Help for Heroes Duck Race 2010

Thursday 12th August 2010

Help for Heroes was presented with four thousand pounds at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Southwell. This is the profit from the Duck Race held on the River Trent in Newark that was organised by the Rotary Clubs of Southwell and Newark Castle.

Kevin Mitchell described some of the work of the Help for Heroes charity and how it complements the work of long established military charities including providing buildings and facilities that are outside their normal remit. There are eight to sixteen wounded service personnel flown back to Birmingham from Afghanistan every night of the week.

Money was also donated to the Firefighters Charity in recognition of the help provided by the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in rounding up the ducks on the river after the race.

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Birmingham International Airport

On Tuedsay 24th August 2010 we all enjoyed an informative and intersting talk by Mr Andy Holding from Birmingham International Airport.

 

Andy outlined the plans for the proposed runway extension at the airport which if all goes well should be completed by 2014 .The lengthened runway would allow larger planes to operate from the airport which inturn would widen their list of availiable holiday and business destinatioins .

 

The airport has tried to study their catchment area and whether those living close to the airport actually use the facility and are working to increase their market share.

 

Working closely with those that live near to the airport they try to measure noise levels and any impact future alterations may have on their neighbours and on enviromental issues. Improving double glazing is an ongoing committment they uphold but are always prepared to listen to complaints and to try to resolve any issues.

 

 

The evening was concluded in the normal way with a 'round of applause'

 

Newark Development since 1800

Tony Colton gave the club a most fascinating   presentation on how our town had changed   in the Victorian period until the twentieth   century. He illustrated his talk with old pictures and   street maps.

The early buildings were on the east side of the River Trent because the west side was marshy and often flooded: In later years to overcome this a causeway was built by a Mr Smeaton.

In this early period many hundreds of coaches a day would pass through Newark so accommodation and stabling were in demand, most of   those buildings can be seen today.

Businesses began to be sited along the eastern side of the river and as the population grew more buildings were constructed to the east and north,,later, firms started   along the Fosse and so the

town grew to the south but still along the riverside.

During this period young children were obliged to work from 6am to 8pm with a short break for lunch , any other food was eaten at the workplace.

Education was started   by the churches of C of E &,Methodist and other benefactors. There was a fee to pay and exams to pass or the student would not progress to a full five year course.The school buildings can be seen today in the town, eg Magnus.

Then the railways arrived and generated more   businesses and  a technical training   need ,which was supported by the new larger firms   .Retail services also grew to meet the need of the increased population.

Thank you Tony for such an absorbing history of our town.

 

Godfrey.    13/7./10

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Nottinghamshire Royal Society for the Blind

On Tuesday 27 July 2010 the Club was given a presentation by Cally Martin and Chris White from the Nottinghamshire Royal Society for the Blind.  

 

The emotional issues faced by those experiencing sight loss can be very difficult to cope with.   The Society is often the first point of call for the newly blind and is likely to be a life-line and a place of support for the rest of a blind person’s life.  

 

The Society will counsel a person who comes along for the first time, explaining in great detail the particular reasons behind the sight loss.   Often that individual has a much better understanding after that first meeting than when he or she left hospital.   From that starting point, the Society can advise on the best ways to cope with the disability and the services available to assist that person to overcome their particular problems in the best possible way.  There are many different types of sight loss and, therefore, treatment and services will vary according to the specific cause.  

 

Apart from counselling and emotional support, the Society provides sports, hobby and lifestyle services so that blind persons can still enjoy a good quality of life.   Such activities include:  

Climbing at a climbing centre  

Gym and swimming sessions  

Rambling  

Gardening  

A range of sports like boccia, curling and goalball  

Healthy living and healthy eating.  

Blood pressure checks and advice  

 

More relaxing activities might include:  

Massage  

Manicures  

Football audio commentaries at Nottingham Forest  

Cricket audio commentaries at Trent Bridge  

 

Hobbies include:  

Gardening  

Basket-making  

Drama  

Pottery, Collage and jewellery making.  

 

There are many day trips, social activities and self-help groups.  

 

Chris gave us a very interesting and detailed talk with powerpoint illustrations showing the way that light is transmitted and then received and interpreted by mechanisms in the eye.   He gave examples of how some of these mechanisms break down, leading to blindness.   He described the correlation between illness or life style and the loss of sight.   His strongest advice: to have frequent eye tests!  

 

The Club members were very impressed by the work of the Society and went away with a far better understanding of the problems which could affect any one of us, sometimes at short notice.   It was very reassuring to know that there is a superb organisation in existence, able to give a lot of help if the unthinkable were to happen.   That organisation deserves our strong support.  

