to. Word got
around and more children turned up and he still didn’t say ‘no’. Before he knew where he
was this had become a ‘special needs gardening project’ for twenty-one autistic,
physically/mentally disabled children!

More requests flooded in and grown men wanted to join in. Chris still could not say no, so
the project grew to 250 participants a week! Radio Gloucestershire got involved and
through the publicity he started receiving offers of support. Chris found jobs that everyone
could do - recycling flower pots, beer cans, cardboard etc; and then he handed over his
potting shed which was converted into a carpentry shop and woodworking classes were
held there. There was now another 100+ involved in crafts, painting classes, keep fit and
other activities. As a result, more space was needed and he decided to build a larger shed;
plus, importantly, a toilet block .

All of these works were going to cost £120,000, but word got around and donations large
and small came in to pay for them.

- 20 -

The project had by now become the Butterfly Garden Charity and it needed still more space.
Luckily Chris had a couple of spare acres at the back of the nursery, which is where the
charity is now based with its wild flower garden and vegetable plots. It has continued to
grow and there is now more than £500,000 of dedicated buildings including a new £60,000
teaching kitchen that also serves more than seventy lunches daily, five days a week. It is
open to all in need. All the participants are disabled except for the volunteer helpers.

This man’s ingenuity knows no bounds, and he was awarded The British Empire Medal in
recognition. No mean feat! We are so lucky to have all this just outside Gloucester and
the gifted eccentric Chris.

We were pleased to support the charity with a donation which we presented to Chris at
the end of an excellent evening, with most of us spellbound throughout.

Chris has our congratulations - keep up the good work.

Peter Burton

Richard Sugdon recently went on a cruise
on the River Douro and, in between
sampling the local ruby, tawny and
colheita, he and Pauline got into
conversation with some fellow Rotarians
on the ship, including a couple from the
Rotary Club of Arden in North Carolina.

They gave Richard one of their Club’s
banners which he, in turn, presented to
President Mike.

Banner exchanging has fallen somewhat
out of fashion in recent years, but Adrian
still has our dwindling stock of them, so
Richard will be able to fulfil his promise
to send one to his new American friends.

Defibrillator Familiarisation Course

On 25 July, ten Club members, plus three of the staff from Bowden Hall, attended a
course at the hotel to ensure that we all understood how to use our newly-purchased
defibrillator if we ever had to do so.

David Collins from the suppliers, Cardiac Research, first explained the difference between
a heart attack and a cardiac arrest – broadly the patient will be conscious when suffering
from the former and the equipment will not help; however, should he/she lose
consciousness the possibility of an arrest is greatly increased and the defibrillator should
be deployed in conjunction with CPR.

David then told us a bit about the machine and how it works. The process is fully
automatic from the outset and talks the user through the procedure, telling them how
to use CPR and how to attach the electrodes. It then analyses the heartbeat to determine
whether or not an electric shock is appropriate, gives one if necessary and then repeats
through as many cycles as may be needed. It is intelligent enough to adapt its
instructions to the speed of the operator and senses when each stage of the process is
completed.

I was greatly reassured that we had bought the right bit of kit and we all felt much more
confident that we could step in should we be called upon to do so. An hour well spent.

- 21 -

Bill Affleck

Vergeltunswaffen
Retaliation or V Bombs?

21 August 2019

The theme for Bill's talk differed vastly from
our usual cheerful after supper speeches in
that for the first time it related to the Second
World War. Possibly appropriate in a year of
remembrance.

Bill hails from Nailsea where he is a member of
Probus. He gave us a statistical perspective of
the relative effectiveness of V2 ballistic rockets
compared with V1 flying bombs. As the war drew to its close both were fired at
England and other allied targets.

Initially, the V1 missiles were fired from fixed sites in the Pas de Calais area and
targeted on London. Fortunately, with the aid of the French Resistance, the
sites were identified and eliminated by heavy bombing raids. The Germans
then resorted to mobile sites which were much harder to find. However,
Spitfire Squadrons, with faster speeds, were proving very effective in
airborne interceptions,

Despite a high failure rate of these weapons the effect on the population of
London was shocking. A significant evacuation was essential as some 1,700
had been killed.

The worst was yet to come. As the battle to eliminate the V1 missiles was
being won, so the V2 Ballistic Rocket was introduced. It was fired from
mobile sites into the fringes of space at above the speed of sound, and
guided to its target without detection. No matter how stoical the
population it was one heck of a shock. More evacuations took place from
London and some continental ports and cities.

