Thursday 28th May 2026 – Club Meeting – Speaker, Julia Marwood, with a presentation entitled ‘Painting Manchester’.
Julia explained that much of the art dedicated to Manchester was inextricably linked to its history and she drew our attention to the commissioned murals in Manchester Town Hall. These murals were painted by 19th century painter Ford Madox Brown on an agreed set of conditions stipulated by the Manchester Corporation elders. She then detailed the six murals and pointed out some of the included cameos within the pictures.
Further examples followed about a vast degree of historical illustration about the city which depicted its wealth as well as the struggle of the common people. They showed the sometimes foggy or murky atmospheres incorporated into painting by well known artists such as L.S. Lowry and Pierre Adolphe Valette. Other art features including sculptures were shown featuring Queen Victoria & Emmeline Pankhurst.
Thursday 21st May 2026 – Walk – Bollington Vale
Middlewood Way, Bollington.
The Walking Group ventured on an excellent walk from Bollington Vale taking in the centre of Bollington town and then rising along Long Lane towards a refreshment stop where the group enjoyed marvellous over North Cheshire and beyond. Passing Styperson Pool, they dropped down to the Macclesfield Canal towpath for a return to Bollington Vale.
Wednesday 20th May 2026 – Bowls – Knutsford Probus v Sandbach Probus
On a pleasant day with a cool breeze the Knutsford bowlers entertained their friends from Sandbach Probus. This is only the second time the guys from South Cheshire have visited the Knutsford green. They must have been confident of a tight game as last season they only lost by a margin of 8 points.
In the first half the games were tight and it took a lot longer than normal to finish for tea. After the tea break games resumed but Sandbach suffered by some of the better players having to leave early so when the final points were added up Knutsford came out of the match convincing winners by 112 points to 84. Knutsford will visit Sandbach for the first time later in the season.
Thursday 14th May 2026 – Club Meeting – Speaker Professor James Crossland of the John Moores University with a presentation ‘Fighting Bolsheviks & Fooling Nazis: The Extraordinary life of Robert Bruce Lockhart’
James introduced Robert Bruce Lockhart, a not very well known man, not of a high profile such as Winston Churchill or Horatio Nelson but was involved in many of the important events of the early 20th Century. Lockhart knew everyone and did everything. He was a British Consul in Moscow, a British Agent but a rather dysfunctional alcoholic who knew the right people but virtually nobody really knew anything about him.
Focussing on Lockhart’s time in Russia from 1918, James painted a picture of this British Agent as a fixer and leader of espionage answering directly to the UK government. He was a good diplomat, spoke Russian, and many other languages. He was young, brash and threw himself into the job with vigour.
One of his tasks in 1918 was to persuade Russia to remain an ally in the war against Germany but that didn’t go well after Russia agreed to remain neutral.
So much of the UK effort through Lockhart was to focus on regime change as Communism was seen as a bad basis for international trade and social cohesion. James detailed the main players working with and against the interests of Lockhart and the UK Secret Service. Positively, this included one of his mistresses, Moura Budburg, who remained a close friend until Lockhart’s death in 1970.
The Russian Intelligence Agency, Checka, knew most of the intentions of those working against the new order in Russia and, as part of this, many people were arrested and imprisoned in Moscow and St. Petersburg including Robert Bruce Lockhart. He was eventually released as part of a prisoner exchange. On return to the UK he started working for Lord Beaverbrook at the Daily Express, initially as a journalist and then as the paper’s editor. He knew lots of influential people including Kaiser William who he exclusively interviewed.
During the 1930’s Lockhart worked in British Intelligence including efforts to gather allies against the growing threat of the German Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler. As the war against Germany gathered pace, in 1941 the UK government created an Intelligence and Propaganda unit working out of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire. This was the ‘Political Warfare Executive’ and was led by Lockhart from 1942, concurrent with his receiving a knighthood from King George 6th. The PWE issued and transmitted rumours and fake news into Germany particularly focussed towards farmers and the German army at lower ranks. There was a fake German radio station set up called ‘Gustav Siegfried Eins’ with German language reports by Sefton Delmer. Other PWE efforts included having the RAF drop propaganda leaflets over Germany and broadcasting a suggestion the UK were importing sharks from Australia to breed in the English Channel.
James also detailed the subtle campaign to use the ‘V’ signal amongst Allies. This was known as the ‘V’ Army and was popularised by Churchill’s use of the V finger sign in his ‘V’ for Victory campaign
In the1950s Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart stepped back from intense work due to ill health but campaigned against the so called ‘Cold War’ and became a full-time author. He died in 1970 with a quiet understated funeral service however his long time paramour, Moura Budburg, held her own tribute by hiring the London Russian Orthodox Church where she ‘dressed to impress’ and held an intimate memorial service dedicated to Lockhart and attended by nobody of note except herself to celebrate their love.
Wednesday 13th May 2026 – Bowling – Lymm Probus v Knutsford Probus
The morning weather suggested that a trip to the Oughtington green for the annual visit to play Lymm Probus was very doubtful. However as the skies cleared the Knutsford bowlers journeyed over to Lymm to find conditions perfect.
The match versus Lymm has a tradition of favouring the home side as a good number are regular bowlers from the Oughtrington club. In the first half with a couple of drawn games the score was tight in favour of Lymm by 5 points. The afternoon progressed and with game scores being still tight it was a bit of a surprise to everyone that Knutsford had overcome their opponents by a score of 81 points to 71. A perfect afternoon despite the early morning rain.
Thursday 7th May 2026 – Walk- Sale Meadows
On a very pleasant day the Knutsford Rex Probus Walking Group ventured back to the Sale Meadows for a ramble along the Greater Manchester Ringway to Chorlton Water Park and back south of the Mersey via Kenworthy Woods. Photograph shows the group stopping to enjoy the verdant outlook over Sale Golf Club
Wednesday 6th May 2026 – Bowls – Knutsford Probus v Macclesfield 2/Alderley Edge Probus
Friends on the Green with the Knutsford Rex Chairman enjoying the sunshine whilst giving support.
The first home match of the 2026 season saw Knutsford host the combined Macclesfield 2/Alderley Edge team in what was a return fixture from the 8th April.
The weather was ideal with the sun shining but not too hot to be uncomfortable. The first half saw quite a large variation in scores with both Knutsford and the visitors clocking up big wins so by the time of the break there was little to choose between the teams on the scorecard.
The second half was a different story with Knutsford coming home with a number of substantial victories with the score at the end of procedures showing a victory to Knutsford by 107 points to 68.