 

Feed the Children (UK)

Tuesday 10th August saw Brian Main visit the Club to give a Talk on the Charity FEED THE CHILDREN (UK).Brian is a Director of both the UK and Uganda arm of Feed The Children and was at great pains to distance the Charity from the operation in Oklahoma USA.

 

FEED THE CHILDREN UK is a totally independent UK charity supported entirely by voluntary donations and fundraising activities in the UK.

They work worldwide to enable orphans and vulnerable children and their Communities to alleviate poverty through humanitarian relief,promoting health and education and developing sustainable solutions.

 

Brian was keen to point out that they only work with Trusted Partners and are not prepared just to throw monies and effort into the blackhole that is often the case particularly in African Countries.

 

The Charity is also working to set up Breakfast Clubs in designated Deprived areas in Birmingham and Bristol here in the UK,clearly these are targeted areas and have been specificly identified for the benefit of vulnerable children.

 

Examples were given of the work in SriLanka following the sunarmi and I took particular note that the Charity will target village communities after such disasters.They then continue to work until the community is back on its feet and able to sustain their own livelihood.

 

FTC continue to work in Parkistan and have been there since the Earthquake of 2005.

It is worthy of note that the flooding of today is going to have a long term effect before the Country is able to make any form of recovery.Rotary will need to be supporting here for a long time to come.

 

The programme of Bore Hole installation which provides water to many thousands of people is yet another example of  a similar approach to Rotary.Again FTC looks to establish the facility,educate the community to stand on their own and bring sustainability to the area.

 

SVP Ken concluded the evening by presenting a cheque to Brian and I hope that we are able to help more in the future.

 

   

Murder at the Showground July 2010

Newark Castle Members together with Members of Newark Club, family and friends gathered at the Cedric Ford Pavillion for an evening of mystery organized by Charmaine Fenton.

 

Players from the Averham Theatre Company gave us a brilliant one-act play depicting life in a village doomed by the new squire and his plans for a railway line which would decimate village life.   Into this scenario a terrible murder was committed.

 

Intrigue followed intrigue and we were left very puzzled as to whom the murderer could be.

 

After a delicious supper members of the cast moved amongst us to enable us to question them and try to ascertain whether or not they could have murdered the new squire.   Needless to say not many of us found the guilty person.  Indeed one amongst the audience, whose maiden name was Holmes, gave such a detailed reason why the Vicar was the murderer when he wasn’t so she was awarded a magnifying glass.   What she will use it for is anyone’s guess.

 

An evening to remember and maybe one to be repeat in years to come.

 

Visit to Floral Media 29.06.10

On Tuesday 29th June 2010 the club and partners enjoyed a fantastic night at Floral Media, Caunton and even the non gardeners amongst us could not have been failed to be impressed by our hosts, husband and wife team, enthusiasm, passion and knowledge for the flowers and shrubs that they produce.

 

We had the opportunity of trolling amongst their amazing range of plants, pots and Japanese garden and some of us eyed up one or two items to purchase at the end of the night.

 

We enjoyed a demonstration on making hanging baskets and the ultimate 'salad bowl ' for us to grow on our patios at home.  It was made to look very simple and I hope that some of us will rise to the challenge and have a go for ourselves. !!!!  May be the Newark castle's Open gardens tour could be a new event in our calendar.

 

The evening concluded with a delightful light supper and included some delicious home made scones with cream which was the perfect ending for a lovely Summers evening.

 

A great night

 

The Violin Equarian Project 20.04.10

When I saw that we were to receive a talk by Njaal Bendixen about violins I little realised what a treat was in store for all of us.   As you know I love music and have great respect and admiration for musicians and their talent, however I have never come across someone who shows such craftsmanship and dedication to his profession.

In July Njaal is hoping to go to Equador to teach people how to restore some of the musical instruments there that at the moment are lying unused because of their state of disrepair.

It was fascinating to see him work on an instrument that is over a hundred years old in order to return it to its former glory. This is especially important because according to Njaal most musicians enjoy playing the older instruments because as the wood seasons over time the tone of the instrument improves.

Njaal them went on to show us how he works on the different components of the violin and how such minor adjustments can change the sound the violin makes.   Such a skilled job.   I was seated next to Larry who thought his dexterity would not go amiss in an operating theatre!

By supporting such people as Njaaal, I feel as a Rotarian, how wonderful it is, even in a small way to be able to improve and enrich other peoples’ lives.   People we haven’t met and have little understanding of their how they live. But people the other side of the world will be able to learn a new skill as violin restorers; will have the chance to play otherwise unusable musical instruments and finally give pleasure to so many more people as they listen to the wonderful music as a result of Njaals’ work.

