Our speaker, Chris Witts is an undoubted expert on the Severn Bore and the River Severn. It is also clear that he knows the community and characters who live on and around its banks.

We learned about the Bore, why it happens and its frequency. We also learned how dangerous the tides are in the Severn Estuary with a tidal rise and fall of some 15 m. Chris discussed the sites where it was possible to see the Bore at its best and introduced us to some of the people who live, fish and surf on the river.

Surfing the Bore is a favourite sport and people come from all over the world to have a go.

Our talk was illustrated with slides and a video and we all learned a lot about this local phenomenon.

Tore Fauske was no stranger to us having talked to us last year about growing up during the German occupation of Norway. Much of his career has been involved in interpreting and translating between English and Norwegian. This was the subject of his talk to us and his many anecdotes about language and translators were, at times, hilarious.

He touched on the pitfalls of simultaneous translation and the idiosyncrasies of the English language, for example, sporting phrases like 'hit for six' or 'had a good innings'. He also pointed out that when we watch football we sit in the stands! Another example was that the saying 'out of sight out of mind' could be translated as 'blind and insane'.

It was interesting to learn that anyone interpreting from German has to wait until the end of the sentence before attempting to speak as it is vital to wait for the verb at the end.

We learned that in the European Union, all meetings have to be simultaneously interpreted into 27 languages and on average there are about 50 meetings per day!

About thirty members, their wives and in some cases, their dogs enjoyed a very pleasant Midsummers Day evening at the Painswick Rococo Garden on 21st June. The visit started with a glass of wine and a short talk by Paul Moir, Garden Director, on the history of the garden.  Members then strolled around the gardens at their leisure.  The gardens were beautiful  and peaceful with no other members of the public in the Garden.  The weather too, was fantastic thanks to Ken who once  used to work for the Met Office!

Thanks also to Ken for organising the evening

Roger Jones has had an exciting carreer as a BBC producer of wildlife programmes. His talk focused on the subject of filming deep in the oceans underlining the fact that we know less about the deep oceans that we do about outer space. He also touched on his new career as an artist and organiser of painting holidays.

We learned about the techniques, tricks and dangers of filming first in depths where divers can work but moved on to look at the problems of working in the deepest oceans. It became clear that collaboration with scientific bodies and governments was vital when producing this kind of work. Knowledge about what to home in on and where to find it is vital and the costs of putting to sea and using very expensive equipment can only be borne by collabortion with those who already have that equipment.

Roger has a wide selection of photographs as well as video clips and his talk was illustrated with fascinating images of sea creatures and of the difficulties of bringing them to our TV screens. We looked at some of the submarines which can take people down to immense depths, equipped with devices for probing and taking samples of creatures and material for scientific study. These sumarines can take several hours to descend and must withstanding the massive pressure and severe temperatures at those depths.

He finished with a fascinating glimpse at how people can now use the sea for leisure, not just for scuba diving but also the use of submarines almost as one would use a family car or even undersea 'coach trips'.

Gregg Pilley the founder and prime mover of Stroud Brewery gave as an absorbing talk about brewing, beer and much more. Gregg started this thriving little business with capital borrowed from friends in 2006. They promptly won 'Gloucestershire Beer of the Year' in that year with their early brew 'Budding' named after the inventor of the Lawn Mower. Mr Budding's original workshop just happened to be on the site of the brewery.

We learned a lot about the brewing process and where the ingredients come from. The brewery's organic barley comes from the Cotswolds and then travels to a traditional maltings in Warminster then all the way back to Stroud - incurring minimal food miles. We learned of the importance of hops in flavouring the brew - providing the bitter taste but also the addition of fresh hops to the brew in its later stages.

Gregg talked about his career leading up to his entry into the brewing business. It became apparent that his guiding principles have been sustainability and sustainable communities. He lived for a spell in Nigeria working on a National Park and studying local brewing in his spare time. Following that, sponsored by a large brewing company, he toured Africa to study the brewing and drinking habits of African people - a tough job but somebody had to do it!

Returning to the UK, he ended up in Stroud where he has thrown himself into local schemes for sustainable food production as well as an innovative scheme for bankrolling small, struggling businesses.

Many of us were impressed with Gregg's boundless energy and enthusiasm as well as his entrepreneurial skills. We wish him well in all his ventures.

