fareham flyer september 2011
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R IBI President visits Fareham
On Tuesday 9th
August, the Club
was honoured with a visit by the
President of RIBI, Ray Burman,
or simply ‘Burman’ as he prefers
to be addressed, and his wife
Victoria, accompanied by Dis-
trict Governor Caroline Millman
together with her husband Past
District Governor Keith Millman.
The visit proved to be an ideal
opportunity to recognise the con-
tribution of PP Ben Benstead, for
his part in providing the ‘Jewel
of our Crown’, the Wheelhouse
at Hillhead.
A large number of Rotarians
from our own Club, as well as
Presidents and Rotarians from
other Rotary Clubs of Group
Seven gathered at the Wheel-
house, where our President Linda
Ingram welcomed our distin-
guished guests.
Rtn Dave Barclay gave a brief
insight into the current usage of
the Wheelhouse, stating that
bookings for the year were fast
approaching 150, made up of vis-
its from for example, district care
centres, social clubs, disabled
sports organisations, as well as
our own Club activities.
PDG Mike Swinburne then gave
a short history of the formation
of the Wheelhouse, and how it
came to fruition through the de-
termination of Club members,
and the generosity of Ben Ben-
stead.
Ben built the Wheelhouse and
completed the task to the high
standards that are still in evi-
dence today.
President Burman praised the
foresight of the Club in providing
such an excellent example of Ro-
tary working together for the
community, and was then invited
by Pres. Linda to unveil a com-
memorative plaque, to honour the
generosity and determination of
Ben Benstead.
With the assistance of District
Governor Caroline, the cover was
removed, revealing a suitably
engraved plaque.
Ben showed his delight in the
honour bestowed, and the kind
words of President Burman,
which all agree were richly de-
served.
We were delighted that Ben was
able to be present, despite his
very recent stay in hospital.
Pres. Burman & DG Caroline Millman
Ben Benstead admires the plaque.
District Governor Caroline Millman arrives
with husband PDG Keith.
The Fareham Flyer Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Fareham D1110 UK
President Linda Ingram
Service above Self Bulletin Number 338 SEPTEMBER 2011 www.farehamrotary.com
We were blessed with a glori-
ous sunny evening, allowing
our guests to enjoy the sea air,
and to pose for a group photo-
graph before proceeding to the
next venue.
After a short break, the party
made their way to nearby
Stubbington Study Centre. The
Centre, a wildlife and activities
facility for children, is another
of Fareham Rotary’s projects.
The Club aims to provide a
bursary that allows less fortu-
nate children to attend the cen-
tre with their more fortunate
classmates.
President Linda again wel-
comed everyone to the new
location, and Head of the Cen-
tre James Scarborough gave a
most informative talk on the
purpose and function of the
Centre, and the enormous ben-
efits children experienced from
their weekly residential visit.
James thanked the Rotarians
for their support, and said that
he was delighted to be able to
offer the Dining Hall for the
function.
It was now time for evening
refreshment, when we enjoyed
a splendid buffet supper. John
Rowlinson quoted the ‘Selkirk
Grace’ in his own inimitable
style.
PP Mike Hurley took the op-
portunity to conduct a raffle in
aid of the Centre funds, and a
magnificent £160 was raised.
VP Pam Bryant welcomed
guests and announced apolo-
gies from those unable to at-
tend.
RIBI Pres Burman addressed
the assembly in fine style, mix-
ing humour with a serious
message and encouraging the
support of ‘End Polio Now’
and the Rotary Foundation.
He told us that his inspiration
had come from a Group Study
Exchange which had changed
his life and enabled him to go
on to a very successful career
in the Police Service, and from
there, after early retirement, to
devote his time and talents to
the Rotary organization.
Pres Burman presented PP To-
ny Cove with a Presidential
Banner to commemorate his
stay with Tony and Sue.
He also presented a banner to
President Linda.
Fareham’s President Elect
Duncan Colin-Jones proposed
a vote of thanks to President
Burman, after which Pres Lin-
da gave the final toast – ‘Rota-
ry and peace the world over’
Head of Stubbington Study Centre James
Scarborough
Some of our guests – from Whiteley
Rotary
RIBI Pres. Burman, Pres Linda Ingram,
DG Caroline Milllman
Visit to the Wheelhouse and Stubbington Study Centre by RIBI president Ray Burman and his wife Victoria and District Governor Caroline Mill-man and her husband Keith on Tuesday 9th Au-gust 2011 (A special report by our Rov-
ing Correspondent Murray
Bell)
et’s start at the very be-
ginning – a very good
place to start. Once
upon a time, dear reader, there
was a Beach Hut that was at
Hill Head, built by the Club
not long after its incorporation
to provide access to the seaside
for the children of a local or-
phanage in Fareham. It had its
problems; it was wooden, sub-
ject to repeated damage at high
tide and over the years became
dilapidated.