Congratulations Njaal on your skill as a craftsman and dedication in enriching the lives of others.

 

Gina Cresswell 

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Boxes bring aid

Alzheimer's Society

In the East Midlands there are over 54,000 people with dementia and it is predicted that this figure will rise to 71,000 by 2017. There are 13 branches and support groups whose services include day care and home care for people with dementia, as well as support and befriending services to help partners and families cope with the demands of caring. Services offered to our local area include:

 

Advocacy Service
The advocacy service is a free and independent service working with people with dementia, their families and carers troughout Nottinghamshire.

 

Alzheimers Cafe Newark
Information provision and advice for people with dementia and their carers in Newark and the surrounding areas.

Befriending Scheme
The Befriending scheme provides 40 person centred volunteer befrienders to clients with dementia living in their own homes.

Carer Support Service
Advice & information given for up to 130 carers per annum.

Carers Support Group
Carers support group carers only. Serves 10 carers per session.

Dementia, Advice and Support Service
Support and information for people with dementia and their families and allied professionals.

Information provision

Newark DASS
Information, advice, support and groups.

Newark Memories Social Club
Memories is a social club for people with dementia and their carers providing a range of activities and an opportunity to meet other people in similar situations.

Newsletter
Local information support and events sent out to around 800 carers and members of the public three to four times a year.

The term 'dementia' is used to describe the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions. Dementia is not a natural part of ageing; it is caused by diseases of the brain and gradually robs people of their lives. There are over 100 different types of dementia. Some of the more common causes are outlined below.

Alzheimer's disease  − The most common cause of dementia. During the course of the disease the chemistry and structure of the brain changes, leading to the death of brain

Vascular disease  − The brain relies on a network of vessels to bring it oxygen-bearing blood. If the oxygen supply to the brain fails, brain cells are likely to die and this can cause the symptoms of vascular dementia.

Dementia with Lewy bodies  − This form of dementia gets its name from tiny spherical structures that develop inside nerve cells. Their presence in the brain leads to the degeneration of brain tissue.      

Fronto-temporal dementia (including Pick's disease)  − In fronto-temporal dementia, damage is usually focused in the front part of the brain.

Facts & Stats

• 700,000 people have some form of dementia - enough people to fill every premiership league football stand in the UK.
• By 2018 there will be over 800,000 people living with dementia.
• 100,000 people develop dementia every year.

• Over the next ten years, 1 million people will develop dementia.
• By 2018 dementia will cost the UK £27 billion per annum.
• 86p out of every pound given to us is spent on charitable services - supporting people, research and campaigning.
• By 2025 there will be over one million people with dementia, soaring to 1.7 million people by 2050.
• Dementia is one of the main causes of disability later in life, ahead of cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. As a country we spend much less on dementia than on these other conditions.
• For every five years lived past 30, the chance of developing dementia doubles.
• Delaying the onset of dementia by five years would halve the number of deaths from dementia, saving 30,000 lives annually.
• Dementia is now the fourth most common cause of death among women in the UK (5.2% of deaths - ONS 2006).
• Dementia is now the ninth most common cause of death among men (2.1% of deaths - ONS 2006).
• One in three people over 65 will die with dementia.

 

At the end of the talk President Richard Bourne presented Liz with a cheque for £100.

 

The New LEC Caravan is Decorated

It's About You

“It’s All About You”

 

Steve Watson, the Managing Director of the new glossy magazine, “It’s All About You”, came to talk to our club on 8^th June, 2010.

 

Prior to setting off for Rotary that evening, I said to Joan, what do you think about the magazine. She loves it, because it is informative, well presented and full of good articles all about local people with interesting stories.

 

At the Town Hall I once spoke to the Mayor of Sleaford. She is envious of our local magazine and wished that a similar magazine were produced in their area.

 

So when I was invited to be the speaker steward for the evening, I was delighted.

 

For a long time Steve has dreamt of publishing a local magazine. The first thing was to conduct a survey to establish if one would be successful in the Newark area. The survey suggested that a magazine would be successful and should be published quarterly, but Steve thought that this would be far too infrequent and decided to produce every two months.

 

Originally, it was thought that 7000 copies would be sufficient, but after 8 issues, the print is 12000 copies. They do not door drop. Instead free copies are placed in all the local supermarkets, surgeries, transport centers and other places where several people are likely to meet. Steve believes that each copy is read by an average of 4 people and this increases to 10 people in waiting rooms.

