Archived Reports 2009
2009
2009
January
Derek Fisk
History of London Transport
February
John Miller
The Miracle of the Black Leg and the Medical Saints
March
Simone Kay
Stained Glass
April
Robert Bushell
Kingston Scouts
May
Kingston Street Pastors
June
Doug Reynolds
Experiences in the RAF in WW2
July
Roger Reynolds
Travel Photography
August
Stan Moss
Teaching in East Africa,
September
John Shepherd
Crown Prosecution Service
October
Peter Ticker
Georgian Dublin
November
David Africa
Dentistry up to Date
December
No Speaker
Christmas Ladies Lunch
SURBITON PROBUS CLUB SPEAKERS Reports for 2009
Notes on the Lunch meeting - On Wednesday 21st January 2009
The Chairman introduced our Speaker Derek Fisk. Derek joined London Transport at an early age, despite his Father’s wish that he should follow him into the Insurance Industry. He progressed to become a General Manager and a recognised authority on transport systems which led him eventually to consultancy work in various parts of the country and abroad, including Mexico, and participation in the Channel Tunnel project.
Derek’s talk was illustrated by a very comprehensive set of slides. The first was a picture of a London street scene in the early nineteenth century soon after the roads had started to be developed so as to permit horse drawn traffic. So we saw a horse drawn carriage, a horse and a pedestrian – there would also have been sedan chairs. (note these are not the same slides but with thanks to the L T Museum)
The pioneer of mass road transport in London was George Shillibeer, originally a seaman, who worked on a similar project in Paris before starting his own coach works in London. He built a vehicle able to accommodate 18 people, riding inside and on top, who could get on and off without disturbing other passengers. This “omnibus” was pulled by three horses which had to be changed at the end of each journey. This proved expensive and Shillibeer had to charge a shilling for each ride. In today’s money this would be £5. He failed to attract enough custom and went bankrupt – although later succeeded in business as a funeral director.
In the mean time railways were developing, not only as city to city transport but for commuting into the centre of cities on a daily basis. A new generation of horse buses then came into being, lighter and stronger and only needing two horses. Passenger could ride on the top and boards were installed which preserved modesty and at the same time gave scope for advertising which improved the economics. (and still does).
In central London, however, roads were becoming seriously crowded and the concept of underground steam trains following a circular route was developed. These tunnels were originally built on the cut and cover principle and thus could not burrow under existing buildings or be routed under the Thames. This was the birth of the Metropolitan and District lines.
The idea of using low friction rails was then applied to horse drawn trams and these could carry up to forty people using only two horses. Access was by entrances and staircases at each end.
However, traffic congestion was still a problem and the first tubes were built. They were able to pass under buildings and the river and used electric motors. Construction was, however slow, although many routes were undertaken. The very first was the South London Tube Railway which plied between King William Street and Clapham Common. The early carriages had slit windows which were disliked by passengers and dubbed “padded cells”. Gradually the somewhat sinister appearance of the underground tunnels was transformed particularly by the use of tiles which were attractive, clean and hygienic.
In the mean time above ground horse trams were being replaced by electric tramways which were much faster and cleaner but originally involved overhead gantries to carry the current. These were a feature of the London street scene for a long time but ultimately the underground plough connector was developed – although these did have the disadvantage of sometimes trapping bicycle wheels. The original (Double -Decker) trams had open tops but roofs were later installed. At this point Derek enlivened his presentation by breaking into a music hall song of the time entitled “Riding on top of the car”.
Motor buses were slower to develop. We saw the old B-type double-decker designed in 1911 after which it replaced all horse buses. It had solid tyre and was thus treacherous in the wet, but drivers were specialty trained on appropriately prepared surfaces. These were the “old Bills” shipped out to Belgium and Holland as troop transport in the Great War. In civilian guise they acquired the first women conductors (seen complete with issued bloomers). In the early twenties a much improved design of chassis was adopted which dropped between the axles and so had a lower centre of gravity and was much easier to board.
The growth of the suburban services differed between the North and South of the Capital. Mainline services south of London early picked up the new breed of commuters – stations were more frequent. In the north trains sped on with fewer stops. Thus Metroland, celebrated by the poet John Betjeman, was developed to serve the suburbs and garden cities north of the Thames.
Back to street cars. In the thirties tram routes were being replaced by trolley buses and there was a fine picture of the original “Diddler” in central Twickenham. In fact the last of the old tram routes ceased operating in 1952 but trolleybuses had a relatively short life and the last one ran in 1962. They were replaced by standard diesel buses after which followed the Routemaster (shown left of which Derek was not an outright enthusiast) and then bendy buses.
