The Amusing Side of Traffic Law

On a cold and snowy 9th of November 31 members struggled through to the Church Centre for the Forum weekly meeting.  After Chairman Mike Earle had told his weekly joke Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Philip Solity.

Until his recent retirement Philip was legal adviser to a magistrates’ court where his duties involved guiding the magistrates in their interpretation of the law and ensuring that defendants were aware of their rights.  His talk was titled The Amusing Side of Traffic Law.  After explaining the methods that the courts use to decide on the penalties for various motoring offences Philip quizzed the Forum members on their knowledge of traffic laws, a test that they performed surprisingly well at.  We learnt the intricacies of the regulations applied to breathalysers and speed cameras before Philip finished with a number of amusing anecdotes relating to motoring cases in the magistrates court.  Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks before the members departed to find that it was still snowing.

Monologues and Comic Verse

On the 26th of October the meeting was chaired by the Forum Vice Chairman Duncan Verity.

Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Bill Baker, one of the presenters on Tempo FM, whose talk was titled Monologues and Comic Verse.  Bill related the history of the monologue from its popularity in the Victorian Music Hall, entertainment for serving soldiers in wartime and the folk clubs of the nineteen sixties to the present day where it regularly appears at funerals and weddings.

His interest developed from when he was involved in the production of a talking magazine for the blind which included a monologue in each issue.  Bill read a number of examples from various famous monologists (a term invented by Dame Thora Hird who performed many monologues herself).  The authors included Les Barker who was nominated for the post of Poet Laureate.  As his monologues are best performed in a Lancashire dialect it is understandable why he was rejected.  We also heard examples from Rob Wilton, Benny Hill and Pam Ayres.

Duncan Verity thanked Bill for a very entertaining morning.

Knaresborough in World War One

On the 19th of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Kevin Earl.

Kevin is a member of a local history group based in Knaresborough Library which, four years ago, embarked on research into the effect the First World War had on the town and this research formed the basis for his talk titled Knaresborough in World War One.  The talk was illustrated by cuttings from the local newspapers of that time and pictures and of the town and its inhabitants.

World War One was the first conflict which directly affected all aspects of life in the land.  A large number of men were recruited to fight, firstly by volunteering and later by conscription; the local farmers’ horses were requisitioned; food became short and rationing was introduced; Belgian refugees appeared and women were employed in work previously undertaken only by men.

Kevin related the wartime fate of the Castle Boys School which was eventually taken over by the army and the appearance of Zeppelins over the town (no bombs were dropped).  One man actually lost his life in Knaresborough.  He was David Turnbull whose aeroplane crashed into the Nidd Gorge whilst he was delivering it.

Forum Chairman Mike Earle complimented Kevin on the research carried out by him and his group which had provided a fascinating morning for Forum members.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 24th of February the Forum stood in silent memory of former member Brian Franklin who died recently in a care home on the Isle of Wight.

Our guest speaker for the meeting, introduced by John Spinner, was Keith Barber from Morley. His talk was entitled A Trip Down Memory Lane and was an illustrated nostalgic look at the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Keith was born in Hunslet in 1940 and started school in 1944 when schoolchildren had to endure gas mask and shelter drills.  He shared with us reminiscences of back to back houses with shared outdoor toilets, one cold water tap and a tin bath in front of the fire.  We were reminded of the stringent rationing in place which did not completely disappear until 1954.  Children had few (if any) toys but were very inventive in the street games they played.  The only home entertainment was the radio until television appeared in the 50s and this had only one channel for evenings only and in black and white, of course.

After the members had added some of their own memories Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Keith for providing a thoroughly entertaining morning.

Family History

For the Forum’s meeting on the 17th of February the Deputy Chairman Colin Gaden took the chair.

The guest speaker for the meeting was Mike Greatorex from Harrogate who has devoted a large proportion of his retirement to researching his family history and this formed the subject of his talk entitled “Family History: The Trials and Tribulations”.

Mike gave us guidance into the procedures to be followed if we wanted to delve into our own families’ backgrounds such as obtaining birth and marriage certificates, how to access census and other useful records and the importance of speaking to other family members.  Mike then described some of his research into his own family.  His father had mentioned that his own father had been born in Philadelphia but knew no more details and this spurred Mike into deeper research.  Mike made a number of contacts in the USA who revealed Greatorex  relatives in New York state and Alabama including a lady who had married four times (once bigamously) and a soldier who had sold his kit.  Mike invited questions from the members and it was obvious that many of us were very interested in his subject from the number of questions raised.  Colin Gaden drew the meeting to a close by proposing a vote of thanks which was well supported.

Chile North to South

On the 3rd of February we welcome, for her second visit, Pat Alker from Denby Dale.  Pat and her husband support the running of a school in rural Ethiopia which was the subject of the talk on her previous visit.

This time, however, she entertained us with a description of an exotic holiday she enjoyed with her husband, the talk being titled Chile North to South.  She established the fact that no members of the Forum had ever visited Chile and we quickly realised what an unusual country it is, being over 2000 miles in length but an average of just over 100 miles width.  After landing in the capital Santiago her tour group moved to the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth where rainfall has never been recorded.  What little moisture the area receives is from a morning mist fed by the nearby Pacific Ocean which is enough to support some scrub and a few birds.

