The Probus Club of Barnes, Sheen and Mortlake meets monthly for lunch, a talk and fellowship at The Roehampton Club, Roehampton Lane, London, SW15 5LX from 12.30pm onwards until 3pm on the first Wednesday of each Month.
Talks are given by members or invited guests and are on subjects of general interest.
In June and December partners are invited to the Ladies Lunch.
The current membership subscriptionis £40 per year and the lunch costs £37.00 for a set 2 courses. (Starter and Main or Main and Sweet, Coffee and Mint.). Dietary options available..
A small raffle is also held for 2 prizes to raise funds for a nominated charity. The 2022/23 Charity is Spear…a local homeless charity in SW London
Payment for lunch should be preferably be prepaid by BACs ,to
Visits to places of interest may be organised from time to time.
History
Founded in 1972, the club has held over 600 lunches in its 50 years with the aim of “offering those no longer in full time employment the continued comradeship and social contact of their group.”
Who can join?
You are welcome to become a member of the Probus Club if you are a man who is retired or semi-retired from business or a profession and think that the club is for you. You will be invited to a lunch as a guest to see the club for yourself. If you then decide to seek membership, you will be asked to complete a form, with a proposer and seconder, and your name is put before the Committee for consideration.
At present we have 59 members, and new members are joining monthly, at least half of the members come every time to lunch.
For more information please contact the club secretary:-
David Wells 020 8876 6790
Transport Links are good
Buses passing nearby the Roehampton Club are 33, from Hammersmith Bridge to Fulwell , 265, from Putney Bridge Station to New Malden, 337, from Wandsworth to Richmond, 419 from Richmond to Roehampton and 493, from Tooting to Bus station, Richmond.
Barnes Station is also within a 5 minute walk. The closure of Hammersmith Bridge has seen the 72 no longer running to Roehampton.
Officers & Committee 2023
Chairman: Ian Lamb
Club Secretary: David Wells
House Secretary: Shaun Lamplough
Hon. Treasurer: Nigel Sherwin
Club Visitor: John Hockley
Past Chair Chris Lewis
Hon Auditor: Gordon Williamson.
We hold lunches every month
Programme of Talks for Jan-Dec 2023
1. 11th JANUARY
No speaker. The AGM and lunch will be followed by a theatrical entertainment
written by A P Herbert and adapted and abridged by Peter Cowell: “The Canary Guano Case”.
Produced and directed by Peter Cowell.
Starring Peter Cowell and Ian Lamb
2. 1st FEBRUARY
Chris Blackhurst. Talk
A graduate in law from Trinity College Cambridge, he pursued a long career
in Fleet Street, on the Sunday Times, Sunday Express, the Independent and
the Evening Standard (City Editor 2002 to 2011) which culminated in
appointment as the Editor of the Independent between 2011 and 2013. He is
now a multi media head of business for a group of newspapers and television channels
He will be speaking about his book “Too Big to Jail“ which is aboout the scandel
in which HSBC bought a bank in Mexico which was used by the Sinalao drugs
cartel to launder billions of U S dollars. (Yes, really!) They were fined $1.9
billion but not prosecuted and shrugged it off.
I heard him give this talk at the Roehampton club to a packed house (where he is a member and past chairman) and it is riveting.
3 1st MARCH
Julian Thompson CB, OBE, Major-General, retrd. Falklands war talk.
Joined the Royal Marines in 1952 and was a brigadier by 1982 and also in the
Falklands war, in which he commanded 3 Commando Brigade. Since he retired in1986 he has written many books on military history and is a visiting professor in the Department of War studies of King’s College, London.
He will be speaking about the Falklands War and his personal perception of it.
Sure to appeal to our own members and not just our own former Royal Marines
4 5th APRIL
Bernard Adams
A local writer who had a long career as producer at the BBC. He is the
author of Cosmo’s War, a moving adaption for public reading of letters
written in the first world war between 17 year old Cosmo Clark of Chiswick, in
the trenches in France and his family; performed just last Remembrance Day
at St Michael and All Angels Church, Chiswick. His most recent book is “Mary
O’Malley”,who kept the Lyric Theatre, Belfast going during the troubles. It
was the starting point of the careers of Irish actors now celebrated as interational stars: Liam Nielson and Ciaran Hinds.
5 3rd MAY
Chris Deavin
Chairman of the trustees of The River Thames Boat Project. It is a local
charity founded in 1988 by Peter Harrop, decd, who was a long time member
of Probus. It has a boat which takes people of all ages, including those with
special needs and disabilities, from schoolchildren on educational cruises to
elderly people on therapeutic cruises. Our own Peter Cowell was once a
volunteer c re w member. The project has 70 volunteers and was awarded The
Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (the MBE for volunteer groups).