This was a long presentation and Derek went on to cover a number of further topics. These included the gradual switch to the fully automatic operation of tube trains starting with the extension to the Victoria line, the section of the Piccadilly line from Piccadilly to the terminals at Heathrow and the Dockland Light Railway. Then the Croydon Tram link, aluminium tube trains as canvases for graffiti and so on. The last section of the presentation was a taster of the Covent Garden L T Museum which has now re-opened.
Although this was a long programme it was clearly well received. The Chairman closed the meeting at 3.30 with the Probus toast to which the speaker was also pleased to respond as a fellow Probean.
Brian Jackson
Images are on this page are © London Transport Museum , Covent Garden Piazza, London, WC2E 7BB with thanks more information with a galaxy of slides are on their site , please visit http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk
Notes on the Meeting at Glenmore House on Wednesday 18th February 2009
“The miracle of the black leg and the medical Saints".
The Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and introduced our Speaker John Miller. John trained as an orthopaedic surgeon and practised for thirty years in the Croydon area, specialising in hip replacements. He is a keen golfer and boasts a handicap of four – maintaining a tradition established by both his parents. He also sings in a Barbershop choir.
The subject of John’s talk was a pair of Saints: twin brothers, who became early Christian martyrs. They were born in Arabia and trained as physicians, accepting no payment for their services and by this led many to the Christian faith. They were arrested by the Roman Proconsul of Cilicia and ordered to recant. Refusing to do so they were crucified and then beheaded. Their most famous exploit was the grafting of a leg from a recently deceased Ethiopian onto the body of a white patient to replace an ulcerated limb. This exploit led to veneration and became the subject of many paintings and illuminations.
Cosmas and Damian became patrons of surgeons, physicians, dentists, barbers, pharmacists and so on.. A depiction of the twins may be found in Barber Surgeons Hall in the City of London. As an aside, John reminded us that in medieval times physicians were not permitted to perform surgery which, along with blood letting and other physical strategies, was carried out by academically untitled menials. Thus such people were not “doctors” and in this country (only) surgeons have chosen to commemorate their origins by retaining the “Mr.” honorific.
The main body of John’s presentation was a dazzling sequence of reproductions of pictures and statutes representing the twin saints. These ranged from wall paintings, sometimes anonymous and in variable condition, to items by Titian, Holbein the younger, Roger van der Weyden and a triptych of statues (the brothers and the BVM) by Michelangelo. There were pictures of four churches dedicated to Cosmas and Damien, one in Croatia, one in Brazil and (perhaps surprisingly) one in Challock, Kent another in Keymer, West Sussex.
The brothers were the subject of numerous legends of miraculous interventions. The painter Fra Angelico (a protégé of Cosimo di Medici) recorded the alleged re-unification of the two halves of a Camel which had been split asunder by a devil. In a subsequent picture the saints and their three brothers are seen being buried after their martyrdom in a ceremony supervised by the Camel.
There were some entertaining diversions of a surgical nature. For example in eighteenth century German speaking countries surgery was said to have been carried out by “Barbers, Hangmen, Sheepshearers, Sow gelders [sic], Itinerant Operators and “Charlatans”. In France the father of surgery was Ambroise Paré who discovered that a mixture of butter and eggs was an effective substitute for boiling oil in cauterising wounds and who enraged the profession by publishing his findings in the vernacular.
After John had answered questions the Chairman closed proceedings with the Loyal Toast at 3.00 p.m.
Brian Jackson
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House on Wednesday 15th March 2009
The Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and invited the Deputy Chairman Mo Lifford to introduce our Speaker Simone Kay.
Simone (left) first gave us an insight into her initial interest in stained glass which came while she was completing an Art Foundation Course at Kingston Polytechnic in 1981. Her original intention was to study textile design but a visit to Coventry Cathedral - which has the first major example of contemporary stained glass in Britain, and seeing numerous German examples persuaded her to change her mind. She accordingly embarked on a degree course at Reigate School of Art which taught traditional methods of stained glass in lead, as well as mosaics and murals. While she was there a group from the Chelsea School of Art and Design visited Reigate and this led Simone to move to Chelsea where she completed her formal studies.
After these Simone embarked on a strenuous career of combining motherhood and teaching. In 1997 she set up a studio/shop in Kingston. The story of her progress is told on her website (www.stainedglass-artists.co.uk) – although this is currently in need of updating. Sadly the latest news is about that a contract awarded last year, her largest to date, has gone sour. It was for an eight storey hotel in Bayswater extending to eight floors and the work is complete but the company has gone into liquidation, leaving the third and fourth instalments of Simone’s billing unpaid.