So much so that the Club de-
cided to replace it with a solid
brick built structure. Enter
P.P. Ben Benstead – builder
extraordinaire. Virtually sin-
gle handed he constructed the
Wheelhouse, on a very limited
budget, obtaining surplus
building materials, window
frames, door frames, fitments
etc. at knock down prices from
Builders Merchants wherever
possible. He must have spent
an almost endless amount of
his spare time (remember he
was running a business too)
working on the project until it
was completed.
And anyone who thinks it was
just a simple job can think
again. The building had to be
built on a raft with over two
tonnes of steel and two hun-
dred and fifty nuts and bolts to
anchor it. And raised to avoid
those high tides. But com-
pleted it was and a photo of
Ben (and Malcolm Harper) at
the Topping Out can be seen
today in the Wheelhouse.
The achievement has been lov-
ingly maintained and indeed
improved by P.P. Chris Thom-
as and his helpers (including
Marion and other spouses)
with replacement windows,
replacement shutters, doors,
kitchen, carpets, cooker, elec-
trics and decoration etc. – re-
flecting the need to continually
stay on top of damage caused
by sea air, (sometimes van-
dals) and wear and tear caused
by the numerous visiting chari-
ties. It looked lovely when
RIBI President Ray unveiled
the brass plaque to record
Ben’s work.
And then off to the Stubbing-
ton Study Centre – helpfully
guided by hi-vis jacketed Club
members. Many Club mem-
bers had not been there before
so it was a new experience
when James Scarborough gave
us a very enthusiastic talk
about the Centre’s aims (and
achievements) and the benefits
of the Centre to the whole
community of schools, not just
Fareham and Gosport but also
Portsmouth and Southampton
and indeed all Hampshire too.
We realised the importance of
our bursary to help those chil-
dren who might otherwise be
unable to attend – especially as
funding from other sources is
increasingly restricted.
After supper, we heard from
our district governor and the
RIBI President. (Bear in mind
they had been abseiling down
the Spinnaker Tower earlier
that day but looked remarkably
fresh despite that).
The President gave what I be-
lieve was the best talk I have
heard from any President. I
will not call it a speech be-
cause he spoke informally to
us, (not at us). His talk was so
positive and upbeat that his
year will be very hard to fol-
low!
Some thanks now – to Tony
Cove for all his organising that
made the whole event go like
clockwork – no problems at all
that we could see - and for all
his helpers and traffic mar-
shals. Thanks too for all
members of the Club who
came along with their guests
and thanks to all those Rotari-
ans from other Clubs who
came especially ‘our family’ –
our mother Club, our daughter
Club and especially our
Granddaughter Club, White-
ley, who turned up in force.
Everyone involved could con-
gratulate themselves as they
contributed to such a success-
ful evening.
(Or as Bob Mussellwhite
would say 3 days later –
DIDDY DUM, DIDDY DUM,
DIDDY DUM DUM DUM)
Many thanks to Murray – Ed.
_________________________
Cowes Night at the Wheelhouse.
riday 9th
August saw a
merry bunch of Rotari-
ans and their guests
gather at the Wheelhouse for
the annual Cowes firework
spectacular. The night was
L
F
clear, and promised to offer an
uninterrupted view across the
water. But first, a scavenger
hunt devised by our hosts for
the evening, Bob and Sue
Mussellwhite.
The less mobile members were
given a card, attached to which
were a series of sticky patches,
each with descriptive labels.
Team members were then sent
to the beach to find articles
which met the descriptions.
For example, fluffy, rusty, blue
thin, wooden etc.. To witness
the enthusiasm of participants
was a rare treat!
The search continued until
fish’n’chips arrived, quickly
passed around the tables, and
enjoyed by all.
Sue meantime prepared the
‘pudding’ – a gateaux and
cream treat.
Whilst earlier scavenging, it
was required that everyone
should bring back two large
pebbles. They were about to
find out the purpose! With
dexterous hands Bob demon-
strated the movements whilst
calling out in a loud voice –
‘Diddy Dum, Diddy Dum,
Diddy Dum Dum Dum’.
After a few practice runs, the
beat built up into a frenzy,
with arms, hands and pebbles
going in all directions!
It’s difficult to believe that in
these days of high technology
so much fun could be had by
so many with so little!
