LTSC Winter Talks reports

Winter Talks Reports - 2007/8

Talk Reports 2007/8

Talk Reports 2006/7

Talk Reports 2005/6

9th April Clive Greenaway	Tommy Cooper - more remembered!
	To a packed house, club favourite Clive Greenaway returned to amuse and entertain with a fresh selection of stories and performances of the late Tommy Cooper. His last appearance saw the roof of the Solent Room shake with the laughter. And this performance had the same effect. This time talks organiser Neil Eccles was brought into the act - (picture to follow). Mass hysteria broke out amongst the audience as Clive took on Tommy's persona, and did some of the great tricks of Tom's life. This was a fitting end to a very successful season of talks.
2nd April Richard Edwards	My Life as a film cameraman
	Many may remember the wonderful talk stunt woman Denise Edwards gave two years ago, well her husband Richard was no coward either and spent his professional life as a film and TV cameraman. These were the tales of his exploits.
26th March Joe West	Colditz
	Joe West told the extraordinary story of the brave men who tried to escape from the Nazi's ultimate jail. Colditz was clearly almost an obsession with Joe, it as his specialist subject on Mastermind and his enthusiasm really showed through in a fascinating account of events during the war. Oflag IVC was a special camp set up by the Germans for prisoners of war who had proved themselves to be a nuisance at other camps, either because of their attempts to escape, or their general attitude towards the Germans. The camp was built on the ruins of the castle. Owing to the nature of its construction the Germans believed the camp to be escape-proof. Joe helped to make a TV programme about the glider which was built in the roof space and told some of the personal stories of the men who were incarcerated, many of whom actually did escape.
19th March Carolyn Brown	The life of a BBC Radio Announcer
	Carolyn gave a fascinating account of her twin lives, BBC Continuity Announcer and Newsreader, and Sailor. The audience was enthralled as she recounted her early days in Local Radio and regional Television, finally coming to realise that radio was her first love. She was on duty when HM The Queen Mother died and has been in control during many state occasions. A keen sailor and yachtmaster, she recounted a very funny story about being shipwrecked by a Vicar and rescued by the lifeboat crew. There is no doubt that the way Carolyn painted it, the pictures on Radio are much better than Television
12th March Adam Reay	Libya
	Billed as "LTSC Vice Commodore and globetrotting former jailbird Adam Reay escaped from Kuwait and took up employment in what he thought might be a safer country - Libya. This is the unvarnished truth of what went on." This talk was a triumph with the Solent Room packed. The club had to be closed and Adam came up with a wonderful evening's experience. He explained the Libyans attitude to the West rather well with a mixture of the serious and the humorous. As usual this retired oil executive had his fair share or scrapes he had to dig himself out of along the way with which he managed to amuse us all in his self deprecating fashion. Well worth braving the gales for!
5th March Leonard Dickson	Codes and Cyphers
	Codes, ciphers, and codebreaking have been around for millennia, with the survival of nations sometimes hanging on the security of codes and ciphers. Leonard Dickson tells the fascinating story of codes and cyphers ranging from the well known substitution cypher used by Caesar, through those used by Mary Queen of Scots to communicate with her supporters, to the Enigma machine and beyond.
27th February Graham MacKenzie	SS Shieldhall
	This was fascinating story of SS Shieldhall, the largest remaining steam powered general cargo-passenger ship in the world. She was operated by Glasgow Corporation to transport treated sewage sludge down the river Clyde to be dumped at sea. She continued a tradition that Glasgow's sludge vessels carried organised parties of passengers when operating during the summer months. Thus she was built with accommodation for 80 passengers. Graham MacKenzie told the story with verve and passion with many jokes along the way. The audience much appreciated the presentation and John Bell, together with Adam Reay practically booked an LTSC Meanderers visit on the spot!
20th February Stephen Williams	San Francisco, Las Vegas and Yosemite National Park
	In a slide show of the traditional type, Stephen Williams brought a wonderful evocation in pictures and music of these iconic places on the west coast of the USA.
13th February Phil Holt	Across the Lake - The Triumphs and Tribulations of Donald Campbell
	Charismatic, daring, brave. There is much more to be told about Donald Campbell than the events at Coniston Water. He is the only man in history to hold both the world land and water speed records in the same year. Loved by 1950's & 60's Britain Phil Holt passionately described what made the Campbell legend both on water and land, leading to that fateful day in January 1967. What went wrong? Phil finished, movingly, with the recovery of Bluebird and Donald from Coniston and the restoration efforts currently underway. He so enjoyed the club that Phil and Diane subsequently joined!
