Songs and Laughter

For our meeting on the 1st of February the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity gave one of  his video presentations titled Songs and Laughter which featured singers and comedians from the 1970s to the present date.

The comedy clips all featured well known comedians such as the Two Ronnies and Les Dawson.

The songs were mainly by established singers such as Cliff Richard, Michael Ball and Tammy Wynette although Duncan found two unknown Irish singers whose efforts were very well received.

Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for warming up the members on a cold day.

On the 8th of March the Forum will hold an open meeting when the guest speaker will be the celebrated Yorkshire author Gervase Phinn whose talk will be titled The School Inspector Calls.

When Forum members have obtained their tickets the remainder will be available for purchase by anyone at the cost of £8 each.

China – All Our Futures

In the absence of Chairman Mike Earle the Forum’s  Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity introduced the guest speaker for the 25th of January Trevor Higginbottom.

Trevor had travelled from Derbyshire to speak to us on the subject of China – All Our Futures.

Trevor works in the education sector and spends three months of each year in Shanghai which has given him a close insight into his chosen subject.  He handed out a sheet with a list of seventeen points which he then discussed with the Forum members.

Top of the list were the facts that nearly a quarter of the world’s population lives in China and it is the world’s second richest country.  One of the more disturbing facts was that China owns approximately one third of USA’s national debt and conflict between the two countries would be disastrous for the world’s finances.

The UK’s relationship with China does not recognise its growing importance.  For instance only three per cent of English pupils are learning Mandarin and the UK is not in the top ten of China’s trading partners.

Trevor stressed that the Chinese system had many drawbacks regarding the lack of democracy and the large gap between wealth and poverty.

Duncan Verity proposed a vote of thanks for a fascinating talk.

Magical Monaco

On the 11th of January the Forum gathered for its first meeting after the Christmas break.  Members stood for a moments silence in memory of member Gordon Wilson who died during the break.

The guest speaker was Graham Read, a professional motorsport and motoring writer, whose talk was titled Magical Monaco subtitled From the Royal Family to the Grand Prix.

He began with a short history of the Principality which was established in 1297 when Francois Grimaldi led a conquest of the area.  The famous casino was established in 1861 when Monaco took the form we recognise today.  After a mention of the Monte Carlo Rally Graham devoted the rest of his talk to the Monaco Grand Prix which dates back to a race established in 1929 although it was not included in the Formula 1 World Championship until 1955.

Graham featured many well-known names such as Ayrton Senna and Graham Hill and described some of the incidents and accidents from across the years.  He completed his talk with a video of a circuit of the course taken by an on-car camera.

Mike Earle thanked Graham Read for a very enjoyable talk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Witches Wizards Brews and Broomsticks

 

44 members gathered at the Church Centre for the Forum’s last meeting of 2016 on the 30th of November.

The guest speaker was Professor Mike Green, Emeritus Professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Sheffield.  In a long and varied career Mike worked with the South Australia Flying Doctor Service and as a GP in Leeds before becoming an academic.

His talk was titled Witches Wizards Brews and Broomsticks which featured the history of witchcraft from biblical times to the present day and the relationship between witchcraft and medical practice up to modern times.

In Medieval times people identified as witches were principally women and persecution was particularly rife in Northern Europe.  The persecution of witches was a consequence of the rejection of the Catholic religion and, in the reign of James I in particular, resulted in many executions.

The hero of the story is Nicholas Culpepper who realised that some of the potions involved in witchcraft appeared to have beneficial effects and quantified these benefits, forming the basis for modern pharmacology.

Mike mentioned the Pendle Witches trial and the effect this has had on this area of Lancashire to the present day.

Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Professor Green for keeping members royally entertained.

The Forum’s Christmas lunch is on the 7th of December at the Bridge Hotel Walshford and meetings restart on the 11th of January.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance

On the 23rd of November the Forum welcomed Helen Murray-Sharpe as guest speaker.  Helen is a volunteer fund raiser with Yorkshire Air Ambulance which was the subject of her talk.  The talk covered two aspects of the work of the Air Ambulance, the operational side of the organisation and how it works as a charity.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance began in 2000 operating from a Portakabin at Leeds /Bradford Airport.  After it was involved in the rescue of TV personality Richard Hammond in 2007 he featured the organisation in a programme titled Helicopter Heroes which greatly raised its profile.  There are now two helicopters, one based at RAF Topcliffe and the other at Nostell Priory near Wakefield.  These bases enable 90% of the population of Yorkshire to be reached within one hour.  At the Nostell base there is an air desk whose operator monitors all 999 calls in the area and can break in to the conversation to offer air ambulance assistance.  Patients are usually flown to the nearest of four major trauma centres, in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield or Middlesbrough.

Helen also related how the air ambulance works with Embrace, an organisation based in Barnsley which provides emergency care for young children.  Yorkshire Air Ambulance is a charity totally reliant on donations for its existence.   For instance its cost is £44 million each year and the average cost of each mission is £3,420.

Helen summarised the methods of fund raising used which never involve harassment of potential donors.  Forum members posed many questions to Helen and a collection was taken to which members generously contributed.

Legends of the Brass Band World

On the 16th of November the Forum’s guest speaker was Chris Helme.  Among his many interests Chris played the tuba in the West Yorkshire Police brass band, having joined his local brass band at the age of nine.

His talk was titled Legends of the Brass Band World and he began by explaining the appeal of this form of music where most styles can be presented.  He illustrated this by playing short extracts of music by Abba and Tchaikovsky played by well-known bands.  He then related the history of brass bands from their inception at the start of the nineteenth century as village bands and the formation of bands sponsored by industrial concerns until the First World War intervened when many bands disappeared or were temporarily disbanded.

Many bands reformed when peace returned and band competitions became as important as they are today.  Chris related the careers of two bandsmen, Edwin Firth from Skipton who was featured on a celebrated recording produced in 1913 but who was killed in June 1918 and Arthur Laycock from Todmorden who was one of the first full-time professional bandsmen but died at the early age of 42 whilst fulfilling an engagement in Cornwall.

Chris Helme has written a successful book on this subject What Brass Bands Did for Me.

Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Chris for using his passion for brass bands to provide the Forum with an entertaining morning.

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.