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. Mark is Head of Fundraising at the Trust and has worked there for 3 years. Prior to this he spent 30 years in the corporate world, where he ran global divisions of large PLCs and private companies |
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. Dawn lost her hearing 21 years ago, as a result of Meniere’s Disease. She has worked for the Charity since 2015 and in 2018, when she realised she needed more help, she applied for a Hearing Dog to assist her. Digby is a cocker/working cocker spaniel cross and has been with her for over 4 years. |
| 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. Stehen is an ex-physicist and writer, promoting sustainable energy from a pragmatic, self-interest point of view. In a former life he worked on experiments at CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics near Geneva, where his proudest claim was to be one of the 3,172 authors of the paper that announced the discovery of the Higgs-Boson. |
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. Julian is a post-doctorate researcher and lecturer at Nottingham University, in the Astronomy department. |
| 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. Anthony is 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 several radio interviews and is a Trustee of Tamworth History Group, Tamworth Literary festival and other Tamworth groups |
September 10th | he 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. David is retired and lives in Belper, where he was a guide at the famous Belper North Mill for three years. During his studies of the American Civil War, he and his wife Lynn travelled widely across the United States visiting the war’s battlefields as well as the Alamo. David and Lynn also have a strong interest in the Wars of the Roses and David was a battlefield guide for the Society for 7 years. |
| April 9th | The
History of FastenersAnthony
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 A retired HR professional, with an extensive background, Nick started his career with Rolls-Royce before spending most of his life in the building products and quarrying industry. He has worked as a coach driver on a part-time basis throughout his career and since retiring has taken it up more or less full-time. |
October 8th | To be Advised |
| May 14th | 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. Ian grew up in a butcher’s shop and followed in his father’s footsteps, taking over the family shop, supplying the local community and hotels. Through doing this he developed a taste and a business opportunity for supplying cheese to the hotels and through his shop. His interest became a passion and his talk takes us through the development of Stilton cheese, with a wide selection of cheeses to taste at the end. |
November 12th | To be Advised |
| 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. 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. James was a Police Officer for 15 years, starting in London and finishing as a DI in Manchester. He has been a writer since then, his first novel, The Trail, being published in 2020 and the sequel, Cold Dawn, in August 2022. He lives with his wife on a smallholding in the Peak District, which includes Bees and an Orchard. |