 

Since all the costs of printing and paying wages are covered by revenue from advertisers, it was costly to Steve to start. However, now that it is becoming well known and awaited by its readers, it is hoped that any profits will cover the initial outlay and that Steve will continue its publication. It costs £8000 to produce each issue of the magazine and a team of 4 are required produce it.

 

The successful format has resulted in some of his staff leaving the company to start their own magazines. Steve is now considering expanding into Sleaford, Lincoln and Grantham, but with content only local to these areas. So the wish of the Mayor of Sleaford may be granted.

 

The magazine thrives on local human interest stories. Steve and his team even visit pupils in local schools for stories. Since the magazine is all about promotion we were asked if we knew of any stories. Articles on Sue’s Place has resulted in them finding sponsors. Steve suggested that Rainbow’s could be offered a regular spot in the magazine.

 

This talk by Steve, arranged by Charmaine our Publicity Officer, has demonstrated that if we are to continue with our regular spot in the magazine, Charmaine needs our help to provide stories about the projects our club is involved with. We could not wish for better publicity for recruiting new members to Rotary.  

 

Printing in Canary Wharf

17.11.09 We welcomed Tim Brighton to our meeting.

 

He gave us an insight into Rupert Murdoch’s battle with the print unions in the 1970’s and 1980’s to gain control of the printing industry from the militants.

 

In the late 1960’s provincial newspapers were investing heavily in a new type of printing called “web Offset” which in its day was revolutionary.   It allowed printing to be produced in a far more modern way than the type set which was in use at the time.   It also allowed newspapers to print items in colour.    This did not go down at all well with the closed shops controlled by the militant unionist bosses who ensured that the print workers had jobs for life with many members of the same family in highly paid employment , as it would mean job cuts in the industry.

 

Rupert Murdoch realised that secrecy of his plan was imperative if he wished to succeed in modernising the national press.    He managed to convince Robert Maxwell that he was setting up a new paper in Canary Wharf (Maxwell brought out a rival)which was a red herring while all the time working gradually to achieve his vision of modernising printing in the 80’s and breaking the stranglehold the unions had on the industry.

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MARATHON, MARATHON & MARATHON

 

In 2003 the first was in Morocco (Marathon des Sables) with a friend, who was unable to finish the course due to infected feet and leg. He said that a grain of sand works like sand paper raising blisters, which are then treated with iodine! The surface was sand or small rocks and hilly at times, all this at 40 C.

 

 

 

Rotary Quiz Night

 

On Wednesday the 3^rd February 2010 four determined Rotarian Egg Heads set off to represent their club at one of the rounds of the Trent Group Quiz.

 Graham tackled blizzardous conditions in North Muskham to pick me up in Coddington. We drove to Mac’s who drove the rest of the way picking Andy up enroute who said he would be waiting for us in a bus shelter on the A46. The only trouble being that apparently someone had stolen the bus shelter but Andy was there with an umbrella as his shelter!

We arrived at the Vale Social Club in Colwick in plenty of time and were particularly delighted when we could buy a bottle of Merlot for £7.50 and it was pretty good too!

Members arrived from other clubs and tables of four were arranged around the room. The quiz began and it soon became clear that this was going to be a most frustrating experience with unbelievably obscure questions being asked with very little time given for discussion.

There were ten teams entered and we came eighth. Graham proved extremely knowledgeable and it was amazing how many things we learned that night.

Looking around at some of the teams who knew much more than us it became abundantly clear that they needed to get out more!!!

 

Results:

 

Carlton A Team – 65 points.

Trent Bridge Rejects –65 points.

Trent Bridge A Team –60 points

These teams will be going forward to the next round.

 (Newark Castle –24 points)

 

To finish the evening off we watched the final moments of the football match on the large screen T.V. where Spurs played and beat Leeds 3-0 !

The snow had stopped so we drove back and had a quick drink in the Rose and Crown in Farndon with JVP Ken who was recovering well from his jet lag!!

It was a great evening for fun and fellowship if not for quizzing.

 

War Time Newark

Refugees

Prior to the Second World War, the civil authorities decided that Newark would not be a main

target for the Luftwaffe. Sheffield, Hull, Derby and Birmingham were considered more likely

targets. As a result wardens visited Newark and the surrounding villages for an evacuation

census. If you had bedrooms empty, then this was not....................................

