January 24th
January’s speaker was Caroline Hawley- a TV favourite on programmes such as Flog It and Bargain Hunt. Caroline entertained us greatly with her tales of antiques hits & misses as well as sharing some snippets from her TV career . A very engaging person who captured the audience’s interest. We had a record attendance of over 140 people for this meeting

Judy Anderson

February 28th
February's speaker, Judy Anderson, came to talk to us about Great Ormond Street Hospital. Although we all know of the hospital, I sensed that everyone was amazed to learn how much the hospital actually does in the way of research and ground breaking medical procedures. Judy's talk was entertaining, informative and instructive and was enjoyed by over 100 members. A collecting tin was provided, which was generously filled by members. Judy has promised to let me know how much was raised once she has counted it. I will obviously let members know via the newsletter.

*************ZOOM MEETINGS***************

Robert Mee

September 25th
Our speaker via Zoom in September was Robert Mee. Robert told us about the history of George Bradshaw, the famous railway time table man immortalised by Michael Portillo. Robert also took uson a railway tour of Lincolnshire in 1922 and included fascinating historical snippets about the places visited on the way. Our ultimate destination was Skegness, once owned by the Earl of Scarborough but bought by the local council after a local referendum. Robert's talk was informative, entertaining and gave us a delightful journey from the comfort of our own homes.

Fools Gold

October 30th
Our entertainers were Fools’ Gold a duo from near Durham. Carol & Rob thoroughly entertained us not only with acoustic music but the stories behind the songs. Did you know that Scarborough Fair was written in the1400’s and the story behind it was really fascinating and as someone said made sense of the song’s words at last!
“You are my sunshine” was adopted by Jimmie Davis as a campaign song when he stood for election in America. He told everyone that he had written it but he hadn’t.

Rob’s delivery was great; we had a lot of fun and communal singing was included- luckily for some we were all on mute so couldn’t hear each other

November 27th
Our speaker for November was Paul Scott, the chairman of the Sir Joseph Banks Society based in Horncastle.
I think a lot of us thought we knew about Joseph Banks- a celebrated plant collector and well known for his travels aboard the Endeavour with Captain Cook. He was the first person to introduce the Western world to acacia, mimosa, eucalyptus and Banksia, a genus named after him. About 80 other species of plants were also named after him.
What we didn’t know was all the other things that he had been involved with. At the age of 21, Banks inherited the estate of Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire from his father and became one of the top 15% of wealthy men in the UK. He developed an interest in roads, land drainage and canals . He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1766 and mixed with the most influential people of his time, Arkwright. Wedgewood, Watt & Boulton. Joseph was elected President of the Royal Society from 1777-1820 , thus becoming the chief scientific adviser to the King. He used his presidency to introduce common coinage throughout the UK as well as the Weights & Measures Act which has stood the test of time. A fascinating talk which we all enjoyed.

Paul Robbins

December 11th
Our speaker for December was Paul Robbins. Paul hails from Kent so Zoom provided us with an opportunity to hear a talk we would otherwise have missed. Paul shared tales of several British eccentrics, all really funny and we saw some great clips. Terry Wogan’s face when he tried to seriously interview Lord Clancarty who firmly believed in UFO’s and insisted that the earth was hollow so that aliens could live inside it was a sight to see!! As Paul said; if there was a World Cup for Eccentrics, Britain would be an easy winner. A great talk which provided a much needed laugh.

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A Summary Of Guest Speakers During 2021

January 22nd
Our speaker for January was Mike Pickwell. Mike took us on a photographic journey through France on an Orchid Hunting trip he undertook in 2016. Absolutely stunning photographs of wild flowers and butterflies, magnificent scenery and idyllic French villages made it a wonderfully evocative trip. It truly exported us to a make- believe holiday- something we badly need in these times

stephen Wells

February 26th
Our speaker for February was Stephen Wells. He spoke about The history of Butlins Holiday camps

Stephen had worked as an Entertainment’s manager in Butlins and had several very funny stories to share with us.

He also took us through Billy Butlin’s life and we were able to reminisce about holiday camp holidays with their competitions like Glamorous Grandmother and Knobby Knees. They were the days!!!

March 26th
Our speaker for March was Brian Fernly who hails from Exeter. This is the beauty of Zoom; we can book speakers that we would never normally have an opportunity to hear. Brian is involved with the South West Aviation Heritage group and will tell us a story about a famous US serviceman.

Growing up during the great depression Joe Byerle (pronounced buy early) might have been a renown international athlete had the war not have intervened. He joined the famous 101st Airborne and flew from Exeter to France on D-Day. He'd been there before on a secret mission, making him the first US paratrooper to set foot in occupied Europe. Unfortunately, his campaign didn't last long before he was captured by the Germans. That's when the story really starts, with escapes from prison camps, interrogation by the Gestapo and eventually fighting with a Russian tank group. Joe's story is uplifting and shows what a human being is capable of with the will and determination to survive.
This was a great talk. Joe’s life was amazing and would have made a fine film script. Brian has let me have details of the book which covers Joe’s life. It is called “ Behind Hitler’s Lines” by Thomas H Taylor. ISBN 978-0-89141-845-0

April 23rd
Our speaker in April was Keith Hanson, who took us on an Illustrated Tour of the Tower of London.