Today's talk was not what many of us expected. Philippa Roberts had inherited poems from her grandmother who had lived in Cheltenham, many of them written in wartime. In addition, she has collected poetry by other women in wartime. She has published two books privately which she sells mainly to libraries and schools.

We were treated to an interesting and nostalgic selection of poems ranging from sad through to funny and whimsical. Phillippa who was at one time a resident of Painswick read the poetry and talked about the background stories in a personal and sometimes emotional way.

It was a heartfelt talk which was much appreciated by us all.

The AGM went to plan. Outgoing president Jim McNamara thanked the committee for its support and outlined the past year's activities. There was much discussion about the total membership which is now hovering around the 60 mark.

David Linsell was installed as our new President and Peter Roberts was voted in as our new Vice President. Other committee members retained their positions but Ken Gibson expressed his wish to retire from the commttee when a new Events Organiser comes forward.

The meeting was rounded-off as we leaned on the bar for a quick 'snifter' courtesy of the outgoing President

This was a thought provoking talk by Richard Long on the history and practice of Islam.

We were introduced to Islamic history and the life of the prophet Mohammed who was born in Mecca in 570 ad and became a merchant. In Mecca he gathered around him a number of followers. Then, to escape persecution in Mecca, he moved to Medina, this move being the starting point of the Islamic calendar and giving rise to the split between Sunni and Shia beliefs. We learned that during his latter years in Medina, his philosophy changed. He also became more aggressive in his later years, being implicated in the massacre of a jewish tribe, initiating a war with Mecca and finally subjugating the whole Arabian peninsular.

The Qur'an (or Koran) was prepared from 'messages' received by Mohammed over a long period and is believed to be the "Word of God". However, because the Qur'an is published, not in chronological order but in order of verse sizes, it is not known which verses were written in Mecca and which originated in Medina. In addition to the Qur'an, the Hadith is the collected quotes by Mohammed running into many volumes as well as Sharia which is the comprehensive body of Islamic law.

These writings contain many inconsistencies and reveal a violent, unforgiving undertone which, over the years has lead to much criticism of Islam.

We learned that the chilling underlying agenda of Islam is nothing less than global domination, subjecting all people to Sharia law. Many of us were left with a strong belief that Islamic political ambitions should be resisted at every turn.

On Wednesday 31st March we enjoyed a very informative talk by Peter Talbot.

He described the tragic loss of the pleasure boat 'Princess Alice' following a collision with a coal carrying ship on the Thames near Beckton in the 1880's. The loss of lives was estimated to be between 600 and 800 men, women and children mainly from the East End of London . The 'Princess Alice' was on the return journey after a day out  taking day trippers down river to Sheerness and back. The much  larger coal carrying ship was on its way down river after under going repairs in Millwall.

The speaker drew parallels with the sinking of the 'Machioness'  when it collided with a dredger just over 20 years ago. In both cases there were boards of enquiry and court prosecutions, however the way these were handled were very different reflecting the passage of time and current day litigation practices.

It was a very interesting talk and brought to light a Victorian tragedy long forgotten.

Ian Eastwood

Iain Willox is a pipe major with the correct accent to be talking about Scottish islands and whiskey. He gave us an entertaining travelogue of the islands of Arran and Islay. His talk was illustrated with slides and and was uniquely enlivened by samples of excellent scotch whiskey.

Having located the islands, we learned of their geology, their stunning scenery and the unique water is various parts which is ideally suited to producing fine whiskeys.

Our own Ken Gibson treated us to a riveting discourse about a tour of duty in Antarctica as a meteorologist in the '50s. This was pure 'Boys Own' adventure in the days when huskies were the form of transport - the accommodation was basic wooden huts and your hot water bottle froze solid in the bed overnight. Seal was a good staple source of food for both humans and dogs and the toilet arrangements were dire!

We had a real touch of drama when a supply ship 'Shackleton' taking Ken to Antarctica was holed below the waterline with no other shipping to come to their assistance. A nonchalant description of how the hole had been temporarily stuffed with canvas and the ship limped on kept us on the edge of our seats.

The talk was illustrated with excellent colour slides, most of which Ken had taken himself and history and geography lessons about Antarctica were also thrown in. It was sad to learn that the age of adventure and romance in Antarctica has long gone. Huskies along with any other non-native animals have been exiled to avoid contaminating the continent and current operations are carried out in comfort with transport by air and snowmobile.

