Archived Reports 2008
Speakers for 2008 - January to December
January - Alan Oakley - Managing the Country for Wildlife
Report is ...............here
February - Mike Burns - Malden Wanderers
Report is ............... ....here
March - Keith Waller - Barnardo’s
More information can be obtained from ....here
April - Barrie Barrington-Johnson - London Zoo
More information can be obtained from the London Zoo Website
CLICK here
May - Ladies Lunch - Theo Doris - “MagicTheo”
Find out more about Theo, so please browse Theo’s web site.
Click on Theo's picture to go direct to his web site, read/see more there.
June - Keith Ealey - Hypnotherapy/Psychotherapy
More information can be obtained from ....here about fourth on list
July - Bob Wells - A River’s Tale (The Thames)
August - Jenny Reid - Kingston Bereavement Service
September - Peter Thompson of Garson Farm.
October - Neville or Michael Semple - Afghanistan
November - Peter Lusty - Livery Companies
December - Ladies Lunch
Surrey Wildlife Trust by Alan Oakley - Wednesday 16th January 2008
Notes on the Lunch Meeting at Glenmore House
The Chairman welcomed Alan Oakley, our Speaker for the day who was to address us on the subject of the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
After Raynes Park County Grammar School Alan acquired a degree in Estate Management from London University and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and Town Planner. Most of his career was with Surrey County Council and he was manager of the SCC Countryside Estate. On retirement, ten years ago, he became Chairman of one of the largest Wildlife Trusts in Britain with a budget of nearly £4 million and employing 60 staff as well as hundreds of volunteers managing over 17,000 acres of Surrey’s countryside.
Alan’s subject was the countryside itself which he characterised as Downland, Farmland, Woodland, Heath and Water. Of these the Woodland is mostly old wood pasture and the Heathland is fast disappearing. Alan’s talk was lavishly illustrated with slides of his own taking.
Alan set himself to answer his own question: why does woodland need managing? The main answer appears to be that what we take for natural woodland would be impenetrable scrub without our intervention. Dominant species would prevail at the expense of variety, dangerous limbs of trees would be a menace to the public and storm damage (as in 1987) would become a succession eyesores. A painting of Norbury Park taken in 1857 showed very few trees. On the whole, forestry put in immediately after WW2 was not well managed. Another real enemy to public open spaces is illegal tipping, of course. Although enforcement is the business of the police volunteers are needed to clear up the mess.
The depredation of mammals is also not restricted to the human species. Deer in particular eat things, but the calls for culling must be resisted and intelligent fencing policies promoted.
Although concerned with the maintenance of woodland as a resource for wildlife, Alan admits commercial forestry as a legitimate activity and the production of charcoal still satisfies a small market. Other nearly lost skills such as traditional hedge laying are fostered by the trust. But heather as roofing and bedding materials has not been in demand for at least a century.
Water is another important asset. Very many ponds – the home of rare wildlife - have disappeared and a lot of work is put in by volunteers who actively “re-puddle”.
Turning specifically to the Wildlife Trust, with its £4 million budget, paid staff and 20,000 members their work covers estates owned variously by the County Council, private individuals and the Ministry of Defence. Activities include the organisation of educational visits, tours for members of other wildlife trusts and the more mundane provision of signage and seats.
Expert wildlife advice is also sought by bodies such as local planning authorities. The most influential piece of legislation on our statute books is that relating to the concept of the Green Belt. The protection afforded under these laws needs re-enforcing by vigilance and the promotion of public awareness which is a major concern of the Trust.
Alan finished on the encouraging note that Surrey is the most wooded county in England and his talk stimulated many questions.
Brian Jackson
February - Mike Burns - Malden Wanderers
Notes on the Lunch Meeting at Glenmore House - On Wednesday 20th February 2008
The Chairman welcomed Mike Burns, our Speaker for the day who was to address us on the history of Malden Wanderers Cricket Club. After Lunch the Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and asked the General Secretary to introduce our Speaker, Mike Burns.
Mike attended Raynes Park County Grammar School where he played cricket and joined Malden Wanderers as a colt at the age of 13. He has been a member for over fifty years and is the author of two histories of the Wanderers. Mike worked for Thames Television as a cameraman for fourteen years before reading PPE at Oxford. From 1980 to 1989 he was a Research Fellow at Ruskin College, producing films about international and development issues for trade union education. Since 1989 he has run his own video company, Dolphin Video Ltd. In recent years he has made films about the First World War, the Home Guard and VE Day. He has also made a number of sports films, including the authorised histories of Yorkshire and Surrey Cricket Clubs and a history of the FA Cup. He is currently making a film for the MCC about Len Hutton, England’s first professional captain.