Whist we regained our compo-
sure it was time for judging of
the scavenger hunt. Bob and
Sue gave each entry careful
consideration before choosing
the card of Charlotte and Emi-
ly Clubley, Pam Bryant's
grand-daughters. The worthy
winners were presented with
sticks of seaside rock.
It was now time to gather out-
side to view the fireworks.
Lots of ‘Ooos’ and ‘Ahhhs’
were heard from the crowd.
Well done Bob and Sue for a
great fun and fellowship even-
ing.
_________________________
Final push is needed to tackle last 1% of polio
In a recent article in the BMJ,
Prof. Liam Donaldson, former
chief medical officer for Eng-
land and the chair of the inde-
pendent monitoring board of
the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative, reported that be-
tween 1988 and 2000 there
was a 99% reduction in
worldwide cases of polio, but
in the last decade the last 1% is
proving difficult. He believes
polio eradication is feasible but
more urgency is needed to
complete the task. His report
says that there has been excel-
lent progress in India and very
good progress in Nigeria and
Afghanistan, but in Pakistan
there has been a 62% increase
between 2009 and 2010.
Northern Nigeria is of high
strategic importance because
the virus can easily spread to
surrounding countries such as
Chad, the Democratic Repub-
lic of Congo and Angola
where there is weaker immun-
isation coverage. There have
been outbreaks in 14 countries
since the start of 2010, and
while these have been extin-
guished quickly it shows the
need for enhanced political
commitment and more funds.
We must, therefore, remember
the 6 P’s, please put your pen-
nies in the plastic pig for polio!
Geoff Hillam.
-------------------------------------
_________________________
-------------------------------------
CONGRATULATIONS Our very best wishes go to
Richard Coghlan, who, on 17th
August, became a grandfather
to a baby boy, and of course to
John Coghlan, who has been
elevated to the venerable state
of great - grandfather. Con-
gratulations to them both.
Portchester.
ike little Topsy,
Portchester has kept on
growing since the
Romans did some mischief to
the early Brits in 43 AD.
Rome gave planning
permission to build a fortress
at Caer Peris, ensuring that
Plaudius's legions would not
have to fight their way up the
beaches as Caesar's did in 55
BC round at Pevensey. They
named it Portus Aderni, and
added a couple of guard huts at
the port's mouth of the safe
harbour but didn't bother about
giving them a name. If
civilisation came with the
Romans, Portus Aderni might
rank as the birth of civilised
Britain!
A couple of centuries rolled
on, the Romans having a bit of
bother with the Iceni and Scot
tribes, but relatively
untroubled in the South,
having built nice houses for
local chiefs along the road at
Emsworth. Then the climate
changed and it was getting a
bit chilly around the toga. .
(Climate changed --- what
were the Romans doing to
cause that in 400 AD I
wonder ??) They could no
longer grow their grapes so off
they went home and left the
Brits to defend themselves
against the Saxons ---
unsuccessfully. The Saxons
just called Portus Aderni “the
fort at the port”. Port Cester.
Useful for defence against the
Danes thought Saxon King
Alfred, and was probably on
his way there from Winchester
when he burnt the cakes.
Canute the Dane did his
paddling a bit further up the
coast. It was left to Edward
the Elder to proclaim Port
Cester as a Burgh. (It took a
little longer for the
neighbouring village of
Ferneham to stop being an
Urban District and become a
Borough.) Along the
centuries, together with Col,
Dor, Win and Man, Cester
smoothed into Chester.
A few more centuries on, when
invasions were to, not from,
the continent, Portchester was
the army's assembly and
embarkation site.
(The Black Prince?)
Edward III with his son, the
Black Prince, gathered the
troops inside the castle walls
before they went over and
duffed up the French at Crecy,
and seventy years later, Henry
V also mustered his brothers in
the castle (“for he today that
sheds his blood with me shall
be my brother …:”) for
another outing to frogmarch
the opposition at Agincourt.
More centuries rolled by,
Blake bruising the Dutch and
housing his prisoners in
Portchester Castle followed by
Nelson giving the French more
grief and using the castle again
as a POW camp. In between, a
few kings and queens spent
their summer holidays in the
Keep that had been
thoughtfully added to the
Roman walls by the Normans.
The burghers around the castle
were quite happy to keep a
market and manufacture clay
pipes so that the prisoners in
the castle could quietly
meditate how lucky they were
not to have met Henry's
archers, got in the way of
Wellington's Greenjackets or
crossed cutlasses with Nelson's
Bluejackets.