There then followed a slide show of activities carried out by Simone’s workshop in the fields of Public Works, architectural projects and private commissions. All cover a very wide range of circumstances. Location can strongly affect the degree of light transmission required, ranging from the very transparent down to opalescent glass which reflects rather than transmits. House owners like to see references to their surroundings or their particular interests – such as the bat keeper who wanted (and got) a dramatic image and the beekeeper who asked for iridescent wings. Windows are not necessarily vertical and skylights can offer wonderful possibilities. A new-build owner in Kingston wanted a representation of his solar panel in his window (why?).
Moving to the practical aspects of her work Simone showed various sorts of tools for working glass and lead. There were pictures of the various processes involved – although on this occasion time and place did not permit of a live demonstration. At this point questions were invited. One member asked about aging and glass. Is it true that glass grows more brittle with time? The answer to this was that glass varies a lot in its brittleness but that this is not necessarily a function of its age. In answer to another question it emerged that coatings to protect lead such as blacking or varnish were widely used in Victorian times but less so after the turn of the century. And finally: is stained glass expensive? In general terms – because of the creative processes and handcraft involved – and the use of materials such as lead - the answer to this was “yes”. We were asked to consider a very approximate rate per square foot of £125.
With her closing words Simone divulged a dream project. This would be to create an enlarged workshop and teaching centre in Kingston which could become a tourist attraction: a vision of stained glass to attract both admirers of the art and aspiring practitioners. She even hinted at a possible home for it – not very far from her present shop.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Simone Kay and concluded formal proceedings with the Probus Toast. After this a formidable group gathered around to hear and see more.
Brian Jackson
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House on Wednesday 15th April 2009
Scouting in Kingston upon Thames
After Lunch the Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and invited Bob Bushell to speak about Scouting. Bob organised his talk as a question and answer session and enlarged on his topics as we attempted answers. The prize for a correct answer was a Scout key ring but only three were awarded (none to your scribe).
As District Commissioner, Bob covers the whole of the Royal Borough of Kingston where some 1,630 people are involved in 17 Scout Groups. Bob asked for a show of hands from our Club and about a third present indicated that they had had some Scouting involvement in their lives. This is about average. Many highly achieving blokes have had Scouting in their backgrounds – such as the Davids Beckham, Bellamy and Attenborough; Richard Branson and John Major (1st Old Malden). When Jeremy Paxman was covering Beirut during the worst of the troubles there he came across a little tin hut on the outskirts full of Scouting memorabilia and was touched to find a small group still meeting – despite their numbers dropping off as the war took its toll.
Where did Scouting start? On Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour (above), now owned by the National Trust (award of key ring). Baden Powell’s Scouting for Boys is the fourth best selling book in the world (after The Bible, The Koran and Mao’s Little Red Book). There have been eight Chief Scouts, the first seven being much in the image of BP himself. But the present Chief, Peter Duncan, is in a different mould with his Blue Peter background. The Chief Scout wears no regalia, nor indeed any visible sign of rank. In 1910 B.P.’s sister Agnes founded the Guides but Lady Olave Baden Powell was the first Chief Guide.
Baden Powell
Worldwide there is Scouting in 216 countries, leaving only 6 without. In the UK there are at present more Guides than Scouts.
Scouting traditions. Why do Scouts shake hands with their left hands? Answer: in memory of Chief Dinizulu, a Zulu friend of BP. A Zulu will offer his left hand as a sign of friendship since he would carry his shield in his left hand but his spear in his right. The award of a wooden bead as a token of successful training was initially rewarded with beads from Dinizulu’s ceremonial necklace.
Why is the Scout badge the shape it is? It is an arrow head which looks upward and forward. Who is the Patron of the Scouting movement? The Queen; the President is the Duke of Kent. What is the highest award in Scouting? The only one you wear for life – the King/Queen Scout badge - which was introduced by George V (no key rings).
Bob reminded us that we are near the 23rd April – St. George’s day which Scouts celebrate in this country principally at St George’s Chapel in Windsor but also throughout the country. In RBK the service takes place in Our Lady Immaculate in Tolworth, the largest Church in the borough, where upwards of 1000 people are present: quite a spectacle. There is a strong musical tradition in Scouting and our local bands are impressive performers.
Over the years the hierarchy of Cubs, Scouts, Rovers and separate organisations for boys and girls have given way to new groupings. Thus: Beavers are aged 5 ¾ to 8, Cub Scouts 8 to 10 ½, Scouts 10½/ to 14 and Explorer Scouts 14 to 18 and there are Network Scouts 18 to 25. Members of both sexes belong to all Groups.
Bob’s talk generated a lot of nostalgia but also painted a picture of a very thriving organisation. For example, local membership has risen by 3.34% over the past year.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Bob Bushell and concluded formal proceedings with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House
On Wednesday 17th May 2009
Kingston Street Pastors
Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue.
It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working. There are now over 100 teams around the United Kingdom.
Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from Ascension Trust and local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, Council and other statutory agencies.