They then moved to the central Lake District which is an unpassable barrier to motor transport such that anyone wishing to travel by road to the south must divert into Argentina.  The final part of the journey took them to Punto Arenas in the far south where the attractions included glaciers and penguins.

The talk was illustrated with pictures of the spectacular scenery and unusual birds and animals but the local population were reluctant to be photographed.

The Forum Chairman, Mike Earle, thanked Pat for a fascinating talk.

The History of Meccano

Before the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 20th of January the members stood in silent memory of Albert Storey who recently passed away.

Our guest speaker was David Dalton from Bedale whose talk was titled The History of Meccano.  Since inheriting his father’s old Meccano set as a boy David has been an enthusiastic collector of Meccano model kits and literature dealing with them.

The system was invented by Frank Hornby in his garden shed in Liverpool to amuse his sons.  He patented the system in 1901 with the name Mechanics Made Easy and it gained great commercial success, eventually being renamed Meccano in 1907.  David related the history of the company which continuously produced Meccano at its factory in Liverpool until the factory closed in 1979 except for during World War II.

Meccano is still available although its production has been owned by a number of organisations over the years since 1979.  David had brought with him examples of the various model kits and loose parts, most obtained from car boot sales and auctions and refurbished by him if necessary.  He also brought examples of models he has made, many to his own design.

At the end of the talk members showed great interest in David’s hobby, particularly in how he manages his large collection of construction kits and spares.  Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for a most interesting talk.

Death Row in Florida

At the Forum’s meeting on the 13th of January we welcomed as our guest speaker Rosemary Cheshire from Collingham.

Rosemary became interested in the US justice system after reading an advertisement for an organisation called Lifeline which arranged pen friends for prisoners on Death Row. Through Lifeline she became the pen friend to a prisoner called Mark who has been on Death Row in a prison in Florida since 2004 and this relationship formed the basis of her talk entitled Death Row in Florida.

Rosemary began her talk with a string of statistics which highlighted the nature of the US justice system particularly where it related to the use of the death penalty – the US being the only country in the industrialised west which retains the death penalty.

She also referred to the racial bias within the system which results in a black man being six times more likely to be in prison than a white man.

Rosemary and her husband arranged to visit Mark during a holiday in Florida and we learnt of the complicated security measures involved before the meeting, which lasted six hours!
She completed her talk by quoting from a poignant letter she received from Mark after the visit.

During questioning at the end of the talk Rosemary revealed that she had no reason to believe that Mark was innocent of the crimes involved but her opposition to the death penalty and the inhumane conditions imposed by the justice system are the motives behind her actions.

Mike Earle thanked Rosemary for raising interesting ethical issues in her serious presentation.

1000 miles around England on a pony!!

On the sixth of January the Forum resumed its meetings after the Christmas break.

Our first speaker of the New Year was Janet Neipokojczcka who had travelled from Hemsworth.  Janet previously lived in Kendal where she became a tourist guide specialising in walking tours in both the Lake District and Scotland and had undertaken a number of long distance walks around the Lake District.

In 1991 she decided to walk 1,000 miles around England accompanied by a pack horse in aid of the Winged Fellowship, a charity which organises holidays for the physically handicapped.

Her talk entitled Beyond the Far Fells described this journey.  Accompanied by a Lakeland pony called Roy she started out from Kendal and in ten weeks visited, among many places, Nottingham, Cambridge, London and Snowdonia using, where possible, ancient bridleways and pack horse trails.  Janet’s talk was illustrated by some excellent colour slides showing places and people of interest and the varied conditions which she and Roy experienced.  The Forum members were delighted to hear that Roy, at 28 years old is still going strong living at Addingham near Ilkley.  Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks which the members supported with warm applause.

The Life of a Jockey

During our meeting on the 11th of November the proceedings were interrupted at 11 am for the members to take part in the Remembrance Day two minutes silence.

Our guest speaker, introduced by Duncan Verity, was Dale Gibson, a retired professional jockey, who titled his talk The Life of a Jockey.

During a career spanning 23 years Dale rode 529 winners with at least one winner at each flat racing course in Britain.  He had his first and also his last ride at York and was interviewed on Channel 4 TV on each occasion.   He divided his talk into three sections, how he started, the day-to-day life of a jockey and his present day career as the Executive Director of Racing at the Professional Jockeys’ Association.  Dale passed round three items from his equipment, a whip, a pair of plastic riding boots and a protective vest.  He credits a vest with saving his life during a dangerous fall at Beverley.

The statistics of the life of a jockey brought it home to the Forum members the dedication necessary to succeed – starting the day at 6am, two hours riding out and a typical 400 miles each day driving to and from meetings.

All this for an average annual income comparable to the average professional footballer’s weekly income. A lively Question and Answer session brought up the subjects of horse doping, weight control and the differing personalities of flat and jump jockeys.