We joined with the ladies for an excellent buffet lunch in the Church Rooms in Painswick preceded by a musical progress by Ron Nott.

Ron Not has entertained us in the past with his offbeat humour on other subjects including a talk on his experiences as the Registrar in Stroud.

Our thanks go to the ladies for the excellent spread.

Brian Partridge was an experienced tennis umpire and has officiated as linesman and umpire at Wimbledon. The title of his talk was a dead giveaway.

Brian gave us a fascinating rundown of the laws of tennis and the way the game is managed. He had played tennis for Gloucestershire but, after a knee injury, decided to try his hand at umpiring, finally working his way up to the 'big one', Wimbledon.

He officiated at matches with some of the great names in tennis including Nastase, Sampras, Newcombe and others. His last match at Wimbledon was a boys' doubles involving a certain you Andy Murray.

An experienced helicopter pilot, Mark Wilkins introduced us to the work of the County Air Ambulance Trust. In addition to acquainting us with the work carried out by this excellent service, Mark entertained us with amusing and salutary anecdotes about his earlier experiences of flying aircraft and helicopters during the Cold War in Eastern Europe.

We learned for instance that bomber crew flying at times of particular political tension were instructed to wear an eyepatch over one eye in case they were blinded by nuclear explosion - so that the other eye could keep them flying.

The County Air Ambulance Trust is the Region’s oldest independent air ambulance charity, launched in March 1993. It was founded to help ensure the financial future of the first red air ambulance helicopter based at Cosford. Since those early days the number of air ambulances in the region has increased to six with a total of thirty now providing essential cover in England and Wales.

Our Christmas dinner this year was held at The Hill in Stroud. Joined by the ladies, the evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Jim McNamara rounded off the evening with his presidential speech.

Our thanks go to Paul Sparkes who organised the event.

Following the stress of battles at Crecy and Poitier, this was another in the popular series of talks by Ian Shapter following the exploits of the English archers in France. This blow by blow report of the Battle of Agincourt on St Crispins day, October 1415 was graphically described to the point that we could almost smell the conflict!

The venture seemed doomed to failure as the English suffered heavy losses at the siege of Harfleur and from dysentery even before reaching Agincourt. Still suffering from the effects of the disease and also from severe lack of food, the demoralised army were then confronted by a French army, far superior in numbers also fresh, healthy, well fed and better equipped.

There was heavy rain the night before which turned the field of battle into a quagmire favouring the English. This factor, their superior tactics and of course the prowess of the archers enabled the English to win the day.

We also learned that Agincourt was the origin of the "middle finger salute". The French threatened to cut off the middle fingers of the English bowmen if they were captured. The mighty English longbow would have been impossible to draw without the aid of the strongest finger. When the English won the battle, they allegedly waved their middle fingers at the defeated French in a gesture of defiance.

When our scheduled speaker had to cancel at the last minute due to ill health, Ron Nott stepped manfully into the breach and gave us a stirring presentation on various forms of transport throughout history.

Ron is not unknown to us as he had given us a memorable presentation of his time as registrar for Stroud. As then, this talk was delivered with wit and good humour and was as much about nostalgia for bygone forms of transport as about the serious business of getting from A to B.

Our visit to Bletchley Park was a great success.

After an interesting coach trip, we arrived to a warm welcome from Bletchley Park staff with a coffee and biscuits. Our guide met us and outlined what we were going to see before we set out.

Among the areas visited were the famous 'Bombe' room where German cyphers were decoded as well as Colossus, the world's first programmable digital computer.

During the day our guide helped us to understand the nature of the German cyphers and the unbelievable problems facing the code breakers. It emerged that it was Polish code breakers in 1932 who were the first to decipher the complex code generated by the Enigma machine - passing details to the French and British when the volume of messages overwhelmed them.

We learned that Bletchley Park cracked codes in industrial volumes - employing around 10,000 people and deciphering thousands of messages a day. We also learned of the sad waste of know-how when Bletchley Park was decommissioned after the war - everything was destroyed even Colossus - losing the British lead in digital technology.

We were treated to an excellent account of life in occupied Norway during the war. Tore Fauske gave a 'living history' account of the story of the occupation from the perspective of his, and his family's experiences as the German forces occupied and oppressed their country.