At the beginning of his talk and in the introduction to the book he wrote in 1979 to commemorate the first centenary of Malden Wanderers. Mike admitted that the story of the Club has been badly served by writers and archivists both at the Club itself and the press. Partly for this reason he has included elements of the social history of Malden in what he has written and said – which has added greatly to its interest to a wider audience.
The village of new Malden is not a great deal older than its cricket club. In 1848 a Mr Sims the owner of Coombe house paid for a railway station to be built, around which the village of New Malden started to grow. In 1879, when the population was 2,500 a meeting was held in Lime Grove Boys’ School and a cricket club, named New Malden Victoria, was formed. It played on a succession of sites during the early years, during which the Wanderers name was adopted, but its first permanent home was in Blagdon Road.
Early luminaries of the Club, which had achieved quite a social cachet, were Archibald Rough (the Colonel) and Charles Mountford (demon bowler who broke the arm of Forster of Thames Ditton). Jack Hobbs took part in a celebrity match in July 1914. W.G.Grace joined the famous Worcester Park Beagles nearby.
In 1911 electric light had came to the village which allowed the first Cinema Palace to open, charging 3d and 6d admission In 1905 the first tram entered Malden, greeted by flag waving crowds.
The war brought great changes. Twenty five of the forty four Malden Wanderers cricketers had joined H.M. forces by 1916 among whom was Fred Godfrey who was wounded in the Somme and later awarded the M.C for gallant conduct in Palestine. In the mean time the Canadian Medical Services Corps took over the Wanderers ground and used it for various sports while keeping it well maintained.
Then suddenly in 1920 Malden Wanderers was served with an eviction notice and the Surrey Comet reported that the ground had been sold, through the introduction of a Mr F Cottrall of Hawes and Co, to a well known London firm “who will use it as a sports ground for their employees”. This was a crisis but turned into a triumph when some farm land in what is now Cambridge Avenue was acquired by the Club from the Fitzgeorge Estate and turned into a cricket field in two months. Seven years later £2,500 had been raised to build a new pavilion which opened in 1928. In the thirties, however, there was another damaging event when the Club Secretary embezzled £1,000 from Club funds and part of the ground had to be sold for housing.
In the inter war period there were many fine players one of whom, Clary Withy, born 1900 was an early star but emigrated in his late twenties to Canada. However he returned on a visit to the Club on his ninetieth birthday, having read Mike’s book, and played some shots for the camera: a moving occasion. The Bedser twins (left above)have been among many guest players. Russell Endean a South African Test Player played for the Club for 25 years and Alec Stewart (below), England’s most capped player joined Wanderers as an 11 year old.
Mike’s talk was illustrated by a wealth of photographs and exhibits from the earliest times and he attracted a crowd of Members sharing their own memories with him after the close of formal proceedings with the Probus toast at 3.10 p.m.
Brian Jackson
Wanderers website is ............... ....here
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore house - On Wednesday 19th March 2008
The Chairman, John Goodridge, then welcomed our Speaker, Keith Waller who was to speak to us on “Barnados” and after Lunch the Chairman introduced our Speaker, Keith Waller.
Keith is a Podiatrist by profession and is a Past President of Surbiton and Kingston Rotary Club and a Past Rotary International Governor of District 1140 he is also a Speaker and fund raiser for Barnados.
Keith started by saying that he intended to cover Dr. Barnardo’s early life, the beginning and development of his network of residential homes and an account of Barnardo’s as it is today.
Thomas John Barnado was born in Dublin in 1845. His father had emigrated to Ireland from Prussia and his mother was a Member of the Plymouth Brethren. He attended St Patrick’s Cathedral Grammar School where the headmaster, the Rev Dundas, was “the most cruel and mendacious of men”. Barnado detested violence, particularly where children were concerned. In 1862 he converted to evangelical Christianity and was inspired to take up missionary work. The Brethren provided him with a small allowance and the plan was first for him to study medicine in London.
He lodged in Stepney and was immediately taken with the very poor social conditions in the east end of London. Cholera was rife and the cost of medical aid – and burial - was beyond the poor. In November 1867 he enrolled at the (Royal) London Hospital (where our speaker also trained), although there is no record that he actually qualified there as a doctor. Financially he depended on support from the friends he had acquired during his early evangelical work. His ability to attract wealthy philanthropists to his causes – including Lord Shaftesbury and the banker Thomas Barclay – was a significant element in his life’s work.