Santa's Copter Drop

 

At 12.00 midday  on Monday 30 November the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance arrived in the Main Ring in front of the Cedric Ford at The Showground.  Santa jumped out, waved to those present and then dropped his sack on a point of his own choice.  The Ring had been divided into 2600 invisible squares.  Newark Castlers had already sold a large number of these squares over a Friday and Saturday to shoppers at Newark’s Waitrose.  The shoppers were trying to guess in which square Santa would drop his sack, because the correct guess would win £250!  We raised a gross sum in excess of £2000. 

 

The winning square was S8.  The winner was 3 year old Lillie Abel, from Sutton-on-Trent.  Lillie chose the square whilst her mother looked on in Waitrose.  Lillie has her own bank account and these funds will be reserved for a special occasion (more news later!).  Lillie, her sister and her parents were absolutely thrilled.  Her mother said “You never ever believe that you will be the lucky winner and we had totally forgotten about it”.  A Newark Castle Rotary cheque was sent to Lillie by “Lapland Santa Post”.  The envelope contained not only the cheque, but a special Santa letter.

 

The Newark Advertiser covered the helicopter landing and promised some good coverage in the paper. The BBC did not have a camera crew available (unlike the earlier planned landing which was cancelled because of a technical fault with the helicopter).  Andy Foreman, accompanied by Glen, took a video and delivered it to the BBC in Nottingham, but they did not use it.

 

My thanks go to the organising team from Glen’s committee, to David Stocks for printing the squares, to David Strange for arranging the posters, to Spanky for arranging Waitrose, to all Club Members who attended Waitrose over 2 days, to the helicopter landing stewards who manned the perimeter of the landing area and to Graham Sinclair and Andy Foreman who took photos.  Thanks are also extended to Charmaine who kept all the local media informed and to Andy Haycox who collected publicity boards and then measured the Main Ring to determine the winner.

 

On behalf of Castle,  I have sent a letter to the Manager of Waitrose expressing our gratitude and stating that we would like him to attend the Club in the near future as our dinner guest.

 

This event was based on 2 principles in relation to the Club:

1.        To avoid most of the Club Members funding the project solely out of their own pockets.

2.        To avoid using too much Club manpower in the light of all the other projects demanding time throughout the year.

 

 

Young and Team Enterprise

The North Notts Area Final of the Young & Team Enterprise Competition for 2009/2010 was held at the Clumber Park Hotel.

 

Newark Castle was represented by Glen Forman, Charmaine Fenton and Graham Sinclair.    6 teams entered from North Notts. but only 3 teams reached the Area final

            Chimes – Newark College

            Elite Enterprise – The Dukeries Community College

            OneOff – Worksop Post 16 Centre

 

Chimes comprises a group of students who in the past have underachieved and it is due to the immense imput from their Teacher, Dave Ditchfield and their Classroom Assistant, Jane Harrild that they have progressed so far.   The products they produced and sold related to bird feeders all from recycled items and these they sold at the Christmas Market in Newark and at the Trade Fair in Retford.    They had to produce a company report, indicating their strengths and weaknesses in additional to the financial status of the company.  

 

At the Area Final all three teams had to give a presentation as to their effectiveness and their ability to work as a team and to promote both themselves and their products.

 

The Dukeries Community Team were working towards a diploma in Business and proved to be very capable students producing seasonal products both for Christmas and Valentines Day.

 

OneOff from Worksop geared their efforts on promoting no only themselves but paper products and used resources from both local companies and from the Community.

 

Tegan Loveday, Managing Director, from Chimes won the award for the best overall achiever and received a shield for the college and a replica for herself.

 

The Best Product award was judged to be Chimes

 

The Best Trade Stand was again judged to be Chimes

 

Elite won the Best Company Report

 

OneOff carried off the award for Best Presentation

 

BUT the overall winner was Chimes who will represent North Notts at the Nottinghamshire Final at Nottingham University on the 5^th May 2010.

 

I was very pleased to be the Adviser to Chimes and am proud of what they have achieved.

 

Well done to Chimes

 

In The Danger Zone

Quiz Night

 

Once again David and Barbara Shaw provided our brains with exercise.   In my case the grey matter is not what it used to be.    It doesn’t help when as a team we have opposing views from 2 very determined Castle members.   Neither would budge on one issue.   In the end bets were placed, the question answered – wrongly - the losing Castler had to pay up and gain the wrath of his team.   Deafness also seemed to be an impairment of at least 3 of the team – 2 age related and 1 self-inflicted. A very enjoyable evening with Jack Hancock’s team winning once again.   He brings a Rotarian from Grantham and his wife who seem to have great knowledge on many subjects – oh to be so blessed.  David’s additional quiz was won by a member from Mother Club – again the deafness of one of our team lost us that lovely hamper.    Never mind it is the taking part that counts – but that Castler will have to pay yet another forfeit!!

