There are many reasons to join the South Downs Probus Club, but high on the list is our comfortable and stylish venue at The George & Dragon near Billingshurst in West Sussex. Its location attracts members from Storrington, Pulborough, West Chiltington and other villages in the county.

Our website is www.southdownsprobusclub.com

Probus Clubs provide a regular meeting place for retired, semi-retired, or soon-to-retire men with professional or business backgrounds. These clubs are particularly valuable for those who value and appreciate increased social connections, the opportunity to meet others at similar life stages, and involvement in activities with broad appeal.

Our monthly meetings take place on the third Thursday at The George & Dragon Pub in Dragon’s Green (RH13 8GE), with a new speaker at each gathering.

Additional activities include quarterly social meetings and lunches with wives at West Sussex Golf Club. We also host various events such as leisurely walks, skittles games, quiz competitions, and an annual croquet day. Beyond these, we arrange visits to interesting locations and run an active golf section.

 

Other attractions of South Downs are:-
• The opportunity to make new and lasting relationships in retirement
• Regular meetings which feature a delicious 2 course lunch.
• Topical speakers
• Lively discussions with likeminded people.
• A variety of social and sporting events
• Visits to places of interest.
• Partners welcome to many of our events

Recent Activity

South Downs Probus Club April 2025

South Downs Probus Club has had another hectic burst of activity over the last couple of months. Well, at our age getting up is considered hectic! We have had two excellent visits, one quiz and one speaker at our recent lunch. Pretty good altogether thanks to the efforts of our party arranger, David Brewerton. He is a one-man army!

So, the quiz was held at The George & Dragon at Dragon’s Green and the questions put to us by a charming young lady. We chose the wrong subject for our joker again so didn’t feature in the prize winners. Again. We enjoyed a supper provided by the pub and had a good evening altogether.

The first trip was to investigate the arcane workings of the Biffa recycling plant at Ford near Arundel. I had been before but it is an amazing insight into the capability of mankind to do the best with a bad set of conditions. Biffa do their bit in dealing with the onslaught of rubbish we throw at them but it is only part of the overall picture. West Sussex County Council dangle the remainder of the picture, like the recycling of metal, in some devious manner not apparent to us. The Biffa (started by two brothers called……….Biffa!) plant works at full tilt until something that shouldn’t have been put in jams the system and then they have to clean it all out before it restarts. It is noisy, dirty and reminds you a bit of that Charlie Chaplin film that I can’t remember the name of, which is all about machines. The staff are all very conscientious about their work and we had a guide who kept us in tow and explained how things were sorted out. We retreated to the Bailiffscourt Hotel for a first-class lunch. Except for the few who went to eat at the restaurant in Ford Prison. They were eventually let out!

The second trip was a total contrast. We visited Charleston Farmhouse near Lewes where The Bloomsbury Group hung out when they weren’t in Bloomsbury. The house has been kept as they had it when they were in situ with their paintings and decorations and artefacts. Again, we had a guide who gave us the background to what we were looking at. The funny thing was that the paintings on their own were not massively exciting, but when you saw them against the whole painted walls and the handmade cushions and curtains it all made sense. Bearing in mind that all this was done eighty years or so ago, it was another world and they were emerging from a very different society to our own, where they were still reeling from the First World War. But you could see how much of their creative work became adopted by mainstream fashion design of fabrics and decoration. Another thing that struck me was, they were obviously eccentric in their way and when I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s there were eccentric people and groups, but I wonder where they are now. Everybody seems to bear the burden of “wokeism”. However, I’m not really sure what that means so let it pass. Anyway, we then removed to The Ram Inn at Firle and enjoyed another lunch. We do seem to like our repasts.

And the next one was back at our base pub, The George & Dragon, in mid-April when we listened to an excellent speaker, Steve Bird, who regaled us with the story of “Operation Pedestal”. This was the dramatic story of the biggest convoy to replenish supplies to Malta whilst the island was facing the onslaught of the axis powers. The inhabitants suffered TEN times the amount of bombing of London during the blitz. That is some suffering. And the whole island received The George Cross from King George VI because of their resistance during that dreadful time. Malta was in the way of the supply of war materials of Germany and Italy from the mainland of Europe to their armies in North Africa. Several convoys had been decimated by the submarines and bombers of the Axis and Malta was running so low on supplies, there was little food and little petrol for the small number of our fighters to hold the enemy back. So Churchill decided to send a massive convoy of merchant ships protected by the biggest Naval fleet since WW1. Well, it was a harrowing experience for all concerned and 500 or so brave men perished, and much hardware was sunk. In the end a handful of ships got through, including the famous Ohio tanker, which despite having been crippled was brought into Valetta harbour tied to two destroyers who kept it going, and thus brought the oil and petrol which was so desperately needed to the island. It then sank in the harbour but fortunately in shallow water so the cargo was saved. It is an amazing story full of bravery and also of ineptitude and lack of planning. Are we revisiting that scene ourselves?

Contact Don Johnston
Mobile 07900 490958