Thorpe Rotary

October is when Rotary District 1080, which covers most of East Anglia, holds its annual Conference – this year was the 82^nd. There are 77 Clubs and 2,450 members in the District which is presided over by a District Governor and District Committee. Among the Rotarians present was Charles Spencer from Baton Rouge, U.S.A., a representative of the Rotary International President K Banerjee from India, various speakers representing the whole diverse range of Rotary programmes and the Lord Mayor of Norwich. The Rotary speakers gave, inter alia, a talk on Rotary House in Norwich which is residential accommodation for the hard of hearing, which was followed by a presentation from 5 members of a Group Study Exchange team from Illinois who were visiting the District for 6 weeks. Before and after lunch further presentations were made concerning Rotary in the Community and featuring Young Enterprise, Literacy and Rotary Young Leadership Awards, ending with how Rotarians are helping to ease the problems of dementia. In the evening there was the Governor’s Dinner with guest speaker the vet Steve Leonard.

Following our Club’s re-location to the Oasis, the last speaker of the month was Club member Roger Morriss who told us of his recent holiday in Peru, and in particular gave an illustrated talk about the steamer Yavari. This was one of 2 gun boats built in Britain and shipped to Lake Titicaca in the 1860s. The lake is 12,500 ft. above sea level and is the largest lake in South America with an average depth of 350 ft. and covering an area of 3,200 sq. miles. Because of logistical problems (there was no railway and the lake is landlocked) each ship had to be dismantled and packed into 2,766 cases, each case weighing no more than a mule could carry. Apparently many ships such as these were built on the Thames, and because of the noise of the riveters hammering the steel rivets into place, the local football club became known as “the Hammers”.

A team of 8 – riveters, engineers etc. were sent with the crates and the ships were then re-assembled in the thin atmosphere at the lakeside. There was no coal so lama dung was used as fuel for the boats, the boats steam engines later being converted to diesel in the 1920’s. In 1894 a railway was built to the lake, and in 1977 the Yavari was declared redundant and lapsed into disuse. It was discovered and restored in the 1990’s, and is now a working tribute to those Victorian shipbuilders and their ingenuity.

Trevor Whitworth

Ernest Shackleton (part 2) was the subject of our first illustrated talk in June by Club member Roger Morriss. In 1907 Shackleton formed his own expedition which reached the summit of Mount Erebus in Antarctica. In 1910 he moved to Sheringham, at a time when Scott went to the South Pole where he eventually perished. He learnt of Scott’s death in 1913, and formed his next expedition to the South Pole which departed in 1914 on the ship Endurance, complete with dog teams. The ship became ice-bound, and drifted with the ice 1,000 miles in 6 weeks, but the drift took them away from their destination. The ship became damaged due to ice-pressure, and it was abandoned, with the expedition then encamped on the ice floes. Various attempts were made to march across the ice, but conditions were atrocious and eventually, when the ice melted, the 28 men took to the life-boats and sailed to Elephant Island. From there Shackleton sailed with 5 men to South Georgia, from where help was sent to the 22 men left behind who had existed on seals and penguins. Shackleton died in South America and is buried on South Georgia.

The following week the Club photograph was taken, and some of the Club archives examined and discussed.

“Classic Cars” were the subject of Club Member Richard Wardle’s talk to the Club on the 17^th June. Accompanied by photographs, the talk was a trip down memory lane for many members who had owned such cars. They included the Austin Marina, 1100 and Allegro, Vauxhall Victor, Standard Vanguard, Ford Popular, Sierra, Escort, Capri and of course the Mini. Richard worked in the car industry for many years and thus had an expert knowledge of their various strengths and weaknesses.

During the month some members visited Thorpe High School with a Shelter Box, which are designed to be sent to areas which have suffered from disasters and which contain items to help people stay alive and give shelter. The school’s Senate generously agreed to donate the proceeds of their Mufti Day to the Club’s Shelter Box Appeal.

Trevor Whitworth’s talk entitled “Fraud and the Inland Revenue” at the last Club meeting of the Rotary year was based on his experiences in the accountancy profession. After explaining the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion (the former is legal, the latter is criminal) he talked about some of the ways in which tax fraud is carried out, including omitting income, overstating expenditure and using the resources and personnel of a business for personal benefit. The penalties for defrauding the Revenue were considered, which included doubling the tax underpaid, (with discounts for such matters as voluntary disclosure and co-operation) adding interest to the amount owed and possible imprisonment.

At the first meeting in the new Rotary Year, outgoing President Frank James handed over the badge of office to the new President Trevor Whitworth, who in turn welcomed Vice President Richard Butler followed by Junior Vice President Trevor Bond.

Trevor Whitworth

Club member Barry Oake was our first speaker of the month when he talked about church architecture, drawing upon his technical knowledge gained as a surveyor. Starting with the earliest and simplest churches, he explained how the development of the arch from its Romanesque beginning enabled larger, brighter and more complex structures to be built, culminating in some of the magnificent churches that incorporate fan vaulting and superb workmanship.

A circular walk starting at Buxton and visiting Brampton and Oxnead was enjoyed by some members and wives the following week. Brampton was originally a Roman town with a large pottery making industry situated on the river Bure. We also visited the small church at Oxnead, where some of the Paston family have their monuments, and finished the morning by driving to the Goat Inn at Skeyton where we enjoyed a very large lunch!

Club Assembly took place at the end of the week, which is when the incoming President and his Chairmen of committees tell Club members of their plans for the following Rotary year.

The next week was Ladies Night, when members, wives and friends visited the United States Army Air Force Memorial Library at the Forum in Norwich. There we were told the history of the Library (including how it was destroyed by fire and subsequently rebuilt), looked at the extremely varied collection of books and memorabilia and then watched a film about the war-time exploits of the American film actor James Steward, who during the war flew from American air bases in Norfolk, including Hethel and Old Buckenham. We then enjoyed dinner at Loch Fyne.

New Member Gwyn Jenson gave a “My Life” talk on the last Friday of May. As a child of a member of the Armed Forces he flew to Malaya to meet his father at Kuala Lumpur. The journey took six days! They lived at RAF Penang during the time that the Communist terrorists were active. He later went to Malta for schooling at the Royal Naval School: the school was only open for half days due to the intense heat. His mother hated Malta as there was no greenery. Gwyn joined the police as a cadet in 1968 and spent 31 years in service including spells with firearms and police protection work protecting well-known politicians and royalty. He left the Force in 1999 and joined Norfolk County Council where he worked with CCTV, environmental health etc.