South Downs Probus Club
April 2025
Charleston Farmhouse
South Downs Probus Club April 2025
South Downs Probus Club has had another hectic burst of activity over the last couple of months. Well, at our age getting up is considered hectic! We have had two excellent visits, one quiz and one speaker at our recent lunch. Pretty good altogether thanks to the efforts of our party arranger, David Brewerton. He is a one-man army!
So, the quiz was held at The George & Dragon at Dragon’s Green and the questions put to us by a charming young lady. We chose the wrong subject for our joker again so didn’t feature in the prize winners. Again. We enjoyed a supper provided by the pub and had a good evening altogether.
The first trip was to investigate the arcane workings of the Biffa recycling plant at Ford near Arundel. I had been before but it is an amazing insight into the capability of mankind to do the best with a bad set of conditions. Biffa do their bit in dealing with the onslaught of rubbish we throw at them but it is only part of the overall picture. West Sussex County Council dangle the remainder of the picture, like the recycling of metal, in some devious manner not apparent to us. The Biffa (started by two brothers called……….Biffa!) plant works at full tilt until something that shouldn’t have been put in jams the system and then they have to clean it all out before it restarts. It is noisy, dirty and reminds you a bit of that Charlie Chaplin film that I can’t remember the name of, which is all about machines. The staff are all very conscientious about their work and we had a guide who kept us in tow and explained how things were sorted out. We retreated to the Bailiffscourt Hotel for a first-class lunch. Except for the few who went to eat at the restaurant in Ford Prison. They were eventually let out!
The second trip was a total contrast. We visited Charleston Farmhouse near Lewes where The Bloomsbury Group hung out when they weren’t in Bloomsbury. The house has been kept as they had it when they were in situ with their paintings and decorations and artefacts. Again, we had a guide who gave us the background to what we were looking at. The funny thing was that the paintings on their own were not massively exciting, but when you saw them against the whole painted walls and the handmade cushions and curtains it all made sense. Bearing in mind that all this was done eighty years or so ago, it was another world and they were emerging from a very different society to our own, where they were still reeling from the First World War. But you could see how much of their creative work became adopted by mainstream fashion design of fabrics and decoration. Another thing that struck me was, they were obviously eccentric in their way and when I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s there were eccentric people and groups, but I wonder where they are now. Everybody seems to bear the burden of “wokeism”. However, I’m not really sure what that means so let it pass. Anyway, we then removed to The Ram Inn at Firle and enjoyed another lunch. We do seem to like our repasts.
And the next one was back at our base pub, The George & Dragon, in mid-April when we listened to an excellent speaker, Steve Bird, who regaled us with the story of “Operation Pedestal”. This was the dramatic story of the biggest convoy to replenish supplies to Malta whilst the island was facing the onslaught of the axis powers. The inhabitants suffered TEN times the amount of bombing of London during the blitz. That is some suffering. And the whole island received The George Cross from King George VI because of their resistance during that dreadful time. Malta was in the way of the supply of war materials of Germany and Italy from the mainland of Europe to their armies in North Africa. Several convoys had been decimated by the submarines and bombers of the Axis and Malta was running so low on supplies, there was little food and little petrol for the small number of our fighters to hold the enemy back. So Churchill decided to send a massive convoy of merchant ships protected by the biggest Naval fleet since WW1. Well, it was a harrowing experience for all concerned and 500 or so brave men perished, and much hardware was sunk. In the end a handful of ships got through, including the famous Ohio tanker, which despite having been crippled was brought into Valetta harbour tied to two destroyers who kept it going, and thus brought the oil and petrol which was so desperately needed to the island. It then sank in the harbour but fortunately in shallow water so the cargo was saved. It is an amazing story full of bravery and also of ineptitude and lack of planning. Are we revisiting that scene ourselves?