Kingston Street Pastors began in June 2006. The project is coordinated by Oxygen a Kingston Based Youth Charity.
Each evening between 15,000 and 20,000 people use Kingston Town Centre. They come from as far as Guildford, Croydon and Sutton as well as from Kingston Borough itself. What brings these individuals to Kingston is the many pubs, clubs and bars that are open from early till late. The vast majority of these people simply enjoy a good night before heading home, however there are a number of people who frequent the town centre who feel isolated, at risk or lost.
With the growth of Kingston’s night time community we believe that our town centre needs people who will be caring, loving and directing on the streets late at night. Those people form Street Pastors Kingston.
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House
On Wednesday 17th June 2009
My experiences in RAF Transport Command in WW2.
By Doug Reynolds
After Lunch the Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast he then welcomed our speaker – our very own Doug Reynolds and invited Doug to speak about his experiences in six years in the RAF during the Second World War.
Doug was called up and completed his basic training in the RAF in Blackpool in 1940. He was not able to apply for aircrew because of a weak left eye and his experience as a clerk was ruled out as there were no vacancies. However, he and all the others on parade one day did not expect to be told that they were ground gunners which were the forerunners of the RAF Regiment
He was posted to Cardington and he applied for re-mustering as an electrician and was eventually interviewed by an officer who asked him which school he went to and he replied that he went to the Surbiton County Grammar School. Whereupon the officer said that he had been an Inspector for the School. Was it a co-incidence that shortly afterwards he was sent to Henlow for a four months electrician’s course!
After three months at Old Sarum he was sent abroad and joined 267 Squadron which was part of transport Command. The aircraft were Hudson’s, an odd Lodestar and single door Dakotas – ex passenger aircraft- and then two door DC3s. The first DC3 flew in December 1935 and the marque is still in service throughout the world, except in Europe. The RAF had approximately 1900 of these: Dougie flew in one of the last in 2008 similar to that shown below.
The double door version of the DC3 could easily be changed internally to take 20 wounded and for other consignments such as supply dropping. They were –and still are- the workhorse of small local airlines but they became illegal to fly with non-military passengers by the EU in 2008 for health and safety reasons. A great pity. During Doug’s time with 267 Squadron they only lost 4 DC3s - all due to crew error, not to faults with the aircraft.
Doug joined the Squadron in Cairo and it was then moved to Tunisia and became involved with bringing back the wounded from Sicily. The flight took about two hours and Doug helped unload the casualties who were then taken to Tunis Hospital. Then the Squadron moved to Sicily and then to Bari in Italy. The Squadron became involved in dropping supplies to Italian Partisans and in June 1944 Doug went on one trip which was South of Florence and behind enemy lines to help dispatch 45 packages.
In August Doug and his mate were told to help prepare a DC3 for a special trip. Tanks for an extra 400 gallons of petrol were installed on the plane.
Eventually we were informed that the Air Force had bombed Peenemunde where the Germans were testing V1’s (shown below) and had moved the factory to near Warsaw, where the Polish underground movement managed to secure one of these aircraft. The British Intelligence were informed and as a result decided to send a Dakota from 267 Squadron. In Poland the plane landed in a field and after the V1 was put on board the plane got stuck in the mud. It eventually managed to take off but 14 Polish underground soldiers were killed in defending the field. The DC3 returned to Brindisi for the V1 to be sent onwards to England.
At the beginning of 1945 the Squadron was sent to India and then to Burma. It should have been a South African Squadron which was sent, but due to the colour problem, 267 went instead.
After the war Transport Command was very active in the Berlin Airlift (1948/9), carrying up to 13,000 tons of food daily: very few aircraft were lost. Throughout the whole of his war service Dougie kept diary on a daily basis which he still has in his possession. Very recently Dougie visited the Memorial Flight display at RAF Coningsby, south of Lincoln, where there are Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancaster’s and Dakotas.
Dougie then answered a frequently asked question: what do flight electricians do? They carry out daily inspections of the electronic equipment on aircraft and issue certificates to this effect. Without such a certificate an aircraft is not allowed to fly. At this point he also interpolated a sketchy account of a private enterprise tobacco import/export enterprise. No details were given except that the standard mark-up was one third on a trade so that a 9d packet would change hands at 1/- It was also said that individuals who flew from France to England sometimes brought back wine.
He told us that aircraft wings at this period would noticeably flap, but this was apparently quite safe. A slightly more alarming tale was of a pilot who made sure of clearing a belt of trees at the end of an airfield by putting the engines on full power with the brakes on and then suddenly releasing them at the to achieve maximum lift on take off. Finally: a question about Lysanders. Are there any still flying? Answer: yes, there is one at Duxford.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Doug and concluded formal proceedings with the Probus Toast. And the session wound up at 3.10 p.m.
