CLUBS NEWS
THE ROTARY CLUB OF CHURCH AND OSWALDTWISTLE
EVERY year Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary arrange a ‘Kids Day Out’ for children from White Ash Primary School in Oswaldtwistle.
This year the chosen venue was Mrs Dowson’s Farm on Longsight Road, Blackburn.
The coach left school at 10am full of excited children and their carers.
As usual Rotarian Margaret took to the microphone to lead the singing and her rendition of ‘Ten Green Bottles’ livened up the journey!
The children were given the opportunity to get really close to the farm animals.
Bottle feeding the lambs was a very popular activity. They then went on to look at the maternity barn for cows and calves.
Again the children were able to interact with the animals and they very much enjoyed feeding and stroking a very young calf.
Next they moved on to look at the ducks and hens, then finished off by holding and stroking the rabbits.
After eating their lunch in the sunshine the children spent a very happy hour on the lovely playground.
Then came what, for the White Ash staff and Rotary helpers at least, was the highlight of the day.
Everyone was given a selection of six different flavoured ice creams and a paper and pencil and asked to guess the flavours.
It wasn’t easy, but everyone agreed that whatever the flavour they were all delicious!
The day was a huge success and Rotarian Ron Pickup, who once again organised the day, said: “We at Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary always enjoy this opportunity to give the children from White Ash School a day out.
“I would like to thank Red Rose coaches who provided the coach for us and Amanda from Mrs Dowson’s farm, who made the experience so entertaining and educational.”
Kids Day Out is just one of the many worthwhile projects that Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary undertake every year.
If anyone is interested in becoming involved with our club, please get in touch with our membership team at lyndon_rotary@btinternet.com or phone Lyndon on 07505453296.
GREAT HARWOOD DISTRICT WI
THE Great Harwood District WI meeting on Wednesday, June 13, was on the subject of ‘Origins of phrases, where did that come from? part two’.
Linda Sawley gave an absorbing talk on many phrases used in English, explaining their probable derivations. In some cases, it is not known where they have come from.
Here are some of the explanations she gave that entertained the meeting.
‘To see a man about a dog,’ used as a way to apologise for one’s imminent departure, was spoken by a character in a Victorian music hall play, written by Dion Boucicault in 1866. The audience laughed and the phrase became used generally.
A ‘Stool pigeon’ which denotes an informer or police spy, comes from hunting when a decoy pigeon would be attached to a high stool, thus attracting others which were then shot.
Jack Sheppard, born in London in 1702, became well known for his notorious criminal antics and four spectacular prison escapes.
Ballads were written about him and he was a hero to ruffians before eventually being caught and hanged in 1724.
He is remembered through the expression ‘Jack the lad,’ meaning bold and carefree.
‘Warts and all’ is believed to come from Oliver Cromwell demanding that the artist Sir Peter Lely portray him as he actually was with pimples and warts, not flattering him as was normal at that time.
Someone said to be in ‘cloud cuckoo land’ is separated from reality, a bit of a dreamer. This phrase comes from The Birds, an ancient Greek play by Aristophanes where it describes an imaginary city built by cuckoos in the sky.
The use of red ink for saint’s days and Christian festivals on old almanacs has led to special days, often holidays, being known as ‘red-letter days’.
In Victorian times it was legal to use pipes to smoke opium in opium houses.
This has lead to ‘pipe dreams,’ meaning fantastical dreams and fantasies.
Many phrases have come from British soldiers stationed in India during the Raj. Among them is ‘have a dekko,’ meaning have a look, which derives from Hindustani.
The next meeting will be held at Bank Mill House, Great Harwood, at 2pm on July 11 and will include a talk titled ‘Life Experiences’ by Tom Pearson.
Visitors and potential members are welcome.
ACCRINGTON DISTRICT PROBUS CLUB
THE Supper Room was again at near capacity for Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions by Malcolm Tranter.
Many of us thought we knew this story but Malcolm’s well researched and beautifully illustrated presentation held our attention until near midday.
In his 48 years, Shackleton had a variety of careers, any one of which would have been enough to satisfy most people.
He seems to have been able to talk his way into any venture he fancied.
He had a White Star Line master’s certificate at the age of 24, having completed an undistinguished education.
Membership of the Royal Geographical Society and then Scott’s 1901 expedition set him on course to pursue a passion for the Great Southern continent.
He was invalided home from that trip but this didn’t dampen his ambition.
As Malcolm explained, explorers were the ‘rock stars’ of that era and, even what seemed to be a failure, resulted in mass adulation and funding for the next adventure.
The ships were whatever could be afforded and were not always suitable, adequately powered or even big enough.
