On the 7th 0f February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Matthew Jameson, a fund-raising manager with Macmillan Cancer Support. His organisation was established in 1911 when Douglas MacMillan was left £10 in his father’s will to set up a charity to support cancer sufferers having himself died of the disease. The purpose of the charity is to support everyone diagnosed with cancer and also their family and friends. This support can take the form of financial help but also advice and comfort to sufferers. Macmillan nurses are normally recruited from the NHS and work within hospitals but are totally funded by the charity. The charity also acts as a pressure group to change attitudes or procedures when necessary, one example being to try and withdraw parking charges for patients making regular visits to hospitals. Matthew gave us a number of case studies of situations where the Macmillan charity has been of assistance. The annual budget of MacMillan is very large as they run an information centre in most large hospitals and fully provide the salaries of all their nurses. Matthew related a number of the ways in which funds are raised, the best known being the Macmillan coffee mornings, in 2015 these numbered 380,000 in the UK raising £25million. Matthew himself raised a large sum when he undertook a sky-dive. The local MacMillan Support organiser is David Bailey, a Forum member, who informed us how we could get involved in the fund raising. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks and members contributed to a collection as they left the meeting.
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Iconic Cars from the 1950s to the Present Day
On the 14th of February 53 members turned up for the Forum’s morning meeting, the highest number for the current season despite the biting cold.
The guest speaker for the meeting was Graham Read, a Formula One correspondent and motoring writer who has spoken to the Forum on a number of previous occasions.
His subject this time was Iconic Cars from the 1950s to the Present Day. Graham showed a succession of brilliant slides of cars from the various decades, some of the cars being very expensive and some affordable.
He started with a Morris Minor, a type of car which most of the Forum members admitted to have driven. Next came the Citroen 2CV which Graham told us is involved in races although not as exciting as Formula One.
Among the cars from the 1980s was the DeLorean and Graham reminded us of its controversial manufacture in Belfast and the problems which led to the collapse of the company.
At the end of his presentation Graham introduced us to a number of ultra-expensive limited editions by such manufacturers as Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin and including the most expensive example, a Bugatti costing over £2million.
After Forum members had reminisced about their early cars Mike Earle thanked Graham for a fascinating presentation.
The Story of James Herriot
On a cold and icy Wednesday morning on the 17th of January 40 members braved the weather to hear the Forum’s guest speaker John Gilleghan MBE.
John was entertaining us for the fifth time; this time his subject was The Story of James Herriot, the vet from Thirsk whose real name was James Alfred Wight who had adopted his nom- de-plume for his very successful series of books about the life of a Yorkshire Dales vet.
All the main characters in the books were based on real people but were given fictitious names and the setting for the stories, the town of Darrowby was loosely based on Thirsk.
John has personally researched the lives of Alfred Wight and his family and obtained copies of many of their photographs which he shared with us in the form of a slide show with musical accompaniment.
The books were adapted for two films and a very successful television series of 91 episodes and details of these featured in John’s presentation.
John also introduced us to the James Herriot Museum in Thirsk which has recently re-opened after refurbishment.
Mike Earle thanked John Gilleghan for a very entertaining talk which brightened up a miserable day.
Dam Yangtze
The Forum resumed its regular Wednesday morning meetings on the 10th of January after the Christmas break with a talk by guest speaker Geoff Queen from Kettlewell.
Geoff titled his talk Dam Yangtze, a play on words to describe two visits he and his wife made to the Chinese Yangtze River at the time when a giant dam was being constructed which changed the geography of the area in many ways.
He started with a list of statistics about China including its population (1.25 billion) which is one fifth the population of the world. One city has a population of 30 million whilst a settlement of 4 million is regarded as a town.
The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world and the dam was built at a location called the Three Gorges, regarded as particularly beautiful, and involved the displacement of over a million people.
Geoff illustrated his talk with a slide show. Unfortunately the weather had not been kind to him although that and the polluted atmosphere highlighted the devastation caused by the dam to the existing towns and cities.
Geoff also visited the Great Wall, Beijing and the terra-cotta soldiers at Xian and at the end of his talk he invited those forum members who had visited China to share their impressions.
Mike Earle thanked Geoff Queen for his informative talk.
Geoff donates his speaker’s fees to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.
Christmas Humour
On the 6th of December the Forum gathered at the Church Centre for the last meeting of 2017.
The guest speaker was David Calverley who had travelled from Huddersfield to provide some Christmas Humour to brighten up a bleak winter’s morning.
For nearly an hour David regaled us with a selection of jokes, humorous tales and monologues, many delivered in a broad Yorkshire dialect. Chairman Mike Earle proposed the vote of thanks for a most amusing presentation.
The Forum’s Christmas lunch for members and their guests is arranged for Wednesday the 13th of December at the Bridge Inn, Walshford when additional entertainment is promised as well as a delicious meal.
Regular meetings will resume on the 10th of January 2018.
The Battle of Britain, Victory, Defeat or No Result
On the 29th of November 54 members of the Forum attended at the Church Centre, the highest number for the current season.