6th February Steven Marshall	Smugglers, Salt Makers and Shop Keepers – A Brief History of Lymington
	The Solent Room had to be closed, such was the press of members and guests wanting to here this superb talk Steve Marshall is the curator of the St Barbe Museum in Lymington. He is the local expert on the town and it's history, stretching back to the Domesday Book entry and forward to the present day. The talk looked at how Lymington grew from a tiny farming community before the Norman conquest to a thriving medieval town and port. It explored some of the factors that made Lymington an economic centre for the south of the Forest, including its market and fair, imports and exports through the quay, salt making, smuggling and boat building. There was also be a chance to look at the role of the High Street and time for some nostalgia with old photographs of the town.
30th January Lionel Hall	Little and Large
	Have you ever been sailing in Southampton Water only to be forced to tack to avoid a huge Container Ship coming up the shipping channel. Well our nightmare is shared by the big ships too. Former Port of Southampton Senior Pilot Lionel Hall talked about his experiences bringing the biggest ships into our crowded waters. He is also a keen yachtsman so appreciated the problems from the other point of view. Lionel started by telling 25 minutes of anecdotes about his time at sea - how he started out "to see the world" and his hilarious experiences. The second part of the talk was a trip in a container ship from the NAB tower into the port of Southampton when only 1 metre of clearance prevented "gravel rash". Yachts crossing in front of him from any direction was a frightening sight from the ships point of view - a fascinating insight into the other side of boating!
23rd January Hannah Griffiths and Mike Kelleway	The Isle of Wight Space Race
	The Solent Room was packed for a fascinating talk about the very recent history of the area. In the 1960s, Britain was third behind the US and the USSR in the Space Race, and in 1961 launched an unmanned rocket of its own – Blue Streak. Hannah Griffiths is the Custodian of the Needles Battery Museum which is owned by the National Trust. Mike Kelleway, one of the original "rocket men" scientists who were there at the time and is a native of the Island talked about the great experiments which went on there developing and testing the Blue Streak missile and the Black Night rocket. Together they took us through what went on near the very familiar landmarks we sail past every day, and the live launching tests 12000 miles away in Woomera Australia.
16th January Peter Cocker	Cartoonist
	In his lengthy professional life, retired cartoonist Peter Cocker has drawn for most magazines and publications. He talked about what he drew, the ideas behind the illustrations and demonstrates a few of the techniques. He also gave us some interesting insights into life aboard the QE2 and his work in television.
9th January David Burgess	Musing down the Moonpath
	In an inspirational talk, former Cruising Captain David Burgess imagined himself sailing down the moonpath on a beautiful clear night musing on the interconnectedness of many things to do with sailing and otherwise. David gave us a thought provoking talk which answered the questions about why there are 2 tides a day and wandered about the Universe and Solar System as if he was Dr Who! Whilst some of the details went above the heads of a few of the audience, they were all enthralled by his enthusiasm and expertise. The effects of chaos theory were demonstrated with graphical illustrations on the screen of divergent planetary orbits - and all explained in a most accessible way. The "wow" factor was in the ideas and the photography - there were some stunning images presented on screen. David's final thoughts were to frighten us a little, explaining the potential close encounters which are predicted for Friday 13th April 2029 and the comet's return in 2036, both of which he is determined to see.
12th December 2007 Roger and Sandra Downton	In the Wake of the Cockleshell Heroes
	This was a fascinating account of two journeys. The epic raid on shipping in Bordeaux led by Major Blondie Hasler in which only two of the original 12 in the party survived, and the parallel story of Roger and Sandra Downton tracing the same route some 62 years later. Something of the daring and magnitude of the original feat came through as we were taken through all the stops of both operations. We were left humbled at the courage of the wartime commandoes and impressed at the modern couple's determination in overcoming their own obstacles. A very interesting and different talk indeed.
5th December 2007 Liz Pannett	Kenya - vital work of a village vet
