News from around the clubs - November 27

Bexhill Club of Past Rotarians

At the November meeting members stood in memory of Len Rashbrook. Len was club president in 1981 and one of four ex-mayor members of our club.

He is fondly remembered by a wide circle of friends as an excellent bowler and a champion consumer of biscuits.

The club visit was to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners: this is surely unique in this age of superficiality.

It was founded in 1682 by King Charles II for the 'succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war' and it still performs that function. However, this is no group of 'almshouses' or Victorian- style accommodation for the poor.

This is a splendid set of buildings, including a chapel, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Its elegant design is complemented by the peaceful atmosphere of the site, even though it is just a few minutes' walk away from commercial Chelsea '“ Kings Road, Sloane Square and so on.

About 300 old soldiers live there and enjoy a quality of life, including comradeship, that is a rare and precious commodity in this modern age.

On our visit, we were conducted around the buildings by an old soldier '“ Ken '“ whose enthusiasm and skill as a guide could not have been surpassed.

The institution may date from the 17th century but Ken wore the insignia of wings and a parachute on his splendid scarlet coat '“ you could not get much more up to date than that!

Even that was matched by the recent introduction of ladies into the hospital, keeping up with the practice in today's armed forces.

Chelsea's Royal Hospital absorbs the relaxed customs and practice of modern society while retaining the dignity, order and discipline of its traditions.

Things past and famous continued to be the subject at our club meeting.

The Cutty Sark has also become established as a British institution. Our speaker, Mr R McKenna, described this famous tea (and later wool) clipper from its beginning to the present restoration after the fire of 2007, which was caused by an electrical fault.

She was built at Dumbarton-on-the-Clyde and launched in 1869. Her name '“ meaning 'short shirt' '“ comes from Burns' poem Tam-o-Shanter.

After the building of the Suez Canal, sailing ships lost out to steam because they could not pass through the canal.

Mr McKenna gave some graphic details of the life, food, hardships and risks associated with serving aboard her and of conditions for the crew, who slept on bunks of 2ft by 6ft and lived largely on salt pork. When they could get some pot-bellied Vietnamese pigs, they had fresh meat. The officers kept live chickens in coops on deck.

The ship remained in service of various forms until she was moved to the special dry dock at Greenwich in 1954. She will be open again for visitors from spring 2011.

Cooden Millennium Afternoon Guild

OUR chairman, Kay Murphy, welcomed 50 members to our November meeting.

We also had two visitors and the pleasure of the company of Angela Sheppard and Linda Burton from the federation.

With another year almost upon us, the chairman asked members for suggestions for speakers on subjects of interest and ideas for the monthly competition for inclusion in our 2010 programme.

With the darker days approaching, Kay reminded members that we would begin meetings promptly at 2pm.

The luncheon club has been very successful, and our visit to the White Hart at Netherfield was greatly enjoyed.

With the many Christmas activities the luncheon club will not meet until possibly February.

We have an outing to Lancing College Chapel on December 8, leaving at 5pm.

The coffee morning given by Mrs B Lindsay raised 75 for our charity '“ St Michael's Hospice '“ which, when added to money already collected, makes a total so far of 406.

We also have about 80 in the charity jar.

The Little Common Morning Guild has invited two of our members to its meeting on the November 26 at 10.30am, when the drama group will be performing.

Coffee and mince pies will be served.

The Meads Guild in Eastbourne has also invited two members to its Christmas meeting on December 4.

The 2010 annual meeting of the guild will be held in Birmingham in June. Members are invited to attend. A four-day visit has been arranged from June 12 to 15, which will include a visit to the Severn Valley Railway, a concert by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and other events.

This break will cost 309, to cover travel, dinner, bed and breakfast, and some other fees.

After tea we had a bingo session, which raised many laughs with some members not acquainted with the mysteries of the game. The raffle was the final event, with some lovely pot plants as prizes.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 2 at 2pm, when we welcome members new and old.

ATS/WRAC Association

PC 'Bunny' Warren walked in on our November 5 meeting and brought with him a number of leaflets put out by the Safer Rother Partnership and East Sussex Trading Standards, showing us how we can buy with confidence from selected traders, etc.

These leaflets were distributed among members and make interesting reading, with information and advice about cold callers. We were very pleased to see him. The first time he called was to give us a talk about his work and he has dropped in a couple of times since, always with something to give to us or with words of advice.

Once, he brought with him a special constable called Caroline, and this month he brought with him a friendly young lady called Jackie Streeter, who gave us a completely unrehearsed short talk about her work as a community support officer, when we learned that, among other things, she goes to schools and clubs, attends neighbourhood disputes and keeps an eye on vulnerable adults.

It seems as though, at long last, we are going back to what we have for so long missed: good, old-fashioned, community policing, with the bobby a visible presence on the beat '“ wonderful!

By the way, I am not giving away any secrets when I say that the Beavers (the most junior members of the Scout movement) on Bunny's patrol area have made a hero of him.

We took to the meeting photographs of ourselves in uniform from the dark ages '“ well, 1939 onwards. Some of us were recognisable and some were not, but the pictures were interesting and caused a lot of comment.

Our next meeting will be on December 3, when we will be holding our Christmas tea party, with cakes, mince pies and sausage rolls brought by members for us all to eat there.

The competition will be for the prettiest or most attractive Christmas cracker and the prizes will be provided out of club funds.

See you then.

Little Common Ladies' Club

Our meeting on Wednesday, October 28 was our annual harvest festival supper.

It was a members-only occasion and 65 members were greeted by the committee to a spectacular setting of sparkling candles, elegant table decorations and a variety of mouth-watering food.

The committee is responsible for this evening each year and seems to manage to make the occasion even better than the previous year, and this year was no exception.

We had a number of thank-you letters, which indicated that everyone enjoyed themselves.

Our next meeting is on November 25. The speaker will be Joy Hughes talking about her experiences as lady mayor.

We meet at the Little Common Community Centre at 7.45pm. New members will be given a warm welcome.

Bexhill Senior Club For The Over-55s

Members delved into their wardrobes to support this month's country and western-themed social evening, resulting in a good display of stylish cowboytype hats, jeans and even some tooled boots.

The foot-tapping dance music was enthusiastically appreciated, as was the traditional cowboy supper of pork and beans. A very-much- enjoyed occasion.