 

A Weekend in France

Tony's Holiday Snaps

Tony Waltham put on a repeat performance of his holiday snaps with title "Highway to Ladakh" on Tuesday 27^th October.

 

He and his wife had started out in Delhi to travel north-west into the Himalayas which took him too close to the very dangerous borders between India, Pakistan and China and, in fact, the direct route is closed and he had to use the only one now open which is, effectively, a partly metalled military road via Srinagar. Obviously, in this neck of the woods, the region is Tibetan in feel and eventually ends in the Tibetan Plateau and the Chinese border.  

 

The car he hired in Delhi was not really appropriate, being a small Tata diesel, when a petrol 4x4 was called for, but he didn’t really want he natives to know where he was heading.   It was set up for running in Delhi and did not run well at high altitude where the lack of oxygen left a lot of unburnt fuel in a very black exhaust which eventually clogged up and had to be dismantled. It also suffered from frozen diesel which was only to be expected. Amazingly, the vehicle survived its ordeal but they did beat a hasty retreat when it was handed back.

 

Heading to the North-West Frontier, they visited the hill stations of Simla and Amritsar where the main road could have been any town in the Home Counties but that’s where British civilisation ceased.   From then on it was just one mountain pass after another following a road zigzagging violently up and down the sides of the valleys. As a geologist, Tony revelled in the terrain of folded beds tortured by tectonic forces and then sculpted by glaciers.   It seemed impossible that anybody could survive in such a barren environment but one or two bodies were snapped trudging through the wilderness. Otherwise humanity was represented by the lines of lorries and tankers groaning along the roads and, lo and behold, road works !

 

District 1220 Ten-Pin Bowling Competition

Thursday November 12th saw the Newark Castle and West Ashfield clubs meet in the first round of the District 1220 Ten-Pin Bowling Competition.

 

The Castle team comprising: Andy Haycox, Alan Marris, Caroline Rossin, Derek Rossin, Dave Strange, and Ken Sutton arranged to meet the West Ashfield team at the Newark Superbowl, ready to start their two games at 8.00pm.

 

The total of the best four scores from each team were compared:

 

West Ashfield       : 197, 196, 193, 185

                            Total 771

Newark Castle      : 304, 301, 252, 240

                             Total 1097

 

A win to Castle by 326.

 

A special thank you to Caroline who replaced John Barker at the last minute. Her good first game spurred Derek on to pulling a really high score out of the bag in his second.

In an atmosphere of fun and fellowship, a victory to Castle puts them through to the second round.

We found the West Ashfield team a particularly sociable group who drove over to Newark on a really wet and windy evening. A thoroughly enjoyable evening was spent by all.

 

My thanks to all who represented the club.

 

Dave

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Insight into the life of an MP's wife

13.10.09 Behind every good man is a good Women and that is true of Cait Mercer the wife of Patrick Mercer the Conservative MP for Newark who was the guest speaker at Newark Castle Rotary.

 

Cait gave alight hearted and interesting insight into the life of an MP’s wife and talked about her life whilst Patrick was in London during the week.   Patrick is normally in London from Monday to Thursday returning on the last train.   She and Patrick had met at University, which is when he has told her that he intended to become an MP.

 

She a gave an amusing account about the perils of election campaigning with letterboxes that bite back and enthusiastic dogs, but as she has an affinity with dogs and is not afraid of the larger ones, feels she is an asset to the team.

 

Her own recent engagements have included attending a number of local committees, opening new shops and talking at events such as the Rotary, she also deputises for Patrick when he is unable to attend functions due to his commitments in Parliament.

She said that she and Patrick were assisted in scheduling and running their lives by the support from their Secretary Sue Gray.   Recently she and Patrick were heading up the A1 to an engagement and suddenly realised that they were not sure exacting where they were going, so a quick call to Sue to set them on the correct course.

 

She talked about their close family unit, their son Rupert and their dog Hector.   She was asked how they both managed to relax and switch off   from their busy lives, she stated that they took an annual holiday in Pembrokeshire where there are no mobile signals!!!

 

Richard Bourne the President presented Cait with a cheque for £100 for a local Breast Cancer Charity of which she is a supporter.

 

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Fun Weekend Henley in Arden

Mayor of Newark

03.06.09 Clay Pigeon Shoot

Despite the cold and exposed wind conditions some excellent scores were achieved.  

