Anne McIntyre

President Mike Birkett opened the meeting with a short biography of a remarkable lady, Beatrice Shilling. Born in 1909, her ambition – unusual for a lady of the time – was to become an engineer. She graduated as an engineer in 1932, joined the RAF four years later, and invented a way to make British fighter planes more battle-worthy during World War Two.

Our almoner reported on the sad passing of Past President Ian Smith, and a minute’s silence was held. Ian’s funeral will be on Wednesday, July 2nd, at 12.45 at Kirkcaldy Crematorium.

Our website is proving popular, with about 2000 visits per month. The visit to Newtongrange Mining Museum Scotland proved very instructive to all, with a great appreciation of the equipment and the journey through a Health-and-Safety-assured underground. In September, we hope to visit the RNLI station at Anstruther, along with the Fisheries Museum. Our next rugby outing will be in October, on Saturday 25th Drinks, a meal, and seats will be provided for the match against Howe of Fife.

Mike Stevenson won the Probus Crystal Award in the last club golf outing at Canmore. Mike also organised an overnight trip to Spey Valley Course in Aviemore, and over two games in two days, the group managed to compete in five competitions. Scoonie is the next venue, on Thursday 10th of July, and entries should be in by the 7th. Twenty-eight competitors will take part in the next Fife Probus Golf competition, on Wednesday 25th of June.

The draw has been made for the singles competition in Bowls. The Friday walking group will take advantage of the weather to visit the seaside, and next Thursday the walkers will visit Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline.

We all thought we knew everything about the Links Market, but our speaker, Anne McIntyre, proved us wrong. She used numerous photographs, taken over the years, to illustrate the changes to the Market. Of course, she could not show pictures from 1305 – the year the annual market started, which was just one year after the weekly market began. This original market was in the widest part of Links Street, and was still there for traders, when the children’s rides and entertainment stalls were moved to Sands Road (now the Esplanade), in 1884. At first, roundabouts were turned by children from poorer families, but ponies were used at the turn of the century, then steam power, and eventually electricity. Traders moved to Sands Road in 1903 when trams arrived in Links Street.

In 2004, there were 225 attractions, but Anne’s illustrations showed that the Market used to stretch much further in both directions, and so that number has dropped. As well as providing illustrations and the historic photographs, Anne finished her talk with two interesting videos. The second was from 2004, but the first was from 1962, and some of the rides at the Market looked quite different, but were nostalgic for someone my age, who haunted the Market in the early sixties.

Anderson Lindsay had his own memories as he proposed the vote of thanks.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 2nd July, when Claire Paton will tell us “What Lies Beyond the Gate”,

Neil Robertson and Alison Gray

President Mike Birkett opened our meeting with a look at the topic “Oh! Deer!” He covered the four species of deer found in Scotland, concentrating on the one most likely to be found around Kirkcaldy, the Roe deer.

Our secretary reported that the new club booklet should be ready for the next meeting, and thanked George Warner for his assistance in the printing. The weather on the visit to the Isle of May was somewhat blustery, but the visit was enjoyed as was the pre-sail visit to the RNLI station. Our next visit is to Newtongrange mining museum on the 11th of June, meeting at Kirkcaldy railway station at 10.00.

The next speaker is Anne McIntyre, president of Kirkcaldy Civic Society, who will be talking about the Links Market. If any members have ideas for future speakers, could you please contact Jim Browning with the information.

Names for the next club golf outing should be with George Warner by Sunday the 8th of June, and entries for the next Fife Probus Golf competition, which is on the 25th of June, should be with Ron Wylie by the 12th. Our weekly bowling games are every Monday at 2pm at St Clair bowling club. For details of this Friday’s walk, please contact Ian Gilchrist. The walk on Thursday 12th will start from Nether Street, car park at 10.00.

We had two speakers this week, on the subject of “My Transplant Journey”. First up was Neil Robertson who shared a very moving story with the group. Neil was on holiday in New Zealand when he was informed his daughter Louise had fallen on a Munro in Winter snow. With his wife Jane, he hurried home to be with his daughter. Tragically his daughter died but Neil and his wife were in time to agree that her organs could be donated to others who were in need. Her liver and kidneys were donated to people in the

UK, but she had a rare blood group, and, at that time, there was no-one appropriate to receive her heart and her lungs in the whole of Europe. They have since been contacted by all three, now healthy, recipients of the organs.