Brian Jackson
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House
On Wednesday 15th July 2009
Travel Photography by Roger Reynolds
The Chairman then welcomed our Speaker, his friend Roger Reynolds who was to speak to us on travel and photography. After Lunch The Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and invited Roger Reynolds to give his talk. This was, in fact, not the first time Roger had spoken to us. At the Lunch in April 2005 he talked about traffic (speed) cameras. He has now retired from the Metropolitan Police and is able to devote more time to his hobby of photography (he is a past Chairman of the Royal Photographic Society). To quote from the Notes of that 2005 Lunch “The two halves of Roger’s life came unexpectedly together when the Police wanted to install a camera on a red light at the Hanger Lane gyratory system and inspirationally appointed him to oversee the operation” A major part of a large learning curve was to visit police departments in the US to benefit from their experience.. In retirement Roger has set up a company which organises photographic tours around the globe and clearly his past contacts have been useful in that new venture.
Roger’s presentation was a slide show of his own photographs taken on recent expeditions in the U.S.A , Canada, the Indian sub-continent and China. They were all of very high quality. The opening sequence consisted of shots in Idaho under twelve feet of snow, Bushy Park near where you are and Swalesdale in the light of early evening. We then moved to Northern Ireland (where Roger had to surrender his warrant card). There were pictures of a travellers’ encampment, a deserted cottage in Crossmaglen in County Armagh with an abandoned rocking horse. The same theme was to come up again in America where we saw a mining town in gold rush country abandoned when the ore ran out in the eighteen nineties and now preserved as a national monument.
In the United States one of Roger’s theme tours was Route 66 – now supplanted by an Interstate Highway, but become a thin nostalgic heritage trail extending from Illinois westward via Missouri, Kansas, Teas, Oklahoma Texas, New Mexico and ultimately into down into Southern California. Here people dominated. A feature Roger’s photography seems to be his gift for persuading people to allow themselves to be photographed – but ‘posing’ would be very much the wrong word to use. We saw a homeless guy in a wheelchair, a Vietnam veteran living in a one roomed hostel but flying the flag from his chair and intensely proud of his record and place in society. We saw the proud owner of a gas station who had worked in one all his life and been presented with a reconstruction by his son as a retiring present. Cars were another set of personalities: some old and rusting, others impeccably restored to their thirties glory.
From America we moved north to Canada and then to Sikkim in the Himalayas, a Buddhist monastery in Tibet, the Forbidden City in China, the terracotta warriors and then down to some grim aspects of Calcutta in western Bengal. And then finally to some wonderful animal pictures: pine martens, trumpeter swans, bison and coyote.
That is a very truncated impression of a fascinating narrative and above all an entrancing sequence of pictures. The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Roger and concluded formal proceedings at 3.10 p.m. with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
Lunch meeting at Glenmore House On Wednesday 19th August 2009
Teaching in East Africa by Stan Moss
After Lunch the Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and invited Stan Moss to give his talk. Stan’s talk was about his early life as a teacher in East Africa illustrated by copious quotations from two handbooks: “Hints on the preservation of Health in tropical Countries” published by The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations in 1957 and “A Household Book for Tropical Colonies” first published in 1939. The circumstances in which he embarked on his career in various parts of Africa lasting 35 years formed the start of his talk.
Stan had always intended to teach, and took professional training after leaving university. This led to an appointment to Sir Walter St John’s School, Battersea but before taking this up he was devastated to receive calling- up papers (he had previously secured deferment from National Service while studying). An initial interview seemed promising, though, and he applied for the Intelligence Corps in which he had hoped to learn a foreign language. However, when the assignment came it was to the Catering Corps and Stan looked round desperately for advice. Someone suggested the Colonial Office where he was interviewed for the post of teaching officer and claimed (under pressure) experience with contingences such as designing and equipping a Botany/Zoology Laboratory and purchasing equipment, which was definitely optimistic. However, he secured the appointment and the further deferral of National Service he was seeking. He received the princely annual salary of £250 p.a. This was more valuable than it might seem now, because virtually all living costs were covered.
Stan’s first destination was Lilongwe in Nyasaland (Malawi) on the banks of the beautiful lake (above) of that name. But there was much to learn about living in Africa and plenty of advice available in the books. For example: “Mosquitoes are commonly infected [with malaria] through biting natives, particularly children. The vicinity of native villages and the proximity of native children should therefore be avoided as far as possible”. Much other wildlife was lying in wait: ticks, tsetse flies, hookworms, tapeworms, the pudzi and tumbu flies and maggots – and much advice was available if avoidance failed. Advice such as: if you are bitten by a python just lie down and allow it to swallow one of your legs. Because the teeth of the python slant inwards it cannot bite in the normal way. When the creature has reached the top of your leg you then simply take out your pocket knife and disable its jaw by cutting on each side of it.