Equipment was primitive in the extreme and seldom worked.
His first experience as expedition leader reached the magnetic pole and Mount Erebus but ended with a 40-hour trek back to base, without supplies and another serious physical collapse.
Amundsen’s success and Scott’s death spurred Shackleton to mount an expedition to cross the whole continent.
This never really got started when, having been in the ice pack for almost a year, the ship broke up and sank, leaving the crew marooned, with whatever they could salvage.
The open boat voyages and the trek across the mountains of South Georgia to successfully bring help for the rest of the crew is legendary.
The fact that Shackleton tried to mount another expedition in the early 1920s and subsequently died from a massive heart attack on South Georgia, where he is buried, indicates he probably did all of this with a severe heart condition.
Gerald’s proposed vote of thanks for this enthralling tale was enthusiastically endorsed.
Tony closed the meeting by hoping to see us all at the Calf’s Head for lunch on June 28.
ROTAKIDS
THE annual Rotakids Conference has taken place at the University of Cumbria.
It was attended by 126 Rotakids from all over Lancashire and Cumbria, 15 of whom came from our Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotakids’ schools – St Andrew’s Primary, Hippings Methodist Primary and White Ash Primary.
The day was split into three different sessions where the children got a chance to have a go at a number of very interesting and challenging activities.
They were very wide ranging and included learning how to study water samples from our local rivers to determine the health of the wildlife, animal care, recycling and even how to tie a selection of complicated knots!
The replica iron lung was on site and many of the children had a try in it to experience what it was like for people who contracted polio and had to live all their lives in this machine.
At the end of the day the children all came together in the lecture theatre and enjoyed a very entertaining singalong.
They then listened to an excellent presentation from the Rotakids at Christ Church school in Carnforth, who told everyone about the many projects they have undertaken throughout the year. The children then had a guided tour of the university.
Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary Rotakids coordinator, Cath Heap, said: “This annual event is the highlight of the Rotakids year. It brings together children for all over the region allowing them to share ideas and experiences with other students. It also gives them an opportunity to get a glimpse of university life.
“Our Rotakids had a fantastic day out which was both fun and educational.
“If any primary schools in the local area would like to know more about Rotakids please contact me at cath_rotary@btinternet.com”
OSWALDTWISTLE WRITERS
WHEN Oswaldtwistle Writers was formed in 2010, due to a collaboration between then library manager Susan Jabbari and Peter Jones, its meetings regularly attracted attendances in double figures.
Sadly the group was disbanded in September 2016 with the library’s closure.
Peter Jones, who was there throughout, is now trying to resurrect the group in the guise of the New Oswaldtwistle Writers and is hopeful that many of the original members will return, with the addition of some new ones.
At the meeting held on Wednesday, June 13, it was decided to hold regular meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 2pm, with a chance of an evening meeting on a Tuesday to be discussed in the future.
It is hoped that a similar partnership can be formed with current library manager, Louise Sadler, to the original one in 2010 and that the group can thrive once more.
Peter intends to ask local authors to do workshops, as these proved to be very popular in the past.
The next meeting will take place in the library on Wednesday, July 11, when a list of future meetings will be provided.
Anyone requiring further information should contact Oswaldtwistle library or Peter direct on 07763 822440 or by email at: peterjones040@gmail.com
ACCRINGTON CAMERA CLUB
UNSEEN images unable to be viewed at our annual exhibition because of lack of space saw the light of day at last week’s meeting.
The prints, all entries into the club’s annual competition, were a wide mix of styles and subjects. In many cases the author was present and was able to provide the story behind the picture.
Among the pictures were candid portraits, a shot of the Northern Lights, ruins in Spain, two totally different images of the Singing Ringing Tree and a composite picture of ‘steam’ billowing out of a steam engine mug.
Members commented on the pictures and it was enjoyable to see the wide variety of images.
Our annual exhibition continues to run at the Haworth Art Gallery until Sunday, July 15. One of the members gave feedback at the meeting that people he knew who had visited the exhibition thought there were some ‘absolutely cracking images’ and they wanted to know when the next exhibition was.
Winners and those whose images were commended in the annual competition received their trophies and certificates during our excellent presentation meal, with 30 people in attendance at Sykeside Country House Hotel in Haslingden. A raffle at the event raised £73 for club funds.
Visitor Ken Geddes, from Clitheroe, brings his talk ‘Java and the sugar harvest’ to tonight’s meeting (Friday) at the Hyndburn Academy, Stourton Street, Rishton, 7.45pm.
Visitors and new members most welcome. See accringtoncameraclub.org.uk for more info.