News – July 2025

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Thursday 24th July 2025 – Club Meeting – Speaker, Neil Wilson,with a talk about ‘Antarctica’. 

Neil began by telling he had worked for The British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, and his role was as a Health & Safety Officer.  The weather and living conditions in Antarctica would vary tremendously and employees are limited to a 2 year period working on the southern most continent. 

Neil continued to describe the various routes which access Antarctica, particularly those that circumvent Argentina, using Montevideo in Uruguay and the RAF’s base on Ascension Island. Locally various aircraft support the Survey’s work along with snowmobiles and large tracked Snowcats. Sea access uses 2 ships particularly adapted for the hostile environment with the ability to slowly work their way through winter ice sheets. Although there are many icebergs floating about the inshore areas they are found to be useful in quelling sea swell and waves in the various anchorages used by the survey’s boats. 

The original occupation of the continent was intended to serve British forces in monitoring German Naval movements in the Southern Ocean during World War 2 but hindsight showed it to have been unnecessary however the old buildings have been turned into tourism features as a Museum and an old Post Office selling 1^st Edition Covers to tourists.  

One of the main jeopardies faced by workers is the sudden appearance of crevasses in the snow and ice layers. Safety procedures to minimise these dangers include separating towing vehicles from the sleighs by several metres so that the counter weight of the sleigh prevents total loss of the towing vehicle.  Survey employees undergo training both on site and at a location in Derbyshire prior to deployment.  Neil showed an incredible photo of a large Snowcat tractor half enveloped by snow within a snow hole.  In seriously cold weather Diesel fuel can freeze so engines have been modified to use aviation kerosene together with heated sumps.  As with buildings in mountainous areas, all the Survey buildings have doors opening inwards in case of heavy snowfall.  Some of the locations feature buildings are built on stilts to prevent snow submersion and all buildings are separated from others to prevent or minimise the spread of fire.  Other safety features include raised walkways to separate workers from angry or hungry fur seals on the ground surfaces below them.  Each day heated kettle style reservoirs have to be topped up with snow to provide a continuously available water supply to each base.  Keeping the staff warm is also of major importance and Neil showed us pictures of garment layering and safety features like glove retaining cords so they become irretrievable when dropped.  Tents were especially made with thermal retention properties and cost several thousand pounds each. They were always marked by tall flag topped poles in case they became submerged by heavy snowfall.

On the science side of the Survey’s work Neil detailed Drilling for Ice core samples which sampled the layers put down hundreds and even thousands of years ago which show levels of radiation, smoke and volcanic activity.   The Survey also uses weather monitoring balloons to support meteorological research organisations and the state of Earth’s ozone layer.  Other work helps to monitor wildlife populations such as the Albatross, Penguins, Seals and oversight of fish stocks helps prevent over fishing in the Southern Ocean.  The Survey also ensures removal of all used equipment and rubbish from the whole Antarctic continent and as a final summary, Neil focussed on employee wellbeing. He outlined enjoyment from football, skiing, fishing, wind-planing, barbecues and wonderful Christmas celebrations, all good for worker morale!

Wednesday 23rd July 2025 – Bowls – Knutsford Probus Clubs v Northwich/Weaver Probus

   

Knutsford welcomed their old friends from Northwich for what is always a friendly afternoon of crown green bowling.

The green was still in good condition despite the recent extremely hot weather so no excuses on the conditions. The first half showed some really tight bowling with all games no walkover. The points at half time showed Northwich 2 points clear so Knutsford needed to be on their metal if they are to protect their 100% record. As the games progressed in the second half it seemed that Knutsford were fighting for every point so when they cards came in the aggregate points showed a win by 15 points for the home team. It has to be said that the total did not reflect the match which was competitive right to the end. Northwich will have an opportunity for revenge late August when the Knutsford team travel down the A556.

Thursday 17th July 2025 – Walk – Tittlesworth Water

Once again the Knutsford Rex Probus Walking Group headed out to North Staffordshire with a circular ramble around Tittesworth Water near Meerbrook. The reservoir’s water remains very low with the dry summer, a possible precursor to an eventual hosepipe ban! However they made the most of things with a great morning followed by a nice lunch at The Lazy Trout pub in Meerbrook.

Wednesday 16th July 2025 – Bowls – Knutsford Probus Clubs v Church Hulme Probus

 

It is now the halfway point of the bowling season and the weather so far has been perfect. Another sunny day Knutsford played host to Church Hulme Probus who had made the short trip up the A50 from Holmes Chapel.