The story of this time was told in a way that no dry history book could have told it. There were personal asides like throwing snowballs at a German officer who turned and told the children how he did not want to be in Norway and would have preferred to be back home with his own children.

From their home overlooking Bergen, the family had a grandstand seat overlooking bombings, explosions and dreadful violence which was brought to their town - from the sinking of the Konigsberg to British bombing of German naval installations which caused great civilian loss of life. This was contrasted with the everyday difficulties of life for a schoolboy and his family going about their lives amid shortages, administrative restrictions, reprisals and resistance.

We were enthralled by the story as it unfolded, illustrated by a remarkable collection of slides and bringing to life the realities of a history about which many of us had only a sketchy knowledge.
 

Susan Newton left us wanting to find out more about our the history of the town.

Having started out as a Saxon village, Cheltenham remained fairly obscure and agricultural but sported a grammar school as early as 1578. In the early 18th century it was discovered that the water from a spring south of the town had an effect on those who drank it and the Spa was born. In 1788 George III came to town and finally put Cheltenham Spa on the map.

The early spas were Montpellier, now Lloyds Bank and the Imperial, now Queens Hotel. One Joseph Pitt created a new town which he called Pittville as a rival to the Cheltenham. Pittville was incorporated into the town when Mr Pitt over-reached himself and went bankrupt.

We learned that the area at one time had been well known for tobacco growing and we also learned that the bus station was in its day one of the largest in the country, being the national hub of the famous Black & White coaches.

Nobody could have dreamed that the purgative nature of its bad tasting water would form the basis of a great town, now the home of the Cheltenham College and Ladies College, the renowned racecourse and GCHQ.
 

Our favourite history master Brigadier Ian Shapter entertained us once again with a blow by blow report on the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. The stars of the battle were, The Black Prince of course but particularly the English Archers.

The result was a decisive French defeat, and a catastrophe for France. Poitiers was a repeat of the battle of Crécy showing once again that tactics and strategy can overcome a disadvantage in numbers.

After the demise of the woollen industry in and around Uley, a weaver, Moses Garlick set off to the newly founded colony of South Australia in 1837. Tony Curnock from Uley has been researching the story of the Garlick family in Uley and in Adelaide.

His interesting presentation started with Moses' early life as a member of a Baptist family in Uley. How he joined the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia then the British Army, seeing service in the Peninsular Wars then in Canada. Returning to settle down in Uley as a weaver, he married and raised a family before tearing up his roots once more and emigrating to Adelaide.

It was no coincidence that he went to Adelaide because some of the investors and promoters of the new colony were from this part of Gloucestershire and indeed Moses' former employer was one of them. It is for this reason that many of Adelaide's pioneers were from Gloucestershire and local place and street names attest to these origins, like the rural locality called Uleybury (pop. 543) founded by Moses near Adelaide.

Apart from a really interesting slice of social history, we also learned that there is a small town called Painswick in Australia, northwest of Melbourne.
 

Ann Dunn treated us to an interesting talk on Schubert which brought to life his character and the historical context of his time in Vienna where he was born and lived all his life up to his untimely death at the age of 31.

It appears that he was an unattractive child and as he grew up, was unable to settle to any career not even to profit from his musical genius. It was only due to his ability to develop a network of generous friends that he was able to survive. His one abiding passion was composing which he seemed able to achieve even while surrounded by noisy friends.

We learned that Schubert was a prolific composer and left a large body of work - most of which was unpublished. After Schubert's death, it was due to the work of two Englishmen, Arthur Sullivan and Sir George Grove that his vast catalogue of music was collected and published. His work included over 600 songs, 9 symphonies and a huge body of work including operas, religious, chamber and piano solos.

On the 22nd July some 35 Painswick Probus members and their ladies attended the annual Ladies Luncheon held at the Hill in Stroud. An attractive cold buffet was prepared and presented by the Hill's Catering Team and much appreciated by all.

The President highlighted a growing membership up to 60 members and a strong financial position which he felt reflected the excellent array of speakers and the warm fellowship shown to all new members. He thanked the committee members for all their support during his term of office and it was with some sadness that he reported the loss of some old friends.

As it was the 40th anniversary of "Man landing on the Moon" the President finished with report about the astronaut Neil Armstrong muttering the words " Good luck Mr Gorski" immediately after his immortal phrase" one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" . Having heard the Presidents story all were left wondering about the validity of Armstong's extra words!

