We were greatly saddened at our meeting on Thursday, March 5 to hear that Dennis Hallett had passed away suddenly. We stood in silence in tribute to a respected club stalwart, a good friend and a wonderful human being. We will all miss him.

On a brighter note, President Brian Melville then presented Peter Penney with the Bob Young Quaich award for exceptional service to the club. Well done Peter.

Our speaker this week was Paul Hickley of Aston Magna, a member of the Probus Club of Shipston. The subject of Paul’s presentation was the magnificent Vulcan bomber. He had been a Navigator of this famous aircraft, having joined the RAF at the age of 19. He described the capabilities of this 70 ton bomber, which had a crew of 5, and which saw service all over the world, and most recently of course in the Falklands. For strategic reasons, only 4 Vulcans were stationed at any one airbase, and they were ready at 3 minutes notice, and were on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. During the 1960s and 1970s they were the UK’s primary nuclear deterrent. Paul’s measured, humourous and well illustrated presentation belied the weight of responsibility that fell on the shoulders of the remarkable men who flew these real weapons of mass destruction.

Paul responded to our questions and Bill Underwood commented that he had learned more in the past hour than he had during his many years service in the RAF.

Jim Cox thanked Paul on our behalf for his awe-inspiring presentation and disclosed that he had been a Vulcan pilot himself, which was indeed news to some of us.

On Thursday, March 12, Cathy Jones will speak about the Isle of Man Roundabout, on 19 March, Sophie Dodds will present ‘From Silesia to Worcestershire’ and on March 26, Clive Allen will speak about Fleet Street.

CHRIS DONOUGH