# Wetherby and Boston Spa Men's Forum > . . . and to our new home! Bookmark this new domain so that you can find us more easily next time you visit us. See our meetings menu for --- ## Pages - [New contact form](https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-contact-form/): Click to send an email We aim to respond within 48 hours - [Social Media](https://www.wabmensforum.org/social-media/): Click logo to load social media page. - [Contact 2](https://www.wabmensforum.org/contact-2/) - [Wetherby & Boston Spa Men's Forum](https://www.wabmensforum.org/sample-page/): This is an example page. It’s different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will... - [About wetherby.info](https://www.wabmensforum.org/about-wetherby-info/): wetherby. info is a community portal site for local not-for profit organisations. Websites are available in the format yourorganisation. wetherby.... - [Contact us](https://www.wabmensforum.org/contact-us/): You can contact us using a form which we will install here shortly. Inthemeantime you can send an email to... - [Welcome to Wetherby & Boston Spa Men's Forum](https://www.wabmensforum.org/): ... and to our new home! Bookmark this new domain so that you can find us more easily next time... - [Blog](https://www.wabmensforum.org/blog/) - [Social events](https://www.wabmensforum.org/social-events/): The Forum’s Christmas Lunch takes place on Wednesday 9th December 2026 at the Engine Shed, Wetherby. More details nearer the... - [Meetings](https://www.wabmensforum.org/meetings/): Wetherby and Boston Spa Men’s Forum currently has about 50 members and new members are always welcome. Our meetings are... - [Speakers](https://www.wabmensforum.org/speakers/): Meetings and speakers planned – September 2026 to April 2027 Date Speaker - [Photo Gallery](https://www.wabmensforum.org/photos-gallery/) --- ## Posts - [Battle of Marston Moor - July 1644](https://www.wabmensforum.org/battle-of-marston-moor-july-1644/): By 2. 00pm on the 2nd of July 1644, 30,000 men were arranged in battle order on Marston Moor outside... - [Bedpans and False Teeth](https://www.wabmensforum.org/bedpans-and-false-teeth/): This presentation was a popular and humorous talk given by Denise Adlard, a retired nurse and midwife, from West Yorkshire... - [Street Angels by Paul Blakey MBE](https://www.wabmensforum.org/street-angels-by-paul-blakey-mbe/): Street Angels by Paul Blakey MBE – 11th March 2026 Under the Streetlights: 20 Years of Street Angels: Robbie Williams... - [Hull 1968 – A Winter of Woe by Malcolm Johnson](https://www.wabmensforum.org/hull-1968-a-winter-of-woe-by-malcolm-johnson/): Hull 1968 – A Winter of Woe. Malcolm Johnson This very interesting talk by Malcolm Johnson, which incorporated modern folk... - [What Would Ancient Romans Make Of Our Life Today - Ken Shaw](https://www.wabmensforum.org/what-would-ancient-romans-make-of-our-life-today-ken-shaw/): 11 February 2026 What Would Ancient Romans Make Of Our Life Today – Ken Shaw From our knowledge of what... - [The Northern Castle Builders](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-northern-castle-builders/): The Battle of Hastings was only the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England and castles were one of their... - [The Cost of War - The History and Role of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-cost-of-war-the-history-and-role-of-the-commonwealth-war-graves-commission/): Wetherby and Boston Spa Men’s Forum resumed its regular Wednesday morning meetings on the 7th of January after the Christmas... - [Lord Armstrong Victorian Industrialist par excellence and Cragside](https://www.wabmensforum.org/lord-armstrong-victorian-industrialist-par-excellence-and-cragside-2/): Brian Hull gave a presentation of Lord Armstrong the nineteenth century pioneering engineer. The talk featured many images of his... - [The Life Story of Ayrton Senna da Silva](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-life-story-of-ayrton-senna-da-silva/): Graham Read is an experienced Formula 1 correspondent and car tester, who also likes to share his passion for these... - [Safeguard yourself from fraud](https://www.wabmensforum.org/safeguard-yourself-from-fraud/): Phew – it is so wet and cold – come and get warm & dry ! Come for a free... - [Lord Armstrong, Victorian Industrialist par excellence and Cragside](https://www.wabmensforum.org/lord-armstrong-victorian-industrialist-par-excellence-and-cragside/): Come and join us for a ‘cuppa’ on Wednesday 21st January at 9. 45 in St James’ Centre Church Room,... - [Ghostly Tales of Treasurers House](https://www.wabmensforum.org/ghostly-tales-of-treasurers-house/): The presence of ghosts is an important factor in the tourist industry of York and the most haunted building is... - [The Yorkshire Shepherdess](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-yorkshire-shepherdess/): The Forum occasionally organises a meeting where the speaker is a well-known personality and the members invite guests to join... - [Richard the Third, Hero or Tyrant](https://www.wabmensforum.org/richard-the-third-hero-or-tyrant/): On the 19th of February the Forum’s guest speaker was Gillian Waters who had spoken previously on topics of medieval... - [The Great Sale of Wetherby](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-great-sale-of-wetherby/): On the 12th of February the Forum welcomed Victor Hawkins from Wetherby Historical Trust. His talk was titled The Great... - [The Actor, Singer, Medics and a Solicitor](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-actor-singer-medics-and-a-solicitor/): On the 5th of February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Lesley Newnham, a local resident who has always been... - [Inside China](https://www.wabmensforum.org/inside-china/): On the 29th of January 49 Forum members gathered at the Church Centre to welcome the guest speaker Jane McKeown... - [New Challenges UK 1964-1997](https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-challenges-uk-1964-1997/): For the Forum’s meeting on the 22nd of January the guest speaker was David Davies. In a very varied career... - [Some British Sporting Heroes of Mine](https://www.wabmensforum.org/some-british-sporting-heroes-of-mine/): The Forum re-assembled on the 8th of January after its Christmas break. The first guest speaker for the new session... - [Australia and New Zealand by Thumb](https://www.wabmensforum.org/australia-and-new-zealand-by-thumb/): On the 27th of November Angela Beaumont travelled from Driffield to talk to the Forum about travelling around Australia and... - [Notorious Prisoners](https://www.wabmensforum.org/notorious-prisoners/): On the 6th of November fifty members of the Forum attended the weekly meeting to meet the guest speaker Veronica... - [The Golden Age of Radio Comedy](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-golden-age-of-radio-comedy/): On the 30th of October 48 members attended the Forum meeting in the church centre, the largest number for the... - [West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit](https://www.wabmensforum.org/west-yorkshire-police-economic-crime-unit/): On the 23rd of October the Forum welcomed as guest speaker Kay Bainbridge who works as a police civilian with... - [Famous for 12 Minutes](https://www.wabmensforum.org/famous-for-12-minutes/): On the 9th of October the Forum welcomed Malcolm Johnson as guest speaker. His talk was titled “Famous for 12... - [Comedy of the Good Old Days](https://www.wabmensforum.org/comedy-of-the-good-old-days/): On the 18th of September the Forum held its second meeting of the new season. The speaker was Trevor Moody... - [Trip Down Memory Lane](https://www.wabmensforum.org/trip-down-memory-lane/): On the 25th of September 40 members attended at the Church Centre. The guest speaker was Keith Barber from Morley... - [The Great Train Robbery](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-great-train-robbery/): The Forum’s Vice Chairman Duncan Verity has a large collection of video presentations with which he occasionally entertains members as... - [Annual General Meeting](https://www.wabmensforum.org/annual-general-meeting/): On the 10th of April the Forum held its Annual General Meeting in the Church Rooms. The first meeting of... - [New Zealand Panorama](https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-zealand-panorama/): At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 3rd of April members stood in silent memory of Jim Wilkie,... - [Our Lives–Our Times 1945–64](https://www.wabmensforum.org/our-lives-our-times-1945-64/): On the 27th of March the Forum welcomed as guest speaker David Davies whose talk was titled Our Lives–Our Times... - [James Heriot](https://www.wabmensforum.org/james-heriot/): On the 13th of March the Forum held its annual open meeting when members may invite guests to enjoy the... - [Ireland](https://www.wabmensforum.org/ireland/): On the 6th of March the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Tony Burkitt whose chosen subject was Ireland. Tony’s interests... - [The Yorkshire Dales – a Resident’s View](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-yorkshire-dales-a-residents-view/): For the Forum’s meeting on the 27th of February 57 members attended, the largest turn-out for the current season. The... - [Sammy Cahn](https://www.wabmensforum.org/sammy-cahn/): Before the meeting on the 6th of February the Forum’s speaker finder John Spinner discovered that the scheduled speaker would... - [Formula 1 British Champions](https://www.wabmensforum.org/formula-1-british-champions/): On the 13th of February the Forum welcomed Graham Read as guest speaker. Graham is a motoring writer and Formula... - [A Question of Sport](https://www.wabmensforum.org/a-question-of-sport/): The Forum’s meeting on the 30th of January began with the members standing in silent tribute to the late Fred... - [Wheatfields Hospice](https://www.wabmensforum.org/wheatfields-hospice/): On the 23rd of January the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Charlene Graham, a fundraiser from the Sue Ryder organisation... - [Classic Pop and Humour videos](https://www.wabmensforum.org/classic-pop-and-humour-videos/): The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity has assembled a large collection of entertaining videos with which he occasionally entertains the... - [From Trackways to Motorways](https://www.wabmensforum.org/from-trackways-to-motorways/): On the 5th of December the Forum met for its last meeting of 2018 in the St James Church Centre.... - [Records Banned by the BBC](https://www.wabmensforum.org/records-banned-by-the-bbc/): On the 28th 0f November the Forum’s guest speaker was David Sibbald whose talk had the intriguing title of Records... - [Travels with the United Nations](https://www.wabmensforum.org/travels-with-the-united-nations/): On the 21st of November the Forum welcomed Brian Taylor to speak about Travels with the United Nations. After a... - [The Changing Face of Newspapers](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-changing-face-of-newspapers/): On the 14th 0f November the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Jane McKeown, a former journalist. Jane had chosen The... - [You and Your Mattress](https://www.wabmensforum.org/you-and-your-mattress/): For the Forum’s meeting held on the 7th of November the guest speaker was a retired nurse Denise Adlard. Her... - [Wetherby U3A](https://www.wabmensforum.org/wetherby-u3a/): On the 31st of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Leslie Newnham, one of the founders of Wetherby U3A.... - [The Munich Air Crash](https://www.wabmensforum.org/899-2/): The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity has an impressive collection of video documentaries, mainly connected with aviation. At the meeting... - [The Wars of the Roses - a Tale of Two Halves](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-wars-of-the-roses-a-tale-of-two-halves/): On the 17th of October the Forum welcomed Gillian Waters who entertained members with a talk titled The Wars of... - [In Grandmother’s Footsteps](https://www.wabmensforum.org/in-grandmothers-footsteps/): On the 10th of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Alan Hemsworth who had travelled from Settle. Alan entertained... - [Keeley Donovan](https://www.wabmensforum.org/885-2/): The Forum’s Speaker Finder John Spinner was a school teacher in Grimsby during his working life. At the meeting on... - [The Geology of the North Yorks Moors](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-geology-of-the-north-yorks-moors/): On the 12th of September the Forum members gathered for the first meeting of the new season. The Forum meets... - [Yorkshire History Makers](https://www.wabmensforum.org/yorkshire-history-makers/): On the 19th of September the Forum welcomed its guest speaker John Hargreaves from Halifax. John is a retired teacher... - [Songs and Laughter Part 3](https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter-part-3/): On the 4th of April the Forum’s members gathered for its last regular meeting of the season. Vice Chairman Duncan... - [The Shetland and Orkney Islands](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-shetland-and-orkney-islands/): On the 28th of March the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Tony Burkitt who entertained the members with a talk... - [Thoughts on Leadership](https://www.wabmensforum.org/thoughts-on-leadership/): The scheduled guest speaker for the Forum’s meeting on the 14th of March became unavailable at short notice so one... - [Great Moments in Sport](https://www.wabmensforum.org/great-moments-in-sport/): The Forum meeting arranged to take place on the 28th of February was cancelled due to the heavy snow; on... - [Falklands Most Daring Raid](https://www.wabmensforum.org/falklands-most-daring-raid/): 51 members attended the forum’s meeting held on the 21st of February to enjoy a presentation by Vice Chairman Duncan... - [Macmillan Cancer Support](https://www.wabmensforum.org/macmillan-cancer-support/): On the 7th 0f February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Matthew Jameson, a fund-raising manager with Macmillan Cancer Support.... - [Iconic Cars from the 1950s to the Present Day](https://www.wabmensforum.org/iconic-cars-from-the-1950s-to-the-present-day/): On the 14th of February 53 members turned up for the Forum’s morning meeting, the highest number for the current... - [Dam Yangtze](https://www.wabmensforum.org/dam-yangtze/): The Forum resumed its regular Wednesday morning meetings on the 10th of January after the Christmas break with a talk... - [The Story of James Herriot](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-story-of-james-herriot/): On a cold and icy Wednesday morning on the 17th of January 40 members braved the weather to hear the... - [Christmas Humour](https://www.wabmensforum.org/christmas-humour/): On the 6th of December the Forum gathered at the Church Centre for the last meeting of 2017. The guest... - [The Battle of Britain, Victory, Defeat or No Result](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-battle-of-britain-victory-defeat-or-no-result/): On the 29th of November 54 members of the Forum attended at the Church Centre, the highest number for the... - [Songs and Laughter (Part 1)](https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter-part-1/): The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity produces a series of video presentations with which he occasionally entertains our Forum and... - [Guy Fawkes Yorkshireman](https://www.wabmensforum.org/guy-fawkes-yorkshireman/): Wetherby Mens Forum The Forum’s meeting on the 8th of November was attended by 51 members. The guest speaker was... - [Bed Pans and False Teeth](https://www.wabmensforum.org/bed-pans-and-false-teeth/): On the First of November 51 members attended the Forum’s meeting at the Church Rooms, the largest attendance so far... - [Brock the Badger – Friend or Foe](https://www.wabmensforum.org/brock-the-badger-friend-or-foe/): On the 25th of October the Forum welcomed as guest speaker Bill Mitchell from Ilkley. Bill’s talk was titled Brock... - [Estate Planning](https://www.wabmensforum.org/estate-planning/): On the 18th of October 49 members attended the meeting at the Church Centre, the largest turnout for the current... - [Industrial Archaeology](https://www.wabmensforum.org/industrial-archaeology/): On the 27th of September the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Mike Bowers from Boston Spa. Mike is a retired... - [Percy Shaw inventor of the Cats Eye road stud](https://www.wabmensforum.org/percy-shaw-inventor-of-the-cats-eye-road-stud/): At the Forum’s meeting held on the 20th of September Speaker Finder John Spinner re-introduced an old friend, Chris Helmes.... - [Stories and Legacies of the First World War in Leeds and Yorkshire](https://www.wabmensforum.org/stories-and-legacies-of-the-first-world-war-in-leeds-and-yorkshire/): The Forum convened on the 13th of September after its summer break. Members stood to remember a former committee member... - [Choosing Sides](https://www.wabmensforum.org/choosing-sides/): The forum’s Vice-Chairman Duncan Verity has assembled a collection of video presentations mainly dealing with the aviation industry. On the... - [My Gallant Hussar](https://www.wabmensforum.org/my-gallant-hussar/): The Forum’s guest speaker on the 5th of April was Anne Batchelor, a retired schoolteacher from Seacroft. Anne’s hobby since... - [The School Inspector Calls](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-school-inspector-calls/): On the 8th of March the Forum held its annual open meeting when 110 members and guests filled the Church... - [Veni Vidi Vietnam](https://www.wabmensforum.org/veni-vidi-vietnam/): On the 22nd of February 45 members of the Forum attended the meeting at the Church Centre, the highest turnout... - [Scotch Whisky - A Bottled History](https://www.wabmensforum.org/scotch-whisky-a-bottled-history/): The guest speaker for the Forum’s meeting held on the 15th of February was Mark Southon who had travelled to... - [From Prison to Palace](https://www.wabmensforum.org/from-prison-to-palace/): At the Forum’s meeting on the 8th of February the Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Veronica Bird... - [Songs and Laughter](https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter/): For our meeting on the 1st of February the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity gave one of his video presentations... - [China – All Our Futures](https://www.wabmensforum.org/china-all-our-futures/): In the absence of Chairman Mike Earle the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity introduced the guest speaker for the 25th... - [Magical Monaco](https://www.wabmensforum.org/magical-monaco/): On the 11th of January the Forum gathered for its first meeting after the Christmas break. Members stood for a... - [Witches Wizards Brews and Broomsticks](https://www.wabmensforum.org/witches-wizards-brews-and-broomsticks/): 44 members gathered at the Church Centre for the Forum’s last meeting of 2016 on the 30th of November. The... - [Yorkshire Air Ambulance](https://www.wabmensforum.org/yorkshire-air-ambulance/): On the 23rd of November the Forum welcomed Helen Murray-Sharpe as guest speaker. Helen is a volunteer fund raiser with... - [Legends of the Brass Band World](https://www.wabmensforum.org/legends-of-the-brass-band-world/): On the 16th of November the Forum’s guest speaker was Chris Helme. Among his many interests Chris played the tuba... - [The Amusing Side of Traffic Law](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-amusing-side-of-traffic-law/): On a cold and snowy 9th of November 31 members struggled through to the Church Centre for the Forum weekly... - [Monologues and Comic Verse](https://www.wabmensforum.org/monologues-and-comic-verse/): On the 26th of October the meeting was chaired by the Forum Vice Chairman Duncan Verity. Speaker Finder John Spinner... - [Knaresborough in World War One](https://www.wabmensforum.org/knaresborough-in-world-war-one/): On the 19th of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Kevin Earl. Kevin is a member of a local... - [Hello world!](https://www.wabmensforum.org/hello-world/): Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! - [A Trip Down Memory Lane](https://www.wabmensforum.org/a-trip-down-memory-lane/): At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 24th of February the Forum stood in silent memory of former... - [Family History](https://www.wabmensforum.org/family-history/): For the Forum’s meeting on the 17th of February the Deputy Chairman Colin Gaden took the chair. The guest speaker... - [Chile North to South](https://www.wabmensforum.org/chile-north-to-south/): On the 3rd of February we welcome, for her second visit, Pat Alker from Denby Dale. Pat and her husband... - [The History of Meccano](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-history-of-meccano/): Before the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 