Fortunately, the Allied Invasion of Europe came in time to overrun all of the
V1 and V2 sites. Their effectiveness may be judged from the following
statistics:

V1 V2

Fired on London 9,251 1,115

Hit London 2,515 Most of them

Killed 6,184 2,754

Injured 17,981 6,523

Roger Atkinson V2 Rocket

- 22 -

Peter Covey-Crump

A Naval Officer’s Diary
China Station

4 September 2019

Peter is a retired civil servant, originally from
Plymouth but who now lives in Cheltenham.
He inherited a considerable amount of family
documentation and memorabilia and now
spends his time putting together accounts of
historic events by extracting information from
this archive.

Peter presented to club what was basically a
diary written by his Grandfather; who completed
a tour of duty as a naval captain during the years 1929 - 1931 visiting China, Japan
and Borneo during the course of it.

The presentation was full of facts and very detailed. Not only were we told what day
each event took place, but also to the exact minute.

There was so much detail that it is impossible for me to re-quote any of it. But it was
clear from the diaries that Peter's grandfather, who was about 40 years old at the
time, very much enjoyed his two years in that part of the world. And I think that
many of us would have also enjoyed it given the opportunity.

The facts from the diary were backed up by a very impressive array of photographs
which helped bring the presentation to life.

Clearly Peter has spent a considerable amount of time putting his talk together and
he has many more of them.

John Roderick

An Apple a Day - continued from page 19

2007 - the launch of the iPhone. Apple’s share price - $19.31. 2011 - Steve Jobs
passes away after being diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour back in 2003. By then,
Apple’s share price is $54.43.

2016 - Lou and Simon renew their relationship after being ‘just friends’ for a number
of years.

Today, the printing industry continues to move at a pace and PIP will soon be
rebranding as Nettl.

And the Apple share price in 2019 - $202.64!

If anyone has some spare plutonium please could you send it my way - I can then
buy me a DeLorean, head back to 1984 and buy some Apple shares!

Thanks Simon for the vocational and we welcome you to the world of Rotary with
Gloucester Severn.

Nick Bishop

- 23 -

David Bruce and Mike Till

A Little Controversy

11 September 2019

A small but elite group of members
congregated for our usual
camaraderie over a meal before the

“unofficial business” commenced – an

imagined meeting in Malta in 1909

“Dr Walter Hadwen” and “Sir David Bruce” between Major General Sir David Bruce
debate the causes of disease
(portrayed by his namesake, our Assistant

Secretary) and Dr Walter Hadwen, a Gloucester GP (played by Mike Till).

Hadwen was a man of strong convictions, being both an anti-vaccinationist and an
anti-vivisectionist. It seems that he may not to have been the most open-minded
person: he once wrote: “My success in life has depended entirely upon following my
own counsels and never paying the slightest attention to what anyone said if their
views were contrary to my own”!

Hadwen had sailed to Malta to investigate, on behalf of the British Union against
Vivisection, the problem of a disease called Malta Fever that was rife on the island. His
debate with Bruce focused on whether or not a germ in unpasteurised goats’ milk,
consumed in some quantity by the inhabitants, carried the infection and the possible
mistreatment of goats during the investigative process.

The protagonists discussed the contrasting beliefs of the historic Miasma Theory for
disease, dating back to the time of Galen in the 1st century AD and espoused by
Hadwen, maintaining that “bad air” resulting from rotting organic matter was the cause;
and the modern, developing and self-explanatory Germ Theory, based on the more
recent scientific research of Pasteur, Snow, Koch and others and supported by Bruce.

Bruce was adamant that Malta Fever was due to a germ that he had found in victims
of the illness in line with developing research on the causes of diseases. However,
Hadwen did not believe in Germ Theory and felt it more important to improve living
conditions, reduce overcrowding and provide clean drinking water and adequate
sewerage disposal. The Army units were enjoying better health in new facilities and
housing on the island, while the Royal Navy remained living in poor conditions around
the harbour and infection persisted in their population.

Bruce claimed he had discovered the link between the consumption of raw goats’ milk
and Malta Fever, but, in fact, another pathologist in Malta, the magnificently named
Themistocles Zammit, had made the discovery before him. Bruce initially discredited
this research by casting doubts on Zammit’s technical abilities only to change his tune
and take all the credit once he learned that tests had yielded positive results. The truth
did come out later, but the Fever had been christened “Brucellosis” by then.

The entertaining chat concluded with a little local history on the sites of Gloucester’s
isolation hospitals and then questions and several contributions from the listeners.

