Thursday 26th March 2026 – Club Meeting – Speaker, Ernie Hill, with a presentation entitled ‘The Story of Graphene’.
Ernie Hill introduced himself as a Retired Director of The Manchester Centre for Mesoscience & Nanotechnology and started an excellent Powerpoint presentation that guided us through the various forms of Carbon starting with soot, graphite and diamond. Each had its own attributes which benefitted users such as the hardness of diamond and the lubrication properties of thinly layered graphite. He held up models of the various atomic structures of Carbon in Sheets, Nanotubes and ‘Buckyballs’. All allotropes of Carbon.
Ernie then guided us through the historic development of carbon structure technology starting in 1947 with Phillip Wallace’s theories which informed the eventual 2004 isolation of Graphene in a form that could be worked and developed. Key to this were two associates at Manchester University, Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov. Their research led them to receiving a joint Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010. Ernie then led us through the ways that Graphene was harvested using various methods including peeling with specialised sticky tapes before being transferred to Silicon. Other methods included depositing or growing Graphene onto copper surfaces.
Of course, Graphene would have no value unless it could be used by industry and manufacturing to add value to their products and services. Initially, benefit was realised by attracting funding for further academic research, some of which was championed by former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. One stumbling block was the high cost of the material but this has reduced considerably due to higher demand and improved manufacturing techniques. Graphene’s properties are its best selling point. It has very high tensile strength. It conducts electricity better than copper, it’s transparent, it conducts heat really well and it’s impermeable. Current uses can be seen in advanced ski developments. It helps the strength of expensive super sports cars such as the ‘GTA Spano’. In can be found in technically advanced sports training shoes(Trainers). It’s used in sport cycling frames to reduce flexing and it’s used in Mobile phones, LED bulbs and Battery Packs to reduce temperature build up. Biological products use Graphene in blood testing and flexible patch applications. Finally Ernie showed us some examples of Graphene being used in the construction and civil engineering fields.
Ernie rounded off his excellent presentation with a short Question and Answer Session.
Thursday 19th March 2026 – Walk – Thelwall
The Walking Group covered 4.5 miles along the Trans Pennine Trail to Lymm. The route showed Spring in all its majesty with blossom in wide abundance. The group then headed back along the Bridgewater Canal towpath to the Little Manor pub for a lovely Lunch. The walk was a sort of potted history of transport infrastructure from the last 250 years covering a former Railway, a canal, the M6 motorway & with Jet’s vapour trails overhead.
Thursday 12th March 2026 – Club Meeting – Speaker, Peter Hyde who will give a talk entitled ‘Oldham Mountain Rescue’
Peter receiving one of his many honours.
Peter began his presentation by addressing the matter of there being ‘No mountains in Oldham’. However it was the most common remark and certainly the start of many conversations including one he had with our late Queen Elizabeth II who had mentioned the same thing. Certainly they have no mountains but they have lots of high terrain and many quarries used by rock climbing groups. He pointed out that one of Oldham’s hills was only short of being classed as a mountain by 18 metres!
The ‘Oldham Mountain Rescue’ team’s Patron is HRH. William, Prince of Wales. Peter is currently the team’s President, has been with the team 60 years, and leads a group of 60 volunteers.
Peter then showed a detailed video presentation which explained the scope of the team’s work. They are a point of reference to co-ordinate volunteers, allocate rendezvous points and can call on search dogs, trained rescue technicians and air support for policing, reconnaissance, winching and medical assistance.
Some members of the team are expert rock climbers with expertise in establishing long rope cableways for vertical or steep ground elevations. These experts also deal with mine shafts, tall buildings and trapped motorist rescues. Other hazards have included abandoned railway tunnels, moorland wild fires, over-topped rivers and flooded areas. In the early years, the Oldham team were asked to assist in the post management of the Lockerbie Air disaster where they were involved in evidence recovery from a wide area between the Kielder Forest in Northumberland and the Solway Firth between England and Scotland.
In other anecdotes, Peter recalled the team opening a new Tesco Store, receiving The Queen’s ‘Award to Volunteering’, rescuing a lost fireman, helping the TV production team on ‘Emmerdale Farm’ and successfully finding a lost woman’s body in Altrincham.
Thursday 5th March 2026 – Walk – City of Chester
The Group travelled to Chester using the 8.52am train from Mobberley and Knutsford. Then a pleasant walk ensued where there were no stiles and no muddy puddles to contend with. The route took members down to the River Dee and crossed to the Queen’s Park side before returning for a pathway around ‘The Roodee’ Racecourse, Chester Castle, The Ancient Port area, The Roman Wall and then the canal towpath to The Old Harkers Arms pub for a nice lunch. Afterwards, a few members went back to Chester Cathedral to visit the ‘Museum of the Moon’ exhibit in the South transept and a Lego model of the Cathedral in the main section before returning to Knutsford on the 2.56pm train.
Tuesday 3rd March 2026 – Social – Afternoon Tea.
On the 3rd March members treated themselves to a De-luxe Afternoon Tea Party held at Knutsford Golf Club. 27 Members and guests gathered to enjoy a glass of Prosecco followed by Sandwiches, Scones with clotted cream, Cakes and a tea or coffee to round things off.
.