20th of January the members stood in silent memory of Albert... - [Death Row in Florida](https://www.wabmensforum.org/630-2/): At the Forum’s meeting on the 13th of January we welcomed as our guest speaker Rosemary Cheshire from Collingham. Rosemary... - [1000 miles around England on a pony!!](https://www.wabmensforum.org/1000-miles-around-england-on-a-pony/): On the sixth of January the Forum resumed its meetings after the Christmas break. Our first speaker of the New... - [The Life of a Jockey](https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-life-of-a-jockey/): During our meeting on the 11th of November the proceedings were interrupted at 11 am for the members to take... - [“It Shouldn’t Happen to an Engineer”](https://www.wabmensforum.org/584-2/): On 21st October 2015, 45 members attended at the Church Centre to meet our guest speaker Richard Gibbon OBE who... - [Life's a Hoot!](https://www.wabmensforum.org/lifes-a-hoot-5/): At the Forum’s meeting for the 7th October 2015 John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Pat Smith from Upper Poppleton... - [Ethiopia – The Historic Route](https://www.wabmensforum.org/ethiopia-the-historic-route/): On the 17th of September we welcomed our speaker Pat Alkern from Denby Dale. Her talk was titled ‘Ethiopia –... - [Duncan Verity - "The Murder of John Speed"](https://www.wabmensforum.org/duncan-verity-the-murder-of-john-speed/): On the 18th of March the speaker who had been booked to talk to the Forum was unable to attend.... - [Bill Baker - "The Lighter Side of Banking"](https://www.wabmensforum.org/bill-baker-the-lighter-side-of-banking/): On the 4th of March we welcomed Bill Baker as our guest speaker. Bill is well known locally as a... - [Training Guide Dogs for the Blind](https://www.wabmensforum.org/training-guide-dogs-for-the-blind/): On the 4th of February 2015 the Forum welcomed representatives from Guide Dogs for the Blind for a presentation entitled... - [RAF Linton on Ouse - Alan Mawby](https://www.wabmensforum.org/raf-linton-on-ouse-alan-mawby/): At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 14th of January we stood for a moment’s silence in memory... - [Rex Stott - Magic Mirth and Mystery](https://www.wabmensforum.org/rex-stott-magic-mirth-mystery/): On the 7th of January 2015 the Forum re-gathered after its winter break and we started our meeting by standing... - [“Words and Music for Christmas”](https://www.wabmensforum.org/words-music-christmas/): On the 3rd of December the Forum held its last meeting before Christmas. We welcomed our guest speaker Ken Humphreys... --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages - Published: 2026-04-10 - Modified: 2026-04-30 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-contact-form/ Click to send an email We aim to respond within 48 hours --- - Published: 2026-04-01 - Modified: 2026-04-02 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/social-media/ Click logo to load social media page. --- - Published: 2026-03-19 - Modified: 2026-03-19 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/contact-2/ Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional) Δ --- - Published: 2026-03-14 - Modified: 2026-03-14 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/sample-page/ This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger by day, aspiring actor by night, and this is my website. I live in Los Angeles, have a great dog named Jack, and I like piña coladas. (And gettin' caught in the rain. ) ... or something like this: The XYZ Doohickey Company was founded in 1971, and has been providing quality doohickeys to the public ever since. Located in Gotham City, XYZ employs over 2,000 people and does all kinds of awesome things for the Gotham community. As a new WordPress user, you should go to your dashboard to delete this page and create new pages for your content. Have fun! --- - Published: 2017-02-23 - Modified: 2017-02-23 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/about-wetherby-info/ wetherby. info is a community portal site for local not-for profit organisations. Websites are available in the format yourorganisation. wetherby. info for anything from a nominal charge for small groups up to a normal commercial charge for registered charities or larger membership based organisations. Get in touch for more information. Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional) Δ --- - Published: 2014-08-14 - Modified: 2026-03-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/contact-us/ You can contact us using a form which we will install here shortly. Inthemeantime you can send an email to wabsforum@icloud. com --- - Published: 2014-07-12 - Modified: 2026-04-29 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/ ... and to our new home! Bookmark this new domain so that you can find us more easily next time you visit us. See our meetings menu for details of our regular talks. You can learn about us from the menu choices shown above. In addition, special reports will appear in the Blog in chronological order (newest first) and you will able to filter these by using the Category drop-down menu on the right. --- - Published: 2013-04-29 - Modified: 2026-03-22 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/social-events/ The Forum's Christmas Lunch takes place on Wednesday 9th December 2026 at the Engine Shed, Wetherby. More details nearer the time --- - Published: 2013-04-28 - Modified: 2026-03-22 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/meetings/ Wetherby and Boston Spa Men's Forum currently has about 50 members and new members are always welcome. Our meetings are held in the Church Room at the end of Church Street (off Bank Street), Wetherby at 9. 45 am on Wednesday mornings from September until April (with a short gap during the Christmas period). After we have had a cup of tea or coffee and a chat, at 10. 15 am the Chairman will start the meeting and we then enjoy an interesting and entertaining talk by a visiting speaker. The meetings usually end shortly after 11. 15 am. --- - Published: 2013-04-28 - Modified: 2026-04-09 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/speakers/ Meetings and speakers planned - September 2026 to April 2027 Date Speaker Title of Talk Watch this space for more information on this year's speakers and their talks. Note: For reports on previous talks please click BLOG. --- - Published: 2013-04-28 - Modified: 2026-03-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/photos-gallery/ Duncan Verity (past vice-chairman), Dr Gervase Phinn and Mike Earle (past chairman) --- --- ## Posts - Published: 2026-04-09 - Modified: 2026-04-09 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/battle-of-marston-moor-july-1644/ - Categories: Uncategorized By 2. 00pm on the 2nd of July 1644, 30,000 men were arranged in battle order on Marston Moor outside York. These men came from four different parts of the country: Scotland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and East Anglia. The battle commenced at around 7. 30 pm and was over within two hours. The talk explained as to why the King was at war with Parliament, why the battle took place outside York and what exactly happened during those two hours. Key figures in the battle include prince Rupert, Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax. --- - Published: 2026-03-28 - Modified: 2026-04-30 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/bedpans-and-false-teeth/ - Categories: Bedpns and false teeth This presentation was a popular and humorous talk given by Denise Adlard, a retired nurse and midwife, from West Yorkshire who started at 17 years of age as a pre-trainee until she retired 49 years and 1 week later. Drawing on her nearly 50-year career in the NHS (predominantly as a District Nurse in Bradford), it was peppered with reminiscences and tales to amuse and entertain with funny and heart-warming stories from her life in medicine . --- - Published: 2026-03-20 - Modified: 2026-03-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/street-angels-by-paul-blakey-mbe/ - Categories: Uncategorized Street Angels by Paul Blakey MBE - 11th March 2026 Under the Streetlights: 20 Years of Street Angels: Robbie Williams singing ‘I’m loving Angels instead’ is a song often serenaded to teams of Street Angels out and about on weekend evenings. Street Angels, which started as a response to Halifax having a ‘Wild West of West Yorkshire’ reputation on weekend evenings, celebrated 20 years last November. The ‘Wild West’ Years Back in the day, between 8,000 and 12,000 people visited Halifax for a night out. Energised by cheap alcohol and a large number of pubs and clubs in a small town centre, Halifax had become a must visit destination for a boozy night out. Sadly sexual assaults, violence, under-age and binge drinking had blighted the town centre on weekend evenings leaving a lot of people who were or could become vulnerable. ‘Churches Together’ had asked the question ‘what are the needs in our town and what can the church do to meet those needs? ’ Paul Blakey, challenged by the vulnerability within the nighttime, had an idea of opening a cafe, run by Churches Together and Halifax YMCA, as a safe place drop-in on Friday and Saturday between 9pm and 3am. Sharing the idea with the Police, who were extremely excited and supportive, asked if we could launch in two weeks time – Friday 25th November 2005. We said yes! The Night Street Angels Was Born On the day, 9pm arrived and so did 50 volunteers! Having so many people... --- - Published: 2026-02-20 - Modified: 2026-02-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/hull-1968-a-winter-of-woe-by-malcolm-johnson/ - Categories: Hull 1968 – A Winter of Woe. Malcolm Johnson Hull 1968 – A Winter of Woe. Malcolm Johnson This very interesting talk by Malcolm Johnson, which incorporated modern folk songs, began with information about the conditions and superstitions of Hull trawlermen in the late 1960s. It then gave an account of the triple trawler disaster in the winter of 1968, when 3 Hull trawlers were lost, resulting in the loss of 58 lives. The miraculous survival of just one trawlerman was described, along with a surprising aftermath - how a small group of Hull women, The Headscarf Heroes campaigned for and won much safer working conditions for trawlermen, in one of the most successful civil actions of the 20th Century. --- - Published: 2026-02-18 - Modified: 2026-02-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/what-would-ancient-romans-make-of-our-life-today-ken-shaw/ - Categories: What Would Ancient Romans Make Of Our Life Today 11 February 2026 What Would Ancient Romans Make Of Our Life Today - Ken Shaw From our knowledge of what ancient Roman life was like, we can imagine what it would have been like for us living in those distant times. However if a Roman were to visit our own time, what would his reaction be to our modern lifestyle? Ken Shaw's talk took a look at how an ancient Roman would react to some of our commonplace objects and ideas. Obviously there are many aspects that a Roman would find amazing but on the other hand there are a surprising number that would be totally familiar to him. The talk revealed many unexpected facets of Roman life. Who would have thought for example that some of our superstitions date right back to Roman times or that recycling back then was commonplace? Taking Pompeii as a case in point, we find that many of our modern traffic management measures were firmly in place there. This is a light-hearted talk, extensively illustrated & liberally sprinkled with humour but at the same time it invites the audience to take a serious introspective look at our modern lifestyle. --- - Published: 2026-02-08 - Modified: 2026-02-08 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-northern-castle-builders/ - Categories: Northern Castle Builders The Battle of Hastings was only the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England and castles were one of their key weapons in the conquest of the North. To subdue the rebellious north William the Conqueror redistributed the lands of Anglo-Saxon lords to his trusted Norman knights, including the Percys, who continued the conquest. By 1086 the Percy family held large estates in Yorkshire, including Wetherby, and by 1400 they were perhaps the greatest landed family in the north. Gillian Waters explored how the Percy family gained their lands and castles in the north of England, including Wetherby, and how their castles reflected the changing styles over the centuries; from early motte and baileys to fortified manor houses. She also explored how Tottenham Hotspur Football Club acquired its name, and how the Percys eventually lost their manor of Wetherby. --- - Published: 2026-02-01 - Modified: 2026-03-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-cost-of-war-the-history-and-role-of-the-commonwealth-war-graves-commission/ - Categories: Commonwealth War Graves Commission Wetherby and Boston Spa Men’s Forum resumed its regular Wednesday morning meetings on the 7th of January after the Christmas break with a talk by a volunteer speaker from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Foundation. The illustrated talk detailed the history and role of the CWGC and how they ensure that the 1. 7 million men and women of the Commonwealth that died in the world wars are commemorated across 23,000 sites in over 150 countries so that the human cost of war is remembered forever. The talk also focused on the Yorkshire contribution in the world wars with some poignant stories of those that paid the ultimate sacrifice and who are commemorated by the CWGC. --- - Published: 2026-02-01 - Modified: 2026-03-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/lord-armstrong-victorian-industrialist-par-excellence-and-cragside-2/ - Categories: Lord Armstrong Victorian Industrialist Brian Hull gave a presentation of Lord Armstrong the nineteenth century pioneering engineer. The talk featured many images of his industrial achievements and concluded with an exploration around the estate at Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland and the famous house. Included were explanations of the ground breaking "Armstrong gun", a highly innovative field artillery piece featuring the barrel comprised of successive layers of wrought iron, a breech loading mechanism, giving a manoeuvrable weapon, in stark contrast to the heavy artillery in use during the Crimea War, for which his invention was designed to supplant. The many adaptations of hydraulic power and Armstrong's famous Accumulator were noted, including the steam powered bascules of Tower Bridge, London, designed and installed by the Armstrong company. Other engineering achievements included swing bridges, most famously crossing the Tyne river, but also railway swing bridges over the Ouse in Yorkshire. Then mentioned were his enormous cranes often rated at 100 tons, used for lifting heavy gun barrels onto the ships built by Armstrongs on the Tyne. At the end of the nineteenth century his companies famously provided all the ships used by Japan in the Russo-Japan war. His vision assisted by the architect Richard Norman Shaw in developing a hunting lodge on the hillside at Cragside into the delightful house situated above Debdon Burn, unique in the World for the electric power provided by hydro-electricity and visited today by many thousands each year, completed the talk. --- - Published: 2026-02-01 - Modified: 2026-03-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-life-story-of-ayrton-senna-da-silva/ - Categories: The Life Story of Ayrton Senna Graham Read is an experienced Formula 1 correspondent and car tester, who also likes to share his passion for these subjects as a guest speaker, with his talks being accompanied by plenty of eye-catching PowerPoint images. On 26th November Graham will join us again to share his new talk all about the life on and off track of the iconic and charismatic Brazilian triple F1 world champion, Ayrton Senna da Silva, and it will cover all the major moments in his life from his birth to his sadly premature death. --- - Published: 2026-01-28 - Modified: 2026-03-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/safeguard-yourself-from-fraud/ - Categories: Safeguard yourself from fraud Phew - it is so wet and cold - come and get warm & dry ! Come for a free cuppa tomorrow (28th January) and listen to Andy Fox telling you how to "Safeguard yourself from fraud". It is all happening in the St James Church Room, Wetherby commencing at 9. 45 am. Last week we heard Brian Hull giving a presentation of Lord Armstrong the nineteenth century pioneering engineer. The talk featured many images of his industrial achievements and concluded with an exploration around the estate at Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland and the famous house. Included were explanations of the ground breaking "Armstrong gun", a highly innovative field artillery piece featuring the barrel comprised of successive layers of wrought iron, a breech loading mechanism, giving a manoeuvrable weapon, in stark contrast to the heavy artillery in use during the Crimea War, for which his invention was designed to supplant. Don't miss this week's presentation - see you there ! ! --- - Published: 2026-01-21 - Modified: 2026-03-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/lord-armstrong-victorian-industrialist-par-excellence-and-cragside/ - Categories: Lord Armstrong Victorian Industrialist Come and join us for a 'cuppa' on Wednesday 21st January at 9. 45 in St James' Centre Church Room, Wetherby when Brian Hull will be telling us about "Lord Armstrong, Victorian Industrialist par excellence and Cragside". It's all 'free of charge', so come along and keep warm and have some fun with us ! ! See you there ! ! --- - Published: 2020-03-05 - Modified: 2020-03-05 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/ghostly-tales-of-treasurers-house/ - Categories: Ghostly Tales of Treasurer’s House The presence of ghosts is an important factor in the tourist industry of York and the most haunted building is alleged to be the Treasurer’s House. The Forum’s guest speaker on the 4th of March was Glennis Whyte, a volunteer with the National Trust at the Treasurer’s House, whose subject was Ghostly Tales of Treasurer’s House. She assured members that she had an open mind as to the truth of her stories. She began by relating the history of the house which had been owned by many people before being bought by Frank Green, a wealthy industrialist from Wakefield. In 1930 he gave the property to the National Trust with certain restrictions on its use. Breaches of these conditions seemed to have been followed by unexplained occurrences such as movement of furniture and items witnessed by members of the staff and visitors. Many people have reported seeing figures on the stairs who disappeared without reason. One particular instance involves a lady who invites children to sit on a chair, this figure only appears to children. Finally Glennis mentioned the most famous ghosts when a young worker in the cellar witnessed a troop of Roman legionnaires marching by. This vision has been reported by other witnesses. Members joined in a discussion on the existence of ghosts, some being more sceptical than others. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Glennis for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2020-03-02 - Modified: 2020-03-02 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-yorkshire-shepherdess/ - Categories: the Yorkshire Shepherdess The Forum occasionally organises a meeting where the speaker is a well-known personality and the members invite guests to join them to enjoy the entertainment. On the 28th of February the speaker was Amanda Owen the Yorkshire Shepherdess. 99 members and guests filled the Church Centre and were not disappointed by Amanda’s superb presentation. Her talk was illustrated by pictures of her farm at Ravenseat in Swaledale taken by herself or one of her children. Amanda described how her life progressed from living in Huddersfield to marrying Clive, a sheep farmer in Swaledale and producing a family of nine children. Her ambition in life had always been work in the countryside after reading James Heriot’s book If Only They Could Talk and she was working in the Lake District on any farm work she could obtain when Clive asked her to help with a problem with one of his sheep. Ravenseat Farm is high up in the hills and is half-way along the coast-to-coast walk. Catering for the passing walkers produces a useful supplementary income because an estimated 16,000 walkers pass each year. Amanda appears regularly on television and has written a number of books about life on a sheep farm, all of which have featured in the Sunday Times Best-Sellers list. Amanda invited questions from the audience which resulted in an interesting discussion about the effects of global warming and mistakes made in draining the moorland. Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks and Amanda signed copies... --- - Published: 2020-02-19 - Modified: 2020-02-19 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/richard-the-third-hero-or-tyrant/ - Categories: Richard the Third Hero or Tyrant On the 19th of February the Forum’s guest speaker was Gillian Waters who had spoken previously on topics of medieval history. On this occasion her subject was Richard the Third, Hero or Tyrant. At the outset Gillian admitted that she quite liked her subject and she started by destroying some preconceptions about him. Modern opinion is based on Shakespeare’s play which is based on Tudor propaganda (Gillian’s description). This portrays him as an evil monster with many physical deformities. Although he suffered from curvature of the spine, in other respects his appearance was unremarkable. Gillian detailed the complicated history of the fifteenth century when the houses of Lancaster and York vied for the position of King of England until Richard, supported mainly by landowners and troops from the North of England, became Richard the Third. This included the murder of the two young prices in the Tower of London although there is little proof that Richard was responsible for this. In 1485 Henry Tudor landed in Wales and marched into England at the head of his army. Henry had no justifiable claim to be King being only distantly related to the royal line, but he defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth, slaying Richard on the battlefield. Richard’s body was carried to Leicester where it was buried in an obscure churchyard and laid undiscovered until recently uncovered under a carpark. After questions from Forum members Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Gillian Waters for a most interesting... --- - Published: 2020-02-16 - Modified: 2020-02-16 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-great-sale-of-wetherby/ - Categories: The Great Sale of Wetherby - Tags: Wetherby Historical Trust On the 12th of February the Forum welcomed Victor Hawkins from Wetherby Historical Trust. His talk was titled The Great Sale of Wetherby and described the occasion in 1824 when all property in our town was auctioned by its owner the Duke of Devonshire to obtain funds to settle gambling debts (it is believed). Victor started by listing the various owners from the town’s establishment in Anglo-Saxon times to the time of the sale. He circulated a copy of the sale documents, pointing out the fanciful descriptions contained. He went through a few of the prices paid for various properties, the most expensive being a package of the two corn mills at 8,100 guineas and the cheapest being Bishopgate, a large slum tenement building on the site of the present day Bridgefoot Gardens, at 410 guineas. The whole sale raised 198,476 guineas for the Duke, estimated to be worth £73 million by modern standards. Victor fielded many questions from Forum members particularly about who the purchasers were. Some were tenants of the properties many of whom were declared bankrupt the following year. Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks, enthusiastically supported by the members. --- - Published: 2020-02-06 - Modified: 2020-02-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-actor-singer-medics-and-a-solicitor/ - Categories: The Actor Singer Medics and a Solicitor - Tags: Henry William Price, John Hope Shaw, John Langford Pritchard, Joshua Cawthra, William Nicholson Price, William Price On the 5th of February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Lesley Newnham, a local resident who has always been interested in her area, particularly the city of Leeds. One place of interest has been Beckett Street Cemetery which was under threat from building development until given protected status after protests by local activists. Lesley’s exploration of the cemetery revealed many graves of celebrities and she has researched into the lives of a number of them, some of whom she featured in her talk titled The Actor, Singer, Medics and a Solicitor. The actor was John Langford Pritchard who was a celebrated actor in the mid-nineteenth century both locally and nationally and whose most notable achievement was the introduction of Shakespeare’s plays into Scotland. The singer was Joshua Cawthra who sang and led choirs in cathedrals around the country but was best known for the choir which he led in Leeds Parish Church. The medics were the Price family led by William Price, a former naval surgeon who left the navy to become a leading surgeon in Leeds. In 1831he was a member of a team of local medics who set up the Leeds Medical School. He was followed by two of his sons, Henry William Price and William Nicholson Price who became apothecaries, a highly lucrative profession which established the power of the Price family. Finally the solicitor was John Hope Shaw, three times Lord Mayor of Leeds who was instrumental in the establishment of Leeds Town Hall. After... --- - Published: 2020-01-30 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/inside-china/ - Categories: Inside China On the 29th of January 49 Forum members gathered at the Church Centre to welcome the guest speaker Jane McKeown whose talk was titled Inside China. Her daughter is a fluent Mandarin speaker who was a volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and worked as an English teacher in the city of Xian. Jane spent a month staying with her daughter in her teacher’s accommodation in the Xian university and in her talk described the life of the students who were in general from an under-privileged background but saw the learning of English as the key to advancement enabling them to gain permission to leave China. She visited and stayed at the homes of her students which often involved travelling long distances on local buses in very basic conditions. Jane highlighted the differences between the modern perception of life in China as modern and sophisticated and the simple life enjoyed by the majority of the largely rural population which she witnessed. She also stressed the difference in outlook of the Chinese to the Western world where the Chinese regard their country as “the tummy button of the world”. All organisations are expected to be led by Chinese nationals which gives problems for Christians and Muslims. Forum members took part in a lively question and answer session before Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Jane McKeown for a most interesting talk. --- - Published: 2020-01-30 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-challenges-uk-1964-1997/ - Categories: New Challenges UK 1964-1997 For the Forum’s meeting on the 22nd of January the guest speaker was David Davies. In a very varied career David had, among other things,served in the Army, worked as an engineer and as a manager for RollsRoyce and lectured in business management. His talk was titled New Challenges UK 1964-1997 and was a comprehensive political history of the UK between the years mentioned. His talk began with the death of Winston Churchill which he classed as the closure of a chapter of British history. We then entered the era of Wilson Labour and Heath Conservative governments which included industrial unrest resulting in the three-day week, the Grosvenor Square riots against American involvement in Vietnam and produced notable celebrities such as Germaine Greer and Arthur Scargill. David included his analysis of the performance of British industry with respect to labour relations and management performance. After Callaghan had a short spell as Prime Minister, in 1979 we entered the Margaret Thatcher era which lasted till 1990 and included problems with the car manufacturer British Leyland and a number of violent incidents connected with terrorism. Particularly well-remembered is the Falklands war. David’s last subject was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the various personalities involved. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked David Davies for a fascinating talk and complimented him on delivering it without notes. --- - Published: 2020-01-15 - Modified: 2020-01-15 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/some-british-sporting-heroes-of-mine/ - Categories: Some British Sporting Heroes of Mine - Tags: Brendan Foster, Christopher Brasher, Henry Cooper, Jackie Pallo, John Surtees, Ray Reardon, Roger Bannister, Roger Utley The Forum re-assembled on the 8th of January after its Christmas break. The first guest speaker for the new session was Neil Ramshaw who is the Secretary of the Harlow Forum and brought New Year’s greetings from his members. Neil’s talk was titled Some British Sporting Heroes of Mine in which he described the life and achievements of sportsmen whose careers he had followed. His surprising first choice was Jackie Pallo, a professional wrestler who featured in ITV’s Saturday afternoon programmes during the seventies and eighties which Neil watched with his father. He followed with Christopher Brasher, an athlete most famous for acting as a pace-maker for Roger Bannister’s first four-minute mile and for co-founding the London Marathon. Although not a great fan of motorsport Neil featured John Surtees in his list because he was the only person to be world champion on both two and four wheels. Neil followed with Roger Utley from Rugby Union, the runner Brendan Foster, Ray Reardon from snooker and Henry Cooper the celebrated boxer, before time forced him to finish. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Neil for a trip down memory lane. --- - Published: 2019-12-01 - Modified: 2019-12-01 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/australia-and-new-zealand-by-thumb/ - Categories: Australia and New Zealand by Thumb - Tags: Indian Pacific Railway, New Zealand, Northern Territory, Perth in Western Australia, Queensland, Sydney On the 27th of November Angela Beaumont travelled from Driffield to talk to the Forum about travelling around Australia and New Zealand by Thumb. The talk described a visit around the two Southern Hemisphere countries she and a friend enjoyed in 1980 illustrated by a stunning selection of photographs. In the main they travelled around by hitch-hiking although other methods were employed when necessary. They landed in Australia in Perth in Western Australia where they took part-time jobs whilst hitch-hiking around the state. They then caught the Indian Pacific Railway which took three days to take them to Sydney. There they found work to finance the rest of their tour, Angela working as a secretary for the telephone company STC. After viewing the many attractions of the area they hitch-hiked to northern Queensland where they joined a bus tour into the Outback. This tour lasted many weeks taking in the Northern Territory and travelling through the centre of the country to South Australia. They then moved back to Sydney (having spent a year in Australia) from where they took a flight to New Zealand. From the warmth of Australia they were surprised by how cold New Zealand felt. They toured the North Island before catching a ferry to the South Island. Whilst there they took a flight in a light aircraft over the snow-covered mountains before spending a month working on a remote farm. They then returned to the North Island before moving on to Fiji which is the subject... --- - Published: 2019-11-10 - Modified: 2019-11-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/notorious-prisoners/ - Categories: Notorious prisoners - Tags: Charles Bronson, Gary Powers, Harold Shipman, Ian Huntly, Mary Bell, Myra Hindley, The Price Sisters On the 6th of November fifty members of the Forum attended the weekly meeting to meet the guest speaker Veronica Bird MBE. Veronica spent her working life in the Prison Service reaching the rank of Governor, being the first female to be Governor of a male prison. Her talk was titled Notorious Prisoners in which she described some of the more notable prisoners of modern times, many of whom she had met in her professional capacity. She began with some of the most famous female murderers beginning with Myra Hindley who she met at Holloway. Veronica described Hindley as manipulative; she fell in love with a prison officer who helped her to organise her escape. This was successful but, on recapture, the officer received a six-year prison sentence. Mary Bell murdered two little boys when she was ten years old and was in the prison system for many years. She was eventually released under an assumed name, a very rare practice. Charlie Bronson was described as Britain’s most dangerous man and Ian Huntly, the Soham child killer, has applied to be allowed to change sex. Veronica then described Britain’s worst miscarriage of justice in which Stefan Kiszko was imprisoned for sixteen years for murder although forensic evidence proved he could not possibly have committed the crime. Veronica also included Harold Shipman and the Price Sisters (notorious IRA bombers) in her list of notorious prisoners. The most unusual prisoner she encountered was Gary Powers, the spy-plane pilot who she met when... --- - Published: 2019-10-31 - Modified: 2019-10-31 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-golden-age-of-radio-comedy/ - Categories: The Golden Age of Radio Comedy - Tags: Al Read, Harry Secombe, Jimmy Edwards, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock On the 30th of October 48 members attended the Forum meeting in the church centre, the largest number for the current season. The guest speaker was Geoff Twentyman from Bradford whose subject was The Golden Age of Radio Comedy. This trip down memory lane described the development of comedy programmes from the early days of radio in the 1920s to the 1960s with Geoff concentrating on five of his favourites from the period 1945 to 1960. Each description included pictures of the stars and an audio recording of an excerpt from the show. The first programme was Take It from Here which featured Jimmy Edwards, Joy Nicholls and Dick Bentley although Joy, a singer and comedienne, was soon replaced by Alma Cogan and June Whitfield. The second programme was Educating Archie which featured Peter Brough and his ventriloquists dummy Archie Andrews. Brough’s skill as a ventriloquist was best featured on radio. The third programme was The Goon Show. The original programme starred Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers although Bentine dropped out after the first series. We then moved on to Hancock’s Half Hour which featured Tony Hancock and some equally famous co-stars such as Sid James and Kenneth Williams. The final programme was the Al Read Show which was a one man show featuring Al Read in many domestic situations. Forum Vice Chairman Duncan proposed a vote of thanks to Geoff Twentyman for a highly entertaining presentation. --- - Published: 2019-10-28 - Modified: 2019-10-28 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/west-yorkshire-police-economic-crime-unit/ - Categories: West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit On the 23rd of October the Forum welcomed as guest speaker Kay Bainbridge who works as a police civilian with West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit in Wakefield. Kay’s job title is Victim Care and Prevention Officer and her talk was on Fraud Prevention. She described her role in fraud prevention and the operation of Action Fraud, a national reporting system operated by the City of London Police. Forum members were asked how many of them had been the victims of computer fraud and a number admitted to this. Kay then analysed the methods of computer fraudsters and cold-calling telephone fraudsters. She advised members on ways to recognise fraudulent e-mails and the situations where victims are likely to lose considerable amounts of money. Kay also detailed how members should recognise and deal with cold-callers. The best advice was – Ring Off! ! Another modern fraud is Money Mules when victims are tempted into money laundering by the promise of large amounts of money being put into their accounts although the victims are mostly young people and they may suffer serious legal consequences. A lively discussion followed until Forum Vice-Chairman Duncan Verity was forced to close the meeting by proposing a vote of thanks to Kay Bainbridge and her helper Liz Dixon. --- - Published: 2019-10-10 - Modified: 2019-10-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/famous-for-12-minutes/ - Categories: Famous for 12 Minutes - Tags: Undriveables On the 9th of October the Forum welcomed Malcolm Johnson as guest speaker. His talk was titled “Famous for 12 Minutes? (A reality TV experience)”. The title was based on a famous Andy Warhol quotation – everyone is famous for 15 minutes, the difference in time being explained by reality TV being interrupted by commercial breaks. Malcolm, a 65-year-old retired teacher, did not drive a car, the family driving duties being carried out by his wife. During a party at which he drank a few beers he accepted a challenge to compete in a TV reality programme called Undriveables in which non-drivers were taught to drive and took their test in a very short time. Of the 12,000 applicants 12 were accepted including Malcolm. Being an ex-teacher Malcolm passed the theory examination with ease and he then signed a contract with the production company. The conditions attached were far-reaching and strict but the participants were paid only £1. Malcolm showed a recording of the show which was shown on ITV between two episodes of Coronation Street. The driver training around the streets of Liverpool included many mistakes and Malcolm did not expect to pass his test but he did, the only one of the twelve participants to do so. This was proved by the fact that he had driven himself to the meeting. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Malcolm Johnson for a most entertaining morning. --- - Published: 2019-10-06 - Modified: 2019-10-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/comedy-of-the-good-old-days/ - Categories: Comedy of the Good Old Days - Tags: Benny Hill, Dave Allan, George Formby, Larry Grayson, Morecambe and Wise On the 18th of September the Forum held its second meeting of the new season. The speaker was Trevor Moody who travelled from Huddersfield to entertain the members with a video presentation titled Comedy of the Good Old Days. This featured 13 extracts from comedy performances from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s which Trevor described as the golden age of comedy. The oldest performance was George Formby singing When I’m Cleaning Windows in 1940. This was followed by many famous names such as Morecambe and Wise, Benny Hill, Dave Allan and Larry Grayson and extracts from situation comedies such as Dad’s Army,Some Mothers Do Have’em and Carry On Camping. The most recent extract was a very old Spike Milligan receiving an award shortly before his death. The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity proposed a Vote of Thanks to Trevor Moody for an entertaining presentation. --- - Published: 2019-10-06 - Modified: 2019-10-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/trip-down-memory-lane/ - Categories: Trip Down Memory Lane On the 25th of September 40 members attended at the Church Centre. The guest speaker was Keith Barber from Morley who gave a presentation titled Trip Down Memory Lane illustrated by an interesting selection of slides. Keith described his childhood in Leeds in the area around Tetley’s brewery which he described as very happy even though there was not much money around. He was born at the start of the second World War and described life playing in bombed-out buildings and enduring gas mask training at school. He reminded members about the street corner grocers in Leeds and the variety of playground games enjoyed by children of that era. We were reminded about the strictures of rationing which was not fully abandoned until 1954. Keith described the VE Day celebrations in his neighbourhood. He then moved on to the early days of his marriage when home entertainment consisted of listening to the radio in front of an open fire until they acquired a second-hand television. Programmes started at five o’clock and finished with the national anthem at half past ten with a mid-evening break for an intermission. Keith’s talk was enjoyed by members as it awoke many memories. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Keith Barber for a most amusing presentation. --- - Published: 2019-10-06 - Modified: 2019-10-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-great-train-robbery/ - Categories: The Great Train Robbery The Forum’s Vice Chairman Duncan Verity has a large collection of video presentations with which he occasionally entertains members as an alternative to employing a guest speaker. For the meeting on the 2nd of October he selected a feature titled The Great Train Robbery which dealt with the famous occasion on the 8th of August 1963 when £2. 