Out of a maximum score of 25 points, the best on the evening were:-  

 

Dom Henry (a colleague of Jonathan Marris) 22 points  

Ken Sutton 18 points  

Sam Slack 17 points  

Jonathan Marris 16 points  

Dave Strange 16 points  

 

Kids Out 2009

Each year Newark Castle Rotary raised funds for local good causes. One of the annual events which is funded by them is to take a group of children from a local school on a fun day out.  

This year it was the turn of the children from Lovers Lane School who were treated last week to a Boat trip on the Trent aboard the MV Sonning.   80 excited children arrived at the riverbank, accompanied by 10 staff members together with members from both Newark Castle and Newark Rotary who provided additional support.   Although heavy rain had been forecast the sun shone and the children enjoyed seeing the countryside and spotting the wildlife along the riverbanks. After the two hour trip a picnic was provided in Riverside Park where the children then had time to run around and play.

 

10.05.09 Car Treasure Hunt

With some trepidation carloads of Castlers met at varying intervals on Newark Town Wharf to be given instructions by John Lewington. After perusal, and much discussion, we were allowed to depart only be to held up by a long goods train at the level crossing and therefore closely following the competitor in front. Our driver drove like a man possessed and one of our party, suffering from a neck injury, felt he had need of first aid after one or two tight corners and mounted pavements. We saw bits of Nottinghamshire we didn’t know existed – most interesting and if we had paid more attention to the detail of the questions we might have faired better.   But having said all the above we had a super evening, learnt a lot, didn’t get lost and enjoyed the trip. A splendid evening was rounded off by a meal at Hockerton with an impressive array of deserts.  

After a tie break session the declared winners were Marc and Sam Slack which considering most teams were in three or fours doesn’t give us too much credit.

Many thanks to John & Barbara for great organization and hopefully this is an event which will be repeated.

28.05.09 Cow Pat Competition

Sporting Extravaganza 2009 (Charity Shoot)

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Sunny Sunday Afternoon in July

Ollerton Village were holding an Open Gardens Afternoon, organised by the Rotary Club of Sherwood Forest.   And as my friend Ann and I enjoy lovely gardens we duly set off in lovely sunshine to the Hope Pole Hotel Car Park where Rotarians were handing out programmes with maps and details about each of the 10 gardens taking part - 4 of which were owned by Rotarians -   and of course taking the money.  

 

The gardens were all within the village so we set of on foot.   Each garden was different in both size and display whether of flowers, vegetables, ponds, livestock etc.   We were greet warmly at each garden we visited some offered a tombola stall, others refreshments including strawberries and cream and scones – what delights.   At the final garden there was a raffle and Monday evening I received a call to say that I had won a bottle of Chianti – sorry its already been drunk.

 

Whilst sitting in one of the lovely gardens drinking tea we were asked where we had come from I said Newark Ann from Welbourn in Lincs.   So how did you hear about this event being so far we were asked   – I explained I was a Rotarian at Newark Castle and our Secretary Mac Mallard had forwarded an email from Sue Bevan – Sue was one of the ladies sitting at the table and the lady who served our Tea was President Denise. We had a very pleasant chat and they were impressed that the email had been forwarded – I believe we have scored some brownie points.   They were genuinely pleased that we had attended and Ann and I had spent a very pleasant afternoon and helped raise more funds for Rotary projects.

 

So thank you Mac for forwarding the email – this is just to let you know that I do read them!!

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23.05.09 Rotary Duck Race

Air Crash Investigation

Ivor Amos – Air Crash Investigation on Tuesday 12 May

This talk was not quite what I’d expected as it was not just a litany of crash investigations and, in fact, he did not really go into any detail of any particular crash

His original training was as an Industrial Psychologist and RTA investigator which was extended to air crashes via the army which took him just about everywhere and anywhere in the world and he is now an advocate for ‘Flying for the Disabled’ on whose behalf he accepted a cheque from the Club which would be used to send participants to south Africa for a month’s training

The first part of his talk covered cost cutting and inadequate hardware, particularly the Jaguar fighter that he designated as almost impossible to fly with one plane loss per month and one plane loss with pilot per two months.   He said that the real performance envelope bore little resemblance to the specified envelope so that to stem the stream of crashes the latter had to be severely modified.   He told us, for example, that the pilot could barely see the ground on landing due to the severe nose up attitude needed to keep the plane air bound.