Eric Williams gave us an excellent talk on the life and works of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Insights into his lifestyle, his London office, his management style and his health were woven around of his various projects including the Great Western Railway, Shipbuilding, Tunnels and Bridges. We ended with the ill-fated Great Eastern steamship, the money worries and the health problems that finally ended his life.

We were particularly interested in the story of the Great Britain which we visited as a Probus day out in 2007.

On the 1st July one of our newer members, Glynn Nixon gave a very good talk entitled 'A Visit to the Web'

Glynn explained how the web developed into what it is to-day. He also described the setting up of a web page with particular reference to the Painswick Probus Website, which he set up when he joined the Club. We have received many complements on the quality of the Club's web page and requests from other Probus Clubs for assistance.Many thanks to Glynn.

The talk was very well balanced and skilfully presented to an audience of both regular computer users and some unbelievers. Glynn successfully avoided frightening too many of us with the technicalities of the IT world and concluded by giving encouragement to some unbelievers that now is the time to embrace the computer age.

Bronco Lane gave as a fascinating account of how men can get hooked on mountaineering and subject themselves to the most severe hardship to achieve their ambitions.

Having given us a history of his career starting out as a bit of a tearaway in Manchester then joining the army in the Junior Leaders Royal Artillery. He then progressed to the 7th Parachute Regiment in 1964 and to the SAS in 1967. Then, already a trained and hardened soldier, he joined the Army Mountaineering Association climbing in the Canadian Arctic where he was able to name a mountain. He then progressed to the Himalayas and Nuptse in Nepal.

In 1976 he was selected for a joint British-Nepalese Army expedition to Everest and it was this experience that he illustrated with excellent colour slides. They walked from Kathmandu to Everest where, after setting up a series of camps up the slopes, he and his colleague Brummie Stokes were selected for the attempt on the summit.

After reaching the summit they were caught by bad weather and were forced to bivouac just below the summit in temperatures of around -40c. Both men were rescued the following morning but suffered severe frostbite resulting in the amputation of fingers and toes.

The graphic talk was delivered with army jargon and humour. His respect for the Sherpas and their Yaks shone through as well as regard for his comrades.

We welcomed back Leslie Dalton to our Club on Wednesday 6th May.

Leslie's talk was on  railway journeys he made a number of years ago on the Swiss Railways. The photographic slides of the scenery in the Alps and the surrounding countryside were quite outstanding.

A feature of the journey was the efficiency,cleanliness and punctuality of the trains. Even in heavy snow the trains were still were on schedule. No problems with wrong type of snow..

The AGM passed without a hitch and saw Jim McNamara installed as our new president - taking over from Peter Harley after another successful year. David Linsell was appointed as Vice President and other committee members retained their positions.

Following the formal proceedings, we adjourned to the bar to toast the coming year.

David Achard has a huge archive of historic photographs of Painswick which he has collected from numerous sources over the years. Using this valuable collection of slides, he presented a fascinating illustrated talk charting Painswick's history with images from the dawn of photography to recent times.

We were treated to fascinating pictures showing old-time fashions, Painswick before tarmac roads, a policeman up a ladder easing a huge load into New Street, wartime bomb damage, ancient busses and above all the wonderful old buildings - many of which are still here today. David was able to draw on his encyclopaedic memory of people and places to weave a story of Painswick which was sprinkled with humour and intriguing information.

We came away to look at the old town in a new light.

Billed as a 'fun' look at wills, this talk by Cameron Petrie was also a salutary reminder about some of the things that can go wrong. There was a lot of humour as we looked at some of the elephant traps that many famous people had fallen into and many of the wise and interesting decisions they had made.

We learned among other snippets that the Queen Mother gave away everything she owned just within 7 years of her death to avoid all inheritance tax. She survived for that time on a huge overdraft!

We were joined by the Probus Ladies in the Church Rooms for a much anticipated wine tasting. Paul Sparkes selected and introduced the wines which were all Beaujolais.

Following the serious business, we were treated to an excellent buffet which had been prepared by the ladies' team led by Joan Hardwidge. The buffet was, in turn washed down with further quantities of excellent Beaujolais.

