The Derby Probus Club
| January 8th | Beautiful
Music – An Amazing Mathematical Fluke ?
Malcom Savage Malcolm initially worked in the computer industry after graduating in Maths from Cambridge, before joining British Rail Research. He specialised in signalling and control systems, developing the Integrated Electronic Control Centre and the world’s first “intelligent” route-setting system. After privatisation he worked in the signalling supply industry, before founding his railway technology consultancy, with clients in the UK and overseas. |
July 9h | Living
with Dragons
Giles Chance Giles was educated at Eton, St. Andrews University and a Business School in New Hampshire, USA. Prompted by his 1989 honeymoon in China, he formed a company with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and London, advising multinationals on their business in China and assisting Chinese enterprises in acquiring technology from Western companies. He is a leading expert on Chinese business and was a Professor at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. |
| February 12th | The
History of Chimneys and Chimney Sweeps
Bob Massey Bob is a retired Theatre consultant, who spent 50 years planning performance spaces and shows throughout the world. He is a Historian, Lecturer and member of History, Cinema, Theatre and Aircraft research groups and societies, as well as Chairman and a Trustee of the Nottinghamshire Local History Association. |
August 13th | Solo
Walk across Africa Fran Sandham Fran is a Lecturer and freelance author and was editor of “Rough Guides” for several years. Prior to that he was in bookselling and the voluntary sector. He has travelled in over 50 countries and his talk is an account of his 3,500 mile solo walk across Africa, from the Atlantic on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast to the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar, the first time this had been achieved. |
| March 12th | The
Humble Transistor Mark Snape Mark is a self-employed web applications developer and wrote the Speakernet website. He lives in Mansfield and has been a Rotarian for over 25 years, holding roles at Club and District level. |
September 10th | The Far Side of
the Moon – Is it Full of Aliens?
Julian Onions Julian is a post-doctorate researcher and lecturer at Nottingham University, in the Astronomy department. |
| April 9th | The
History of Fasteners
Anthony Poulton-Smith Anthony is a freelance journalist and author, with 89 books and many articles to his name, mostly about the origins of place names. He has compiled many crosswords and other puzzles, has been the subject of many radio interviews and is a Trustee of Tamworth History Group, Tamworth Literary Festival and other Tamworth Groups |
October 8th | Bits
and Bobs
Bob & Del Neill Bob and Del are ex teachers. Their collection of “Bits & Bobs” began when Bob inherited his Grandparents’ properties, including old farm buildings and a village shop, and came across a number of ancient artefacts. Since then, the collection has been added to and items have been donated, so they now have over 500 items divided over 26 boxes. |
| May 14th | Aquabox
Jane Travers Jane is the Deputy Depot Manager at Aquabox, which provides safe drinking water through the use of filtration units and humanitarian aid to crisis zones around the world. Established in 1992 by Wirksworth Rotary Club, Aquabox is a registered charity, run and managed by the Aquabox Trustees. |
November 12th | It
Shouldn’t Happen to an Auctioneer- But It Did Peter Young Peter was an auctioneer for almost sixty years, specialising in Antiques and Fine Art and he was involved in the production of “Going for a Song”. He appears regularly on local and national radio and television shows and hosted a guest spot on the BBC Roadshow bus. Since retiring he retains a full diary, heading the Three Counties Art and Antiques History Society and is a regular guest speaker on Fred Olsen and Saga cruises as well as giving talks to clubs such as Probus around the country. |
| June 11th | Cancer
Research Maria Stanford Maria is a Legacy Manager at Cancer Research UK. Her talk explores 120 years of history and research, covering the challenges they face, screening programmes, current and future research being carried out in centres across the UK, and is an interactive presentation to demonstrate how their funds are used to create a world free from the fear of Cancer. |