Our Neville Lyons appears in print in the Winter 2019 issue of the national Probus magazine with an article, reproduced below, on the pioneering work done by the catering company, J Lyons & Co, introducing the world’s first business computer. Neville’s particular interest is that, not only is he related to the Company’s co-founder, Sir Joseph Lyons, but he is now a trustee member of the Leo Computers Society charity, with responsibility for publicity.

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

For our Ladies’ and Guests’ Christmas Lunch on December 5th, we welcome back the renowned concert harpist, Margaret Watson. When she performed for us two years ago, the reaction of the members and their guests was unanimously favourable and so, by popular demand, we have invited her again.

Margaret first began playing the harp when she was only fourteen and is now one of the busiest professional harpists in the South East. She has played for royalty, including HRH The Princess Royal, and at venues such as the City Guildhall, (Margaret is a Fellow of The Guild of Musicians and Singers), Covent Garden and Glyndebourne Opera Houses and the Royal Courts of Justice. She has also worked for the BBC and Netflix filming for documentaries.

Margaret makes period costumes to wear when she plays historic venues such as Hever Castle, Polesden Lacey, Brighton Pavilion and Battle Abbey and she hopes to do the same when she visits us in Guildford.

Also in attendance at the Lunch, will be the Mayor and Mayoress of Guildford, Councillor Richard Billington and his wife, Linda. 

It promises to be a very pleasurable event, which, hopefully, members will make every effort to attend with a guest or by themselves. (There are currently five unaccompanied members who will be dining, so you will not be alone if your partner is unable to be present).

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

It was early in the morning, at 7.30am, that David Skillen and Lynn, (his wife, co-driver and business manager), left their home in Belper, Derbyshire, to drive the 170 miles to Guildford to lunch with us and for David to speak to us about Zeppelins.

Eschewing the use of written notes, David’s smooth, professional commentary to his fully illustrated presentation held everyone’s attention throughout.

He was not averse to throwing in the odd controversy from time to time. Was Leefe Robinson the first British pilot to shoot down a Zeppelin during WW1 as most people believe? Well, no, because he shot down a Schütte-Lanz airship, not a Zeppelin. (Not all vacuum cleaners are Hoovers and not all German airships are Zeppelins!).

David also told us about Count von Zeppelin’s initial designs for an airship in 1874 and how, by 1910, it was being flown commercially. During WW1, of course, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as reconnaissance and bombing aircraft. However, few survived the war, because very large, slow-moving objects, containing huge amounts of highly inflammable hydrogen gas, became sitting ducks for The Royal Flying Corps’ B.E.2c  and Camel aeroplanes armed with incendiary bullets.

Of the 84 Zeppelins built during the war, over 60 were lost to enemy action, the weather or accidents and most that survived were then deliberately destroyed by their crews in 1919. A small number of Zeppelins have been constructed since then for commercial purposes, the most modern of which now contain the inert gas, helium, instead of hydrogen.

At the end of the presentation, Club members had many questions to ask, before Past Speaker Secretary, Ian Bull, gave the very well deserved vote of thanks.

A number of our seasoned bowlers decided this summer to accept an introduction to a different bowls format – short mat bowls.
This proved most successful – so successful that this may well become yet another “activity” offered at Probus ’83.

Our fellow club members Mike Jordan and Holger Marsen play short mat at Ripley and Ripley kindly hosted this first short mat experience on September 19th 2019.
We offered the opportunity to learn short mat bowls to Guildford Probus too. They joined us for some enjoyable coaching by the Ripley players, then accepted our challenge to a proper match. Somewhat surprisingly, Probus ’83 managed to beat Guildford Probus by 10 shots A trophy was presented to Ian Mackrell, Probus ’83 captain, by Guildford Probus President, Brian Taylor.

A return match has already been agreed for next summer. We are looking to see if other fixtures can now be scheduled.

Mike Jordan demonstrates how to deliver the bowl.

Two short mat “rinks” – indoors on a rather expensive, specialist carpet.

Look how tricky it is to get close to the “jack”(small yellow ball).

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

Our speaker for October will be David Skillen. Members will remember that, last year, David, (and co-driver, his wife, Lynn), came from Belper in Derbyshire to give us a presentation about The Gettysburg Address. They are repeating the journey this year, when David will talk to us about ‘Giants in the Sky’, the Zeppelins in World War One.

During the 35 years that he spent in the Civil Service, David ran training programmes on public speaking and regularly addressed audiences ranging from five to five hundred people. Since retiring five years ago, he has travelled extensively across the UK giving fully illustrated talks to a variety of groups such as Probus, W.I., U3A and the National Trust.

In the night skies above Britain in 1915, people saw huge, silver, cigar-shaped objects flying across the country seemingly at will – the Zeppelins. It was the start of the first strategic bombing campaign in history. In the talk, we will look at the Zeppelin and David will tell us how they were built and flown and how the Royal Navy and the Royal Flying Corps, (later the RAF), defended Britain against them. Also, with the aid of copious illustrations, we will learn how the Zeppelin developed and find out about the men who trusted their lives to these majestic, yet incredibly dangerous, machines.