6 7th JUNE (Ladies lunch)
Alan Johnson.
He was a postman in Barnes who rose through the Trade Union movement to
become M.P. for Kingston-upon-Hull West between 1st May 1997 and 3rd May
2017. In 1999, he embarked on a series of government positions, leading to
three cabinet posts: Work and Pensions; Education and Skills; and the
Home Office.
After leaving parliament, he began writing. Between 2013 and 2016, he
published four volumes of autobiography which became bestsellers. Then in
2021 he turned to fiction, and thriller writing, with Last Train to Gipsy Hill
and, this year, One of Our Ministers is Missing.
He is a very popular speaker and has agreed to come down from Humberside,
where he still lives, to talk to us for no fee, because he still has a soft spot for
East Sheen and Barnes!. I heard him speak at an event in Twickenham and I am sure he will be a very popular choice with our members and their partners and guests, which is why I have put him as the special guest of the lunch in June.
,
7th July Talk on Positive stess management by Duncan Christie-Miller.
Duncan had a career in the Royal Marines resigning as a major in 1982. He had by then been, inter alia, equerry to Prince Philip for three years, and O C the Royal Marines Officers’ Training School. After a spell as a director of Debenhams, he set up a consultancy specialising in personal development through training and coaching. His clients include Honda, Merrill Lynch, the Foreign Office and RNLI. He is a visiting lecturer at Warwick Business School and Wellington College. He will be talking about positive stress management and his work with a charity called PTSD Resolution, which aims to help veterans with mental health problems. He will be joined by Tony Gauvain, CEO of that charity, who is a retired colonel.
.AUG 2023 Sorry there is no meeting this month due to low number of members available.
6th SEPTEMBER
STEVE RIEDLINGER The History of the Roehampton Club
Steve had a career in the travel industry with Thomas Cook and then worked for American Express and BT, and, in retirement, is now the archivist at the Roehampton Club. It was founded in 1901 and has a rich history on which he will draw for his talk, the main points of which will be:
The origins of the club; significant moments in its history; the timeline of its sporting facilities; suffragettes’ activities; its uses during the First World War; special events such as the British Empire Garden Party; links with the monarchy and notable members; and preparations for the 125th anniversary celebrations. Steve was brought up in East Sheen and has a passion for history which is now channelled into writing articles for the Roehampton Club’s monthly newsletter.
4th OCTOBER
PAUL ALLEN talk on The Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability
Paul is the chief Executive of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, West Hill, Putney. It is a charity founded in 1854 providing long term care and rehabilitation for people with complex disabilities caused by damage to the brain or neurological system. It has an extraordinary range of facilities, especially for therapies, and pursues cutting edge research. And yes, it was once called the Home for Incurables. Last year it had a turnover of around £45 million and 168 admissions.
Paul was previously CEO of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; chief executive of the Soil Association; and chief executive of the Abbeyfield Society. This is a unique opportunity to hear him describe what the hospital does and the challenges he and his executive team face in running it.
1st NOVEMBER
PATRICK CORDINGLEY Remembrance
For the month in which we remember the fallen of two world wars, and Probus lays a wreath at the Sheen memorial, we hear a talk entitled “The Moving Story of Remembrance” from Major General Patrick Cordingley who commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, in the 1991 Gulf war. He had a military career spanning four decades, and in retirement turned his considerable skills to leading the appeal for funds for the creation of the National Memorial Arboretum, a project which began in 1994 with no money, no land, no staff and no trees. It was officially opened in May 2001.
6th DECEMBER: LADIES LUNCH
GYLES BRANDRETH….Who knows what delights we have in store?
A Barnes resident engaged in a dizzying array of activities, literary, musical, broadcasting, to name but three. Your chairman does not know at present what might be the subject of his talk: but does it matter? Whatever he says will be amusing and fascinating.
Ian Lamb
2023 Chairman
Brief History
On May 5th 1993 the Club celebrated its 21 st Anniversary with a Ladies’ Lunch at the Roehampton Club. This was attended by the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hanley MP and the Mayor of Richmond.
The Club celebrated the Millennium Year 2000 on June 7th at the Roehampton Club with a Ladies’ Lunch attended by the Mayor of Richmond.
The 40th Anniversary of the Club’s foundation was marked by a Ladies’ Lunch at the Roehampton Club on 2 May 2012. The Guest of Honour was the Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, Col. Ewen Cameron.
The 50th year celebration was held in May 2022. wih the guest speaker Lord Patten of Barnes relating some of his experiences as the last Governor of Hong Kong.
For more information please contact
David Wells (Secretary)
020 8876 6790
djrwells@btinternet.com