Humans also had to be dealt with – especially servants. Thus your cook: “a persistently odorous boy must be dismissed if he does not respond to frequent baths with carbolic soap”. One way or another there was always a battle in progress. Some milk had gone sour and the boy protested that he had taken the right precautions and described what he did. The rest of the dialogue was as follows:
“Well I will teach you to let the milk go sour. Today we will make Cream Cheese, Soda Scones, Gingerbread and Devil’s Food Cake. We will not waste it.”
“Indeed, sir, sour milk is not wasted, for we Africans can always use it”
”That, my friend is what I suspected”
There was much more of the same. Stan remained in Africa but did not stay in teaching: he later transferred to the British Council. His talk was very much enjoyed but there was – unusually - a complete dearth of formal questions at the end, but a very interested knot of Members talking to Stan afterwards.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Stan and concluded formal proceedings at 3.10 p.m. with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
Lunch meeting at Glenmore House on Wednesday 16th September 2009
The Crown Prosecution Service by John Shepherd
After Lunch the Chairman proposed the Loyal Toast and invited John Shepherd to speak on the origins of the Crown prosecution Service. John is a Barrister working with the CPS in Kingston
The Crown Prosecution service was set up in 1984. It was part of a series of changes in the law, particularly the Police and Criminal Justice Act, which changed many things such as the admissibility of taped interviews rather than written depositions as evidence in Court. It has developed considerably since then. It was originally a reviewing body whose remit was to ensure that the Police had enough evidence when bringing prosecutions. It now basically co-operates closely with the police in bringing prosecutions itself. The new integrated organisation is much more effective.
One of the consequences of a more effective prosecution system is that there are now more guilty pleas in Court: the present ratio is 73 per cent. Nothing is perfect but this is clearly heading in the right direction and much preferable to the “let’s check your homework” approach.
Another major development is that the CPS now regularly prosecutes in the Crown Courts as well as Magistrates Courts. The range of offences dealt with has also enlarged – so as to include homicide, for example – and there is less recourse to barristers in private practice. This certainly saves money. There is also better continuity and less conflict of interest. But the Independent Bar is still an essential part of the criminal justice system.
In other jurisdictions – such as the U.S. - prosecutions are always brought by State attorneys or their equivalents but here there is a good mix. The Bar should certainly have nothing to fear from the growth of the CPS – and in fact this is not a particularly lucrative activity for outside practitioners because of uncertain timing, travelling costs etc.
John then proposed two essential considerations in deciding whether or not to proceed with a prosecution: the weight of evidence and whether it would be in the public interest. The remaining determinant is then whether ten people out of twelve can be convinced. All three items require subjective decisions as to probability: a conviction can never be guaranteed.
On the issue of public interest, a primary consideration is that it costs £13,000 per day to run a Crown Court. Then consider (say) the theft of a newspaper with a value of 50 pence. However convincing the evidence, the use of public funds in such a case would clearly not be justified. On the issue of proof there are robust policies in the areas of hate crime, racial/disability discrimination and domestic violence where hearsay evidence is weak. But a recent development where the Court now has access to recordings of 999 calls is a help.
John then reflected on general preoccupations arising during the ten years during which he has been a senior Crown prosecutor. The issues of literacy and numeracy are powerful determinants of behaviour. Thus, of the present prison population some 80% are considered to have writing problems, 75% are functionally innumerate. Half of all prisoners would fail the current school Sats tests. This is a shocking state of affairs.
A frequently asked question is: how much does it cost the State to keep a person in prison for a year? The most recent published figure is £36,339 per prisoner per annum. At present there are approximately 80,000 people in prison. The cost figure includes the present cost of fixed assets (such as buildings) determined on acceptable accounting principles as well as the more easily determined expenditure amounts for goods and services. A truly surprising figure in this calculation is a per diem item of 27 pence per prisoner for food.*
What makes a criminal? On the whole John believes that most people in prison have had the right opportunities but simply made the wrong decisions. There is clearly a correlation between deprivation/poverty and crime. But it also seems inescapable to avoid the conclusion that, whatever his or her circumstances and abilities, an irreducible minority of our fellow citizens are born antisocial.
*Correction: This is an earlier figure relating to the cost of a meal. More recently (2006) the daily cost of food per prisoner at HMP Chelmsford was recorded as £1.68.