Alison Gray spoke next, and her story recounted how she needed and received a new heart. Her brother had had a heart transplant in January 1988, but Alson had no problems till the summer of 2006, when, after a couple of misdiagnoses, she was diagnosed with cardio myopathy, and had an internal defibrillator fitted in February 2008. This was not needed till years later, but after contracting covid, Alison needed to return to the Golden Jubilee hospital, where she was kept in, to wait for a transplant. Fortunately, the wait was not too long, and she had her transplant in February 2022. After three weeks in hospital, she was released home, and with only one setback, she now leads a full, active and sporting life. Incredibly, she will soon represent team GB in the world transplant games in Dresden.

At the end of her talk, Alison encouraged us all to spread the news about transplants, and to consider the wonderful benefits they can bring for recipients.

Alan Court spoke about the many “Journeys” we had heard about, and how different and uplifting this one was.

Our next meeting will be on June 18th.

Alan Court

President Mike Birkett took the chair and began by looking at the origins of the Ferrari logo. The prancing horse was from the coat of arms of Francesco Baracca, Italy’s foremost pilot in World War 1, and when Enzo Ferrari started Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari stables) he adopted the logo.

Our trip to the Isle of May, preceded by a visit to the RNLI station, is on Monday 26th: details to follow. Our next visit is to Newtongrange mining museum on Wednesday June 11th. We had perfect weather and a perfect course for our club golf outing to Cowdenbeath for a Stableford competition, and Jim Browning won the Senga trophy. We had a chilly day for last Monday’s bowls, but two rinks of hardy souls were in use. The Friday walkers have enjoyed the good weather, and also the bacon rolls which seem to be becoming part of their walks. The Thursday walkers are also enjoying the good weather, and the walk next Thursday will be round Ravenscraig Park, meeting at the Nether Street car park.

Before the president introduced our speaker, our own Alan Court, the speakers’ convener thanked Alan for stepping in at short notice when our original speaker couldn’t make it. Alan’s subject was the Mighty Hunter - Nimrod – Britain’s new weapons system since 1970, on which he already worked and on which he continued to work after he came to Marconi in Fife in 1968.

Alan began his talk with a history of aviation, from the Wright Brothers three second flight in 1905, to the deployment of planes during World War 1 just nine years later, to Coastal Command during World War 11, when part of the job was to intercept U-boats. There was a change of threat after the Cold War started, as the Soviets designed nuclear subs which did not have to keep resurfacing as U-boats had. We used adapted Lancasters and Lincolns at first, then designed the Shackleton, which was much more useful as it could fly as low as 100 feet above the sea.

The Nimrod was based on the first effective jet-propelled airliner, and Alan used diagrams to show how the plane was operated. There were two pilots and an engineer on the flight deck, and nine other crew further back in charge of the other essential systems. As well as reconnaissance, the Nimrod carried varied weapons systems for attacking submarines detected, if in times of war. We also saw diagrams of the flight simulation hanger, as training was highly expensive and pilots and crew could learn on the simulator.

The vote of thanks was proposed by Bob Hutchison on behalf of the members.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 4th June, when we will hear about transplants.

David Holdsworth

After a gap of three weeks due to the vagaries of the calendar, over 30 members attended the 1170th meeting of Kirkcaldy Probus Club held at the Dean Park Hotel on the 7th May.   The meeting was jointly chaired by President Mike Birkett, ably assisted by Vice Chair Mike Stevenson.

President Mike opened the meeting with what is now becoming his normal “poems from days of yore” and the interesting stories behind them, today’s subject being the well-known Mabel Lucy Atwell poem  - “Never Leave the Bathroom Wet”

The business meeting included the reports from the various convenors including the normal Almoner’s report, updates from the walking, bowling groups on their recent outings and upcoming events.   On Social events, members had enjoyed a recent outing by train to see the Great Scottish Tapestry in Galashiels.   The upcoming trip out to see the Puffins is now fully subscribed but a reserve list is open just in case anyone drops out.    The club also have a proposed trip to the Scottish Mining Museum in Newtongrange on Wednesday 11th June when again train travel will be ideal.   Members were reminded that our social outings were open to friends and families.

Our golf convenors reported on the first outings of the season.   The recent club outing to Falkland saw Ken McCreadie as the overall winner, with Ron Wylie taking the Derek Bethune Claret Jug home. Eight members represented Kirkcaldy Probus Club at the Fife Probus Golf outing which was won by our VP - Mike Stevenson.

