Pat Mearings Press Release – 28th February 2019

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David Bryant took over the chairmanship of the club at the AGM. He takes over from Donald Johnson, who was thanked for his year in the chair.

In accepting the office David recalled the Boy Scout’s promise “On my honour I promise to do my best” and said that would be his target for the next year.

In the business meeting that followed, Jerry Bentley said that last year’s walking holiday had been such a success that they were going to organise  another  one this year. It will be based in Bangor , North Wales, from April 30 to May 2  and will include walks in Snowdonia.

The Walks Group had a 5.3 miles walk at Lyme Park which turned out to rather hilly for  some members while Peter Maxwell took the group to Denford near Leek  following the Caldon Canal towpath to the Churnet Valley.

The subject of the talk “Cardiovascular Disease” was an unlikely crowd-pleaser but Professor Bernard Loveday had the members spellbound in his hour  long discourse  on the history  of research into the disease, going back to Roman times when Greek doctors  attended Roman soldier patients.

He described the first pacemakers designed in Sweden in 1958 with their mercury batteries that required the patient to have an alarm clock because the batteries only lasted six hours.Nowdays pacemakers last 15 years. The research goes on.