There are many stories associated with Barnado of which the best known concerned little Jim Jarvis. Barnado had been teaching at the Ernest Street ragged school. At the end of the day a small boy wouldn’t leave, he pleaded to be allowed to stay: “I won’t be no trouble” Barnado enquired where he normally slept and Jarvis took him to one of the “lays”- rooftops around Petticoat Lane. It was out of this incident that grew Barnado’ passionate concern for homeless children involving more than a dozen properties in east London, eventually to be incorporated into an organisation formally entitled The National Incorporated Association for the Reclamation of Destitute Waif Children., but known to all as Dr. Barnardo’s Homes “No destitute child ever refused admission”
Barnardo also dreamed of a comparable provision for girls and he was supported in this by his wife Syrie who shared his commitment to evangelism and philanthropy. As a wedding present in 1873 they were given the lease of a property, Mosford Lodge in Barkingside, and twelve girls came to live there in a converted coach house. It was Syrie’s father who gave the couple their lease of Mosford and later, after they began to have children, bought them St Leonard’s Lodge in Surbiton as he was concerned about the surroundings in which they were to be brought up. The Lodge was where there is now a block of flats on the corner of St Leonard’s and Portsmouth Roads. In the vestibule of the flats and in All Saints Church there are plaques to commemorate Thomas Barnado, but there is no marked grave.
Boys Garden City, Woodford Bridge, Essex. (left) Opened 1909 as a home for boys and a mixed home from 1945. From 1948 became a receiving house for children up to age 15 years. 1949 Ever Open Door. May 1961 provided mixed accommodation. Closed September 1977.
Girls Village Home, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex. (right) Opened 1876 as a large complex of homes for girls, run on family principle. Mixed accommodation from 1945. Closed October 1991.At the Barnado HQ in Redbridge there are records of every child who has been through a Barnado home “We cannot afford to lose the prayers of our friends”.
Today the aims of Barnardo’s are unchanged in that they seek to protect children from harm, are concerned with physical, emotional and mental health and strive to see that they acquire a stake in society. But the means by which these ideals are realised has changed. In particular there are now far fewer residential homes. Even from early years Barnado realised that the best place for children to grow up is in loving and supportive families. But early efforts in achieving this – particularly by sending orphans abroad – were not always successful. Today there is more emphasis on day care facilities, assistance with disadvantaged children and intervention for youngsters going off the rails.
As an organisation Barnardo’s needs in excess of £230 000 a year to run. As a charity it is conspicuously efficient. For every £1 spent 94p goes to childcare, 3p to publicity and 3p to organisation.
Keith answered questions afterwards, one of which came from a Member whose ancestor had been presented with a Bible which had belonged to Barnado, for his work for the Society.
On closing the meeting the Chairman thanked Keith for his interesting and moving talk and closed proceedings with the Probus toast.
Brian Jackson
More information can be obtained from ....here
April - Barrie Barrington-Johnson - London Zoo
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House
Wednesday 16th April 2008
After Lunch and the Loyal Toast the Chairman introduced our Speaker, John Barrington-Johnson (Barrie) who had been a Fellow of the London Zoological Society for over 60 years. He was eminently well qualified to talk on the history of the Zoo. Since retiring in 1981 he had been a leading light in the Zoo’s volunteer schemes and had served for 14 years on the ruling Council of the Society, becoming Vice President in 1991.
Barrie told us that the London Zoological Society is the oldest such society in the world, having been founded in 1826 at the instigation of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore, who was also an enthusiastic naturalist. Raffles got the King interested and he donated 20 acres of Regents Park. Raffles was President of a Council of eighteen like-minded people, but after only two meetings he died, aged 45, in 1826.
The Zoo has five Divisions - The London Zoo itself, the 600 acres of Whipsnade, the Institute of Zoology, the Conservation Division working in 47 countries and the Learned Society which houses books, photographs and paintings. The Natural History Museum was created as a result of the Society’s work. The very word “Zoo” originally only referred to London but is now used worldwide.
Barrie mentioned many famous names who had been closely associated with the Zoo, among them George Robinson who was Keeper for 43 years - after his death in 1979 his ashes were scattered in the Giraffe House. Decimus Burton, famous for the Glasshouse at Kew and the Wellington Arch designed bird and animal houses - there are 13 listed buildings at the Zoo. The Llama House which he designed, later used for camels, had a clock tower and its bell was rung for closing time every day. Peter Chalmers Mitchell, an early Head, persuaded Mappin of “Mappin & Webb” to pay for the building of the Mappin Terraces for the bears with, after the Great War, an aquarium beneath. During that War a bear cub, called Winnie was brought by a Canadian Regiment. She stayed for 15 years after their return home. She loved syrup and condensed milk and Winnie the Pooh was named after her. Barrie also told us of other famous animals, including Jumbo the elephant, whose name lives on as the epithet for anything huge, Ming the giant panda, Brumas the polar bear, Guy the gorilla and Goldie the golden eagle who famously escaped.