	Liz Pannett lived in Tigoni, Kenya for six and a half years, at 7500 feet, in the rural tea growing area 30 miles north of Nairobi. She continues voluntary fundraising for Anthea Connor, the local white Kenyan vet she used to help, treating the donkeys and dogs belonging to the local very poor villagers in a 50 square mile area, animals they need for their work and security. Despite a heavy cold, Liz gave us a fascinating insight to Anthea's work and her life in Tigoni. She also brought along a lovely selection of crafts, many of which were bought by the audience
28th November 2007 David Hawkes	Monologue Man
	David Hawkes is a favourite on the New Forest. A former diplomat, he knows how to spin a yarn and this talk featured some of the well known monologues we have come to love including "Sam, Sam, pick up the musket!" and "Albert and the Lion" as well as some more contemporary and unusual ones. There were also some contemporary pieces from the North East and in the spirit of the season Christmas offerings too.
21st November 2007 Garry Dunstan	History of London's River Police
	Garry Dunstan was a river policeman on the Thames. He has a fascinating story to tell of the work of these guardians of the maritime and civil law, and their range of tasks from patrolling on a sunlit afternoon in August to picking up bodies. The river police have a long history, they currently have their own Thameside police station at Wapping and over 80 officers in the unit.
14th November 2007 Mark Elliott	Sailing in Zanzibar
	Mark Elliott led an Army sailing expedition when he was an Officer Cadet at Sandhurst. Although this was his first talk to a group like the LTSC, his natural abilities shone through - as Adam Reay said - you could tell after just a few words this was going to be a good one! With a light hearted delivery Mark told the story of his group of 9 OC's exploring the fascinating maritime history of the islands around Zanzibar, including the shortest war in history and the lost treasure of the legendary pirate Captain Kidd . The expedition encountered a fair few of their own adventures on the high seas including a run in with some modern-day pirates... The proceeds from contributions at the door both incoming and outgoing will go towards Mark's charity Face Africa for which he is running the 151 mile 6 day Marathon des Sables - a gruelling endurance race across the desert of Morocco. Many thanks to all those contributing.
7th November 2007 Bob Fox	A Funny Way to Earn a Living
	Bob missed his calling - he should have been on the boards not running them! Bob was the manager of a London Municipal Theatre for many years and encountered all the stars of the 40s, 50s and 60s. He related anecdotes after anecdote from the many comedians and variety artists he has worked with over the years, and shared a few of their favourite jokes and stories. The audience of 80 in the Solent Room fell under his spell immediately as Bob recalled those great days of Variety, "the Wireless" and Music Halls. All of tonights takings were given to him to donate to his regular Charity the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
31st October 2007 Richard Hesketh	Astronomy – a guided tour of the Heavens
	Richard Hesketh gave us an exciting talk on the story of the Apollo Moon landings last year. This time we took a "travel agent's tour" of the Solar System. Richard's enthusiasm had a packed Solent Room enthralled as he described the ups and downs of space tourism 22nd Century. Although it was a cloudy night, he produced a computer simulation of the night sky and pointed out all the wonders of observing the ever changing heavens.
24th October 2007 Pete Durnell	Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes and their wildlife
	Pete Durnell is the Senior Ranger in charge of the marshes which go from the Lymington River through and beyond Keyhaven. He gave a fantastically enthusiastic talk about the history of the area the bird and plant population and a few words about the human visitors too. Pete packed the Solent Room with nearly 150 members and guests - we were at capacity

17th October 2007 Alison Gunn	Sailing - disability doesn't stop you!
	Alison sailed single handed round the Isle of Wight last year in aid of Lymington Disability of which she is Chairman. The talk was preceded by a helper telling us a little about Lymington Sailability. Visually disabled herself, Alison herself told us of the difficulties of her sail, including one of the more humerous episodes, her "toilet break". The support crew broke the camera at the Needles so pictures were necessarily limited, but this did not mar the enjoyment of the evening. £125, all the contributions for the evening were donated to Lymington Sailability is one of the official LTSC charities.
10th October 2007 Peter Bruce	Solent Hazards
	Sailor and author Peter Bruce is one of Lymington's natives, but he has found fame everywhere for his collection of books on Heavy Weather Sailing, and particularly Solent Hazards - come and be surprised at what is beneath your keel.
3rd October 2007 Revd Stewart Timbrell	Discovering Dorset (2nd part)
	"I laughed like a drain" - The ever popular Chaplain explains his fascination to his adopted county - Dorset. For those who were entertained by his previous talk, this is entirely new and looks at some other areas of this marvellous county.