6 million in used banknotes was stolen from a secure railway carriage on the West Coast main line in Buckinghamshire. The video was unusual in that it featured a commentary by Bruce Reynolds who was the leader of the gang of robbers and had planned the enterprise. The robbery went according to plan except that one of the robbers seriously assaulted the train driver. The gang returned to their hideout, a nearby farmhouse, before sharing out the cash and dispersing. Reynolds had arranged for the farmhouse to be burnt down but this didn’t happen which left much evidence which enabled the police to arrest all the gang except for Reynolds who escaped to Mexico along with his family. However, when funds ran short, he returned to England to continue his criminal career and he was arrested by the police. After members added their reminiscences Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for providing excellent entertainment for the meeting. --- - Published: 2019-04-10 - Modified: 2019-04-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/annual-general-meeting/ - Categories: Annual General Meeting On the 10th of April the Forum held its Annual General Meeting in the Church Rooms. The first meeting of the Forum was held in the Town Hall on the 10th of April 1969 so the meeting was held on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Forum. At the end of the meeting members moved into the Scout Headquarters next door where a celebratory buffet lunch had been laid out. The guests-of-honour were the Mayor and Mayoress of Wetherby, Councillor and Mrs Moss. Forum Chairman Mike Earle welcomed the guests and related a brief history of the Forum. Councillor Moss responded and reminded members of the good work done by many helpers over the years. The Forum will next meet after its summer recess, the meeting is scheduled for the 11th of September. --- - Published: 2019-04-04 - Modified: 2019-04-04 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/new-zealand-panorama/ - Categories: New Zealand Panorama At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 3rd of April members stood in silent memory of Jim Wilkie, a long-standing member who died recently at the age of 95. The guest speaker was John Gilleghan, a regular visitor appearing for the sixth time. John’s talk was titled New Zealand Panorama and described a tour of the country he undertook in 2004. He began with a short history of New Zealand which was discovered by the Dutchman Abel Tasman (900 years after being settled by the Maoris) who named it Staten Island, believing it to be a single island. It was renamed New Zealand by the Dutch government who never actually claimed the territory which was claimed for Britain by Captain James Cook. John illustrated his talk with some brilliant photographs backed by the occasional piece of music. He started his tour in Christchurch, his pictures showing the appeal of the city before the devastation caused by the earthquake in 2011. He then enjoyed a circular tour of the South Island calling at many small settlements and landing by helicopter near the summit of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in the country. His tour then took the ferry to the North Island visiting Wellington and Rotorua before reaching its end at Auckland from where John flew home. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to John Gilleghan for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2019-03-29 - Modified: 2019-03-29 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/our-lives-our-times-1945-64/ - Categories: Our Lives–Our Times 1945–64, Talks On the 27th of March the Forum welcomed as guest speaker David Davies whose talk was titled Our Lives–Our Times 1945–64. Illustrated by an interesting selection of photographs, the talk covered politics and life in general in the UK for the period mentioned in the title. David commenced with the conferences at the end of WW11 when the participants changed due to death and the British general election, the only constant being Joseph Stalin. This resulted in the Soviet domination of Central Europe for many years afterwards. At this time the UK was virtually bankrupt, rationing continuing till 1954 and bomb damage remaining into the late 1950s. In 1947 there, was freezing weather which resulted in 25,000 deaths. Smog was a regular occurrence, in 1952 it resulted in 4,000 deaths in London and in 1953 North Sea flooding caused many casualties. David mentioned celebrities from the period and some notable events such as the Coronation, the breaking of the sound barrier and the ascent of Everest. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked David Davies for a very interesting and informative talk. --- - Published: 2019-03-13 - Modified: 2019-03-13 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/james-heriot/ - Categories: James Heriot - Tags: Alfred Wight, Donald Sinclair, Jim Wight, Siegfried Farnon, Thirsk On the 13th of March the Forum held its annual open meeting when members may invite guests to enjoy the guest speaker. This year the featured speaker was Jim Wight, the son of James Heriot who wrote the books detailing his life as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales. Heriot’s real name was Alfred Wight and his vet’s practice was situated in Thirsk and Jim explained that his father changed his name and location to try and preserve his anonymity. However, he sold over 100 million copies of his books and Thirsk’s James Heriot Museum has become a major tourist destination, particularly for American visitors. Jim followed his father to become a vet in Thirsk and his talk featured a number of amusing stories involving his dealings with the local farming community. One of the main characters in the James Heriot books was his business partner Siegfried Farnon, whose name was actually Donald Sinclair, and Jim ended his talk with a few tales about this unique person. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Jim Wight for a highly entertaining morning and Forum members and their guests joined in enthusiastic applause. Jim Wight donates all his speaker’s fees to charity. --- - Published: 2019-03-07 - Modified: 2019-03-07 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/ireland/ - Categories: Ireland - Tags: Connemara, Kerry, the Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher., Tony Birkett On the 6th of March the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Tony Burkitt whose chosen subject was Ireland. Tony’s interests are archaeology, architecture, history, wild flowers and walking, each of which was covered as we enjoyed a travelogue around southern Ireland starting and finishing in Dublin and visiting tourist hot-spots such as Kerry, Connemara, the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher. He illustrated his talk with a series of slides which showed the wild rugged Irish landscape and its wide variety of ancient Celtic and early Christian sites. Whilst in Ireland Tony attempted to climb each of the 12 peaks which rise above 3,000 feet but he failed due to inclement weather and access problems. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Tony for an enjoyable talk. Forum members look forward to the meeting scheduled for the 13th of March when we welcome Jim Wight, the vet son of TV vet James Heriot, who is to talk about his father. This is an open meeting when members invite guests to share the meeting. --- - Published: 2019-02-27 - Modified: 2019-02-27 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-yorkshire-dales-a-residents-view/ - Categories: The Yorkshire Dales – a Resident’s View - Tags: Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Kettlewell in Wharfedale, Plastic Duck Race, Scarecrow Festival For the Forum’s meeting on the 27th of February 57 members attended, the largest turn-out for the current season. The guest speaker was Geoff Queen who had travelled from his home in Kettlewell in Wharfedale. The title of his talk was The Yorkshire Dales – a Resident’s View in which he concentrated on his home village and the immediate neighbourhood. He listed the advantages and disadvantages in living in such an idyllic setting. The main advantages are the scenery, the peace and quiet, the community life and care for the elderly; the disadvantages are the weather (twice as much rain falls here as falls on Leeds), the poor transport facilities and the midges. The village has 150 dwellings although half of these are holiday homes which are empty for long periods resulting in a resident population of only 140. Geoff then showed a series of slides showing the area in summer and winter conditions and also the two main events of the year, the Scarecrow Festival and the Plastic Duck Race. Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Geoff whose speaker’s fee will be donated to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. --- - Published: 2019-02-13 - Modified: 2019-02-13 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/sammy-cahn/ - Categories: Sammy Cahn - Tags: Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, James van Heusen, Jules Styne, Leeds Civic Theatre, Nat King Cole, There Goes That Song Again Before the meeting on the 6th of February the Forum’s speaker finder John Spinner discovered that the scheduled speaker would not be available. At short notice he arranged for an old friend of the Forum Stuart Atkins to speak and his chosen subject was the songwriter Sammy Cahn. Stuart has a special relationship with the work of his subject having, in 1991 written a show called There Goes That Song Again featuring Sammy Cahn’s songs which ran at the Leeds Civic Theatre before going on tour throughout Britain. Cahn was a lyricist who worked with many partners but mainly Jules Styne and James van Heusen. Frank Sinatra recorded 87 songs written by Cahn and Stuart played a number of these as well as performances by Barbra Streisand, Nat King Cole and other equally talented singers. With four different partners he wrote 26 songs nominated for Oscars including four which received the award. Stuart had telephone discussions with Sammy Cahn when writing his show and arranged to meet him on his next visit to Britain, but he died before this could happen. Mike Earle thanked Stuart for a morning of nostalgia. --- - Published: 2019-02-13 - Modified: 2019-02-13 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/formula-1-british-champions/ - Categories: Formula 1 British Champions - Tags: Damon Hill, Graham Hill, James Hunt, Jensen Button, Jim Clarke, John Surtees, Lewis Hamilton, Mike Hawthorn, Stirling Moss On the 13th of February the Forum welcomed Graham Read as guest speaker. Graham is a motoring writer and Formula 1 correspondent who has entertained Forum members a number of times speaking on motoring topics. This time his subject was Formula 1 British Champions. There have been nine World Formula 1 champions from Britain but Graham also included a tenth name Stirling Moss who won 16 grand prix races but never the world championship, one year failing by one point. The list began with Mike Hawthorn who won in 1958 and ended with Lewis Hamilton, the current champion. Graham gave us the life and career history of each champion. One champion John Surtees had also been a motor cycle champion and Graham included in his presentation a video of part of the Isle of Man TT from a bike-mounted camera travelling at full speed around the circuit. At the end of his talk Graham gave us a list of three young British drivers, any of which could be a future world champion. Members then questioned Graham about various aspects of the motor racing scene before Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks enthusiastically supported by Forum members. --- - Published: 2019-02-01 - Modified: 2019-02-01 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/a-question-of-sport/ - Categories: Question of Sport, Talks The Forum’s meeting on the 30th of January began with the members standing in silent tribute to the late Fred Bingham, until recently a regular Forum attender. The guest speaker was John Clithero who was visiting for the fourth time to talk about the television programme A Question of Sport. John’s presentation required audience participation to test its sporting knowledge by identifying the pictures of the various sportsmen and women shown and Forum members joined in with gusto. A Question of Sport began in 1968 when its presenter was David Vine and its two team captains were Cliff Morgan the Welsh rugby international and Henry Cooper the heavyweight boxer. The first guests were footballers George Best and Tom Finney, England cricket captain Raymond Illingworth and international athlete Lilian Board. There have been over 650 programmes but only three presenters, David Vine, David Coleman and Sue Barker. Team captains were changed regularly until 2008 when Matthew Dawson and Philip Tufnell were introduced and remain captains to this day. The most frequent guest has been Steve Davis who has made more than 20 appearances. John finished his presentation with a picture board quiz and his version of What Happened Next? Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for a splendid morning’s entertainment. --- - Published: 2019-01-24 - Modified: 2019-01-24 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/wheatfields-hospice/ - Categories: Wheatfields Hospice - Tags: Sue Ryder, Wheatfield Lodge On the 23rd of January the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Charlene Graham, a fundraiser from the Sue Ryder organisation whose particular interest is the Wheatfields Hospice in Headingley. Charlene began by relating the history of the building which was established in 1859 as a family home called Wheatfield Lodge. During and after the Second World War it housed various government and military organisations until it became a hospice in 1978 under the wing of the Sue Ryder organisation. Charlene described the various building projects which have brought the building into its present form although not without some setbacks. In 1996 the building was damaged by a flood caused by a burst water main whose repair cost £100,000 which was raised by a charity appeal. This appeal also enabled a new therapy unit to be constructed. Charlene went on to describe the work of the hospice which houses 18 in-patients, and also provides day care, for people over the age of 80 who are referred by their GP or the local hospital. Forum members then asked questions about the work of the hospice before Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks. --- - Published: 2019-01-24 - Modified: 2019-01-24 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/classic-pop-and-humour-videos/ - Categories: Classic Pop and Humour videos The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity has assembled a large collection of entertaining videos with which he occasionally entertains the Forum’s members. For the Forum’s second meeting of 2019 on the16th of January he put together a selection which he titled Classic Pop and Humour. Starting with the Three Tenors singing O Sole Mio, for the next hour we enjoyed the music of many of our favourite singers and comedy from the Two Ronnies and a rare non-singing duet featuring Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra before the final item, a quirky comedy band featuring two trombones whose slides were operated by the bare feet of a third person. Chairman Mike Earle complimented Duncan in putting together a presentation with something for everyone which had brightened up a dull day. The Forum continues to attract an average attendance of around fifty but the size of the venue at the Church Centre means that more members could easily be accommodated and would be made very welcome. --- - Published: 2018-12-05 - Modified: 2018-12-05 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/from-trackways-to-motorways/ - Categories: From Trackways to Motorways - Tags: highways and byways, Tony Morris, Turnpike Trusts On the 5th of December the Forum met for its last meeting of 2018 in the St James Church Centre. The guest speaker was Tony Morris whose talk was titled From Trackways to Motorways (via a few potholes). Tony traced the history of the highways and byways of England from prehistoric times to the present day. After the early animal tracks and ridgeways the Roman invaders then established a network of 600 miles of quality roads which were seriously neglected in medieval times. In 1663 Turnpike Trusts were established which resulted in new roads being built, although the resulting tolls were unpopular and the roads were not well maintained. In the early 1900s a new system of roads was started to accommodate the motor car. Between 1945 and 1958 the number of motor vehicles increased from 2. 5 million to 8 million resulting in the modern motorway system being established which now extends to 2,000 miles. Tony then turned to the controversial subject of potholes and how they should be repaired. Finally, he dealt with another controversy - speed limits and their enforcement. Duncan Verity proposed a vote of thanks for an interesting talk. The Forum’s Christmas lunch is arranged for the 12th of December at the Bridge Inn Walshford when entertainment will be provided by the Daytones vocal group. Meetings will be resumed on the 9th of January. --- - Published: 2018-11-28 - Modified: 2018-11-28 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/records-banned-by-the-bbc/ - Categories: Records Banned by the BBC On the 28th 0f November the Forum’s guest speaker was David Sibbald whose talk had the intriguing title of Records Banned by the BBC. In earlier days it was the BBC’s practise to ban records for a variety of reasons. The reasons can be classified under the headings of suggestive lyrics, unacceptable religious references, lyrics which may damage morale in wartime and references to commercial products. Also a less obvious reason was the use of melodies by classical composers which involved the banning of instrumental records by bands such as the Glen Miller Band. This was due to the BBC’s Head of Music in the 1940s being the composer Sir Arthur Bliss who believed that classical music should not be used for profit. David illustrated his talk with short extracts of the records involved starting with Henry Hall’s Radio Times (a commercial publication). In the USA there was no such restrictions but eventually it was realised that the BBC’s rules were affecting record sales and there are many instances of English versions of songs being produced with slight changes to the American words. Some of Cole Porter’s songs were, however, beyond redemption. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked David Sibbald for an entertaining and amusing talk. --- - Published: 2018-11-22 - Modified: 2018-11-22 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/travels-with-the-united-nations/ - Categories: Talks, Travels with the United Nations On the 21st of November the Forum welcomed Brian Taylor to speak about Travels with the United Nations. After a career with West Yorkshire Police where he was Head of the Drugs Squad he joined the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as Chief of the Anti-Trafficking Section. He summarised the history of the United Nations from its foundation in 1945 with 50 member states to the present day with 193 members employing 44,000 people. The section in which he was employed is based in Vienna and investigates drug and human trafficking as well as money laundering and terrorism. His role involved travelling all around the world and he described a selection of the exotic and disturbed places which he had visited. The two most disturbed places were Iraq and Afghanistan, at the latter he visited a UN facility which was bombed shortly afterwards with considerable loss of life to its staff. He also visited Bosnia and witnessed the extensive damage to Sarajevo and the dreadful poverty of its inhabitants. He visited the “Stan” states in Central Asia where the UN set up an organisation similar to Europol to enable exchange of police information. A lively question and answer session followed which Chairman Mike Earle had to curtail to allow members to go home. Mike thanked Brian Taylor for a fascinating talk about his very interesting life. --- - Published: 2018-11-16 - Modified: 2018-11-16 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-changing-face-of-newspapers/ - Categories: The Changing Face of Newspapers - Tags: Jane McKeown journalist, newspapers On the 14th 0f November the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Jane McKeown, a former journalist. Jane had chosen The Changing Face of Newspapers as her subject and began by informing the members that she would be dealing with the serious topic of freedom of speech where the UK rated as 60th best in the world. The first instance of a journalist being criticised by Parliament for revealing unpleasant truths was in 1760 when John Wilks of the North Briton revealed that the words of George II were being altered by Parliament. Jane then gave us a summary of how journalism has changed along with the improvements in communication, the changes in printing technology and the introduction of the world wide web. Jane then detailed the problems to the modern journalist caused by political interference and other difficulties the press is experiencing in simply surviving. After members had joined in the discussion Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Jane McKeown for a fascinating and intriguing talk and complimented her on her passionate delivery. --- - Published: 2018-11-11 - Modified: 2018-11-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/you-and-your-mattress/ - Categories: You and Your Mattress For the Forum’s meeting held on the 7th of November the guest speaker was a retired nurse Denise Adlard. Her talk was titled You and Your Mattress and started with a description and the history of that basic item of domestic life. The name comes from an Arabic word meaning something thrown down, mattresses being brought into the western world by returning crusaders. Denise described the various types of mattresses developed over the years and her difficulties encountered when trying to buy a replacement, a process recommended doing every eight years. The subject of the talk then turned to sleeping and Forum members were invited to reveal their sleeping habits such as the length of a night’s sleep, single or double bed and the need for a daytime nap. Denise stressed the need for plenty of sleep and compared man’s sleep pattern with that of other creatures. She ended her talk with the well-known saying – sleep tight and mind the bugs don’t bite – which refers to the design of old bedding and has no connection to insects found in beds. Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity thanked Denise for an informative and amusing talk. --- - Published: 2018-11-11 - Modified: 2018-11-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/wetherby-u3a/ - Categories: Wetherby U3A On the 31st of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Leslie Newnham, one of the founders of Wetherby U3A. She started with a brief history of the organisation which is based on one of the same name started in Toulouse, France. This was witnessed by three English friends who thought that, with some changes it would work well in this country. Where the French version involved professionals lecturing to retired members the British variation involves only the retired volunteers. Leslie had been a U3A member before moving into the Wetherby area where she found that the nearest branch was in Harrogate. Having met Mary Bentham the two ladies established the Wetherby branch which now has around 1,300 members. It supports 106 groups whose activities cover a wide variety of subjects including cycling, walking, singing, playing the ukulele and folk dancing. Many members of the Forum are also members of U3A but this did not deter them from taking part in a lively discussion and those not already members showed a great deal of interest. Chairman Mike Earle thanked Leslie for a very helpful presentation. --- - Published: 2018-11-11 - Modified: 2018-11-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/899-2/ - Categories: The Munich Air Crash The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity has an impressive collection of video documentaries, mainly connected with aviation. At the meeting on the 24th of October he introduced a video titled “The Munich Air Crash” which referred to the serious incident on the 6th of February 1958 which involved the famous Manchester United football team known as the Busby Babes. The team was returning from Belgrade where they had been playing in the European Champions Cup when their flight called into Munich to refuel. In wintery weather conditions the plane, a British European Airways chartered flight, failed in its attempt to take off and crashed into a farmhouse at the end of the runway. 23 of the 44 people on board suffered fatal injuries. The blame for the crash was firmly placed on the pilot Captain James Thain by the German investigators and the video examined the justice of this verdict. Eventually the enquiry was re-opened and the cause was finally placed on the failure of the airport staff to clear slush from the runway although Captain Thain never piloted another flight. The 48 Forum members present were rather subdued by this tragic story. --- - Published: 2018-10-18 - Modified: 2018-10-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-wars-of-the-roses-a-tale-of-two-halves/ - Categories: The Wars of the Roses a Tale of Two Halves On the 17th of October the Forum welcomed Gillian Waters who entertained members with a talk titled The Wars of the Roses (a Tale of Two Halves). Gillian teaches at York University and has also worked at the Leeds Armouries. The first point she made was that the War of the Roses was nothing to do with the rivalry between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire but was caused by the competition between two dynasties for power. These dynasties were headed by two sons of King Edward III, the Dukes of Lancaster and York. The war started in 1455 with the Battle of St. Albans and finished in 1485 but in these 30 years there were only 428 days of campaigning and many parts of the country were not touched by the civil war. Gillian described how battles were fought in medieval times, each side employing the same (English) tactics resulting in stalemate, illustrating her talk with pictures of medieval warfare. Eventually the two sides met at Towton where occurred the bloodiest battle to ever take place on British soil, it being one of the only two British battles to last more than four hours. Richard III (a Yorkist) took the throne in 1483 and Gillian mentioned the famous case of the Princes in the Tower whose murder, she believes, was not caused by Richard but by Margaret of York who had ambitions for her son Henry Tudor who eventually invaded Wales and defeated (and killed) Richard at Bosworth Field... --- - Published: 2018-10-11 - Modified: 2018-10-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/in-grandmothers-footsteps/ - Categories: In Grandmother’s Footsteps - Tags: Glen Miller Story, Yorkshire dialect On the 10th of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Alan Hemsworth who had travelled from Settle. Alan entertained the members with a talk about the Yorkshire dialect which he titled In Grandmother’s Footsteps. He was brought up in Pudsey and, as a boy, was a regular visitor to his grandmother’s house which was a typical terrace house – two up and two down with an outside “privy”. From his grandmother he learnt a great number of Yorkshire words and phrases which he passed on to the Forum members and explained the source of the words from the original Anglo-Saxon and compared them with words in modern German and Danish. Although England abounds with local accents actual dialects are dying out, only being of interest to academics. Alan has accumulated many poems written in the Yorkshire dialect and he finished his talk with a selection delivered in true Yorkshire. Chairman Mike Earle thanked Alan Hemsworth for a most entertaining talk. Forum Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity has arranged an evening event for Sunday the 14th of October in the form of a buffet meal and film show for Forum members and their guests. This takes place at Wetherby Golf Club when the film featured is The Glen Miller Story. --- - Published: 2018-10-10 - Modified: 2018-10-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/885-2/ - Categories: Keeley Donovan The Forum’s Speaker Finder John Spinner was a school teacher in Grimsby during his working life. At the meeting on the 3rd of October he introduced one of his former pupils, Keeley Donovan, the BBC Look North television presenter. Keeley began her television career at the age of 14 at a local channel in Grimsby and her presentation gave the Forum a light-hearted insight into her career so far. She began her BBC career as a local reporter operating around Hull before being transferred to Leeds. The BBC had begun a policy of presenting weather forecasts using reporters rather than meteorologists and Keeley was appointed in this role. Since then she has expanded her career into general reporting and has appeared in national programmes such as Breaking Britain and Countryfile Diary. She illustrated her talk with short video clips taken from some of her appearances. Currently Keeley is presenting Inside Out, a current affairs programme dealing with local issues, and she revealed to the Forum some of its coming items. A lively question and answer session followed which unfortunately had to be cut short so Keeley could keep a filming appointment in Sheffield. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Keeley for an entertaining talk. Her speaker's fee will be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. --- - Published: 2018-09-20 - Modified: 2018-09-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-geology-of-the-north-yorks-moors/ - Categories: The Geology of the North Yorks Moors - Tags: Hole of Horcum, Jurassic rock, Pickering, Roger Osborne, Sutton Bank On the 12th of September the Forum members gathered for the first meeting of the new season. The Forum meets at the Wetherby Church Centre every Wednesday morning from September to March (with a short break in December) and new members are always made welcome. The guest speaker for the first meeting was Roger Osborne from Pickering whose chosen subject was The Geology of the North Yorks Moors. This area is regarded by geologists as being of special significance due to the surface being formed of three layers of Jurassic rock. Over the last 100 million years the rocks have been tilted by the action of movement of the earth’s crust exposing the ends of these layers. This has resulted in such features as Sutton Bank and The Hole of Horcum. Roger described why a large aquifer has developed under the Vale of Pickering which provides the bulk of the drinking water for the surrounding area and explains why the proposal to frack in the area is so controversial. Glacial erosion by various Ice Ages has also had the effect of changing the direction of the local rivers and deepening their valleys. After a lively question and answer session the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity proposed a vote of thanks to Roger Osborne for a most interesting presentation. --- - Published: 2018-09-20 - Modified: 2018-09-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/yorkshire-history-makers/ - Categories: Yorkshire History Makers - Tags: Jane Tomlinson, John Hargreaves, Judge James Pickles, Wilfred Pickles On the 19th of September the Forum welcomed its guest speaker John Hargreaves from Halifax. John is a retired teacher and a writer who has provided a number of entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies. The dictionary had been lacking in entries from the north and John has provided items to correct this deficit, a selection of which formed the basis of his talk titled Yorkshire History Makers. The first famous Yorkshireman was Wilfred Pickles, a native of Halifax who was a radio personality during WW2 and the years immediately after. He is best remembered for his radio programme Have a Go which was the first to feature ordinary people in a relaxed setting and was the first to give cash prizes (a big £3). In later years Pickles became a character actor featuring in films and TV shows. The next famous figure was Judge James Pickles, Wilfred’s nephew. In his youth he was rebellious and anti-authoritarian but obtained legal qualifications and eventually became a circuit judge. He became notorious for some controversial sentencing and left the law to become a playwright and novelist. Harry Corbett was the third person featured. Over many years he presented a children’s TV programme featuring a bear glove puppet called Sooty which he had bought in Blackpool for 7/6d. The last person featured was Jane Tomlinson who, although suffering from cancer herself, raised large sums of money for cancer charities. Although she had shown no interest in sport at school most of... --- - Published: 2018-04-07 - Modified: 2018-04-07 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter-part-3/ - Categories: Songs and Laughter Part 3, Talks - Tags: 2018, AGM 11th April On the 4th of April the Forum’s members gathered for its last regular meeting of the season. Vice Chairman Duncan Verity has a large collection of video presentations which he occasionally presents for the members’ entertainment. For this meeting he produced a selection titled Songs and Laughter Part 3 (members had already seen Parts 1 and 2). The video featured popular music from the 1950s to the present day from such diverse singers as Vera Lyn and Elvis Presley. The laughter was provided by Frank Carson, Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson. Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for brightening a miserable rainy morning. After the AGM on the 11th of April the Forum goes into its spring/summer break, its next meeting will be on the 12th of September. --- - Published: 2018-03-31 - Modified: 2018-03-31 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-shetland-and-orkney-islands/ - Categories: Shetland and Orkney Islands - Tags: General Kitchener, HMS Hampshire, Old man of Hoy, Scapa Flow On the 28th of March the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Tony Burkitt who entertained the members with a talk titled Shetland and Orkney Islands. He described two holidays he enjoyed in the said islands supported by his excellent photographs. The islands are unique in that they have more in common with Norway than they have with either England or Scotland. The first holiday was to Shetland where his first stop was at the town of Scallaway where a celebration was taking place commemorating the town’s role as the base for the Shetland ‘bus’, an arrangement during World War II for accepting escapees from occupied Norway. The rest of his time was spent visiting the many prehistoric sites, bird-watching and finding unusual wild flowers. The second holiday was to Orkney which is equally well-provided with prehistoric sites. When on the island of Hoy he met a group of climbers attempting to climb the Old Man of Hoy. As a result he obtained some remarkable pictures taken by the climbers during their ascent. Orkney is the site of the World War I sea anchorage Scapa Flow where the ship HMS Hampshire sank with great loss of life including General Kitchener who was on his way to a meeting in Russia. After an open discussion Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2018-03-17 - Modified: 2018-03-17 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/thoughts-on-leadership/ - Categories: Thoughts on Leadership The scheduled guest speaker for the Forum’s meeting on the 14th of March became unavailable at short notice so one of the Forum’s members Ivor Thomas stepped into the breech. Ivor spent most of his career as an educator, firstly in the RAF and then in the civilian sector. He entertained the members with a talk titled Some Thoughts on Leadership starting with World War One when the troops were famously described as lions led by donkeys. It was realised by the powers that be that trained leadership was necessary but by the Second World War little had changed and in 1942 Winston Churchill sacked 2,000 commanders. Training courses in the UK were started by the armed forces and Ivor discussed the different approaches to leadership, for instance is leadership by consensus or assertiveness preferable. The Forum members joined in with the discussion mainly restricting their examples to the world of home and international politics. After a long discussion Mike Earle brought the meeting to a close, thanking Ivor for providing such an interesting talk at short notice. --- - Published: 2018-03-08 - Modified: 2018-03-08 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/great-moments-in-sport/ - Categories: Great Moments in Sport The Forum meeting arranged to take place on the 28th of February was cancelled due to the heavy snow; on the 7th of March arrangements returned to normal when the Forum welcomed an old friend John Clithero as guest speaker. John’s talk was titled Great Moments in Sport and featured a trip down memory lane for Forum members as John described key moments in sport and reminded them of sporting heroes of the last forty years. The first moment was the so-called Botham’s Test Match when, in 1981 at Headingley Cricket Ground, Ian Botham engineered a victory over Australia from a seemingly impossible position. John had witnessed this special moment in his role as a commentator with Radio Leeds. He was also present when Darren Gough achieved the only hat-trick in the 20th century by an English bowler against Australia. Other moments were featured from football, rugby, golf and horse racing before members were reminded of sportsmen and women whose exploits have gained them fame and honours. The last sportsperson featured was the one John regarded as the greatest of all, the boxer Muhammed Ali. Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to John for an excellent presentation. --- - Published: 2018-02-21 - Modified: 2018-02-21 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/falklands-most-daring-raid/ - Categories: Falklands Most Daring Raid 51 members attended the forum’s meeting held on the 21st of February to enjoy a presentation by Vice Chairman Duncan Verity. Duncan has a large collection of video features, many of them dealing with subjects connected to aircraft. This time his chosen feature was called Falklands Most Daring Raid and dealt with an attack on the airstrip at Port Stanley by an RAF Vulcan bomber during the Argentine occupation which Duncan described as the most daring bombing raid since the Dam Busters. The aim of the raid was to deny the Argentine air force the use of the air strip for an attack on the British invasion fleet. The raid was complicated by the fact that the nearest base from which the raid could be launched was Ascension Island, over 8,000 miles away, way beyond the range of the Vulcan without refuelling. Also the Vulcan bombers were on the verge of being scrapped due to obsolescence and were missing various vital parts. The solution to the refuelling problem and the progress of the raid were well described in the video and the successful and safe outcome was not certain till the very end. Mike Earle thanked Duncan for an excellent presentation. --- - Published: 2018-02-18 - Modified: 2018-02-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/macmillan-cancer-support/ - Categories: Macmillan Cancer Support On the 7th 0f February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Matthew Jameson, a fund-raising manager with Macmillan Cancer Support. His organisation was established in 1911 when Douglas MacMillan was left £10 in his father’s will to set up a charity to support cancer sufferers having himself died of the disease. The purpose of the charity is to support everyone diagnosed with cancer and also their family and friends. This support can take the form of financial help but also advice and comfort to sufferers. Macmillan nurses are normally recruited from the NHS and work within hospitals but are totally funded by the charity. The charity also acts as a pressure group to change attitudes or procedures when necessary, one example being to try and withdraw parking charges for patients making regular visits to hospitals. Matthew gave us a number of case studies of situations where the Macmillan charity has been of assistance. The annual budget of MacMillan is very large as they run an information centre in most large hospitals and fully provide the salaries of all their nurses. Matthew related a number of the ways in which funds are raised, the best known being the Macmillan coffee mornings, in 2015 these numbered 380,000 in the UK raising £25million. Matthew himself raised a large sum when he undertook a sky-dive. The local MacMillan Support organiser is David Bailey, a Forum member, who informed us how we could get involved in the fund raising. Mike Earle proposed a vote of... --- - Published: 2018-02-17 - Modified: 2018-02-17 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/iconic-cars-from-the-1950s-to-the-present-day/ - Categories: Iconic Cars from the 1950s to the Present Day., Talks On the 14th of February 53 members turned up for the Forum’s morning meeting, the highest number for the current season despite the biting cold. The guest speaker for the meeting was Graham Read, a Formula One correspondent and motoring writer who has spoken to the Forum on a number of previous occasions. His subject this time was Iconic Cars from the 1950s to the Present Day. Graham showed a succession of brilliant slides of cars from the various decades, some of the cars being very expensive and some affordable. He started with a Morris Minor, a type of car which most of the Forum members admitted to have driven. Next came the Citroen 2CV which Graham told us is involved in races although not as exciting as Formula One. Among the cars from the 1980s was the DeLorean and Graham reminded us of its controversial manufacture in Belfast and the problems which led to the collapse of the company. At the end of his presentation Graham introduced us to a number of ultra-expensive limited editions by such manufacturers as Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin and including the most expensive example, a Bugatti costing over £2million. After Forum members had reminisced about their early cars Mike Earle thanked Graham for a fascinating presentation. --- - Published: 2018-01-18 - Modified: 2018-01-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/dam-yangtze/ - Categories: Dam Yangtze - Tags: Beijing, damming of the Yangtze river, GOSH, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Great Wall of China, terra cotta army, Three Gorges The Forum resumed its regular Wednesday morning meetings on the 10th of January after the Christmas break with a talk by guest speaker Geoff Queen from Kettlewell. Geoff titled his talk Dam Yangtze, a play on words to describe two visits he and his wife made to the Chinese Yangtze River at the time when a giant dam was being constructed which changed the geography of the area in many ways. He started with a list of statistics about China including its population (1. 