Other men associated with London Zoo were Seth-Smith of BBC Children's’ Hour, George Cansdale who took animals to the TV studios, Desmond Morris (Granada TV), David Attenborough who started “Zoo Quest” and Julian Huxley. Barrie had stories about them all. When money ran out and the imminent closure of the Zoo was announced there was a fantastic response. The Emir of Kuwait sent £1M, the public contributed £400,000 and a donor sent £1M for a new Children’s Zoo; there were other large donations and the Zoo was saved. There is still no Government funding, indeed the battles with the Inland Revenue and Customs lead one to believe that they were against the Zoo rather than in support.
Barrie assured us that future projects including four “Biomes” to be built in Docklands recreating the environments of the Rain Forest, the Atlantic, the United Kingdom and the Indian Ocean, with their own tube station proved that the London Zoological Society now has an assured future. He answered a number of questions from members who also eagerly purchased his book, “The Zoo - The Story of London Zoo”.
The Chairman thanked Barrie for a thoroughly entertaining talk and closed the proceedings with the Probus Toast at 3.15.
May - Ladies Lunch - Theo Doris - “MagicTheo”
Click on Theo's picture to go direct to his web site, read/see more there.
June - Keith Ealey - Hypnotherapy/Psychotherapy
Notes on the Lunch Meeting at Glenmore House
Wednesday 18th June 2008
The Chairman, John Goodridge welcomed our Speaker, Keith Ealey and his wife. Keith has an engineering background in the broadcast, music and audiovisual industries in the UK and abroad. Following participation in a hypnosis workshop he studied and obtained a diploma in “Brief Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy”. He also practises Neuro- Linguistic Programming and Reiki (a Japanese healing system). He is a member of The Hypnotherapy Association and The General Hypnotherapy Standards Council.
Keith’s subject was, “Demystifying Hypnosis” and he illustrated his talk throughout by projecting the main points onto a screen. He started by asking whether any members had been hypnotised before. Only one member owned up to this experience! We were assured that there would be no swinging watches or staring at candle flames - these were mainly used by stage hypnotists.
Taking us through a brief history of hypnotism, Keith said that its roots go back thousands of years to India and Greece. However it was not until the 1700s that Mesmer linked hypnotism to animal magnetism. Books appeared later, the first significant volume appearing in 1840 written by Braid. In the 1890s both Freud and Jung used hypnosis. Milton Erickson, a psychiatrist (1920 - 1980) pioneered modern indirect versions of hypnosis.
He defined hypnosis as a phenomenon involving an altered state of consciousness - a trance state, a focusing of the senses and the mind, like the feeling experienced just before you fall asleep or awaken.
The benefits of hypnosis come from a sense of profound and deep relaxation, slower breathing and a lowering of the heart rate and blood pressure. The subject loses track of time. The mind is more focused and one is less aware of sensations. It can be used to stop smoking, to lose weight, to improve concentration and to reduce phobias, such as a fear of flying.
Keith assured us that hypnosis is quite safe. It is a gentle trance-like state, like a daydream in which one is more open to suggestions from self or from the hypnotist. By way of illustration he invited us to listen to a story and envisage it in our minds as he told it. There are three different levels of trance - light, medium or deep and in each case the subject is led out of that state by counting and given ample time to wake up.
Keith then offered to demonstrate hypnosis but, when members were asked to come forward, no one was willing to subject themselves to his ministrations - perhaps because lunch had just been announced or perhaps there were other deeper reasons. In the event Keith was not surprised and assured us that sometimes people were reluctant to come forward. In answer to questions he said that stage hypnotists used the same techniques but clearly had the aim of entertainment rather than dealing with the problems of the volunteers, who were often pre-selected. He was asked about so called mass hypnosis and agreed that it is possible, but rather beyond the scope of normal hypnosis.
The Chairman thanked Keith warmly for his illuminating talk on a little known subject and the members showed their appreciation with applause.
Ian Rathjen
July - Bob Wells - A River’s Tale (The Thames)
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House On Wednesday 16th July 2008
The Chairman, John Goodridge introduced our Speaker, Bob Wells who described himself in some personal notes he provided as follows:- “Following Military service I served thirty years in the Metropolitan Police, retiring as the Chief Superintendent commanding the Force Firearms Unit I became interested in the history of London’s Great River by observing the foreshores at low tide. The development of metal detectors sealed my fate, that of my long suffering wife and also the overburdened curators of the Museum of London.”
The title Bob gives his talk is taken directly from a poem written by Rudyard Kipling for C.R.L. Fletcher’s “A History of England” which Bob then proceeded to quote in its entirety from memory. The opening stanza is:-
Twenty bridges from Tower to Kew –
(Twenty bridges or twenty two)-
Wanted to know what the River knew,
For they were young and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that the River told:-“
Bob’s researches always start on the banks or the mudflats; he calls himself a foreshore man. He has filled three sheds with his finds and he brought a selection with him which members were able to inspect afterwards. A licence to use a metal detector costs £35 per annum In accordance with the Treasure Act of 1996 it is only necessary to report finds (any gold and silver and all other items over 300 years old). Museums now keep comprehensive records. Bob’s chosen patch is the stretch between Vauxhall Bridge and Syon Park which incorporates two major bends, the outside edges of which are likely to yield finds revealed by the scouring effect of the flowing water.