Vice President Mike introduced our guest speaker for the day, David Holdsworth, who entertained and educated everyone with his story telling about sailing from Burntisland to the Solent and back, to participate in the Cowes annual regatta, all to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland.   David’s boat “Grey Goose”, a 26ft catamaran, had originally been recovered by him from the sea bed after being sunk (remember Michael Fish’s “no hurricane” in 1987) and subsequently reinstated and equipped with modern equipment by David himself – a well-known and extremely experienced and competent sailor.   His skills and tenacity were all tested to their limits on the journey south, only to find out that the race had to be abandoned that year due to severe storms and wild seas.   Of the 1400 boats due to compete, only 634 actually started, and only 132 managed to finish.   And so the journey back to Burntisland started, and seemed no less eventful than the traumatic journey South.   Intrepid David however is planning to do it all again (with many lessons learnt), and this time will be raising funds for the Knights Templar Charity which supports our servicemen and veterans.

After a number of questions from the floor, a vote of thanks was proposed by Bill O’Donnell for a very entertaining and well-illustrated talk, warmly applauded by all in attendance.

Vice President Mike closed the meeting, reminded all that the next meeting would be held on 21st May, and wished everyone a safe journey home.

Dave Parnham

President Mike Birkett began the meeting with a poem about a “Wise Old Owl”, then debunked the notion that the owl is a particularly wise bird. Owls have big eyes, which allow a lot of light in during the hours of darkness, enabling them to hunt at night, but big eyes are not a sign of super intelligence.

We were asked by our webmaster to ensure the details we hold are correct so that everyone can keep up with our latest news. Our visit to the Great Tapestry is on Tuesday 22nd April, meeting at Kirkcaldy Station for the 9.47 train. Remember, if you are joining us on our visit to the May Isle, you need to book your own tickets. We are also going to Newtongrange Mining Museum in June, and you should give your names to Stuart Rennie for this visit. Our first club golf outing is to Falkland, and arrangements are well in hand, as is the programme for Fife Probus Golf. Our bowling group will continue each Monday at St Clair’s Bowling Club at 2pm. At our first meeting, last Monday, we managed to play, despite the forecast. We have had two successful walks on the last two Fridays. Contact Ian Gilchrist for details of this week’s walk. The walk next Thursday will be from Findattie to Lochend Farm.

Our speaker this week was Dave Parnham, formerly of the Roslin Institute, whose subject was “Understanding Animal Research.” The first point is that researchers really care for the animals in their charge: they want them to be as calm and content as possible so that any experiments they carry out give as accurate results as possible. To enable this contentment, the researchers are specially trained, and vets must always be available. Animals are accustomed to the researchers, as they are handled regularly so they feel no fear. The researchers practise “environmental enrichment”: animals are kept in family groups where appropriate and use natural nesting materials. Units are air-conditioned and kept at the appropriate temperatures and humility.

Animals are bred, again to remove the possibility of outside variants, and traditionally there has been no alternative, and the law demands it.  Nowadays, there can sometimes be viable alternatives.  Medicines are tested so that when they come on the market there are no dangers to the patient, and doctors know what is the appropriate dosage in different circumstances.

Roddy McLean gave the vote of thanks to Dave for his very informative talk.

Our next meeting is on 7th May, when David Holdsworth will tell us about “Burntisland to the Solent and Back by Catamaran”, and the following meeting, on the 21st, will be preceded by a committee meeting.

George Laidlaw

New president Mike Birkett opened the meeting by looking at the history of Probus clubs since their inception. The first club started in 1965, when a need became obvious that older men wanted an activity to fill part of their time. The name “Probus” was coined in May 1966. Its name translates as honest and trustworthy, and its aim was “The promotion of good fellowship.” There are now 1700 clubs in Britain and many more around the world, each with its own rules in the movement’s spirit of informality.

Our almoner reported that the previous week had been the sixtieth anniversary of Derek Bethune’s wedding. Our congratulations go to Derek and Lin. The games afternoon went well, with so many activities we had no time for the anticipated domino tournament. Our trip to the Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels is on April 22nd and the visit will cost £25.00 which includes entry, a light lunch and an introductory talk. For the May Isle visit, you will have to book your own ticket. We are sailing on the 10.15 boat on Monday 26th May, and may also fit in a visit to the RNLI station. There is also a proposed visit to the National Mining Museum at Newtongrange, cost £7.50, on Wednesday 11th of June.

The Fife Probus golf begins on 30th April and those interested should send their replies in as soon as possible. The bowling season is almost upon us, and, weather permitting, we will begin on Monday 14th April at 2.00pm at St Clair’s Bowling Club. New players are welcome. Friday’s walk will be to Balmerino to see the daffodils and next Thursday’s walk will be to Heather Hall Wood, walking to Ladybank.