From the hardware deficiencies he moved on to human deficiencies pointing out that military aircraft didn’t carry black-box recorders so that, often, the only clue to a crash was the verbal exchange between pilot and controller. He was rather scathing about the neurotic, panic stricken interchanges with US personnel compared to the rather more useful cool fact based commentary by RAF pilots as they hit the deck

The part played by ego was exemplified by the Dutch aerobatics team that tried to show off by landing in perfect formation - with disastrous results and the unwillingness of first officers on civil flights to question the captain even when they knew they were heading for disaster

The psychological analysis continued through tunnel vision and habituation which he related to car driving where the pilot is just looking ahead without any awareness of peripheral events and following well tread routes even if they were not applicable to the current journey – who shifted that mountain, it wasn’t here last week.

And, finally, the contrast between boring uneventful flying and the mental overload when something goes wrong, which isn’t helped by well-meaning advisors using their own terminology such as port engine, left engine and engine number one that caused complete confusion and the shutting down of the wrong engine in the Keyworth crash

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Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance

Newark Castle Rotary Club is delighted to announce the presentation of a cheque for £2,500 to the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.   This was presented to the Area Representative, Rotarian Tony Stimpson, at a recent Tuesday night Club Meeting at the Newark Showground.

 

The monies were raised from two established annual fundraising events.   The first is the ‘Cow Pat’ competition held at the annual Newark and Notts Show, Newark Showground.   A Cow is paraded into a paddock on the Friday evening of the show.   The paddock is notionally divided into numbered grid squares.   The squares are sold to members of the public and there is a cash prize.   The winner of the prize is where the cow ‘performs’.   Special thanks go to Focus DIY of Newark , who has kindly permitted Members to sell tickets outside their premises at weekends for a number of years now.

 

The second event, a Clay Pigeon Shoot, is kindly hosted and organised by Orston Gun Club and the end of June.   This event is strongly supported by the local farming community and Newark Castle Rotary Club help with the stewarding and manning of the various clay positions and organising of the day.

YOUNG ENTERPRISE

 

 

Even though only 3 companies competed our club had a vested interest. Mike Hirons was the Business Advisor to Merc’d from the Grove school and I was there to judge the Best Product competition, sponsored by our club.

 

 

Best Product                             Teese of Retford Post 16 Centre

Best Trade Stand                      Worksop XIII of Worksop Post 16 Centre

Best Company Report               Teese

Best Presentation                       Worksop XIII

Best Company                           Merc’d of the Grove School

 

As winners of the best company in North Nottinghamshire , Merc’d will take part in the County Final at Nottingham University on 6^th May.

 

Well done Mike for giving Merc’d .all your Business Advice. Now Merc’d need to improve their Presentation, Company report and Trade Stand, if they are to progress further.

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THE GAITS OF SUTTON ON TRENT

This was a fascinating talk on something which happens which many of the audience were unaware existed. 

However, a very complicated subject was made even more so, when the right honourable member of the farming fraternity from Scriveton asked  questions re IACS S FP  and Higher levels of these grants which left me a little bewildered

 

King Humpty Dumpty

It was superb.  One of the leads had to drop out due to broken ribs and his replacement only had a few days to learn his lines.   He coped very well and his mistakes not only endeared him to the audience but also enhanced the overall hilarity factor of the show.

 

The costumes, all made in house, were a credit to the Players, the stage design and props were first class and the performers treated us to a truly unforgettable experience.   

 

The children and dancers brought added colour to the proceedings and the clean fun and humour were in the true fashion of a typical British pantomime with audience participation playing a noisy role.

 

Looking forward to next years production in what will be a new village hall with a purpose built stage. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Thaymar Ice Cream

THE highlight of the evening was getting to taste all the ice creams, from Clotted Cream and Apple and Cinnamon to Gaelic Coffee and Toffee Banana, as well as the range of sorbets. Then the shopaholics were given their heads! There was a delightful range of organic groceries, teas coffees honeys jams and pickles as well as a wide range of gifts and glassware.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) Sport - BOCCIA COMPETITION

      

 

We were divided into 6 teams, all with wonderful sounding names:   Woodies Warriors,   The Bodgers,   Presidents Marauders,   One to Four,   Remnants and Doomsday, and battle commenced.    Each team played 2 games and the 2 highest scoring teams then played each other in the grand final.    There were various levels of skill shown by the Castlers and guests including someone who obviously plays Petanque – no names mentioned but he spends a lot of time in France – and after some hard fought competition the Remnants team of Richard Bourne, Karen Marris, Barbara and David Stocks and Andy Foreman emerged victorious.    I do not think our level of play matched the people who normally participate in the sport as they succeeded in winning a gold and silver medal at the Paralympics in Beijing .

 

However we all had a very enjoyable evening and thanks must go to Caroline, Sue and Bob for all the good work carried out by CP Sport to help people less able than ourselves to enjoy sport.

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