The most numerous non metallic items are pottery, clay pipes and certain fossils. From the Mesolithic period are flint axes and, from the late Neolithic, flint arrowheads. From the Bronze Age he has found v-shaped chisels, sickles and on one occasion a copper ingot. By the Bronze Age there were itinerant tinkers who would sell items but also collected worn objects for recycling. A notable gold object was a ring, 94% pure metal and approximately 3,000 years old. An Iron Age dagger was revealed after a Varsity boat race when the river is made turbulent by countless oars. Common Iron Age objects are cast metal moulded in strips.
From Roman sources he found a 1st century BC Brooch. Another invasion piece (Gaulish) was a brass brooch – one of only eight found. From near Barn Elms was a late 4th century Roman buckle with distinct biting edges.
Saxon finds included iron blades and hunting arrows as well as military items. There was a striking pair of Saxon tweezers with characteristic ring and dot ornamentation; this was probably part of a cosmetic set (for male use). A Saxon silver penny (Ethelred) was minted in Lincoln.
Moving to the Viking period there was a “hammer of Thor”, 9th-10th Century, found at Mortlake. Vikings were known to have camped opposite Fulham Palace.
Coins are frequent finds. We were shown a medieval “cut” farthing (left). At this period coins were (deliberately?) made with indentations which facilitated cutting into quarters (“four-things”). Resembling coins are pilgrims’ badges (relating to the shrine of St.Thomas-a- Beckett) made of tin, pewter or silver. Town tokens are local coinage. Bob found a 17th century example from Chichester.
A particularly valuable find was a gold half ryal of Edward 1V (1461-1470). The river is less kind to silver; a Charles I shilling showed clear signs of acid damage.
There was much else and some advice to Members who might feel moved to try fossicking themselves .The permit is specifically to search for objects but seekers are limited to the top 3 ½ “ of the surface. Protective clothing is essential against physical injury and infection (Weill's disease).
On closing the meeting the Chairman thanked Bob for a talk which was of very strong local interest.
Brian Jackson
August - Jenny Reid - Kingston Bereavement Service
Notes on the Lunch meeting on Wednesday 20th August 2008
The Chairman, John Goodridge then welcomed our Speaker, Jenny Reid, who was to speak to us on the work of the Kingston Bereavement Service and Pat Jenny said about herself only that she had spent fourteen years as a Counsellor with the Bereavement Service which has now been in operation at Welcare House in Canbury Park Road. It has three part time paid staff and a clinical consultant. Otherwise all of its workers and supervisors are volunteers. The scope of their services includes relationship consulting to couples who have lost children and there are groups for those who have had counselling but seek further support as time goes on. There is a project called “Saying Goodbye” for children and young people and information and advice for parents and carers and support for teachers.
The service is a charity and financial support comes from a variety of sources but people who seek counselling (except those referred by their GP) are asked to make a small contribution each week on a sliding scale, starting at £3. Among the organisations who are donors are: The City Bridge Trust, Kingston Nursing Association, The Kingston Magistrates Poor Box Fund, Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust, The Rowan Bentall Trust, and Kingston Inner Wheel, Kingston Primary Care, Comic Relief. The Royal Borough also helps substantially.
Jenny then gave us some statistics. In the years 2006 – 2007 the service had 155 adult clients. Of these 30% had lost parents, 24% had lost a partner, 12% had lost a child; the remainder were other relations or friends. Nearly half of people seeking help had become bereaved as the result of accident, suicide or murder.
Why is there a need for bereavement counselling?
Jenny offered the speculation that death from both natural and violent causes was much more common before the twentieth century. For those who had experience/memories of the first and second world wars in the twentieth century, the deaths of both those in armed conflict and civilians in air raids had become relatively common and there was still a tradition in Britain of the stiff upper lip. Since the end of WW2, however, life has been softer, medicine more powerful and people less self- sufficient. But also there has been much greater recognition of physical and mental strain caused by bereavement.
The realities are still shock, numbing disbelief and sometimes anger. There are regrets, and sometimes guilt. Families can be protective but this sometimes takes the form of not showing feelings, which can be harmful. Some people become agitated, overactive Sleeping and eating habits can become chaotic. There are sometimes fantasies: belief that the departed have been seen. Favourite objects evoke memories. There can be momentary forgetfulness such as laying a place at a table, buying unnecessary food items at a supermarket. There may be loss of interest in living to the point of actual suicide. Everything becomes an effort.
All this is normal, but in most cases so is moving on. Pain begins to ease and reorganisation and recovery stars. Memories eventually become happy rather than painful and new interests arise. Even then guilt can suddenly intervene.