Our speaker for the day was George Laidlaw, who has an amazing store of football memories and knowledge and seems to have attended matches for many of the teams in Scotland. George was representing Football Memories – United – Dundee. This is an organisation that holds three meetings in different Dundee locations per month for those suffering with various forms of dementia; and uses football memories to prompt them to reminisce with their own memories. Does it succeed? As one delighted partner said, “I drive here with this sad parson with dementia, and I take home my husband.” George brought along many cards, books, programmes and pictures, as well as projections, to illustrate the sort of ways the 5-person team stimulate the memories of the groups. He also had a short sports quiz, three alternative answers per question, for the members and handed round a version of “Spot The Ball” after which, he revealed the picture behind the spots was of Paul McStay missing a certain penalty in the 1994 League Cup Final. George was one of those “Dancing in the Streets of Raith” that night.

Jim Husband gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the members.

Our next meeting is on 16th April, when Dave Parnham will answer the question, “Where Do Medicines Come From?”

James More

Before our AGM, President Euan Fraser thanked Stuart Rennie for his marvellous work in producing our annual reports booklet, which can be found on our club website. At the end of the AGM, Euan handed the reins over to Mike Birkett, our new president, whose first task was to introduce our speaker for the day, James More, past HT of Balwearie High School. James’ topic was “The Earth in Space”, giving a full perspective on where Earth sits in the universe.

He started with quotes from three songs, notably “Twinkle, twinkle little star”, and the information that stars do not in fact twinkle, it is the Earth’s atmosphere that causes that effect. If we see footage from the Hubble telescope or other space telescopes, the stars do not twinkle.

James gave us a few facts on each of the planets in turn before giving us an idea of relative distances. The Earth is 100 million miles from the sun, yet the sun’s light reaches us in just eight minutes. It takes four hours for that light to reach Pluto, the farthest planet, and thirteen hours to reach the end of our solar system. The light from our closest constellation takes four years to reach us, and giant telescopes can detect light from thirteen billion years ago. How insignificant our small planet seems when we read these facts!

Stars are not all the same size, and if Betelgeuse, the brightest star in the Orion constellation, was to replace our sun, it would swallow up our first five planets, so big is it. Stars also have life cycles, and we heard of the Orion nebula – below the “belt” of Orion – which is one place where stars appear to be “born”, and of some stars which are in their death throes.

John Stewart expressed his amazement at, and gratitude for, the presentation on behalf of the members.

We were reminded of three events: the games afternoon at St Clair’s bowling club on Thursday 27th at 2.00; the visit to the Great Tapestry of Scotland, where we can hire a guide if the group is large enough; and the trip to the May Isle, for which we were encouraged to book asap. Our next meeting is on 2nd April, when George Laidlaw will talk on his “Football Memories United”.

Frank Hay and Len Saunders

President Euan Fraser opened our 1166th meeting by thanking members for the strong turnouts of Probus members for the funerals of Walter Simpson and Kate Johnston. Most subs are in and our Treasurer thanked members for this. Our dinner at the academy was most successful therefore is likely to be repeated; and members had an excellent outing to the rugby club, though unfortunately did not see our local team win. Two other trips are in the offing; one to Galashiels by train to visit the Great Tapestry of Scotland, on Tuesday 22nd April; the other to the May Isle on Monday 26th May. We will also run a games afternoon at St Clair Bowling Club on Monday 27th March. Our club golf starts on April 17th at Falkland, and fixtures for the season have been issued; Fife Probus golf begins on Wednesday 30th April at Scoonie. Our walk for Friday has still to be decided and next Thursday’s walk will be round Riverside Park in Glenrothes.

We were blessed with four speakers for the day, representatives from “The Briggers” group, who were here to tell us about “The Briggers, The Men and Boys Who Built the Forth Bridge”. This was a most appropriate day for the talk, as the 4th of March was the 135th anniversary of the Forth Bridge opening. We started with two alternating speakers – Alan Sutherland and John McEwan – who gave us the history of the world’s first steel bridge, now a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2015.

The Briggers group are from South Queensferry, and when a memorial was proposed for the 57 men and boys who died in the construction of the bridge, the group volunteered to take on the research task. They searched the papers, the records of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and local records, as well as accounts from the “Sick and Accident Club” a welfare organisation, way before its time, created to look after the health and wellbeing of workers and their families. Two memorials were erected: one in South Queensferry, the other in the North.

The talk was helpfully illustrated; one illustration highlighting the lack of health and safety concerns during the 1880s, contrasting with a well-protected worker on the bridge today.

Frank Hay and Len Saunders answered the many questions fully and expertly. More information can be had from The Briggers website.

Roy Urquhart gave the vote of thanks to all four speakers on behalf of the members.

Our next meeting will be our AGM on 19th March, and this will be followed by a talk by James More entitled “The Earth in Space”.