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.