Pipe manufacturing finally
died about 1930 but industry
nowadays is for car
components and parts of ships
– big parts like the bows of an
aircraft carrier or the mid-ships
of a destroyer. The market
thrives as a shopping precinct
with a full scale open market
once a week in what is now a
mini-town with a health centre
and a library, a comprehensive
school and three primaries, not
to mention Britain's busiest
(and best) crematorium The
castle survives, the most
complete Roman relic in
Europe, visited by tourists
from nearby and the far flung.
After two thousand years, it's
difficult to know where
Portchester boundaries are.
Listed as part of the Fareham
Urban District a century ago
L
and absorbed into the Borough
of Fareham in 1974, all rural
boundaries East and West have
blurred.. The last boundary
reshuffle at the turn of this
century caused the Borough
Council some Portchester
problems. The council had to
reduce in number from 42 to
31 to meet Westminster's
specifications on the ratio of
residents to councillors. How
many councillors should
“Portchester” have and which
bit of Fareham is now
Portchester? Ultimately it was
decided that Fareham Borough
(not quite the same as
Fareham's Westminster
Constituency two of Fareham's
Wards are in Gosport
constituency) would have
fifteen Wards, two of them
nominated “Portchester”“East”
and “West”. There are now 14
wards in Fareham with TWO
councillors. The fifteenth
ward, Portchester East, which
encompasses the old village
with its enlarged population,
alone has THREE.
Fed up with history and
geography ? The “Cormorant”
does a decent pint and lunch.
Many thanks to Ernie Crouch
for his fascinating story in the
series ‘Where I live’
Out and About
The ‘Last of the Summer
Wine’ Cars, Boats. Planes and
Trains Social Club have been
active again. Gerry has a friend
Don who once spoke to the
Club about the Inca Trail Rally
that he helped organised in
South America. There have
been changes in Don’s stable
of ‘interesting cars’. He still
has the shapely white Sunbeam
Alpine Tourer. The Austin
Seven and the Healey Silver-
stone have passed to new own-
ers but he a new toy. Gerry,
Jim and Roger were treated to
an exhilarating ride round the
countryside in a beautiful
green 1931 Alvis 1250 Tourer
– hence their rather windswept
look in the photo.
You may have spotted that
someone was missing. Tom
was busy putting finishing
touches to his stunning, 5 foot
long, working steam model of
the Governor of Papua New
Guinea’s official yacht. The
original was 190 feet long and
had a crew of 160!
Tom’s model was on display at
the Fareham and District Mod-
el Engineering Society’s annu-
al show on the last weekend in
July. All the ‘Winer’s’ are
members, and Gerry was on
hand giving rides on his elec-
tric locomotive.
Some members rounded off
the month of July at the Sorop-
timist Garden Party. President
Linda shared the experience
with a bevy of Past Presidents.
They feasted their appetites
and their eyes in the impres-
sive garden of Soroptimist
Pam Simcock. Pam is one of
the judges at the Chelsea
Flower show and has a garden
that would certainly win tro-
phies. The rest of the party
consisted of George, Colin and
Christine, Murray and
Maureen, Geoff and Christine
and Roger and Ursula.
From our roving correspond-
ent Roger Esnault.
-------------------------------------
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
4th
Marion Thomas
6th
Don Ellwood
23rd
John Gauntlett
23rd
Jean Tuck
25th
George Cantrill
26th
Alan Bowden
_________________________
SEPTEMBER MENU
1st Lasagne, garlic
bread, salad
8th
Roast pork & trimmings
Roast potatoes and veg.
15th
Cottage Pie and veg
22nd
Chicken Kiev, Rosti po-
tatoes and veg
29th
5th
Thursday- at HMS
Collingwood
Holy Humour
A father was approached by
his small son who told him
proudly, "I know what the Bi-
ble means!"
His father smiled and replied,
"What do you mean, you
'know' what the Bible means?
The son replied, "I do know!"
"Okay," said his father. "What
does the Bible mean?"
"That's easy, Daddy..." the
young boy replied excitedly,"
It stands for 'Basic Information
Before Leaving Earth.’
Somebody has said there are
only two kinds of people in the
world. There are those who
wake up in the morning and
say, "Good morning, Lord,"
and there are those who wake
up in the morning and say,
"Good Lord, it's morning!
The impossible takes a little longer
A man on his Harley was rid-
ing along a California beach
when suddenly the sky clouded
above his head and, in a boom-
ing voice, God said, "Because
you have tried to be faithful to
me, I will grant you one wish."
The biker pulled over and said,
"Build a bridge to Hawaii so I
can ride over anytime I want."
God replied, "Your request is
materialistic; think of the
enormous challenges for that
kind of undertaking; the sup-
ports required reaching the
bottom of the Pacific and the
concrete and steel it would
take! I can do it, but it is hard
for me to justify your desire
for worldly things. Take a little
more time and think of some-
thing that could possibly help
mankind."
