Probus

Probus Club of Gillingham Dorset

Previous Speakers

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 31 March 2026
	Speaker	Les Yeates
	Subject	The Films of the 1960's

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 17 March 2026
	Speaker	David Leakey
	Subject	'30 Years a Soldier - Reflections and Look Ahead'

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 03 March 2026
	Speaker	Tony Ellerbeck
	Subject	A Most Unusual Season!
	Description	Helicopter pilot who attacked a submarine

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 17 February 2026
	Speaker	Andy Newton
	Subject	The Third Cod War - A Sailor's Perspective

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 03 February 2026
	Speaker	Alastair Olver
	Subject	The Chequered History of Northern Cyprus

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 20 January 2026
	Speaker	Martin Sharp
	Subject	Rallying to Monte Carlo in a Classic Bentley

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 06 January 2026
	Speaker	Nick Griffin
	Subject	Net Zero

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Thursday, 11 December 2025
	Speaker	No Speaker
	Subject	Christmas Dinner

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 09 December 2025
	Speaker	Ian Williamson
	Subject	Kilimanjaro

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 25 November 2025
	Speaker	Les Yeates
	Subject	1960's Television

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 11 November 2025
	Speaker	Kevin Patience
	Subject	Two sets of Medals - A Unique Award for a Unique Man
	Description	The extraordinary story of Jeffrey Lincoln-Gordon born in India who joined the local railway before getting an unpaid job with the Indian Post Office. He was sent to the Western Front in 1914 in charge of mail then Mesopotamia before joining the Royal Flying Corps and training as a pilot. After his WW1 service he returned to the Indian Post Office and in 1942 was captured at Singapore and worked on the Death Railway. He survived and after Indian Independence retired to farm in Kenya where he was involved with the Mau Mau Emergency. This is his extraordinary story and how he ended up with two sets of genuine WW1 medals.

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 28 October 2025
	Speaker	Anthony Holt
	Subject	Sailor, Pilot. Corridors of Power and Clubman
	Description	We had a talk by Anthony 10 years ago on the 'Queens Beans', which was good. He has held many positions both in the RN (32 years) and since. This talk will be on interesting anecdotes from his career.

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 14 October 2025
	Speaker	Dr Stephen Payne OBE
	Subject	HMY Britannia/National Flagship

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 30 September 2025
	Speaker	Chris Walker
	Subject	He Did It His Way

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 16 September 2025
	Speaker	James Porter
	Subject	The Falklands War

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 02 September 2025
	Speaker	Neil Meldrum
	Subject	The Enigmatic Ancient Maya
	Description	Have you ever wondered about the fascinating and enigmatic civilisation of the Ancient Maya of Mexico and Guatemala? Why and how did they develop such a brilliant and original civilisation in the jungles of Central America, and why did it apparently disappear? Let me take you from their early development to their glorious apogee around 700-800 AD. Join me in a tour of their wondrous cities, and mysterious culture which has been made so much more accessible by the deciphering of their strange hieroglyphic writing. And then lament their tragic downfall, so soon after such an effervescence, but again relish their subsequent glorious but short-lived resurgence.

Meeting:	Date	12:30, Wednesday, 20 August 2025
	Speaker	None Required More details on this speaker can be seen by clicking here.
	Subject

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 19 August 2025
	Speaker	Dr Charles Rees
	Subject	Alcohol Considered
	Description	The department of Health says there is no safe level of alcohol. You can say that about mercury compounds, or strychnine or cyanide, but alcohol! There is a huge world wide drinks industry. Buckingham Palaces has its own gin! There has to be a compromise view. Hence this talk. I will introduce you to the J shaped curve, the nonsense of our Units and how they are different to the rest of the world in number and quality. I will demonstrate the three medicinal qualities on alcohol which probably make it the best daily drug ever and the reason moderate drinkers live longer than non- drinkers. I will expose the bent statistics that vilify alcohol. I will not ignore the harmful effects but put them in perspective. This has been a very popular talk but is quite serious in its nature.

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 05 August 2025
	Speaker	Alastair Olver
	Subject	The Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 22 July 2025
	Speaker	John Pett
	Subject	The Geology & Wines of Madeira & the Canaries

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 08 July 2025
	Speaker	Kevin Patience
	Subject	Aviation Around Poole Bay 1910 - 1976

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 24 June 2025
	Speaker	Sam Woodcock
	Subject	Over 80 Years in Milton - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 10 June 2025
	Speaker	Mike Spencer
	Subject	Tales from the Mid Dorset Coast

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 27 May 2025
	Speaker	Mike Rendell
	Subject	The History of Coffee

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 13 May 2025
	Speaker	Les Yeates
	Subject	Pop Music 1960's

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 29 April 2025
	Speaker	Dick Taylor
	Subject	U Boat! The Battle of the Atlantic (Part 1) Corvette! The Battle of the Atlantic (Part 2)
	Description	The Allied view of the most critical battle of WW2, and how the U Boat menace was managed and eventually mastered, leading to Allied success. Includes British, Canadian and US contributions.

Meeting:	Date	10:00, Tuesday, 15 April 2025
	Speaker	Lindsey Fish
	Subject	Healthwatch Dorset
	Description	Your local health and social care champion!