Brian Wollaston is a volunteer on the restoration of Woodchester Mansion which is described as an architectural masterpiece of the Victorian age abandoned by its builders before it could be completed. It has been virtually untouched by time since the mid-1870s, and today offers a unique opportunity to tour and explore a Gothic building in mid-assembly.

It is the third stately home on the site to have been abandoned by various owners and is being restored to the point where it was left by the builders. The house is unusual because, firstly it is in a state to show how the Victorians set about building a house of this importance and secondly because of the spectacular use of stone in its construction.

It is a gothic building complete with buttresses and fan vaulted ceilings. The stone, which was quarried on the estate was used for guttering, gargoyle water spouts and even pipes and a full sized bath which had been hewn from a single block of stone.

His talk, illustrated with slides gave us an insight into the difficulties facing the team when they commenced restoration of the progress they have made.

David Norfolk works for British Energy and his talk covered the present struggle to ensure that our lights stay on. His involvement in the nuclear programme shed light on the progress that is being made to bring the next generation of nuclear power stations on line.

The government protracted indecision with regard to the timing for the replacement of generation capacity both nuclear and fossil is increasingly posing a serious threat to our future prosperity in view of the ageing existing generation plant and the long lead time for the design, construct and commissioning of new capacity.

David and his talk informed us all and we welcomed this insight into the solutions to a problem which faces us all.

Ron Nott delivered a splendid talk on poetry - not a serious appraisal of the classical poets nor a learned dissertation on the merits of iambic pentameters. This talk consisted of an amusing trawl through some of the funnier doggerel, limericks and song lyrics that have made us laugh over the years. Some of the language bordered on the 'colourful'.

Ron had previously given us a very witty talk on his experiences as the Registrar for Stroud. He was the Registrar for 12 years.

Philip Moss gave us a fascinating talk covering the history and stories of some of the very old inns in Gloucester. The talk was illustrated with slides, some showing historic images of the pubs and street scenes of Gloucester and others showing surviving pubs as they appear today.

The outstanding impression gained from this talk was the gritty, down-to-earth life of the city through the ages. Drunken debauchery was not unknown in the city as well as crime, executions and ladies of ill-repute.

Philip's talk also gave us an insight into the commercial life which revolved around the old inns. We learned that they served as estate agents and as termini for stage coaches as well as warehousing and bases for carters. Much of the commercial life of the city was transacted in inns.

It was interesting to learn how coaching Inns were designed so that a coach and six could turn around in the courtyard and that the ground floor served as stabling - providing warmth to the upper floors which were the drinking, dining and sleeping areas. Philip also identified architectural features of the New Inn which had been sketched by Beatrix Potter when preparing her book 'The Tailor of Gloucester'.

A tour-de-force which lead the thoughts of some of us towards visiting all those establishments which still survive.
 

Our own Geoff Clark gave as a talk about his career in the field of electronic controls.

Having started out at school with no scientific inclination - a lucky break landed him with an engineering place at Imperial College, London. Further lucky breaks lead him to an enjoyable and thoroughly rewarding career working throughout the world and getting to the top of his field.

It became clear however, that Geoff's claim that all this was down to luck was belied by the fact that his luck was sustained by liberal sprinklings of hard work and talent!

Marion Beagley's love of Japan and all things Japanese started in 1972 when she met a visitor to the UK from Japan.

Over the years she has made several visits there and has made many friends out there. To enhance her appreciation of the country she has taught herself Japanese.

Marion arrived dressed as a Japanese lady and was able to give us some insight into Japanese dress - like the fact that ladies sandals appear to be too small until one realises that they kneel down a lot and the shoe should not protude beyond the heel to avoid snagging the kimono when standing. Also the fact that the kimono should always wrap from left to right as right to left signifies that the wearer is dead!

Her very informative talk was given with a great deal of humour and touched on the way of life and customs of in this fascinating country. She spoke about an experience when she and friends dressed casually as tourists - complete with shorts and baseball cap - were befriended by a Japanese member of parliament and invited to lunch then and there in an exclusive dining room in the parliament building.

Her talk touched on many aspects of Japanese life including hi-tech loos and trains which really do run on time as the backbone of an excellent public transport system.

The proceeds of Marion's talk went to a charity Chernobyl Child Lifeline which brings children from Chernobyl to Britain for holidays, staying with local families. Her description of the plight of these children and their families - living with the radioactive fallout from the nuclear disaster - was heart rending.

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