John Shepherd’s talk was enthusiastically received and was followed by an unusually lively question and answer session.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to John and concluded formal proceedings at 3.15 p.m. with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
Lunch meeting at Glenmore House On Wednesday 21st October
Georgian Dublin by Peter Ticker
After the Loyal Toast the Chairman asked the General Secretary to introduce the Speaker. Peter Ticher came from a Dublin family which had originated in Germany and moved to Ireland shortly before the establishment of the Third Reich in the early Twenties. Peter’s father collected silver as a hobby and later became an authority on Irish hallmarks: an interest which Peter has continued. Peter graduated from Trinity College Dublin in Economics and Political Science and has worked in industrial relations and management and computer consultancy in Ireland, Scotland and England. He has lived in England for a long time and has been active in public and political life. He was Chairman of the Sutton & Cheam Society for twelve years.
Peter commenced his talk with a rapid review of Irish history from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the period which was the subject of his talk: Dublin in the eighteenth century. At this time Dublin was the second city in the British Empire and its Parliament the only one outside London. The centre had decayed and there grew a very deliberate will to reconstruct the centre. A pioneering city plan was adopted and a Commission with wide powers was established to govern the City and implement the plan. Inter alia this Committee was given wide powers of demolition – in particular so that streets could be widened. Peter’s first slide showed Dublin City Hall in the background but in front of it a plethora of old buildings. This was an early project and in fact at this stage it had to be abandoned because there were literally thousands of inhabitants who had not been warned and could not be displaced.
The next slide was a print of Sackville Street (later to become O’Connell Street -above) at the end of the Eighteenth Century. This showed the Nelson Pillar which was built to commemorate Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar but which was blown up by the IRA in 1966. Also visible was the G.PO; built in 1818 but which a hundred years later was the centre of the Easter Rising and shelled by British forces, although it was later restored by the Irish Free State. Leading off O’Connell Street is the bridge of that name over the Liffey which is very unusual in being wider than it is long.
Another landmark is the Mansion House and nearby the Library of Trinity College Dublin, the home of the Book of Kells. The Library originally had a flat ceiling but a wonderful; barrel vaulted ceiling was substituted in the Nineteenth Century. TCD is one of the four copyright institutions in the British Isles, the others being the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian at Oxford and Cambridge University Library.. These have the right to receive copies of all copyright publications which are deposited at the British Library. In TCD’s case the storage space in situ has become inadequate and there is now a repository built on a sports ground in the outskirts of Dublin.
The largest public building erected in the 1780s is the Custom House, built by James Gordon. The view of it from O’Connell Bridge was destroyed in the 19th Century by an extremely ugly railway bridge.
A further notable Georgian Building is the Supreme Court (or Four Courts) which is also beautiful on the inside with exceptional plaster work and impressive doorways. This type of extremely fine plasterwork is also seen on the walls and ceilings of private houses in the streets and squares built at the same time. The houses are also known for their elaborate fanlights. Italian workmen were brought in because of their special skills. Another interesting feature of Dublin in the past is that, although all major cities have their share of rich and poor citizens, the social divide – certainly in the eighteenth century – was particularly acute. An amusing example of the diversions of the very rich and idle was an illustration of indoor horse racing – in a theatre!
A notable event in the history of Dublin was the first performance of the Messiah which was held in the Music Hall in Fishamble Street in 1742. Lord Chesterfield had persuaded the King (George II) to allow Handel to travel from London where he lived at the time to conduct his great work and 700 tickets were sold. Crinolines and swords were prohibited in the Hall but the crush was so great that half way through the performance several of the upper windows had to be removed.
At this time a large number of eminent people lived in Dublin, among them being Sheridan, Vanbrugh, Goldsmith Burke and notably Swift who led a coterie which was very critical of the authorities. Swift was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral and associated with a number of charitable enterprises including the foundation of St Patrick’s (mental) Hospital. “He gave the little wealth he had to build a house for fools and mad: and showed with one satiric touch ‘no Nation needed it so much.” A close friend of Swift was Mary Delaney who was known for her exquisite pictures of flowers made with coloured paper (Peter showed some slides). These were so accurate that Kew Gardens sent her samples from which she made exact replicas, many of which are in a collection at the British Museum.
Peter then spoke about the coinage. In the latter part of the century coins of the realm were very scarce; so much so that Spanish and Portuguese coins were commonly used. A Piece of Eight was a Spanish coin (below-the Real) worth approximately half a crown (240d/8=30d). To check on value, merchants commonly carried pocket scales.
