2006

Monthly Meeting Programme

January Meeting
Carol Swift - My Visit to Ghana.

We thank Carol Swift and her daughter Rachel for giving a very clear idea of the poverty and despite this the spontaneous joy of the children at the Ghanaian church school. Very brave of them to venture into a society so different from ours with limited facilities we take for granted such as running water, lavatories that flush and decent transport.
The meeting was well attended and four new members joined our company making us sixty-five in number.

February Meeting
Gordon Lewis - Genealogy.

A large number of members including 15 visitors came to listen to Gordon Lewis's inspiring talk on his own family tree he told us he was descended from John Stump(e), brother of the clothier William who gave the Abbey back to Malmesbury after the dissolution. His grandparents left the area around 1920 to eventually settle in the New Forest. Not all of us can be cousins to royalty but he said even finding out the distant paupers was as fulfilling. Standing around an old grave site imagining the long dead relatives is a feeling worth experiencing.

Out numbers are now up to 70.

March Meeting
Ken Brown - British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.

The dreaded moment when the booked speaker calls in on the very day he is due to speak cancelling his appearance happened. Nevertheless through the willingness of Rhys Jones the local young mountaineer to step in and entertain us by relating his adventures amongst the highest continental peaks saved the day. Thanks Rhys and we all wish you a safe and successful completion of your long cherished ambition. All of us enjoyed his descriptive and glorious video display of pristine snow top mountains. His ambition was fired when only 10yrs old after hearing Hampshire Expedition Scout Leader Russell Parkes talk about his dream of putting a Scout on the summit of Everest for the Centenary of Scouting in 2007.
It was a well attended meeting including eight visitors. Five new members joined us making seventyfive in total.

April Meeting
AGM

The AGM was surprisingly well attended and it was a busy time for the committee in particular for Rusty who chaired the meeting in Liz's absence. Sue the retiring secretary gave a summary of the years activities. The treasurer reported the current financial state which enhanced by the two grants is extremely healthy. Hopefully all those who did not renew their subscriptions will do so next month.
The speaker was Gordon Lewis who previously gave a talk on genealogy. This time his subject was the Eurovision song contest. Despite the feeling the subject was interesting as train spotting after Gordon told us of his connections and perks in being the number one fan we all felt he was on to a winner. He recounted the time when entertained at a grand residence he looked at previous guests and they included a Philip and Elizabeth.
These are some of the ESC facts.
The most used words by Eurovision fans in connection with the song contest are "Abba", "Eurovision", "Dana" and "Leandros" according to a study by the University of Leiden.
More women than men win the Eurovision Song Contest. On average, for every three or four women who win, only one man has won the contest.
Until now, the most covered Eurovision hit is "Volare". Stars like Dean Martin, Al Martino, Marino Marini and David Bowie have all made cover versions of the song.

May Meeting
Group Capt Greenway - Queens Flight & Royal Family

May's speaker supported by a good showing of members, including six new ones, was a tall distinguished charming and well spoken airforce professional. Captain Greenway, veteran of the Queen's Fight, easy manner and wit was appreciated, He told us of his admiration for the Royal family and the work they do and his dislike of the scurrilous media that pursue them looking for the negative rather than supporting our unique traditional heritage. He felt privileged to have served all the Royals on the many foreign and commonwealth tours over the years

June Meeting
Caroline Tite - Taxation, Inheritance & Death Duties

Carol Tite gave an informative talk on addressing the need for advice before we leave the chancellor 40% of our gross worth above £285,000. It was news to me that leaving an IOU for that amount to the remaining spouse got you out of paying. Perhaps paying out the equivalent of one week's care home costs to an advisor may be money well spent for those lucky enough to have the problem.
A well attended meeting and four new members joined and two renewed their subscription We now have 79 fully paid up members.

July Meeting

Michael Sparkes - Retired Solent Pilot gave a vivid talk on the hazards and responsibilities of the Trinity House Pilotage. The Corporation of Trinity House was incorporated by royal charter in 1514 giving exclusive rights as to who could bring the ships into harbour. He gave us a scary description of how they have to gain access to the ships scaling the incredible height of the super tankers on a swinging rope ladder. One could imagine being tossed about in a wintry rain swept night, making your way along the deck to the main structure several stories high then taking a lift up to the bridge. On one vast ship when awe struck by the size he asked the captain how long was it to which he replied it is equivalent to par 4 in golfing terms. Impressive.

August Meeting

About 50 members attended the August meeting for a cream tea and quiz which Dave provided, John played the quizmaster and it was a very pleasant 2 hours. Thanks to Marie and those helping her for a very smooth operation in providing the food and drink.

September Meeting
David Plunkett - Eling Tide Mill

A very full hall greeted David with 67 members. We were told about the history and the restoration work.Some of the facts included this. Eling Tide Mill is a water mill that harnesses the power of the tide to grind wheat into wholemeal flour.
Situated on the edge of Southampton Water beside the renowned New Forest, there has been a mill on the site for over 900 years, although it has had to be rebuilt several times, with the current building being some 230 years old. Tide mills were once an important part of the economy of many countries, such as Great Britain and the United States of America - the latter having many hundreds of tide mills on the eastern coast from the 17th to 19th centuries. Tidal power was harnessed in this fashion not only for milling flour, but for everything from sawing lumber and operating the bellows and hammers in ironworks, to manufacturing paper and cotton, to grinding spices, pepper and gunpowder. Before the advent of the steam engine they were the one kind of large-scale mill that was pretty much guaranteed to be able to run 365 days of the year.

October Meeting
Col Peter Chitty - History of the Mary Rose

About 70 members attended to hear Col Peter Chitty give a very lively talk illustrated by many slides. Many of the artefacts found on the ship were personal possessions of the crew. Gaming appears to have been very popular, dice were found in chests and leather pouches and a splendid backgammon set was discovered in the carpenter's cabin.
http://www.maryrose.org/life/life1.htm

November Meeting
Sandra Simmonds - Behind the veil

Seventy members attended November's meeting to hear a speaker with a difference. Sandra sprang out of the kitchen recess covered in a full Hijab and addressed us in a stream of Arabic. This she told us was an invitation to join her in prayer. Her terrible life under Islamic rule hadn't smothered her spirit and perhaps had strengthened her will. Marrying an Iranian and going to Iran was a terrible cultural shock made worse by the subsequent revolution against the Shah.

Conditions of Hijab
A wide enough dress that does not outline any part of the body. The ideal way to do this is to wear a cloak over other clothes.
It should cover the whole body. The clothing must be thick enough so as not to show the colour of skin it covers or the shape of the body.
The clothing should not attract men's attention to the woman. It should not be flashy or shiny so that everyone notices the dress and the woman.
A dress that does not look similar to men's wear, for Muslim women are prohibited from looking like men. The Prophet (SAW) cursed the men who looked like women, and the women who appeared like men. (Bukhari)
A dress that does not in any way resemble the dress of the disbelievers.
The clothing should be modest, not excessively fancy and also not excessively ragged to gain others admiration or sympathy.
The clothing should be free of any perfume or fragrance.

December Meeting

What a treat the Segalula are, a splendid group of enthusiastic lady singers who imparted their joy of singing to us. We moved from a gentle appreciation of their rendering of medieval hymns to a full volume audience participation of the 12th day of Christmas. We also had tea and a tasty mince pie between the singing. Sixty seven members attended with three guests.

January Meeting
Mrs M Emery

Not just another roll of wallpaper.

February Meeting
Rona White - Israel
Past present and Future

If anyone knows of an interesting entertaining speaker please give details to Julie.