Keith Hanson RVM was born in the seaside town of Redcar, North Yorkshire. At the age of 15 he joined the Army as an apprentice vehicle mechanic and completed 30 years of service in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
On discharge in 1995 he took up a post with the car company Citreon before a huge change in direction and in 1997 was selected to become a Yeoman Warder ( Beefeater ) at the Tower of London. In the year 2000 Keith became the Chief Exhibitor of the Tower with the prime responsibility for the security and presentation of the Crown Jewels. A position he held until 2017.
In 2004 Keith enlisted in the Queen’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard, serving until 2020 when on retirement he was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal for his services to the Sovereign.
Keith’ s talk was extremely well presented and everyone learnt a lot about the Tower of London.

May 28th
Our speaker for May was John Hope. John told us his personal story about his time in Sri Lanka in 2004 when the tsunami struck. Having survived an event that killed over 250,000 people, John & his wife were keen to put something back into the country they love. They developed a business in Sri Lanka employing local people and sell property hoping to help revive the local economy A fascinating talk.

Robert Mee

June 25th
Our Speaker in June was Robert Mee who told us about the history of the Village Lock-Up. Those members who tried Zoom on our first meeting in September 2020 might remember Robert as the man who took us on a mystery railway journey using an authentic Bradshaw’s timetable. We enjoyed the talk so much that I was asked to bring him back.
Robert didn’t disappoint. His thorough knowledge about where all the local “lock-ups” were and are was fascinating as was the individual architecture of each one.

August 27th
At our August meeting, Paul Robbins gave us a fascinating talk about Jack the Ripper who he described as the ‘greatest who done it in history’. The talk began with a description of what life was like in the East End in the 1880s. It was an area of dire poverty and many women resorted to prostitution to avoid the workhouse. He took us through the five murder victims, how their bodies were discovered and what the police did about them, which can be summed up as ‘not a lot’. The police found a piece of fourth victim, Catherine Eddow’s torn apron near the site of her murder. The policeman assumed it had been used to wipe the knife. Near it was some chalk graffiti on the wall which implicated the Jews in her murder. The Commissioner of Police ordered this to be removed because it might start antisemitic riots. The talk then went on to discuss possible suspects. The Surgeon to Queen Victoria and her grandson Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward were quickly dismissed. There are three main suspects who have stood the test of time, including Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew. Some time after the murders finished, the family of a PC Simpson handed in a shawl belonging to Catherine Eddows. He said he found the shawl next to her body and kept it as a souvenir. The shawl was of high quality and would have been expensive, immediately raising questions as to how Catherine owned such an item. In 2014 this was tested for DNA as part of a TV programme on Jack the Ripper. Traces of DNA were identified as similar to that from the descendants of both Catherine Eddows and Aaron Kosminski. Is this he the Ripper? How did Catherine come to own such an expensive shawl? Could the DNA have been contaminated? Paul suggests the evidence points to him. There is a suggestion the the Police knew it was him but were reluctant to identify him because of the huge backlash against the Jewish community. For anyone who wants to catch up on the talk, it can be found on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-6I24hiId8

Steve Short

24th September
Our First Physical meeting for over 18 months took place on Friday 24th September.
We were thoroughly entertained by Steve Short who told us about the career and enduring deep friendship of Morecambe & Wise. Obviously the talk was peppered with their jokes and clips , with Steve’s own brand of magic tricks thrown in for good measure. Ably assisted by our own Jenny Barnett, Steve gave us a really enjoyable afternoon.

22nd October
Our speaker was David Templeman, who covered the second part of his
talk about Mary Queen of Scots “ the Road to Fotheringhay- the Final Instalment”. As usual,
David’s talk was entertaining and engaging and David was delighted to inform us that his
book on Mary, Queen of Scots: The Captive Queen in England has been accepted as a text
book for GCSE History. If you didn’t buy a copy at the meeting, it is available Friends of
Sheffield Manor Lodge website. https://www.fosml.org.uk/mary-queen-of-scots-book/
If you missed either part of the talk, you can catch up on YouTube.

Mark Walsh
10th December
We rounded off the year being entertained by multi-talented Mark Walsh. The title of his Talk was called ‘Here’s a Funny Thing’, which covered the history of how ‘Music Hall’ began and gave rise to many comedians, singers, and performers becoming famous.
Mark himself was discovered on stage by Danny La Rue, and spent many years appearing with him on stage and pantomime. He shared many funny anecdotes on people he had worked with, including Roy Hudd, Barbara Windsor and June Whitfield.
In particular Mark’s impression of Max Miller was highly amusing.
Regarded as one of the finest ukulele players in the world, Mark interspersed his most interesting talk by playing several well-known tunes on either his ukulele or banjolele.