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November 2024
South Downs Probus Club have had a good couple of months with several new members joining us. As usual they are all from a variety of backgrounds, a banker who has worked all over the world and been involved in many well-known investment deals. A doctor, a retired Ofsted manager who is still working as a consultant to schools, another educationalist who has also worked in many foreign countries (particularly in Pakistan) helping improve the social well-being of children. And a chartered surveyor. Quite an eclectic diaspora!
Last month we went backstage at Chichester Theatre. How they manage to put those shows together with the tight facilities they have is a marvel, yet the staff are all so enthusiastic in their specialities, be it electrics, or hats, or makeup, or costumes. It was great to stand on the stage and imagine yourself as Larry Olivier or Noel Coward; but there was no audience to appreciate me! Afterwards we all enjoyed a meal in the brasserie which is a superb venue for quite an exotic meal in theatreland.
The pub to which we go for our regular monthly meetings, The George and Dragon at Dragon’s Green has recently been taken over and some refurbishment has taken place. This meant that in October we had to find an alternative and we alighted at The Roundabout Hotel in West Chiltington. Our speaker, Bill Lonergan, gave us a good talk on “The Spitfire Sisters”. During the war a few hundred girls eventually piloted all sorts of aircraft, trainers, fighters and bombers, around the country delivering them where needed and thus saving the men to go off and fight. The story unfolded of their difficulties in being allowed and getting permission to fly them against the current thinking of the government that they shouldn’t be involved. It was only by the tenacity of a few redoubtable ladies in the early years that they managed it. They were popularly known as the “Attagirls”. Bill had been born in New Zealand and learned to fly there before he came to the UK in 1959, where he joined the RAF and became a fighter pilot before becoming a trainer.
In October we returned to the George and Dragon and were treated to an excellent roast beef lunch with a new chef after a totally contrasting talk by an amazing speaker, who is renowned in other circles as a Professor of Interplanetary Science and Astrophysics. However, Alan Aylward came to us to talk on behalf of “The Woodlands Trust”! We all know it exists but don’t realise how active they are in saving threatened woods and managing them. As a country we have the least proportion of our land as woodland, particularly “ancient woodland” in Europe. And most of ours is in Scotland! The Forestry Commission has spent decades planting new woods with a lot of the “wrong trees” after the woods had been decimated by the needs of two world wars. But now seem to have a better concept and policy and are working in a good fashion with The Woodlands Trust. Of course, they are not only saving trees but also the wildlife which goes with it. The older ones amongst us will know the paucity of birds, butterflies and hedgehogs compared to our younger days, so we should be supporting The Woodlands Trust whenever we are able to do so.
​September 2024
South Downs Probus Club have had an eventful couple of months starting off with a visit to Firle Place in the South Downs near Lewes. It has a marvellous history which was expounded to our party by a lovely guide with a fund of information on the house. It was a surprise to find so much beautiful furniture and furnishings there. The house featured in the 2020 TV adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”. Well worth a visit. Lunch was provided at The Ram Inn in the village.Following that visit the members had their lunch at the George and Dragon near Shipley with a speaker. Then In early September a party set out on The Bluebell Railway from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead. Again, we had a most knowledgeable guide who pointed out relevant features, like the station used in the TV series “Downton Abbey”. The scale of the railway operation is immense, bearing in mind it is run by volunteers. About 1000 of them! The trip was enhanced by the freshly baked cream tea provided on the train. ​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​
In September our lunch commenced with our speaker, Michael Smith, telling us about the history of the discovery of Antarctica. This was really interesting because you think first of all about Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen as the explorers, but of course they went to the South Pole. The land had actually only been discovered about 100 years before! A ship in 1820 was blown off course going around Cape Horn and the captain sighted land, which was The South Shetland islands. Having reported it, some few years later an expedition led by Edward Bransfield actually reached the Antarctic landmass. He knew there was land there because of all the birds and seals!It was a very entertaining story, by an engaging speakerTwo new members were introduced and we look forward to their involvement in the future.
February 2024
Dorset Holiday Group