The guest speaker, introduced by John Spinner, was Martin Cocker whose subject was The Battle of Britain, Victory, Defeat or No Result. He brought with him a very realistic life-size model of a WWII aviator who he introduced as Arthur Aaron from Leeds who was awarded the Victoria Cross when he brought home his damaged plane saving the lives of his crew although seriously injured himself.
This set the scene for his talk which started with a summary of the causes of the war. Martin then moved onto the invention of radar which was crucial in the conduct of the Battle of Britain.
After the German Army swept through Western Europe, Britain stood alone and Adolf Hitler published a leaflet titled Last Appeal to Reason which was ignored, after which Goering offered his Luftwaffe to defeat Britain without the necessity of an invasion.
Martin assessed the tactics of the British and Germans up to the end of the battle which is generally accepted as October 31st1940 after which a land invasion would not have been possible.
Martin then considered the question posed by the title of his talk, coming to the conclusion that the answer was somewhere between a British victory and no result.
Some of the Forum members gave their own opinions before Mike Earle thanked Martin for a fascinating and well-presented talk.
Songs and Laughter (Part 1)
The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity produces a series of video presentations with which he occasionally entertains our Forum and others in the area.
On the 22nd of November the Wetherby Forum enjoyed one of his features titled Songs and Laughter (Part 1) in which he introduced recordings of musical and comedy performances dating from the 1950s to the present day.
The musical bits were Country and Western, classic pop or show performances whilst the laughter was provided by old favourites the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Les Dawson.
The quality of the performances was much enhanced by Duncan’s presentation equipment, the sound being crystal clear throughout the performance. The presentation was rounded off by a comedy item which surprised everyone.
Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for brightening every members’ morning. The Forum looks forward to enjoying further parts in Duncan’s Songs and Laughter series.
Guy Fawkes Yorkshireman
Wetherby Mens Forum
The Forum’s meeting on the 8th of November was attended by 51 members.
The guest speaker was Gillian Waters, a part time teacher from York whose chosen subject was Guy Fawkes Yorkshireman, very appropriate for a meeting held three days after Bonfire Night.
Gillian introduced us to the key participants in the Gunpowder Plot including the leader Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes who was invited to join the gang as a “gunner” because of his knowledge of explosives.
The plot extended beyond blowing up the House of Lords with King James and his sons to an armed insurrection in Warwickshire and the kidnap and installation of the King’s young daughter Elizabeth as a puppet Queen.
The cause of their dissatisfaction was the enmity in England between the Protestant and Catholic churches.
Guy Fawkes was born into a Protestant family but became a Catholic in his youth in York, it is believed as a reaction to the martyrdom of Margaret Clitheroe in York.
He then moved to the Netherlands where he received a Catholic education and joined the army of the King of Spain.
The plot was uncovered when Fawkes was found under the House of Lords after information obtained from a spy in the Catholic ranks.
Some of the plotters escaped to Warwickshire where they attempted an armed insurrection which was defeated. All the surviving plotters were executed in London by the process of hung drawn and quartering.
Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for an excellent talk complimenting Gillian on remembering the many participants without using notes.
Estate Planning
On the 18th of October 49 members attended the meeting at the Church Centre, the largest turnout for the current season.
Guest speaker for the meeting was Matthew Taylor from St. James Place Wealth Management who was accompanied by Jill Waddington and Victoria Maude representing the Huddersfield solicitors firm of Ridley and Hall.
The subject of their presentation was Estate Planning and Matthew opened proceedings by introducing his company and summarising the subjects he would cover, namely inheritance tax, what happens if no will exists, providing for long term care and why one would set up a trust fund.
Jill and Victoria then spoke on the subjects of wills and lasting powers of attorney.
Finally Matthew returned to talk in detail on how to minimise payment of inheritance tax and the management of retirement pensions before mentioning a couple of case studies to illustrate the points made.
He handed out cards to enable members to register to receive financial advice, the cards being entered into a draw with a prize of a bottle of champagne
Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Matthew, Jill and Victoria for an interesting presentation.
Brock the Badger – Friend or Foe
On the 25th of October the Forum welcomed as guest speaker Bill Mitchell from Ilkley.
Bill’s talk was titled Brock the Badger – Friend or Foe and it soon became clear that Bill regarded all badgers as his friends.
Of the 42 members present only three had ever seen a live badger and we were all quickly won over by Bill’s splendid pictures of the animals with which he illustrated his talk.
The badger is a mainly nocturnal animal with very poor eyesight which is compensated by a highly developed sense of smell and excellent hearing.
Each badger exudes its individual perfume and can navigate its way home by following the scent trail it has left. The badgers live in an underground burrow called a sett where they sleep, breed and spend most of the winter.
They are however very clean animals and establish a toilet area clear of the sett which all the badgers use. They have a tolerant relationship with foxes and have been known to share their sett with them although the badgers ensure that the foxes stay a safe distance away.
Bill mentioned the problems caused by badger digging and baiting and raised the controversial topic of the spread of bovine tuberculosis by badgers.
A lively question and answer session followed, members being very concerned with badgers digging up their lawns in the search for a meal of earthworms.
Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks commenting that members now know a lot more than previously about badgers.