This then led our Speaker to touch on his other favourite subject: antique Irish Georgian silver. He had brought a number of objects with him, some of which – including an ingenious adjustable toast rack and an exquisite snuff box - he circulated round the tables. He also had on display two larger pieces. One was in the shape of a large collar, used to keep piles of plates off polished table tops (these are sometimes wrongly thought to be for serving potatoes). This was pierced, as was customary, with an intricate design. The other was a large strawberry dish, flawlessly fluted. The special interest of this was that the original had belonged to his father who left it in his will to the Irish National Museum. But before making this provision he first had replicas made which he gave to his three children.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Peter and concluded formal proceedings at 3.15 p.m. with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
Lunch meeting at Glenmore House On Wednesday
Dentistry up to Date by David Africa
Notes on the Lunch meeting at Glenmore House
On Wednesday 18th November 2009
Maurice then welcomed our Speaker David Africa who was to speak on new developments in Dentistry. After the Loyal Toast the Chairman handed the meeting to our Speaker, David Africa. David, a South African, trained in Cape Town and now runs two successful dental practices, one of them in Chessington. Dr Africa has prepared for us the following text of the talk he gave, illustrated by graphic slides:-
1. Diagnosis: we now use a laser detector to pick up any hidden decay instead of a metal probe – works like a sonar and bleeps an alarm if decay is detected.
2. Digital X-rays - we are able to take an x-ray and have it presented immediately on computer screen in digital image format – no more chemicals for development and environmentally friendly.
3. Scaling & Cleaning teeth: we use a special gadget that mixes water and bicarbonate of soda as a water jet and removes stains and debris quite efficiently – called a prophyflex machine.
4. Ozone Treatment – a revolutionary machine that converts oxygen on the teeth to ozone and this becomes a powerful anti bacterial, viral and fungal agent and destroys the factors that cause tooth decay and, if early enough, we can prevent doing any fillings on the teeth – especially good to protect children’s teeth. A rubber cup placed over the teeth for treatment instead of the dreaded drill!!
5. Cerec = Ceramic reconstruction – technology which allows us to take an optical impression of a prepared tooth for a crown and mill it out within an hour – instead of the gooey impression material and 2 weeks waiting for a crown. Comprises 2 units – one is the acquisition unit which captures the optical impressions and another is a milling unit which grinds out the crown from a block of porcelain. It is a one visit in-surgery procedure.
6. Lasers: Diode and thermal lasers to cut diseased gums away and speed up healing processes - bloodless surgery can be obtained with these types of lasers – smaller, affordable units are now manufactured for use in the surgeries. One type of diode laser works on the principal of activating a solution placed between the gums and teeth and turns it into a powerful antibiotic instantly killing off all pathogens causing gum disease – painless procedures …
7. Crowns – The introduction of Zirconium oxide based crowns which exhibit phenomenal strength just like its metal counterpart for an aesthetic look. No metal in these crowns and therefore they appear very natural and strong.
8. Invisalign braces: Invisible braces worn to correct alignment of teeth without the usual “train track braces” – I was able to show that a virtual model of treatment is created and then the different steps are analysed before treatment begins – we are able to see the alignment and correction of the teeth take place on a virtual model on the computer screen. These are clear and invisible braces – used a lot for adults nowadays who do not want to show any metal braces.
9. Implants: I was able to show how we reconstruct and replace teeth via synthetic bone grafts and the placement of titanium screws (implants) to restore complete arches of teeth for patients who do not want to wear dentures anymore. A few examples were shown of patients who lost their front teeth and we are now able to restore these completely without the use of removable dentures. I spoke about CT scanning and having a virtual model of the patient’s bone and skull to do treatment planning.
10. Flexible dentures: A new type of flexible material used in the manufacture of false teeth – all unsightly clasps of metal are done away with and replaced with this type of nylon instead of the usual methacrylate based acrylic dentures.
11. I briefly mentioned the introduction of fibres into dentistry which when coated with a resin become hard and strong and splint loose teeth together.”
Following his talk David Africa answered a number of questions from the floor. The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to David and concluded formal proceedings at 3.10 p.m. with the Probus Toast.
Brian Jackson
December 2009 - Christmas Ladies Lunch -No Speaker Carols and Bell Ringing
The Worshipful the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Councillor Ian R McDonald
with Chairman of the Surbiton Probus Club Maurice Lifford
We were delighted that Councillor Ian R. McDonald BSc, PGCE, CSci, CPhys, MInstP, EurPhys, MIET, IEng, MBCS, CITP joined us for our Christmas Ladies lunch. On Wednesday 6 May 2009, Councillor Ian R McDonald was installed as Mayor for the coming 12 months. He was born in London, Councillor Ian McDonald has lived in the borough since 1967. He attended Malden Parochial and Beverly Boys (now known as Coombe Boys) School. He also attended 1st Old Malden Scouts. While at school he participated in Rugby, Judo, Aikido, Chess and Fencing.Councillor McDonald has previously served within the borough as the Head of Environmental Science at Chessington Community College and as Head of Physics and Electronics at Southbrough Boys School.
However, Councillor McDonald’s main career has been as an Engineer / Scientist working in new technologies, primarily within Information Technology.
Photograph by John Rowe