25 billion) which is one fifth the population of the world. One city has a population of 30 million whilst a settlement of 4 million is regarded as a town. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world and the dam was built at a location called the Three Gorges, regarded as particularly beautiful, and involved the displacement of over a million people. Geoff illustrated his talk with a slide show. Unfortunately the weather had not been kind to him although that and the polluted atmosphere highlighted the devastation caused by the dam to the existing towns and cities. Geoff also visited the Great Wall, Beijing and the terra-cotta soldiers at Xian and at the end of his talk he invited those forum members who had visited China to share their impressions. Mike Earle thanked Geoff Queen for his informative talk. Geoff donates his speaker’s fees to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. --- - Published: 2018-01-18 - Modified: 2018-01-18 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-story-of-james-herriot/ - Categories: The Story of James Herriot - Tags: Alf Wight, Darrowby, James Herriot Museum, Thirsk On a cold and icy Wednesday morning on the 17th of January 40 members braved the weather to hear the Forum’s guest speaker John Gilleghan MBE. John was entertaining us for the fifth time; this time his subject was The Story of James Herriot, the vet from Thirsk whose real name was James Alfred Wight who had adopted his nom- de-plume for his very successful series of books about the life of a Yorkshire Dales vet. All the main characters in the books were based on real people but were given fictitious names and the setting for the stories, the town of Darrowby was loosely based on Thirsk. John has personally researched the lives of Alfred Wight and his family and obtained copies of many of their photographs which he shared with us in the form of a slide show with musical accompaniment. The books were adapted for two films and a very successful television series of 91 episodes and details of these featured in John’s presentation. John also introduced us to the James Herriot Museum in Thirsk which has recently re-opened after refurbishment. Mike Earle thanked John Gilleghan for a very entertaining talk which brightened up a miserable day. --- - Published: 2017-12-06 - Modified: 2017-12-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/christmas-humour/ - Categories: Christmas Humour, Talks - Tags: David Calverley, Yorkshire dialect On the 6th of December the Forum gathered at the Church Centre for the last meeting of 2017. The guest speaker was David Calverley who had travelled from Huddersfield to provide some Christmas Humour to brighten up a bleak winter’s morning. For nearly an hour David regaled us with a selection of jokes, humorous tales and monologues, many delivered in a broad Yorkshire dialect. Chairman Mike Earle proposed the vote of thanks for a most amusing presentation. The Forum’s Christmas lunch for members and their guests is arranged for Wednesday the 13th of December at the Bridge Inn, Walshford when additional entertainment is promised as well as a delicious meal. Regular meetings will resume on the 10th of January 2018. --- - Published: 2017-11-30 - Modified: 2017-11-30 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-battle-of-britain-victory-defeat-or-no-result/ - Categories: Talks, The Battle of Britain Victory Defeat or No Result On the 29th of November 54 members of the Forum attended at the Church Centre, the highest number for the current season. The guest speaker, introduced by John Spinner, was Martin Cocker whose subject was The Battle of Britain, Victory, Defeat or No Result. He brought with him a very realistic life-size model of a WWII aviator who he introduced as Arthur Aaron from Leeds who was awarded the Victoria Cross when he brought home his damaged plane saving the lives of his crew although seriously injured himself. This set the scene for his talk which started with a summary of the causes of the war. Martin then moved onto the invention of radar which was crucial in the conduct of the Battle of Britain. After the German Army swept through Western Europe, Britain stood alone and Adolf Hitler published a leaflet titled Last Appeal to Reason which was ignored, after which Goering offered his Luftwaffe to defeat Britain without the necessity of an invasion. Martin assessed the tactics of the British and Germans up to the end of the battle which is generally accepted as October 31st1940 after which a land invasion would not have been possible. Martin then considered the question posed by the title of his talk, coming to the conclusion that the answer was somewhere between a British victory and no result. Some of the Forum members gave their own opinions before Mike Earle thanked Martin for a fascinating and well-presented talk. --- - Published: 2017-11-22 - Modified: 2017-11-22 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter-part-1/ - Categories: Songs and Laughter Part 1, Talks The Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity produces a series of video presentations with which he occasionally entertains our Forum and others in the area. On the 22nd of November the Wetherby Forum enjoyed one of his features titled Songs and Laughter (Part 1) in which he introduced recordings of musical and comedy performances dating from the 1950s to the present day. The musical bits were Country and Western, classic pop or show performances whilst the laughter was provided by old favourites the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Les Dawson. The quality of the performances was much enhanced by Duncan’s presentation equipment, the sound being crystal clear throughout the performance. The presentation was rounded off by a comedy item which surprised everyone. Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for brightening every members’ morning. The Forum looks forward to enjoying further parts in Duncan’s Songs and Laughter series. --- - Published: 2017-11-12 - Modified: 2017-11-12 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/guy-fawkes-yorkshireman/ - Categories: Guy Fawkes Yorkshireman, Talks Wetherby Mens Forum The Forum’s meeting on the 8th of November was attended by 51 members. The guest speaker was Gillian Waters, a part time teacher from York whose chosen subject was Guy Fawkes Yorkshireman, very appropriate for a meeting held three days after Bonfire Night. Gillian introduced us to the key participants in the Gunpowder Plot including the leader Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes who was invited to join the gang as a “gunner” because of his knowledge of explosives. The plot extended beyond blowing up the House of Lords with King James and his sons to an armed insurrection in Warwickshire and the kidnap and installation of the King’s young daughter Elizabeth as a puppet Queen. The cause of their dissatisfaction was the enmity in England between the Protestant and Catholic churches. Guy Fawkes was born into a Protestant family but became a Catholic in his youth in York, it is believed as a reaction to the martyrdom of Margaret Clitheroe in York. He then moved to the Netherlands where he received a Catholic education and joined the army of the King of Spain. The plot was uncovered when Fawkes was found under the House of Lords after information obtained from a spy in the Catholic ranks. Some of the plotters escaped to Warwickshire where they attempted an armed insurrection which was defeated. All the surviving plotters were executed in London by the process of hung drawn and quartering. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for an... --- - Published: 2017-11-02 - Modified: 2017-11-02 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/bed-pans-and-false-teeth/ - Categories: Bed Pans and False Teeth, Talks On the First of November 51 members attended the Forum’s meeting at the Church Rooms, the largest attendance so far this season. The guest speaker was Denise Adlard, a retired nurse from Denholm near Bradford whose talk was titled Bed Pans and False Teeth – 47 Years in the NHS, although she promised not to talk about false teeth and to only make passing mention to bed pans. Denise had wanted to be a nurse from the age of four and at seventeen obtained a post as a student nurse at the Bradford Royal Infirmary in the face of opposition from her father. She recalled that this was the only occasion when her mother stood up for her against her father. On completion of her training she qualified as a District Nurse but then trained as a midwife at St. Luke’s Hospital. She described her first home birth when, as a trainee, she delivered the baby on her own which was strictly against the rules. She returned to district nursing in Bradford where her district included the Holme Wood estate, at that time reputed to be the most deprived estate in Europe. She related her brushes with the local police, usually caused by speeding between cases, and she also related her problems with unfriendly dogs. What were the most important lessons which nursing taught her? How to be scrupulously neat and tidy and to do complicated tasks with a steady hand. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Denise... --- - Published: 2017-11-02 - Modified: 2017-11-02 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/brock-the-badger-friend-or-foe/ - Categories: Brock the Badger – Friend or Foe, Talks On the 25th of October the Forum welcomed as guest speaker Bill Mitchell from Ilkley. Bill’s talk was titled Brock the Badger – Friend or Foe and it soon became clear that Bill regarded all badgers as his friends. Of the 42 members present only three had ever seen a live badger and we were all quickly won over by Bill’s splendid pictures of the animals with which he illustrated his talk. The badger is a mainly nocturnal animal with very poor eyesight which is compensated by a highly developed sense of smell and excellent hearing. Each badger exudes its individual perfume and can navigate its way home by following the scent trail it has left. The badgers live in an underground burrow called a sett where they sleep, breed and spend most of the winter. They are however very clean animals and establish a toilet area clear of the sett which all the badgers use. They have a tolerant relationship with foxes and have been known to share their sett with them although the badgers ensure that the foxes stay a safe distance away. Bill mentioned the problems caused by badger digging and baiting and raised the controversial topic of the spread of bovine tuberculosis by badgers. A lively question and answer session followed, members being very concerned with badgers digging up their lawns in the search for a meal of earthworms. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks commenting that members now know a lot more than previously... --- - Published: 2017-11-02 - Modified: 2017-11-02 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/estate-planning/ - Categories: Estate Planning, Talks On the 18th of October 49 members attended the meeting at the Church Centre, the largest turnout for the current season. Guest speaker for the meeting was Matthew Taylor from St. James Place Wealth Management who was accompanied by Jill Waddington and Victoria Maude representing the Huddersfield solicitors firm of Ridley and Hall. The subject of their presentation was Estate Planning and Matthew opened proceedings by introducing his company and summarising the subjects he would cover, namely inheritance tax, what happens if no will exists, providing for long term care and why one would set up a trust fund. Jill and Victoria then spoke on the subjects of wills and lasting powers of attorney. Finally Matthew returned to talk in detail on how to minimise payment of inheritance tax and the management of retirement pensions before mentioning a couple of case studies to illustrate the points made. He handed out cards to enable members to register to receive financial advice, the cards being entered into a draw with a prize of a bottle of champagne Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Matthew, Jill and Victoria for an interesting presentation. --- - Published: 2017-09-28 - Modified: 2017-09-28 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/industrial-archaeology/ - Categories: Industrial Archaeology, Talks On the 27th of September the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Mike Bowers from Boston Spa. Mike is a retired school teacher whose lifelong interest has been the history of industry and he titled his talk Industrial Archaeology. The basis of his talk was a selection of his slide collection taken over the last fifty years most of which featured scenes from his native Derbyshire where much of the early developments of the Industrial Revolution took place. The first source of power was water which was exploited by the ancient Egyptians and featured in the Domesday Book and Mike’s slides featured derelict water wheels of various designs. The textile industry began in the weavers’ cottages and the first factory as we would understand it was built by Richard Arkwright in Cromford, Derbyshire. Although Arkwright employed child labour he was a relatively benevolent employer compared with some of his contemporaries; Arkwright provided housing for his workers and schools for their children. Early factories had armed guards to protect them from groups such as the Luddites who saw the machines taking away their jobs. Mike’s presentation moved on to the iron industry in Shropshire and Sheffield before concentrating on the development of transport, particularly canals and wagon systems powered by fixed engines. After questions and comments from the Forum members Mike Earle thanked Mike Bowers for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2017-09-22 - Modified: 2017-09-22 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/percy-shaw-inventor-of-the-cats-eye-road-stud/ - Categories: Percy Shaw - Tags: Alan Whicker, cats eyes, Old Dophin pub, Queesnbury, Reflective Road Stud Company At the Forum’s meeting held on the 20th of September Speaker Finder John Spinner re-introduced an old friend, Chris Helmes. The subject of his talk was Percy Shaw – the man who put the Cats-eye on the road. Percy Shaw was born in Halifax in 1890, one of a poor family of 14 children. As a child he moved to the nearby village of Boothtown to a house where he lived for the rest of his life. He left school aged 13 and, after a number of dead-end jobs, he and his father set up a business doing any small jobs and repairs required. His social life involved a regular visit to the Old Dolphin pub in Queensbury and it was whilst travelling home on his motor cycle that he realised the need for road markings visible in the dark. It is not clear how he devised the cats-eye but he set up the Reflective Roadstud Company which was an instant success. He became a local celebrity due to his eccentric lifestyle, always dressing scruffily and restricting his social life to visits to the Old Dolphin; his one luxury being a Rolls Royce car. He achieved national fame when he was the subject of an interview by Alan Whicker and received an OBE in 1965 for services to exports, dying in 1976 age 86. Chris circulated a cats-eye for us to see its unique features including self-cleaning and ability to withstand heavy traffic and the forum members plied him with... --- - Published: 2017-09-16 - Modified: 2017-09-16 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/stories-and-legacies-of-the-first-world-war-in-leeds-and-yorkshire/ - Categories: Stories and Legacies of the first Wordl War - Tags: Leeds Ridles, Lees Pals Regiment, Professor Alison Fell The Forum convened on the 13th of September after its summer break. Members stood to remember a former committee member Doug Emmingham who passed away during the break. The first speaker for the season was Professor Alison Fell from Leeds University whose subject was Stories and Legacies of the First World War in Leeds and Yorkshire. Professor Fell ran a project in 2014 with schools, museums and other organisations to establish six research groups covering various subjects related to how the war affected our area. The majority of local men who joined the army were either drafted into the Leeds Rifles or the Leeds Pals Regiment. Although a large number of them died in France many also fought in Gallipoli alongside Australians and New Zealanders. The death rate for British troops was 12%, lower than is generally believed. Alison related the problems experienced by large employers such as Tetley’s Brewery who lost many skilled workers to the army and related the story of a university academic with a German name although he was British citizen. The last subject which Alison raised was the settlement of 250,000 Belgian refugees, a large number of who settled in Leeds and were treated as heroes but became less popular as the war progressed. Duncan Verity proposed a vote of thanks which was enthusiastically supported by Forum members. --- - Published: 2017-04-29 - Modified: 2017-04-29 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/choosing-sides/ - Categories: Chosing Sides, Talks The forum’s Vice-Chairman Duncan Verity has assembled a collection of video presentations mainly dealing with the aviation industry. On the 22nd of March he introduced one of his videos titled Choosing Sides. The subject of the video was the crash of an airliner travelling from Heathrow to Belfast which suffered an engine failure en route and was diverted to East Midlands Airport but crashed onto the side of the M1 on its approach. The video started with a very realistic reconstruction of the crash followed by details of the crash investigation and the conclusions of the investigation team. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-400 which was only one month old carrying 118 passengers and 8 crew members, 47 of whom lost their lives. One of the plane’s two engines caught fire but the pilots shut down the healthy engine and didn’t realise their mistake until it was too late. The cause of the fire was found to be a broken fan blade in the engine but the crew’s error was blamed on the layout of the control panel. The high loss of life was blamed on the method of anchoring the passenger seats and poor design of the overhead lockers. A lively discussion followed with a forum member reporting that he had been a passenger on an aircraft in South Africa which suffered a similar failure although in this case it successfully returned to the airport. --- - Published: 2017-04-29 - Modified: 2017-04-29 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/my-gallant-hussar/ - Categories: My Gallant Hussar, Talks The Forum’s guest speaker on the 5th of April was Anne Batchelor, a retired schoolteacher from Seacroft. Anne’s hobby since retirement has been historical research and she described to the Forum the story of her research which commenced with an enquiry about her great-grandfather called George Batchelor who is buried in a graveyard in York. An enquiry into Mr. Batchelor was confused with another man of the same name buried in the same graveyard in the same year (1906) as Anne’s ancestor. Anne became interested in this second person who had been a soldier in the 18th Hussars and won the DCM medal in the Boer War, hence the title of her talk ‘’My Gallant Hussar’’. She established a connection for him to Hemel Hempstead and a letter in the local paper resulted in a phone call from a lady in Southampton and enabled Anne to trace Mr. Batchelor’s descendants to California and, although she was unable to visit them, she had many telephone conversations with George’s son until his death at a very old age. During a stay in hospital Anne wrote a book about her research which sold three thousand copies although it is now out of print. Mike Earle thanked Anne for an absolutely fascinating talk well told. After the Forum’s Annual General Meeting on the 12th of April our meetings recommence on the 13th of September. --- - Published: 2017-03-08 - Modified: 2017-03-08 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-school-inspector-calls/ - Categories: Talks, The School Inspector Calls - Tags: diarrhoea, education, Enoch Powell, Gervase Phinn, malaproprisms, poetry On the 8th of March the Forum held its annual open meeting when 110 members and guests filled the Church Hall, no spare seats being available. The speaker for this special occasion was the well-known Yorkshire author and raconteur Gervase Phinn who titled his talk The School Inspector Calls. In his introduction John Spinner described Gervase as the James Herriot of school inspectors and his talk proved that this description did not flatter him. Gervase introduced us to, among others, Benedict, a six year old with a remarkable vocabulary, and described an inspection he undertook at his old primary school when he met his favourite teacher and the former headmistress (now 104 years old). Each story caused great amusement but had a serious message about child care, literacy or general education. One of Gervase’s favourite subjects is spelling and he asked us who we thought was the best speller of modern times. We were surprised by the answer – Enoch Powell. We learnt one or two tips on how to improve our spelling and then Gervase progressed to malapropisms before completing his talk with two poems about his parents. A member of the audience asked whether he had ever been involved in the theatre and he revealed that he had spent some time in youth theatre playing a variety of classical roles. The Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Gervase for his most entertaining talk and the audience joined in with loud and appreciative applause. --- - Published: 2017-02-23 - Modified: 2017-02-23 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/veni-vidi-vietnam/ - Categories: Talks, Veni Vidi Vietnam - Tags: Bangkok, Cambodia, Dubai, Geoff Queen, GOSH, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Khmer Rouge, Laos, Vietnam On the 22nd of February 45 members of the Forum attended the meeting at the Church Centre, the highest turnout for this season. The guest speaker was Geoff Queen from Kettlewell whose talk’s title was based on a quotation from Julius Caesar. The title was ‘Veni Vidi Vietnam’ which indicated that he was going to tell us about a visit to Vietnam. In fact we learnt about a visit by Geoff and his wife to all three countries which once formed French Indo-China, namely Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, the talk being illustrated by Geoff’s excellent slides. They found the people in all three countries to be welcoming, kind, forgiving and deeply religious. They first visited Cambodia where any visitor is made aware of the rule of the Khmer Rouge who attempted to establish a pure socialist state by a policy of murdering all intellectuals and dissenters. They then moved on to Vietnam, by far the most populous of the three counties where they were impressed by the recovery from the Vietnam War. A feature of life is the large number of small motor cycles and the problems for pedestrians in avoiding them. In contrast they found Laos to be much more peaceful with a large proportion of monks in the population. Finally on the journey home they visited Bangkok and Dubai. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Geoff for a fascinating talk. Geoff Queen donates all speaking fees to Great Ormond Street Hospital and last year his donations... --- - Published: 2017-02-16 - Modified: 2017-02-16 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/scotch-whisky-a-bottled-history/ - Categories: Scotch whisky a bottled history, Talks The guest speaker for the Forum’s meeting held on the 15th of February was Mark Southon who had travelled to Wetherby from Bawtry. His talk was titled Scotch Whisky - A Bottled History and Forum members were delighted to see a bottle of whisky and some tiny glasses on a table at the front of the meeting. Although Scotch whisky has been distilled since the late 15th century spirit distillation has been around since the ninth century BC. Whisky itself was invented by Irish monks in the sixth century. Mark gave us a potted history of Scotch whisky, the name being derived from a Gaelic word meaning the water of life. We learned of the difference between malt, grain, blended and single malt whiskys. The history of whisky is closely tied to smuggling, taxation policies and American prohibition. Mark explained why Irish whiskey includes an ‘e’ which does not appear in the Scotch version. After a particularly lively question and answer session Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks and then members took enthusiastic advantage of an invitation to enjoy a small sample of the amber liquid from the bottle that we had noticed on the table. --- - Published: 2017-02-09 - Modified: 2017-02-09 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/from-prison-to-palace/ - Categories: From Prison to Palace, Talks At the Forum’s meeting on the 8th of February the Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Veronica Bird OBE whose talk was intriguingly titled From Prison to Palace. Veronica spent 36 years serving in the prison service rising to the rank of Governor. She trained in Holloway Women’s Prison before serving in a number of women’s institutions around the country and, after the introduction of equal opportunities legislation, she became Deputy Governor at Armley Prison, one of the first females to achieve this rank in a men’s prison. She retired as Governor of New Hall Women’s Prison near Wakefield. Veronica gave us a few statistics such as the fact that of the 86,000 or so prisoners in the UK around 36,000 cannot read or write. She then related some incidents from her career and compared conditions in prisons from when her career started to the present day. On her retirement from New Hall Veronica was awarded the OBE and she described the investiture and how the Queen bestows the medal. Princess Anne is closely involved with the rehabilitation of prisoners and Veronica closed her talk with the amusing story of a visit the Princess made to New Hall whilst Veronica was the Governor. After Forum members had posed a number of questions Chairman Mike Earle thanked Veronica for a fascinating talk about her interesting life and the people she had encountered. --- - Published: 2017-02-01 - Modified: 2017-02-01 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/songs-and-laughter/ - Categories: Songs and Lughter, Talks - Tags: Cliff Richard, Gervaise Phinn, Les Dawson, Michael Ball, Tammy Wynette, The School Inspector calls, The Two Ronnies For our meeting on the 1st of February the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity gave one of his video presentations titled Songs and Laughter which featured singers and comedians from the 1970s to the present date. The comedy clips all featured well known comedians such as the Two Ronnies and Les Dawson. The songs were mainly by established singers such as Cliff Richard, Michael Ball and Tammy Wynette although Duncan found two unknown Irish singers whose efforts were very well received. Chairman Mike Earle thanked Duncan for warming up the members on a cold day. On the 8th of March the Forum will hold an open meeting when the guest speaker will be the celebrated Yorkshire author Gervase Phinn whose talk will be titled The School Inspector Calls. When Forum members have obtained their tickets the remainder will be available for purchase by anyone at the cost of £8 each. --- - Published: 2017-01-26 - Modified: 2017-01-26 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/china-all-our-futures/ - Categories: China – All Our Futures, Talks - Tags: China, mens forum, Shanghai, Trevor Higginbottom In the absence of Chairman Mike Earle the Forum’s Deputy Chairman Duncan Verity introduced the guest speaker for the 25th of January Trevor Higginbottom. Trevor had travelled from Derbyshire to speak to us on the subject of China – All Our Futures. Trevor works in the education sector and spends three months of each year in Shanghai which has given him a close insight into his chosen subject. He handed out a sheet with a list of seventeen points which he then discussed with the Forum members. Top of the list were the facts that nearly a quarter of the world’s population lives in China and it is the world’s second richest country. One of the more disturbing facts was that China owns approximately one third of USA’s national debt and conflict between the two countries would be disastrous for the world’s finances. The UK’s relationship with China does not recognise its growing importance. For instance only three per cent of English pupils are learning Mandarin and the UK is not in the top ten of China’s trading partners. Trevor stressed that the Chinese system had many drawbacks regarding the lack of democracy and the large gap between wealth and poverty. Duncan Verity proposed a vote of thanks for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2017-01-12 - Modified: 2017-01-12 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/magical-monaco/ - Categories: From the Royal Family to the Grand Prix On the 11th of January the Forum gathered for its first meeting after the Christmas break. Members stood for a moments silence in memory of member Gordon Wilson who died during the break. The guest speaker was Graham Read, a professional motorsport and motoring writer, whose talk was titled Magical Monaco subtitled From the Royal Family to the Grand Prix. He began with a short history of the Principality which was established in 1297 when Francois Grimaldi led a conquest of the area. The famous casino was established in 1861 when Monaco took the form we recognise today. After a mention of the Monte Carlo Rally Graham devoted the rest of his talk to the Monaco Grand Prix which dates back to a race established in 1929 although it was not included in the Formula 1 World Championship until 1955. Graham featured many well-known names such as Ayrton Senna and Graham Hill and described some of the incidents and accidents from across the years. He completed his talk with a video of a circuit of the course taken by an on-car camera. Mike Earle thanked Graham Read for a very enjoyable talk. --- - Published: 2016-12-01 - Modified: 2016-12-01 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/witches-wizards-brews-and-broomsticks/ - Categories: Talks, Witches Wizards Brews and Broomsticks 44 members gathered at the Church Centre for the Forum’s last meeting of 2016 on the 30th of November. The guest speaker was Professor Mike Green, Emeritus Professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Sheffield. In a long and varied career Mike worked with the South Australia Flying Doctor Service and as a GP in Leeds before becoming an academic. His talk was titled Witches Wizards Brews and Broomsticks which featured the history of witchcraft from biblical times to the present day and the relationship between witchcraft and medical practice up to modern times. In Medieval times people identified as witches were principally women and persecution was particularly rife in Northern Europe. The persecution of witches was a consequence of the rejection of the Catholic religion and, in the reign of James I in particular, resulted in many executions. The hero of the story is Nicholas Culpepper who realised that some of the potions involved in witchcraft appeared to have beneficial effects and quantified these benefits, forming the basis for modern pharmacology. Mike mentioned the Pendle Witches trial and the effect this has had on this area of Lancashire to the present day. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Professor Green for keeping members royally entertained. The Forum’s Christmas lunch is on the 7th of December at the Bridge Hotel Walshford and meetings restart on the 11th of January. --- - Published: 2016-11-24 - Modified: 2016-11-24 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/yorkshire-air-ambulance/ - Categories: Talks, Yorskhire Air Ambulance - Tags: Embrace Barnsley, YAA, YAA fundraising On the 23rd of November the Forum welcomed Helen Murray-Sharpe as guest speaker. Helen is a volunteer fund raiser with Yorkshire Air Ambulance which was the subject of her talk. The talk covered two aspects of the work of the Air Ambulance, the operational side of the organisation and how it works as a charity. Yorkshire Air Ambulance began in 2000 operating from a Portakabin at Leeds /Bradford Airport. After it was involved in the rescue of TV personality Richard Hammond in 2007 he featured the organisation in a programme titled Helicopter Heroes which greatly raised its profile. There are now two helicopters, one based at RAF Topcliffe and the other at Nostell Priory near Wakefield. These bases enable 90% of the population of Yorkshire to be reached within one hour. At the Nostell base there is an air desk whose operator monitors all 999 calls in the area and can break in to the conversation to offer air ambulance assistance. Patients are usually flown to the nearest of four major trauma centres, in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield or Middlesbrough. Helen also related how the air ambulance works with Embrace, an organisation based in Barnsley which provides emergency care for young children. Yorkshire Air Ambulance is a charity totally reliant on donations for its existence. For instance its cost is £44 million each year and the average cost of each mission is £3,420. Helen summarised the methods of fund raising used which never involve harassment of potential donors. Forum members posed... --- - Published: 2016-11-17 - Modified: 2016-11-17 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/legends-of-the-brass-band-world/ - Categories: Legends of the Brass Band World, Talks On the 16th of November the Forum’s guest speaker was Chris Helme. Among his many interests Chris played the tuba in the West Yorkshire Police brass band, having joined his local brass band at the age of nine. His talk was titled Legends of the Brass Band World and he began by explaining the appeal of this form of music where most styles can be presented. He illustrated this by playing short extracts of music by Abba and Tchaikovsky played by well-known bands. He then related the history of brass bands from their inception at the start of the nineteenth century as village bands and the formation of bands sponsored by industrial concerns until the First World War intervened when many bands disappeared or were temporarily disbanded. Many bands reformed when peace returned and band competitions became as important as they are today. Chris related the careers of two bandsmen, Edwin Firth from Skipton who was featured on a celebrated recording produced in 1913 but who was killed in June 1918 and Arthur Laycock from Todmorden who was one of the first full-time professional bandsmen but died at the early age of 42 whilst fulfilling an engagement in Cornwall. Chris Helme has written a successful book on this subject What Brass Bands Did for Me. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Chris for using his passion for brass bands to provide the Forum with an entertaining morning. --- - Published: 2016-11-10 - Modified: 2016-11-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-amusing-side-of-traffic-law/ - Categories: The Amusing Side of Traffic Law On a cold and snowy 9th of November 31 members struggled through to the Church Centre for the Forum weekly meeting. After Chairman Mike Earle had told his weekly joke Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Philip Solity. Until his recent retirement Philip was legal adviser to a magistrates’ court where his duties involved guiding the magistrates in their interpretation of the law and ensuring that defendants were aware of their rights. His talk was titled The Amusing Side of Traffic Law. After explaining the methods that the courts use to decide on the penalties for various motoring offences Philip quizzed the Forum members on their knowledge of traffic laws, a test that they performed surprisingly well at. We learnt the intricacies of the regulations applied to breathalysers and speed cameras before Philip finished with a number of amusing anecdotes relating to motoring cases in the magistrates court. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks before the members departed to find that it was still snowing. --- - Published: 2016-10-27 - Modified: 2016-10-27 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/monologues-and-comic-verse/ - Categories: Monologues and Comic Verse - Tags: Benny Hill, Les Dawson, Pam Ayres, Rob Wilton, Thora Hird On the 26th of October the meeting was chaired by the Forum Vice Chairman Duncan Verity. Speaker Finder John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Bill Baker, one of the presenters on Tempo FM, whose talk was titled Monologues and Comic Verse. Bill related the history of the monologue from its popularity in the Victorian Music Hall, entertainment for serving soldiers in wartime and the folk clubs of the nineteen sixties to the present day where it regularly appears at funerals and weddings. His interest developed from when he was involved in the production of a talking magazine for the blind which included a monologue in each issue. Bill read a number of examples from various famous monologists (a term invented by Dame Thora Hird who performed many monologues herself). The authors included Les Barker who was nominated for the post of Poet Laureate. As his monologues are best performed in a Lancashire dialect it is understandable why he was rejected. We also heard examples from Rob Wilton, Benny Hill and Pam Ayres. Duncan Verity thanked Bill for a very entertaining morning. --- - Published: 2016-10-20 - Modified: 2016-10-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/knaresborough-in-world-war-one/ - Categories: Knaresborugh in World War One - Tags: David Turnbull, Kevin Earl, Knaresborough Library, Knaresborough Local History Group On the 19th of October the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Kevin Earl. Kevin is a member of a local history group based in Knaresborough Library which, four years ago, embarked on research into the effect the First World War had on the town and this research formed the basis for his talk titled Knaresborough in World War One. The talk was illustrated by cuttings from the local newspapers of that time and pictures and of the town and its inhabitants. World War One was the first conflict which directly affected all aspects of life in the land. A large number of men were recruited to fight, firstly by volunteering and later by conscription; the local farmers’ horses were requisitioned; food became short and rationing was introduced; Belgian refugees appeared and women were employed in work previously undertaken only by men. Kevin related the wartime fate of the Castle Boys School which was eventually taken over by the army and the appearance of Zeppelins over the town (no bombs were dropped). One man actually lost his life in Knaresborough. He was David Turnbull whose aeroplane crashed into the Nidd Gorge whilst he was delivering it. Forum Chairman Mike Earle complimented Kevin on the research carried out by him and his group which had provided a fascinating morning for Forum members. --- - Published: 2016-05-10 - Modified: 2026-03-16 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/hello-world/ - Categories: Uncategorized Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! --- - Published: 2016-02-24 - Modified: 2016-02-24 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/a-trip-down-memory-lane/ - Categories: A trip down Memory Lane At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 24th of February the Forum stood in silent memory of former member Brian Franklin who died recently in a care home on the Isle of Wight. Our guest speaker for the meeting, introduced by John Spinner, was Keith Barber from Morley. His talk was entitled A Trip Down Memory Lane and was an illustrated nostalgic look at the 40s, 50s and 60s. Keith was born in Hunslet in 1940 and started school in 1944 when schoolchildren had to endure gas mask and shelter drills. He shared with us reminiscences of back to back houses with shared outdoor toilets, one cold water tap and a tin bath in front of the fire. We were reminded of the stringent rationing in place which did not completely disappear until 1954. Children had few (if any) toys but were very inventive in the street games they played. The only home entertainment was the radio until television appeared in the 50s and this had only one channel for evenings only and in black and white, of course. After the members had added some of their own memories Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Keith for providing a thoroughly entertaining morning. --- - Published: 2016-02-19 - Modified: 