An enthralled audience gave a prolonged ovation (20 seconds – Ed) and an impromptu
Vote of Thanks was given by Neil Normington!!

David and Mike

- 24 -

The Archer and his Longbow

Ian Shapter

18 September 2019

This evening we were treated to a profile of one
of the most influential military figures of the
medieval period (the Hundred Years War) - the
English Bowman. We were told of his origins, his
training, his equipment and his place in the army of
his day.

He was every male in the country who was able to
‘pull’ a bow. He had to practice by law every Sunday
and Saint’s (Bank Holiday) Day in the afternoon
after Church. When he was able to hit a squirrel
(red there were no grey), he would then train to become an Archer. To become an
Archer he would have to hit the centre of a target ten times out of twelve and must
have at least three arrows in the air at the same time. His name would then be put on
the ‘register’ held by the Sheriff of the County.

When called to war they would meet in each County at a central point – in
Gloucestershire it was Lechlade. They had to supply their own equipment, which cost
twelve shillings and they would be paid three pence a day.

Their bows were made from yew and the arrows from ash. Crossbows were used but
cost considerably more than a longbow and their rate of fire, being considerably less
made them inferior and less effective in battle.

In battle an archer would carry between 50 and 100 arrows, a weight of about 6 lbs
and would be able to shoot a minimum of ten arrows a minute over a minimum distance
of 240 yards. The ‘weight’ of the bow is the power needed to draw the bow and these
bows would have been a minimum of 70 lb. Theoretically, at Crecy 500 archers could
have released 7,500 arrows at the French knights in just 90 seconds as they charged
at the English lines.

The arrowheads used would not have been the flat or broadhead type but bodkins of
various types that would have been developed to counter the increasingly heavy
armour of the knights. The French knights had two disadvantages firstly they thought
it beneath them to fight the ‘common archers’ and, secondly, the weight of their
armour once unhorsed

Once the knights were on the ground they were unable to defend themselves against
the archers who dispatched them with their thin daggers
by stabbing them through their visors.

I should write more to do Ian’s talk justice, but I will end
by adding that, in the light of bows found on the Mary
Rose, the estimates of the power and range of the English
longbow should be an increased bow weight of 80-120 lbs
and effective distances of up to 350 yards.

Richard Allison A selection of arrow heads

PS: further recommended reading: ‘LONGBOW’ by Robert Hardy.

- 25 -

Ashbury Golf Tour
9 - 12 September

Eleven Gloucester Severn Rotarians made their
annual pilgrimage to the Ashbury Golf Centre for
the 2019 tournament and were joined by Tony Tee
from Newent as a guest.
The drive down was very wet and miserable, but the
weather seemed to be OK when arriving at the car
park. However, as our tee time approached, the
weather deteriorated and most of the nine holes of
the first afternoon were extremely damp! Dripping kit spread around the bedrooms!
However, we were not too downhearted as the next morning dawned fair, if a little cool,
and we played 27 holes in comparatively good conditions - unlike Wednesday, which
was drizzle all morning, just enough to get all the kit fully wet again! Only three were
prepared to don soaking wet kit and go out to play the Willows on Wednesday afternoon!
More dripping kit in the bedrooms!
The final day did have a little ‘sea fret’ at the start but developed into a glorious day.
When we were not golfing or eating, the time was spent attempting to play snooker.
The final results announced by organiser Jeff on the Thursday were:
Par Baa Trophy – Bob P: Willows Trophy – Bob P: Kigbere Trophy – John Barnes
Overall winner of the Hippo Trophy – Dave Threlfall
Richard Colley (who didn’t win anything!)

- 26 -

Chester Away Break

15 – 17 September 2019

I t was early on Sunday morning that we
assembled at various points around the
city in readiness for collection by our bus,
which was to take us to the ancient
walled Roman city of Deva Victrix, or
Chester as it is now known. Our chariot,
ably driven by Dan, was prompt and we
were counted aboard by Tour Manager,
John Barnes for our journey to the Chester Abode Hotel, which was to be our base for
the next couple of days.

The Abode was very conveniently situated with an open view across the racecourse
and very near to the City Wall and the River Dee. Once established, we enjoyed a good
meal and fellowship before retiring in readiness for the next day’s entertainment.

John had arranged for Liz Roberts, an excellent City Guide,
to show us the city and she instructed Dan as we went on
an orientation tour of the city’s important historical sites.
We also visited Eccleston, a nearby village on the estate of
the Duke of Westminster. This was a delightful and pristine
village where we explored St Mary’s, the Grade 1 listed and
perfectly preserved Parish church built by the 1st Duke at
the end of the 19th century.