It promises to be an entertaining and enlightening presentation about a fascinating piece of historical warfare.

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

Our speaker for September was Andy Thomas, who gave us a presentation about a place close to his heart – the town of Lewes. He reminded us that it is still regarded as the County Town of Sussex, even though the county is now split into three separate administrations; East and West Sussex and the unitary authority of the City of Brighton and Hove.

The first part of Andy’s talk encompassed a brief description of the town, which was developed on a group of iron-age mounds. The Victorians flattened some, but the castle still stands atop one that remains. He also gave us a flavour of the history of Lewes, with particular reference to the seventeen Protestant martyrs, who were burned at the stake during the persecutions by the Catholic Queen Mary in the period 1555 to 1557.

This lead on neatly to the Lewes Bonfire Celebrations, reputedly ‘the largest in the world’. How did they become so big? For a start, there are not just one, but seven bonfire societies, each putting on a parade and firework display. They are joined at various times by another twenty to thirty bonfire societies from all parts of Sussex. The festivities do not just commemorate the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, but also the death of those seventeen martyrs of circa 1556. Although the streets are covered in litter and firework detritus when the celebrations finish in the early hours, by the start of  working hours a thorough cleaning job has ensured that the people of Lewes can go about their business as if the celebrations had never happened.

Andy’s collection of photographs, almost all taken by himself, vividly illustrated the talk and it was no surprise when he received a very warm round of applause, proposed by Past-Chairman, Ian Hills, in his vote of thanks.

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

Our speaker in September is our old friend, Andy Thomas, who is returning to give us his fifth presentation in as many years.

For nearly 30 years, Andy has been investigating many enduring enigmas, including Crop Circles, (remember that talk?), UFO’s and other para-normal subjects, as well as a multitude of classic conspiracy theories. He always manages to find that tantalising middle ground to promote an animated discussion at the end of his presentation.

Andy also speaks passionately about freedom and liberty issues, as well as history, and it is into this last category that his presentation to us next month will fall.  Spectacularly illustrated, Andy explores his Sussex birthplace of historical Lewes, renowned for its huge Bonfire Night celebrations, reputedly the largest in the world.

It sounds like another Andy Thomas talk, which is not to be missed!

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

Our speaker for August was Professor Julian Evans, a forest scientist and Past President of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.

In 1985, partly for research and partly as a hobby, Julian and his brother-in-law bought a 30-acre neglected woodland from the Forestry Commission. It is situated just south-west of Basingstoke, next to a railway line, on what was once part of the Steventon Estate, owned by the family of Jane Austen.

Over the years since the purchase, Julian, assisted by his family and friends, have restored the site back to the working woodland, which it used to be. However, warned Julian, if you are tempted to buy a small wood of your own, you will not get rich on the income which it generates!

He recounted the story of the purchase, the replanting and the various encounters with the local people and fauna, including a guide to the  disposal of troublesome grey squirrels. The whole presentation was laced with anecdotes and featured much natural history, all delivered in Julian’s infectious, enthusiastic style.

Probus ’83 Club member, David Drake, gave the well-deserved vote of thanks.

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports;

Our speaker in August is Professor Julian Evans, a forest scientist.

Julian chairs the Forestry Commission’s Expert Committee on Forest Science and is a Past-President of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. After graduating in Forestry at Bangor University, he went on to become  Professor of Forestry at Imperial College, London.  Julian has also been the Chief Research Officer for the Forestry Commission at Alice Holt.  He is the author or principal editor of 16 books.

Julian has a long-term research interest in plantation sustainability in Swaziland, (for which he was awarded an O.B.E.), and the silviculture of broad-leaved woodland in the U.K.

He and his wife, Margaret, are owners themselves of a 12 hectare woodland site in Hampshire, which is the subject of his presentation to us ‘A Wood of our Own’.

Sounds a bit of a dry subject ? Think again! We know from past experience that when a presenter is an expert in his subject and is enthusiastic about it, the talk will be good. 

Speaker Secretary Ian Rutter reports:

Our speaker for July was club member and past-Chairman Neville Lyons.

His illustrated talk entitled ‘British War Artists of the Second World War’ was in complete contrast to his two previous presentations to the Club – the ‘Joe Lyons Corner Houses’ saga and the story of ‘Leo the First Business Computer’.

Many of his audience this time were surprised to learn about such a large output of work from some very well-known artists, (such as Eric Ravilious, Laura Knight, Terence Cuneo and Stanley Spencer), and some less well- known.

Neville explained the establishment of the War Artists Advisory Committee, under Sir Kenneth Clark, and its work in organising the activities of the many artists, who recorded the war on the Home Front and Overseas, on land, sea and in the air.  All of this was accompanied by wonderful images capturing the relevant mood projected by each piece of artwork.

Club member, Ian Mackrell, gave a well-deserved vote of thanks to Neville for his carefully researched presentation and confessed that, like many present, he was unaware of the sheer size and scope of this very interesting subject.