Reports on past meetings

Steve Scott-Fawcett began by giving us some basic facts about Nepal, e.g. it is about half the size of the UK, with a population also about half the size of ours. Geographically there are three main areas: the high Himalayas close to the northern border, then the central ‘hilly’ area (to us still mountainous!), and… [Continue Reading]

After an excellent lunch at the Links Hotel in West Runton, we enjoyed an equally excellent talk by Mr James Stebbings, about the RMS Lusitania. This ship belonged to the Cunard line, and was launched in 1906. It was the pride of the Cunard fleet and in 1908 received the Blue Riband accolade for making… [Continue Reading]

After an excellent lunch at the Links Hotel in West Runton, we enjoyed a vivid and well-illustrated talk by the author Phyllida Scrivens. Her theme (which is also the title of her book, published last year) was “The Great Thorpe Railway Disaster of 1874”. On 10 September 1874, late in the evening, a mail train… [Continue Reading]

Our usual excellent lunch at the Links Hotel in West Runtonwas followed by a most interesting and well illustrated talk by club member Paul Rundle, for which he was thanked by our chairman and all present. Not all members had been able to attend but nonetheless there were 29 of us there, including some new… [Continue Reading]

We were given an entertaining and informative talk by Mr Chris Armstrong, who is a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Norwich Historical Churches Trust. His subject was “Scholars, Saints and Sinners”, and the theme was “some of Norfolk’s most colourful clergy in the 19th century”. Chris, himself from a line of clergymen, said that in… [Continue Reading]

Our Secretary, Dave Vickery, stepped in at short notice to give a brief talk about a business trip to the USA in 1992, taking in meetings in Texas, California and Connecticut in the space of 4 days.

The award-winning author Phyllida Scrivens told the true story of a Jewish boy who escaped from Nazi Germany and went on to become the Sheriff of Norwich. His name was Joe Stirling, who sadly passed away in February. Phyllida has written a book about Joe called ‘Escaping Hitler’ (Pen and Sword Books, 2016). Joe started… [Continue Reading]

Stuart Fidler enjoyed a varied military career, starting in 1960 as a radio operator in the Royal Navy on the frigate HMS Rocket. After further postings on frigates and an aircraft carrier, he tired of ships and in 1965, after commando and parachute training, joined 148 Commando and served in Borneo. Four years later, Stuart… [Continue Reading]

Peter Lawrence introduced himself as a former Metropolitan Police officer working in Special Operations at Scotland Yard, looking after the Royal Family and the Embassies. Unusually, he was tasked with investigating underneath the streets of London! Peter explained that subterranean London comprised a network of rivers (for example, the Westbourne, Tyburn and Fleet), tunnels (including… [Continue Reading]

After a delicious Christmas lunch, Simon Partridge talked enthusiastically and entertainingly about Christmas. Simon’s passion for Christmas shone through as he recounted its origins and traditions. The Romans gave us Christmas on 25 December when the pagan festival known as Saturnalia evolved into the celebration of the birth of Jesus, following the Roman emperor Constantine’s… [Continue Reading]