Our President, George Bourne, opened our first meeting of 2018 by conveying the thanks of widows of members who had received flowers before Christmas.
On January 4, our speaker was Vanessa Morgan who stepped in to replace the scheduled speaker who was unavailable due to illness. Her grandfather had been persuaded to record memories of his life before the First World War in the Staffordshire village of Cheslyn Hay (near Cannock). They had been published and she regaled us with some of his stories. He and his pals were known as the Midnight Wanderers, a euphemism for poachers, and we learnt some of the tricks of the trade.There were some gems: like meeting a farmer with a gun at Dead Man's Spinney; and the undertaker tapping a corpse in bed, only to discover it was someone asleep, as they were in the wrong house. The village station was mentioned and a member pointed out it was included in the Flanders & Swann song "Slow Train." This entertaining talk ended on a poignant note as the tree, under which her grandfather's ashes had been scattered, is now under the M6 Toll.
After "Gloucestershire Battles" on January 11, our talk on January 18 is entitled "Secret Lives of Garden Birds." Variety is the spice of life at Probus!
We meet every Thursday at 10am at the Evesham Rowing Club's Boathouse. Information about us is on our website: www.eveshamprobus.co.uk
ALAN SMITH
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