On our return to the City centre our guide took us on a short
walkabout to complete the morning in warm sunshine.

We then travelled a short distance to the Zoo, which I think
surprised everyone by its
open view of the animals in
their enclosures (not cages).
There was much to see with
good walking surfaces for those with walking difficulties,
plenty of places to rest and have a light lunch and the
sun shone again to entice the purchase of ice-cream.

Returning to the hotel we prepared for the evening Gala
dinner which, judging by the continuous chatter and
laughter, signalled the end of a perfect day.

The following morning we boarded a river boat and took
a two hour return trip on the Dee where we
experienced a different aspect of the City and nearby
countryside. Our return coach journey was uneventful
and we disembarked back home tired but well satisfied.
I would like to thank John Barnes again for organising
everything and Gordon Wilde for assisting him.

Mike Till More photographs overleaf

- 27 -

- 28 -

Offa to Offa

Clive Townsend

25 September 2019

I t’s always good when one of our own members
speaks to us and we were especially grateful to
Clive for doing so this evening, fighting off a high
temperature and a general malaise to do so.

Clive was to tell us about two kings, Offa of Mercia
(he of the Dyke fame) and Offa the Angel, a Danish
King from whom the Mercian kings claimed descent.

Clive started by telling us the general characteristics
(hair and eye colour, blood groups etc.) that had led
him to conclude that he had Anglo-Saxon ancestry
and that, because his family had lived in the Mercian area for as far back as he could
trace, his ancestors would have been members of the Stoppingas tribe and would have
been ruled by Offa. This had piqued his interest and prompted him to research the King.

The Mercian Offa ruled from 757 to 796 AD and is principally remembered for
constructing the eponymous Dyke between the Mercian and Welsh kingdoms. This
enormous earthwork is some 176 miles long, 65 feet wide and over 8 feet high. Clive
felt that it was as much a statement of power as a defensive structure, laying down a
boundary that the Welsh crossed at their peril. Offa’s other great claim to fame was
that he introduced one of the first stable coinages, with each of the silver pennies being
of a fixed weight of 1/240th of a Mercian pound, which weighed 12 oz. The current
value of 12 oz of silver is about £200 and Clive used this to highlight the price of a life
under the laws that Offa introduced.

These were some of the first written laws in the country and were based upon the
Germanic wergild or “man payment” system. In an age of tribal feuds and no prisons,
this fixed the compensation to be paid to a murdered man’s family by the guilty parties.
The price for an ordinary free man was 200 shillings – worth about £2,000 in current
values, a thane (landowner) was worth £12,000 and a king was valued at £72,000.

Offa was a descendant of Icel, the first King of Mercia who, in turn, maintained that he
was the great-grandson of Offa the Angel, a legendary king of the Angles who is thought
to have flourished in Northern Europe in the 4th Century.

Offa the Angel was the son of King Wermund and, because he didn’t speak in his early
years, was wrongly believed to be a simpleton. As Wermund aged he lost his eyesight
and the surrounding Saxon tribes thought that he would be too weak to resist demands
to relinquish his kingdom. Wermund responded to the taunts by challenging the Saxon
king to a duel, who replied that he would not fight a blind man. Offa suddenly regained
his speech and challenged the Prince of the Saxons as well as his champion to a duel.
In the subsequent fight Offa killed them both and took over the Saxon kingdom instead.

This was an interesting talk on a subject not known to many of us. Thank you Clive for
leaving your sickbed to entertain us.

John Bowman

- 29 -

All Our Yesterdays

This is the 164th issue of our magazine and
I am pleased to say that a copy of it and of
the previous 163 editions is now available in
digital form for everyone to look at if they want
to. I did write to you all with a link to access
the archive, but please contact me if you need
it sent to you again.

Before I go any further I want to pay tribute to
Roger Atkinson and Michael Holyoake. These
two had diligently kept copies of all the
magazines and, between them, we were able
to make up a full set. The Club owes these two
gentlemen a considerable debt of gratitude for
their diligence.

This project had its beginnings back in 2014

when I thought that it might be a good idea to

scan all our old magazines so that we had a

The front page of the first issue permanent record if the originals deteriorated
or somehow got lost. Unfortunately, I had to

abandon it after a few weeks as I became very busy on a contract and only copied a

few early issues before I gave up.

Fast-forward to 2019 and Mike Till told me that he had borrowed a load of old
magazines from Roger and Michael to look something up and, as I have a bit more time
available now, I decided to revive the project. So, I’ve spent some time sat at my home
scanner until I finally completed the exercise about a month ago.