The biker thought about it for a
long time. Finally, he said,
"God, I wish that I, and all
men, could understand women;
I want to know how she feels
inside, what she's thinking
when she gives me the silent
treatment, why she cries, what
she means when she says noth-
ing's wrong, why she snaps
and complains when I try to
help, and how I can make a
woman truly happy."
God replied: "You want two
lanes or four on that bridge...?"
Don’t miss the
spectacular even-
ing at HMS Col-
lingwood on
Thursday 29th
September.
Dinner, and live entertainment.
Sea shanties and the life and
times of the Admiral Colling-
wood.
Full details from the Secretary.
_______________________________
A message from PP Tony Cove.
Thank you
The ‘Tribute to Ben Benstead’
evening on Tuesday 9th
Au-
gust, with the RIBI President
and District Governor present,
was an event which involved
the input of so many of the
Club’s members and wives; in
the ideas, the planning and
preparation, the hosting, the
stewarding, the formalities, the
clearing and tidying up, a real
team effort of which the Club
can be most proud. Everyone
was willing to do that which
was asked of them, thank you
all for your kind cooperation,
you made it an evening worthy
of the occasion. Tony
Eileen Davis - died 9th
August 2011
Eileen was the widow of PP
Dickie Davis PHF who was a
member of the Rotary Club of
Fareham from 1960 until his
death in October 2007.
When Eileen and Dickie met
she was working as a civil
servant and he was serving as a
Naval Wireless/Air Gunner.
They were married in June
1944.
In January 1946 Dickie was
de-mobbed and returned to
work for his old boss at Lunn-
poly Travel. Eileen was preg-
nant and in June 1946 their
daughter, Maureen, was born.
In 1955 Eileen's parents came
to live in Portchester and Ei-
leen, Dickie and young
Maureen came to join them.
Perhaps this was more than a
coincidence as Dickie had pre-
viously served at HMS Col-
lingwood.
Dickie took up a job with
American Express in South-
ampton. But in October 1957
there was a momentous turn of
events. Whilst strolling down
Fareham West Street Dickie
and Eileen realised that there
was no Travel Agent in Fare-
ham at that time. They spotted
an empty shop at 205B West
Street and Eileen urged Dickie
to "go for it!". They went on
to establish Davis World
Travel and together built it up
into a flourishing business.
Eileen blossomed in the family
of Rotary after Dickie was in-
vited to join in 1960 and to-
gether they made a great con-
tribution to all the Clubs ac-
tivities. Older members will
remember what a handsome
couple they made, always at
the centre of any Club event.
In the hey-day of dinner danc-
es they were always the first
couple on the dance floor. For
many years they scarcely
missed a District Conference
and went to at least two RI
Conventions. Dickie’s year as
Club President in 1969/70 was
a delight for them both and
they went on to work together
on many outstanding projects
in the years that followed.
These included the ‘Splash’
appeal to bring Fareham its
own swimming pool and the
Club’s first’ twinning’ set up
with the Rotary Club of Del
Amo in California. They were
both staunch supporters of The
Rotary Foundation.
Sadly Eileen began to show
signs of Alzheimer’s and the
condition got worse. In about
2003, despite Dickie's devo-
tion and the support of her
daughter Maureen and her sis-
ter Hazel, Eileen eventually
had to be moved into a rest
home. She was well cared for
but became increasingly con-
fused. Dickie spent many
hours with her until he was
himself hospitalised before he
died in 2007. Daughter
Maureen and son-in law
Vernon continued to visit and
support Eileen until she died
peacefully in the early hours of
9th
August.
Those of us who were privi-
leged to know Eileen will have
special memories of her and
Dickie. Like those captured in
the photo that shows Eileen
with Dickie enjoying them-
selves at a party for visiting
Rotarians from Del Amo, in
the garden of Maureen and
Alan Bowden. Those memo-
ries remain with us as we think
especially of Maureen, Vernon
and their family.
Roger
SEPTEMBER’S PROGRAMME
1st Speaker – Edward
Baker- Duly
4th
President’s Tea Party
8th
RI Theme – New gen-
erations
14th
Group 7 meeting
15th
Cradle to Grave inter-
view
20th
Club Council meeting
22nd
Speaker
29th
Evening Meeting at
HMS Collingwood
_________________________
And finally………….. I was driving this morning
when I saw an RAC van
parked up.
The driver was sobbing uncon-
trollably and looked very mis-
erable.
I thought to myself 'that guy's
heading for a breakdown'.
That’s all folks – Editor Dave.
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