Counsellors at K.B.S are deeply aware of all these phases and know how to support people. A course of counselling takes place over twelve sessions on average. They themselves are sustained by the feedback which comes in the form of expressions such as: “You showed me that I was actually still normal”, “I think my counsellor is a truly great person” “I didn’t think I would get through bereavement” I have learned not to forget but how to live with my experience”.
These expressions of gratitude are clearly at the heart of the reasons why people give their services to the often painful experience of bereavement counselling.
After her talk Jenny answered a few questions. Someone asked about the Cruse organisation (originally/mainly for widows). Jenny thought this had foundered in Kingston for lack of funds. There was a question about hospices. Yes, some do provide initial counselling but some people come to KBS later. Sometimes grieving can strike long after the event. Jenny recalled a young man of 27 who was suddenly overwhelmed by the loss of a family member ten years after the death.
The Chairman thanked Jenny for her very moving and informative talk, referring to his own feelings when he lost his wife. He then brought the meeting to an end with the Probus toast at just three o’clock.
Brian Jackson
More information can be obtained from ....here
September - Peter Thompson of Garson Farm.
Notes on the Lunch Meeting on Wednesday 17th September 2008
Chairman, John Goodridge then welcomed our Speaker, Peter Thompson, who was to speak to us on the history of Garson Farm. Peter’s family’s business is of course “Garson’s” at West End, Esher which offers a range of attractions including a garden centre, a shop, a restaurant and PYO facilities. But Peter started by identifying himself firmly as a farmer from a local farming family going back at least a century and a half.
The farm itself extends to 150 acres, bounded by Esher, Cobham, and a mile from the river Mole. It is tucked away and for the first hundred years was simply a working farm. The retail aspects are a post WW2 development. The land itself is essentially a flood plain and has never been suitable for housing.
Peter showed us the Thompson family tree starting from the mid nineteenth century. In 1857 Thomas Thompson, from a Hersham family, acquired the farm; he had ten children but died at the age of thirty six. The business was carried on by Thomas’s widow and other members of the family as a general farm but quite early on started specialising in vegetables, with an eye to the London trade. This necessitated transport and Peter showed us a succession of pictures of farm wagons and horses. The most arduous part of the journey was over Kingston Hill when the pair of Suffolk Punches had to be supplemented by a third. Loading and unloading the wagons was a major effort. There was a photograph of a WI outing to celebrate the silver jubilee of George V’s reign, but from then onwards motorised transport took over.
The market the Thompsons used was Borough Market in London and the produce was carried in returnable boxes on which a deposit of 2/- had to be paid. The range of crops was wide: wheat, oats, potatoes, mangolds, peas, sprouts, runner beans, cabbage, beetroot, cauliflowers, marrows, carrots, lettuce, parsnips, parsley and asparagus- the latter of which was a Garson speciality. At this time Borough Market buyers were primarily small greengrocers.
With WW2 there were production problems in the form of labour shortages and at one time there were 36 Land Girls and 15 prisoners of war on the farm. There was at this time a strong demand for home grown food and the village green at West End was ploughed up.
In the post war period mechanisation began to solve some of the labour problems: there were photographs of crop washing machines in the packing sheds and USA manufactured crawler tractors. Farming methods had to change to accommodate machines such as tractor powered hoers and weeders for which crops had to be planted in straight rows. This was in the 50s and 60s.
The next phase was the much wider use of weed killers (including paraffin on parsley!). Dutch lights for salad crops were the next innovation: these required immense quantities of oil for heating.
Staffing problems continued. With post war prosperity and the profile of Esher as a highly desirable residential area it became increasingly difficult to recruit locally and many workers came from the Mediterranean countries: Spain and Italy primarily. These would typically move on after three or four years. It is still necessary to bring in people from abroad - now including eastern Europeans.
A major setback for Garson’s occurred in 1968, the year of the great flood which covered 100 acres of land around the Mole. There has since been a major programme of improvements in drainage by Thames Water and there have now been no floods since 1988.
Peter’s slide show was punctuated by pictures of tractors, which are clearly one of his major interests. In the late sixties Massey Ferguson (above but a later model) brought out a very robust machine which sold at good prices second-hand, so Garson would renew its fleet each year. They are still made in India to the same specification (which does not involve the incorporation of microchips).
By the 1970s the major problem confronting Garson’s was the fact that individual greengrocers were going out of business because they could no longer compete with supermarkets. But for producers like Garson’s, supermarkets as customers pose the problem that they require large volume deliveries. The Thompsons tried going into a co-operative but, for example, Sainsbury’s required long distance deliveries- even as far as Bristol - and would not pay a price which made economic sense.