I thought that I’d share a very brief history of our magazine. I am not going to talk
about the content – that’s all online for you to look at and I haven’t read most of it
myself yet anyway! Instead I thought I’d share a few observations about the evolution
of News and Views from its inception to the present day.

Initially the Newsletter, as it was originally called, was produced as photocopied A4
sheets. The first issue was produced in June 1983, just after the Club had been
chartered. The first editor was Paul Rosewell.

Paul stood down in June 1985 and handed over his editorial duties to John Markwell,
who produced the next five issues before Alan Williams took the reins in June 1986.

Alan won the award for the best newsletter in District the following year and continued
as editor until June 1988.

Peter Woolmer came next, but only served for a year before passing the baton on to
Rod Williams. During Rod’s editorship, Richard Colley was appointed as “Club Reporter”
and began a six-year stint during which he wrote most of the meeting reports. Rod
produced sixteen issues until, in June 1992, Michael Holyoake took over.

- 30 -

Until then, the newsletter had retained its original A4 layout. Michael’s first action
was to revamp it and in August 1992 he produced the first issue in the A5 booklet
format that continues to this day. By now we had entered the digital age – Michael
had bought a desktop publishing programme and its options and flexibility meant that
he was able to change and improve the magazine’s overall appearance.

Chris Brent-Smith took over responsibility in June 1995 and, initially, continued with
the black and white format.

By June 1996 members were beginning to write the meeting reports as a part of their
Vote of Thanks duties and, in June 1997, Richard was finally able to stand down as
Reporter after six years’ sterling service.

You will see when you look at the earlier newsletters that monochrome photocopies
of the photographs had never produced a very satisfactory result, particularly in the
early days with the basic technology that was then available; so, two years into Chris’
editorship, he produced the landmark July 1997 issue - introducing colour for the first
time! Originally, Chris printed the magazine at home; but, in June 1999, Chris Gabb
kindly arranged for Barnwood Shopfitting to print it on their new high-quality colour
laser printer.

During his time as editor Chris won the District prize for best newsletter twice, first in
1999 and then again the following year.

Andy Wilson took over after the May 2001 issue and decided to give the newsletter a
new identity – and so the Severn Trow was born. Andy produced seventeen issues of
the Trow during his four-year tenure before Steve Markham took over in June 2005.

Steve changed the magazine’s title to News and Views (which it has remained ever
since) and progressively introduced more colour and photographs in the twenty issues
he produced during his five years in charge. He handed over to me in June 2010.

I decided to print the magazine on glossy paper to improve the quality of the
photographic reproduction and produced my first issue in October 2010. However, I
found printing the 50-odd copies on a home printer to be quite a problem. The glossy
sheets kept sticking together and the inks regularly ran out, bringing everything to a
standstill. It took three days and a lot of bad language to print! After that first
experience I decided this was impractical and found an online printing company. When
I analysed my in-house production costs before committing, I was surprised to discover
that it was actually cheaper (and certainly quicker and easier) to outsource it: so Issue
134 was the last home-printed magazine.

I produced News and Views for three years (and, much to my surprise, won the District
Cup for it in 2012) before handing over to Richard Colley in 2013.

Richard did sterling work in producing fourteen issues over the next five years until the
pressure of his other commitments forced him to stand down and I took the editorship
back last year.

So that’s how we got here. Do please use the link to see where we’ve been. I am sure
that you will find it an interesting trip down memory lane when you do.

John Bowman

- 31 -

The Last Word

So here we are at the end of the first quarter of the new Rotary year - and we are into new,
but still somehow familiar, territory with Mike Till being our first Past President to take on
the Presidency for a second time. I am sure that everyone will join with me in thanking him
for stepping into the breach and in wishing both Mike and Gill an enjoyable year.
We certainly started with a bang this year with another successful Sporting Dinner. During
the quarter we have also enjoyed a wide variety of speakers, a successful few days away in
Chester and the golfers seem to have participated in a couple of competitions.
My especial thanks to Richard Colley this quarter. Richard has provided me with write-ups
of the two Club golfing events; plus photographs of both of them and of the Chester trip. His
additional material has been invaluable in putting this edition together.
John Bowman

Many happy returns this coming quarter to:

Richard Sugdon 3 October Dave Wrigley 21 November
John Harris 1 November David Bruce 21 December
Jeff Dawson 8 November Roger Barrett 22 December
Chris Lutton 17 November Jeff Roberts 22 December

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.