2016-02-19 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/family-history/ - Categories: Family history For the Forum’s meeting on the 17th of February the Deputy Chairman Colin Gaden took the chair. The guest speaker for the meeting was Mike Greatorex from Harrogate who has devoted a large proportion of his retirement to researching his family history and this formed the subject of his talk entitled "Family History: The Trials and Tribulations". Mike gave us guidance into the procedures to be followed if we wanted to delve into our own families’ backgrounds such as obtaining birth and marriage certificates, how to access census and other useful records and the importance of speaking to other family members. Mike then described some of his research into his own family. His father had mentioned that his own father had been born in Philadelphia but knew no more details and this spurred Mike into deeper research. Mike made a number of contacts in the USA who revealed Greatorex relatives in New York state and Alabama including a lady who had married four times (once bigamously) and a soldier who had sold his kit. Mike invited questions from the members and it was obvious that many of us were very interested in his subject from the number of questions raised. Colin Gaden drew the meeting to a close by proposing a vote of thanks which was well supported. --- - Published: 2016-02-03 - Modified: 2016-02-03 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/chile-north-to-south/ - Categories: Chile north to south On the 3rd of February we welcome, for her second visit, Pat Alker from Denby Dale. Pat and her husband support the running of a school in rural Ethiopia which was the subject of the talk on her previous visit. This time, however, she entertained us with a description of an exotic holiday she enjoyed with her husband, the talk being titled Chile North to South. She established the fact that no members of the Forum had ever visited Chile and we quickly realised what an unusual country it is, being over 2000 miles in length but an average of just over 100 miles width. After landing in the capital Santiago her tour group moved to the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth where rainfall has never been recorded. What little moisture the area receives is from a morning mist fed by the nearby Pacific Ocean which is enough to support some scrub and a few birds. They then moved to the central Lake District which is an unpassable barrier to motor transport such that anyone wishing to travel by road to the south must divert into Argentina. The final part of the journey took them to Punto Arenas in the far south where the attractions included glaciers and penguins. The talk was illustrated with pictures of the spectacular scenery and unusual birds and animals but the local population were reluctant to be photographed. The Forum Chairman, Mike Earle, thanked Pat for a fascinating talk. --- - Published: 2016-01-20 - Modified: 2016-01-20 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-history-of-meccano/ - Categories: The History of Meccano - Tags: hornby, meccano, meccano models Before the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 20th of January the members stood in silent memory of Albert Storey who recently passed away. Our guest speaker was David Dalton from Bedale whose talk was titled The History of Meccano. Since inheriting his father’s old Meccano set as a boy David has been an enthusiastic collector of Meccano model kits and literature dealing with them. The system was invented by Frank Hornby in his garden shed in Liverpool to amuse his sons. He patented the system in 1901 with the name Mechanics Made Easy and it gained great commercial success, eventually being renamed Meccano in 1907. David related the history of the company which continuously produced Meccano at its factory in Liverpool until the factory closed in 1979 except for during World War II. Meccano is still available although its production has been owned by a number of organisations over the years since 1979. David had brought with him examples of the various model kits and loose parts, most obtained from car boot sales and auctions and refurbished by him if necessary. He also brought examples of models he has made, many to his own design. At the end of the talk members showed great interest in David’s hobby, particularly in how he manages his large collection of construction kits and spares. Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for a most interesting talk. --- - Published: 2016-01-13 - Modified: 2016-01-13 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/630-2/ - Categories: Death Row in Florida - Tags: death row, lifeline, US Justice At the Forum’s meeting on the 13th of January we welcomed as our guest speaker Rosemary Cheshire from Collingham. Rosemary became interested in the US justice system after reading an advertisement for an organisation called Lifeline which arranged pen friends for prisoners on Death Row. Through Lifeline she became the pen friend to a prisoner called Mark who has been on Death Row in a prison in Florida since 2004 and this relationship formed the basis of her talk entitled Death Row in Florida. Rosemary began her talk with a string of statistics which highlighted the nature of the US justice system particularly where it related to the use of the death penalty - the US being the only country in the industrialised west which retains the death penalty. She also referred to the racial bias within the system which results in a black man being six times more likely to be in prison than a white man. Rosemary and her husband arranged to visit Mark during a holiday in Florida and we learnt of the complicated security measures involved before the meeting, which lasted six hours! She completed her talk by quoting from a poignant letter she received from Mark after the visit. During questioning at the end of the talk Rosemary revealed that she had no reason to believe that Mark was innocent of the crimes involved but her opposition to the death penalty and the inhumane conditions imposed by the justice system are the motives behind her... --- - Published: 2016-01-08 - Modified: 2016-01-08 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/1000-miles-around-england-on-a-pony/ - Categories: Around England on a pony - Tags: Beyond the Far Fells, Janet Neipokojczcka, Roy the pony, Winged Fellowship On the sixth of January the Forum resumed its meetings after the Christmas break. Our first speaker of the New Year was Janet Neipokojczcka who had travelled from Hemsworth. Janet previously lived in Kendal where she became a tourist guide specialising in walking tours in both the Lake District and Scotland and had undertaken a number of long distance walks around the Lake District. In 1991 she decided to walk 1,000 miles around England accompanied by a pack horse in aid of the Winged Fellowship, a charity which organises holidays for the physically handicapped. Her talk entitled Beyond the Far Fells described this journey. Accompanied by a Lakeland pony called Roy she started out from Kendal and in ten weeks visited, among many places, Nottingham, Cambridge, London and Snowdonia using, where possible, ancient bridleways and pack horse trails. Janet’s talk was illustrated by some excellent colour slides showing places and people of interest and the varied conditions which she and Roy experienced. The Forum members were delighted to hear that Roy, at 28 years old is still going strong living at Addingham near Ilkley. Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks which the members supported with warm applause. --- - Published: 2015-11-11 - Modified: 2015-11-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/the-life-of-a-jockey/ - Categories: The Life of a Jockey - Tags: Duncan Verity, jockey, Professional Jockeys' Association During our meeting on the 11th of November the proceedings were interrupted at 11 am for the members to take part in the Remembrance Day two minutes silence. Our guest speaker, introduced by Duncan Verity, was Dale Gibson, a retired professional jockey, who titled his talk The Life of a Jockey. During a career spanning 23 years Dale rode 529 winners with at least one winner at each flat racing course in Britain. He had his first and also his last ride at York and was interviewed on Channel 4 TV on each occasion. He divided his talk into three sections, how he started, the day-to-day life of a jockey and his present day career as the Executive Director of Racing at the Professional Jockeys' Association. Dale passed round three items from his equipment, a whip, a pair of plastic riding boots and a protective vest. He credits a vest with saving his life during a dangerous fall at Beverley. The statistics of the life of a jockey brought it home to the Forum members the dedication necessary to succeed – starting the day at 6am, two hours riding out and a typical 400 miles each day driving to and from meetings. All this for an average annual income comparable to the average professional footballer’s weekly income. A lively Question and Answer session brought up the subjects of horse doping, weight control and the differing personalities of flat and jump jockeys. --- - Published: 2015-10-26 - Modified: 2015-10-26 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/584-2/ - Categories: It shouldn't happen to an engineer On 21st October 2015, 45 members attended at the Church Centre to meet our guest speaker Richard Gibbon OBE who was introduced by John Spinner. Richard had enjoyed a varied career in engineering, culminating in the much envied post of Chief Engineer at the York Railway Museum. He started by posing an engineering problem to the members involving a tumbling box which none of us managed to solve. His talk was titled “It Shouldn’t Happen to an Engineer” and covered various amusing incidents he encountered at the museum. As a civil servant Richard was expected to answer letters from the general public within three days and he shared some of the more unusual with us although some were spoofs sent by members of his staff. His duties at the museum included acting as duty officer to deal with visitors’ problems and these supplied a fund of anecdotes. Questions from Forum members at the end of the session revealed how the Japanese Bullet Train and the giant Chinese locomotive reached the museum. Forum Chairman Mike Earle thanked Richard for his amusing and informative talk. Richard donated his speaker’s fee to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. --- - Published: 2015-10-08 - Modified: 2015-10-08 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/lifes-a-hoot-5/ - Categories: Life's a hoot At the Forum’s meeting for the 7th October 2015 John Spinner introduced our guest speaker Pat Smith from Upper Poppleton who titled her talk “Life’s a Hoot”. The title was inspired by her membership of the Owl’s Trust but the content was drawn from Pat’s experiences of life in general. She spent her working life as a school teacher in Wakefield and York, her specialist subjects being mathematics and science. In addition she was a store detective at a well-known supermarket for a short time, a member of Weight Watchers and an active member of the Women’s Institute. All these interests have provided her with a rich fund of embarrassing incidents, malapropisms and cute children’s exploits for her talk. Our Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks saying that Pat had brought a ray of sunshine into our lives on a miserable rainy morning. --- - Published: 2015-09-06 - Modified: 2015-09-06 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/ethiopia-the-historic-route/ - Categories: Ethiopia - the historic route On the 17th of September we welcomed our speaker Pat Alkern from Denby Dale. Her talk was titled ‘Ethiopia – The Historic Route’ and described two trips to the country taken by Pat, one as a member of a group from the Huddersfield Geographic Society and one accompanied only by her husband Philip. They are members of a charity supporting a school in the town of Dukem 25 miles from the capital Addis Ababa and from Pat’s pictures we saw the difference the support has made. However the bulk of the talk described the locations on the Historic Route which is a pilgrim’s trail in Tigre province in the north of the country. Ethiopia is a Christian society, one of the oldest in the world, and Pat described the very different rituals and customs in the churches there. We also gained an insight into the day-to-day life of the villages of the region such as what constitutes a home and how the population survives. We learnt of the courting rituals of the young men and girls (who may marry as young as ten years of age). Robin Jarrett proposed a vote of thanks for an amazing talk about such a different culture. --- - Published: 2015-03-19 - Modified: 2015-03-19 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/duncan-verity-the-murder-of-john-speed/ - Categories: Talks On the 18th of March the speaker who had been booked to talk to the Forum was unable to attend. Speaker Finder Duncan Verity keeps a number of video presentations in reserve for these occasions and he produced one for this meeting. It was entitled “The Murder of John Speed”. The video was put together by the BBC Crimewatch programme and used actors and real policemen to reconstruct the crime of the shooting of a Police Sergeant in Leeds in 1984 and the subsequent enquiries which resulted in the arrest of the murderer. A colleague of Sergeant Speed, PC John Thorpe, was also badly injured in the incident but he recovered to provide vital information to the crime investigators. The investigation followed a number of false leads in a two and a half year period which resulted in the arrest of 224 criminals and the solution of a number of unconnected crimes. Eventually the murderer David Griceworth, a career criminal from Middleborough, was involved in a police chase when he accidently shot himself in the stomach and died shortly afterwards. His girlfriend admitted that he had killed Sergeant Speed and the police were able to arrest his accomplice. The Forum members were stunned into silence by this excellent video and left in a reflective mood. --- - Published: 2015-03-04 - Modified: 2015-03-04 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/bill-baker-the-lighter-side-of-banking/ - Categories: Talks, The lighter side of banking On the 4th of March we welcomed Bill Baker as our guest speaker. Bill is well known locally as a regular presenter on Tempo FM but his chosen subject for his talk reflected his long career with the Yorkshire bank and was titled “The Lighter Side of Banking”. On leaving school in 1961 Bill joined the bank after a series of five interviews, including a visit to his family, and became a junior clerk at the Head Office in Leeds. At that time the most sophisticated piece of equipment used was an adding machine with a paper roll. He worked in many of the small branches in and around Leeds and he told us about some of the characters he came across, both customers and colleagues. He was the first manager in the Yorkshire Bank to be held up at gun point and he told us about this and other botched robberies from the Bank. Bill was promoted to open a new branch in Newcastle which he enjoyed after he had learnt the dialect and had survived a brush with the Geordie Mafia. He moved back to Leeds as the bank’s marketing manager which was his least favourite role and was involved in the setting up of an insurance unit. Questions from the members included the mis-selling of PPI and the takeover of the bank by the National Bank of Australia. Our Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Bill for keeping us amused on a cold morning. --- - Published: 2015-02-11 - Modified: 2015-02-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/training-guide-dogs-for-the-blind/ - Categories: Talks, Training Guide Dogs for the Blind On the 4th of February 2015 the Forum welcomed representatives from Guide Dogs for the Blind for a presentation entitled Training Guide Dogs for the Blind. We welcomed Belinda Hunter and Andrew Dixon accompanied by Eaton and Sam who are both Golden Retriever Labrador crosses and are guide dog puppies in training. Belinda and Andrew are both voluntary guide dog walkers and their function is to take prospective guide dogs into their homes at seven weeks old and provide basic training to the age of 14 months. The dogs then go to a full time training establishment before meeting their blind owners who take over the dogs at two years of age. They stay with their owners for six to eight years before retiring to become family pets. Around 70% of dogs successfully complete their training, those unsuitable can become hearing dogs for the deaf, help dogs for disabled people or buddy dogs for young people with special needs. Belinda described how dogs are selected for breeding and told us of the histories of the dogs she has had in her care. She demonstrated with Eaton the stage of training that he has reached which involved responding to basic commands and the receipt of lots of treats. Guide Dogs for the Blind is a charity completely funded by donations and two thirds of the dogs are funded by legacies. After a lengthy question and answer session Colin Gaden proposed a vote of thanks and a collection was taken for the... --- - Published: 2015-02-11 - Modified: 2015-02-11 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/raf-linton-on-ouse-alan-mawby/ - Categories: RAF Linton on Ouse At the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 14th of January we stood for a moment’s silence in memory of member Frank McGuiness and former member Geoff Ward who had both recently passed away. Our guest speaker was former Wing Commander Alan Mawby whose subject was “RAF Linton-on-Ouse” where he is the honorary curator of the RAF Memorial Room. The establishing of the airfield was bound up with the lead up to the Second World War when in 1937 it was opened as a base for two bomber squadrons to combat the build-up of the Luftwaffe. One of the first station commanders was Air Commodore Arthur Harris who went on to lead Bomber Command. Alan related the war-time history of the station including the different types of bomber and various people who served at the station. The first raid from Linton was a leaflet drop over Germany but many more destructive raids followed involving many fatalities to both aircrew and those on the ground. After the war the station was handed over to Fighter Command which saw the first jets to fly locally and in 1957 it became a Flying Training School which it has remained to the present day. Mike Cook proposed a vote of thanks for a most interesting talk. --- - Published: 2015-01-10 - Modified: 2015-01-10 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/rex-stott-magic-mirth-mystery/ - Categories: Magic Mirth and Mystery, Talks On the 7th of January 2015 the Forum re-gathered after its winter break and we started our meeting by standing in silent tribute to one of our members, Paul Lerch, who had sadly died during the Christmas break. Duncan Verity then introduced our guest speaker Rex Stott who had spent his career in education but whose interests now centred on British Music Hall, music and sport and he is a member of the Hull and York Magic Circles. His talk was titled “Magic, Mirth and Mystery” in which he described his childhood in Birstall. When a young boy he received a Rupert the Bear annual which included how to make a paper boat and this gave him an interest in origami which expanded to include magic tricks. Along with his younger brother they devised a magic act which toured the Church Hall circuit in his home area and the Forum members were treated to a selection of his tricks, some of which he explained. Although he abandoned magic during his working life he has recently renewed his interest principally for the benefit of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Geoff Curd proposed a vote of thanks for a thoroughly entertaining presentation. --- - Published: 2014-12-03 - Modified: 2014-12-03 - URL: https://www.wabmensforum.org/words-music-christmas/ - Categories: Talks On the 3rd of December the Forum held its last meeting before Christmas. We welcomed our guest speaker Ken Humphreys for the eleventh time. Ken is an ex-schoolteacher from York who specialises in a mixture of poetry, amusing tales and songs sung in a fine light tenor voice with piano accompaniment recorded by one of his ex-colleagues. He titled this presentation as “Words and Music for Christmas” starting with Winter Wonderland with the Forum members joining in the chorus. He revealed that he had written most of the poems he recited for school nativity plays and had recently been persuaded to have them published. No presentation by Ken would be complete without a musical quiz and this one was about Oscar winning songs with the members answering all but one of his questions correctly. John Spinner proposed a vote of thanks for a splendid entertaining talk. --- ---