So in 1970, having considered other possibilities like building a golf course, they settled on their present business plan of a number of retail outlets on their present site (although PYO did not in fact start until 1981). The formula includes certain green elements: there is no over-packaging and no refrigerated counters. There is still a wide product range: forty different crops. Also there is now another Garson’s in Hampshire, but without PYO.
Peter Thompson’s talk on this very personal and local story was very much appreciated.
The Chairman brought the meeting to a close at 3.10 pm. approx.
Brian Jackson
October - Neville or Michael Semple - Afghanistan
Notes on the Lunch meeting Wednesday 15th October 2008
Chairman, John Goodridge then welcomed our Speaker, Neville Semple, who was to speak about his son’s experiences as a UN negotiator in Afghanistan. The Semple family originated in Northern Ireland where Peter’s father was Rector of a Church of Ireland parish. Peter’s son Michael was active in politics as a young man. He then became interested in the work of Oxfam under the aegis of which he went to work in Afghanistan. He has remained connected with that country for twenty years but now works as a representative/ambassador of the EU. He is fluent in Dari and Urdu and is developing skills in Pashto (the official language) and Farsi.
Afghanistan District of PanjshirNeville’s talk was illustrated by a programme of impressive photographs but unfortunately they could only be viewed on a laptop because of compatibility problems with the Glenmore projector. Kabul, the capital, is of small extent but populated by many different tribes. Afghanistan was during the eighteenth century the centre of a very large Muslim empire and during the nineteenth both Russia and Britain strove to exert their influences. In 1978 there was a communist coup in which the Ruler, Daoud, was killed and Russia entered in force. This relationship persisted until 1997 but was heavily punctuated by famines and factional fighting. In 1997 the UN intervened and under various place men attempted to pacify the country but in 2001 the US invaded to counteract the growing power of the Taliban (“students”), a fundamentalist Islamic army.
By way of summing up Neville gave a list of the .E.U.’s mission objectives which are the control of terrorism and organised crime, frustrating the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, and securing control over energy sources. What they claim not to be doing is furthering the West’s economic interests, direct exploitation of resources, the extension of military power and interference with religion.
Mountains of AfghanistanNeville himself has visited Afghanistan, albeit for less than a week, but the centrepiece of his talk was son Michael with whom he clearly has a very strong bond. Michael’s ability to secure trust as a negotiator was strikingly illustrated by two letters written privately to him by individuals representing completely opposite sides of the conflict.
The Chairman thanked Neville for his unusual talk and brought the meeting to a close with the Probus toast at 3.00 pm.
Brian Jackson
November - Peter Lusty - Livery Companies
Notes on the Lunch meeting on Wednesday 19th November 2008
The Chairman, Laurie Chandler, introduced our Speaker Peter Lusty, a Chartered Accountant and former Master and now Clerk of the Loriners Company. Loriners (or Lorimers) make the metal parts – stirrups, spurs, and bridles and so on and so on - for the harness that controls a horse: the “bits and pieces”. Peter’s talk, however, was not confined to his own company and in fact was a very broadly based paper on the nature of the City of London and the role that the Guilds and Livery Companies played in its very long history.
From before Roman times the area occupied by the City of London was important as a trading centre and grew under the Romans until they left in AD 410. It continued as a centre of trade under the Anglo Saxons, the Danes (from 842) and King Alfred from 886. The Norman Conquest was remarkable in that William refrained from attacking the then walled enclosure but instead issued a Royal Charter guaranteeing its citizens freedom, rights and privileges. Although to remind them of who was in charge William built the Tower, but immediately outside the City boundary.
Inside the City people exercising their crafts or trade lived near each other and organised themselves into fraternities or “Guilds”. In early times they were centred on particular churches and had a welfare and spiritual aspect as well as being “a mixture of Consumer Council, Closed Shop, Cartel and Technical College”. It was almost impossible for an individual who was not a member of a Guild to trade because everything from raw materials to finished articles was controlled by the Guilds. And there was concert for consumer protection, also. The well known term “baker’s dozen came from the fail-safe practice of bakers who added an extra loaf to the twelve to guard against inadvertently giving short measure and invoking the penalty of being dragged through the streets on a hurdle with the missing loaf dangling from his neck.
The term Liverymen derives from a specific act of Edward II allowing Guildsmen to wear a distinctive form of dress. In 1414 Henry II gave the citizens of the City to elect their own Lord Mayor.
In the middle of the sixteenth century two thirds of males were Guilds (Company) men. By the sixteenth century there were about one hundred Guilds. Monarchs cancelled and re-sold charters to raise money to fund armies and wars. Twelve companies dominated by sheer size and wealth: the Great Twelve. In their letters patent they were specifically granted a unique number – effectively a ranking. This gave rise to a dispute between the Skinners and the Merchant Taylors over which should occupy sixth and seventh positions. This was resolved by the Lord Mayor deciding that they should swap positions each year at Easter, but the dispute seems to have given rise to the expression ‘at sixes and sevens’.
