Click on Title to Expand……….

Thursday 26th September 2024 – Club Meeting – Speaker, John Carpenter, with his talk entitled ‘The Peterloo Massacre

John started off by admitting he wasn’t a Mancunian but had lived around the area for 38 years and was absolutely thrilled by the city, its conurbation and history.

Manchester has been and still is an important centre for Politics, Dissent, Free Trade, Science and Music.  In 1819 there was a period of turmoil after a peaceful public outdoor meeting on the St. Peter’s Fields was broken up and dissipated by local Cavalry charging the meeting with drawn swords resulting in 18 deaths and over 500 people with injuries.

The Peterloo Massacre gained its name from an amalgam of the Peter from Peter’s Field and the ‘loo’ liking it to the recent battle of Waterloo in what is now Belgium. They highlighted an enormous disparity between the Wealthy and the working population when, after Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington received £200,000 from the government but the basic soldier received absolutely nothing.

The dissent among the population in 1819 was born by the majority non-landowner part of the population having absolutely no say or representation in how national and local government operated.  The UK power base was worried about the working classes following the example from the social turmoil of the French Revolution a mere 30 years earlier.  Major landowners and local governors were allowed to raise small armies to quell insurrections. Some of these were poorly trained and badly commanded giving rise to the situation of chaos during this particular meeting on the edge of Manchester town centre. 

After the meeting was broken up the Government made many changes to legislation bringing about even more oppression on the normal working population together with the media that reported on public issues. There was suspension of the Habeas Corpus, the expansion of The Stamp Act and many restrictions on public meetings.  There were ‘Gagging’ orders on press freedom and the freedom to express opinions. The prominent orator Henry Hunt and others were tried for Sedition at Derby and jailed for 2 years. On the positive side, such matters brought about the creation of The Manchester Guardian newspaper in 1821.  At a Memorial Service each year the names of those killed at Peter’s Field are read out and a memorial art installation has been created close by.


Wednesday 25th September – Bowls – Appleton Thorn Rex v Knutsford Rex

It would be difficult to argue of a better bowling green location to that in the picturesque village of Great Budworth which was the chosen home green for Appleton Probus.

Appleton always put out a good team so Knutsford knew they were in for a challenge and over recent years and had consistently been at the wrong end of the result. The weather grey and threatening the bowlers got on with the game, deciding on just 8 ends, and, dispensing with a half time tea break, managed to finish the match just as the heavy rain started. The two captains totted up the points with all players, now drinking their delayed brew, knowing the score would be tight and it was with great jubilation that the result showed Knutsford as the winners by the tightest of margins, 46-45.

Thursday 19th September 2024 – Walk – Tatton Park

Members of the Knutsford Rex Probus Walking Group covered between 4 to 5 miles within our wonderful Tatton Park Estate and at times making several diversions to avoid the rutting stags enforcing their authority on non-resident humans. A mid-walk pause for a well earned rest at the Parachute Regiment Memorial and then back to a finish with a welcome drink in the Angel Hotel on King Street.  

Wednesday 18th September 2024 – Bowls – Individual Club Handicap

There was a rather depleted entry for this years Club Handicap for several reasons. Those who competed contested 2 games of 8 ends with the 4 top points scorers going through to a semi final. Contesting the semi final were Jack Coleman who played Alan Allcock and Neil Stott who played Roger Collins. In two keenly contested matches it was Jack and Neil who went through to the Final. The Final of first to 11 looked a foregone conclusion as Jack sailed to a 10-1 lead only for Neil to make a recovery to bring the match to a 10-10 score. So the final end was anybody’s, however Jack kept his nerve to come up as the winner 11-10. Photograph shows Jack receiving the trophy from Club President Peter Clegg.

Thursday 12th September 2024 – Speaker, Keith Stevens, who spoke about the ‘Water of Life’.


Keith reminded us, as his title might suggest, that Water is the main constituent of life on Earth. 

He open by detailing the theory about where our abundance of water came from in the first place together with some logic about where else it might exist within the wider Universe.  Today we have as much water on Earth as there existed Billions of years ago as it cycled through weather, evaporation, plants, animals and other functions. Keith explained how water was a universal solvent capable of moving through very small spaces such as capillaries. It could also be a vehicle for heat or conversely, without heat, to move cold. Water could move nutrients and vital compounds around plants and animals.  He reminded us of the various standards of temperature measurement based on the freezing and boiling points of water at 0 & 100 degrees Celsius (Centigrade) respectively. 

In summary, Water had created the ideal environment for life on Earth, and Keith questioned whether it could have happened elsewhere? If so, with a series of very random evolutionary changes, Life elsewhere might look very similar to how it is on our planet.

Monday 9th September 2024 – Bowls – Tatton Probus v Rex Probus for the Tyror Cup

  

 

Although the temperature was on the cool side at least it wasn’t raining which had been the case in previous days.

The annual fixture between the two Knutsford Probus Clubs for the Tyror Cup is always a keenly contested affair. This year the event was held at the Crosstown Bowling Club, home of Tatton Probus.

The match was always going to be a close affair and by the half time break the advantage was to Rex by a mere 3 points. An easily manageable deficit to overcome. The match however took a turn for the worse for the Tatton team as one of the pairings came home with a 15-4 advantage for Rex which took the pressure of the other bowlers who also came home with victories albeit by a greatly reduced scoreline.

So, Rex retain the Tyror Cup for another season. As always the game was played in good spirit with sportsmanship of the highest calibre.

Rex captain Roger Collins receives the Tyror Cup from Tatton Captain John Manning.

Thursday 5th September – Walk – Tittesworth Water Reservoir

The Walking Group left Cheshire and ventured into North Staffordshire for a walk designed and recce’d by Walks Secretary, Jim Flett, assisted by his wife Evelyn and in true tradition they incredibly created a walk the KRPC had never done before, this time around Tittesworth Water.

Meeting at the starting point in the car park of the Lazy Trout pub in Meerbrook  this was an excellent walk around the reservoir and across the dam, with splendid views towards the Roaches. The weather was excellent. As the Group completed a full orbit of the reservoir they beat a hasty retreat to the Lazy Trout for a really good lunch.