Church Hulme had a good mix of experienced bowlers and the not so which always produces an exciting encounter. At the half way point Knutsford found themselves surprisingly in the lead by 11 points. Church Hulme aware of the gap knew of the challenge but in the end the home side came out on top by 97 points to 68 with only one of the matches going to the away team. An all round solid performance by the bowlers from Knutsford.

Thursday 10th July – Club Meeting – Speaker Secretary, Jerry Bentley,who gave a potted history about the makings of the Lancashire Cotton Industry’

Jerry stood in at the last minute due to the imposition of the booked speaker. drew some knowledge from his upbringing in the central Lancashire town of Wigan. 

At one time Lancashire’s cotton products made up 12 per cent of British exports and the industry has shaped the character of the county.  Textiles have been with us throughout the history of mankind and in Britain the textiles were generally based on woollen fabrics.  Wool, like other fibres such as flax and subsequently cotton were spun to make yard, usually by women whilst men took on the heavier task of weaving the yarn into cloth on a loom framework.  It was a cottage industry worked by whole families from the heart of their homes. In Blackburn there were over 400 families working in textile production. There were some geographical variations in the raw materials and their derived products in different parts of the county with Flax derived Linen being the predominant product in West Lancashire whilst in central areas Linen fibres were combined with wool to create Fustian type coarse cloths and in eastern Lancashire wool itself was the dominant medium. 

Things changed dramatically when the East India Company began to import cotton goods from India and this gave rise to a shift towards fabrics made from cotton due to its cheap cost, good availability and the fact that it could be printed in different coloured patterns.  In addition, importation of the raw cotton spawned a move away from the production in the home and towards small group operations where some enterprising engineers turned their attention towards speeding up the production process especially yarn spinning and weaving loom mechanisation. These new devices were Richard Arkwright’s ‘Water Frame’, James Hargreaves’s ‘Spinning Jenny’ and Samuel Crompton’s ‘Mule’.  These machines mechanised the fabric production industry from the late 1700’s and gave rise to factories constructed on river banks where they could draw power from their water mills and the term ‘Mills’ stayed with the industries buildings throughout. Samuel Crompton’s ‘Mule’, a hybrid of the ‘Water Frame’ and ‘Spinning Jenny’ became the dominant machine right up into the early 20^th  Derivatives became so sophisticated that one man could operate several machines.  A result of this there was a change in the labour requirements of the industry and many workers were subordinated to unskilled roles and sometimes replaced with cheaper child labour.

Much Social unrest ensued in the early 19^th century, exampled by the Luddites Trial in Leeds and the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. Government were quick to bring in legislation to control matters but on the other side workers combined to form Unions, Friendly Societies and food purchasing Co-operatives.  The Cotton industry mushroomed particularly in certain towns like Oldham where 16% of the world’s spindles were to be found in Oldham alone. From a count of 2400 looms in Lancashire in 1803 the number rose to 250,000 at its zenith in 1857. In other side effects, Lancashire ended up destroying the Indian cotton weaving industry.  Social change in Britain evolved with the Government’s Factories Acts beginning the move away from child labour, there was the rise of benefactor Mill owners who cherished the value of having a happy workforce. Worker rights and conditions were still rather low in certain areas. Germans Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx had studied the squalor during their time in Manchester and formulated their manifesto for a Communist form of Government to operate in an ideal world Utopia.

India eventually recovered its cotton industry as ours declined due to production moving to cheaper labour sources in other parts of the world.  Now most fabric production is in the Far East with China being particularly important due to most of the world’s cotton being grown there.   For Britain, the main legacy from the Cotton Industry is in our lavish Victorian era buildings and the splendid public parks we enjoy.

Thursday 3rd July 2025 – Walk – Wilmslow

Walking Group members met at the King William near the centre of Wilmslow and were led by Richard Cussons. Starting from the King William pub, the group went under the railway viaduct and Handforth Bypass into what can only describe as a secret little park near the centre Wilmslow but seemed to be miles away from the general hubbub. From there they went up into the area known as Wilmslow Park and onto Dean Bank where the high-end citizens of Wilmslow reside. This was before descending into the Bollin Valley rural idle and passing beneath Vardon Bridge to inspect the weir. After which they passed back under the railway to the King William for a well earned lunch.

Wednesday 2nd July 2025 – Bowls – Macclesfield 2 Probus v Knutsford Probus Clubs

 

A visit to the Siddington Village Hall Green, home of Chelford Young Farmers Bowling Club is one of the more pleasant venues to visit in any season. With the weather exceptional the visit was even more of a pleasure. To come home with a victory of 85 – 66 points against a very strong Macclesfield 2 team made the perfect day.