Peter than looked in more detail at the activities of the early Guilds. The patron saint of the bakers was St Clement, the third Pope, who was sentenced to death by the Romans who drowned him with a rope around his neck – hence the anchor emblem of their shield. As is well known the Barbers took on surgical and medical tasks. A common treatment for many conditions was bloodletting and the emblematic barber’s pole is a representation of the instrument which was used in piercing veins for this purpose. They were granted a monopoly in carrying out post mortems by James I and Inigo Jones designed an anatomical lecture theatre which was granted the right to receive the bodies of executed criminals. Basket Makers made not only baskets but wattle frames of houses and were the builders of scaffolding and makers of ladders in medieval times. Wax Chandlers dealt in beeswax used for making candles; their wealth was assured by the great religious and secular demand for lighting and for wax seals on documents. Tallow Chandlers salvaged animal fats and were made responsible for street lighting.
Of course the great wealth of the City came from the wool and cloth trades: thus, the Mercers, Drapers, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Cloth workers and Milliners. The promotion of industry is well illustrated by the prohibition by Edward III in 1338 of the export of wool and the simultaneous encouragement of the immigration of Flemish weavers to teach their craft in the City.
The Grocers Company had the right to weigh and oversee over 40 commodities arriving in the City, including spices and gold. The Goldsmiths were given the right test the quality of gold and silver and to hallmark. This right persists and was extended to platinum as recently as 1975.
The Guilds had reached the height of their power in the early part of the seventeenth century and indeed had expanded around the world as travel and exploration spread through merchant venture companies which sought exclusive rights of trade in new found countries. Of these ventures the most famous was the East India Company.
Looking forward to the nineteenth century the increase in population, the growth in importance of provincial centres of trade and commerce and ultimately the enormous technological changes wrought by the Industrial revolution meant that the intimate control of the square mile waned. Activities, in particular banking and other forms of financial activity have since become important but within the confines of the – very impressive persistence - of the Livery companies themselves real muscle depends mainly in the wealth many of them still control.
What happened in the late seventeenth century were the Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire in the following year. The Plague is now thought to have killed 69 000 of all Londoners. This was half of the population at the time, although the true extent was not revealed. This meant that about one sixth of the City’s population perished. In the fire, astonishingly, only eight deaths were recorded and ironically it probably had the effect of cleansing the area of the plague infection and destroying swathes of cramped and unhealthy dwellings. At the same time it enormously weakened the power of the Guilds. Not only did the physical damage immediately reduce their income from property but it led to a decline in the close management of the labour force. New forms of labour appeared in the urban economy, formal apprenticeship declined and new trades sprung into existence.
Because the Speaker had a lengthy script we tried the experiment of starting this part of the programme while coffee was being served. This was satisfactory, although might have been less so had he been using visual aids. There was much interest and Peter remained to answer questions after the Chairman closed the meeting at 3.000 with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
December - Ladies Lunch - Jane Haynes "My Life as a Lady Bailiff"
Our speaker was Jean Haynes a farmers daughter from Essex - but as she said not the original Essex Girl!
This was a most interesting and humorous presentation of the problems, topics outside of the normal Probus membership experiences and interesting cases especially involving a group of folk who tend to arrive and despoil property that does not belong to them, but as Jean says perhaps not reported on a world wide web site, so if you wish to hear the hilarious details then find out where Jean is going to talk next and join the audience.Jean was a Director of a debt collecting company, then became a Certificated Bailiff 25 years ago. She is a member of the Certificated Bailiff Association of England and Wales. Jean worked commercially in England and Wales executing Distress Warrants for outstanding rent for large organisations. Jean had us in fits of laughter when she outlined her particular process of obtaining this certificate, as the profession was and still is dominated by men of burly disposition, rather large in stature and very muscular with pug noses to match, Jane does not have any of those characteristics and was held to sarcastic and ribald comments, never the less she persevered and as stated above became one of the few UK bailiffs.
During her time Jean has worked for H M Revenue & Customs levying distress for outstanding VAT. As you can imagine she met all sorts of characters in her line of business and therefore enthralled us with many tales.
There are, as you may imagine very few female Bailiffs in the country so June spoke on the subject with a different view on what can sometimes be a dangerous occupation. She told us she was always backed by as she said by her “Bover Boy” or in the extreme cases the Police.
On one early occasion she arrived at a site followed by her "boys" with two flat loaders with two recently repossessed JCB's (only on route back to a storage compound) and conveniently used these as a method or was it a threat against those who refused to move, this had the desired result although it was only a bluff and she became known within the fraternity as "her with the two diggers"
Her talk was interesting and humorous and hence after question time and the a vote of thanks all present responded with very warm applause.
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