Click on title to expand……Sad news at the last meeting of the club, when the chairman Donald Johnson announced that Ken Ackroyd’s wife, Sue, had died. Her funeral will be at Vale Royal Crematorium on November 13 at 1.00pm.

With  the bowling season over, the group are  looking forward to the annual dinner at The Dun Cow on Wednesday, November 21. The walking section wil have their usual Christmas walks – long and short-  at Tatton Park on December 6  followed by lunch at Giovannis Restaurant afterwards.

The golfers could only field six  players in their annual match against Tatton Probus at the Knutsford Golf Club and had to concede defeat although team organiser Andy Whittaker said the six put in a great effort.

Ron Burrows reminded members that the Christmas lunch for members and their wives  would  be at the Statham Lodge Hotel on Tuesday, December 11, while Richard Fenby  reported that the second Bridge Supper would be on Friday , November 23 at the Knutsford Golf club.

Richard also gave details of upcoming social events  – Tatton At Christmas   on Friday , December 14, a theatre trip  to Manchester to see “The Mousetrap” on May 14 and next  year’s club holiday  in Conwy from Sunday  September 8 to Friday September 13.

The British Heart Foundation is the only charity that the club  officially supports and Bill Frith said there would be a mulled win and mince pie  fundraising event at Pinfold Farm,Pinfold  Lane, Plumley on Sunday December 16 between noon and 3.00pm.

The speaker at the meeting was John Doughty, who gave a talk on John Dalton, who grew up in Cumbria in the 18th century but is remembered in Manchester where John Dalton Street and “Dalton Entry” are named after him. John, a Quaker,  went toschool in a Friends Meeting House and took over as teacher at the age of 12 when the proprietor died He went on  to become a teacher at “New College” in  Manchester , an educational centre of university standard for “dissenters” who were not allowed to go to university.

He taught Maths and Philosophy and then progressed to chemistry  research that ended with  a paper on atomic theory. He died in  1844 and his funeral procession involved 100 carriages and 400 police  had to be on duty to control the crowds that

lined the route to Ardwick Cemetary.