Morecambe & Lancaster Group News
09 February 2010
It's going to be a case of 3rd time lucky for me on my quest to visit Morecambe & Lancaster group - the first time the inclement weather cancelled the meeting and today I was thwarted by Virgin Trains, who caused total havoc this morning. So in the absence of what would have been my report, the group's news correspondent (and former Newsletter editor) Derek Hollinrake has sent me an update about what's going on
"When I took on the job of Branch Newsletter Editor 11 years ago the branch had active groups in Furness (Barrow), Grange-over Sands, Kendal and Lancaster/Morecambe. When last year the last named became our sole surviving group its committee (of which the Newsletter Editor is obviously not a part) decided that the Newsletter should be discontinued. This decision was ‘de facto’ ratified at the subsequent Branch A.G.M. when nobody volunteered to take over the job. What became apparent was that our long suffering team of Visitors had taken the view that if there was no Newsletter there was no need for Visitors which I suppose is something of a reversal of cart and horse. But quite apart from the fact that all the Visitors had been doing the job for far longer than any definition of a fair shift and were well overdue a rest, there is, I think, a deeper dimension.
When I joined the Civil Service we did not have a telephone, and truth to tell I did not even know anybody who had a phone at home. In those days unexpected visitors to our homes were always welcomed. (Yes, there were occasions when this welcome was less than heartfelt but this could never, ever, be shown.) In my northern village these were the days of the door always on the sneck (means never locked) and the kettle always on the grate. Only a total stranger would actually knock before entering. Nowadays almost everyone has at least one telephone and it actually seems on the point of rudeness to land on someone’s doorstep without at least a prior phone call to give them a chance to get the metaphoric curlers out of their hair. A massive contrast in one lifetime and I really have to wonder if the day of the Visitor is coming to a close.
Alright, enough pining, and time for a few words about our one-Group Branch.
Our meetings are held at Torrisholme Methodist Church, Morecambe, at 2.15 on the second Tuesday of each month except July and August. We usually have a speaker or some other imported entertainment and this helps to maintain a fairly reasonable attendance. Morecambe, like may other British holiday resorts is enjoying a gradual come-back as a tourist centre, no doubt on the back of the mounting number of reasons for not travelling by air. It is in fact quite a lovely spot with a wonderful bay and ready access to the Lakes. So if you find yourself up/down our way drop in and see us. We no longer have either a grate or a sneck but the welcome will be as genuine as ever.
Occasionally we have special outings and last Autumn we took advantage of a totally unexpected legacy from one of our dearest departed members, John Bond. We decided on a coach trip to Ullswater including a slap-up lunch at the famous ‘Inn on the Lake’, completing the first leg of the return journey on one of the lovely old lake steamers. (Sadly no longer steam-driven.)
The gardens of the hotel give directly onto the lake and as you can see from the picture we enjoyed a typical autumn day with sunshine and showers and more than one rainbow to brighten our memories of John. The return down the lake to Pooley Bridge with the brooding Helvellyn range on our port side and the fading sun’s rays from the opposite horizon glittering across the water was, simply, memorable."
"When I took on the job of Branch Newsletter Editor 11 years ago the branch had active groups in Furness (Barrow), Grange-over Sands, Kendal and Lancaster/Morecambe. When last year the last named became our sole surviving group its committee (of which the Newsletter Editor is obviously not a part) decided that the Newsletter should be discontinued. This decision was ‘de facto’ ratified at the subsequent Branch A.G.M. when nobody volunteered to take over the job. What became apparent was that our long suffering team of Visitors had taken the view that if there was no Newsletter there was no need for Visitors which I suppose is something of a reversal of cart and horse. But quite apart from the fact that all the Visitors had been doing the job for far longer than any definition of a fair shift and were well overdue a rest, there is, I think, a deeper dimension.
When I joined the Civil Service we did not have a telephone, and truth to tell I did not even know anybody who had a phone at home. In those days unexpected visitors to our homes were always welcomed. (Yes, there were occasions when this welcome was less than heartfelt but this could never, ever, be shown.) In my northern village these were the days of the door always on the sneck (means never locked) and the kettle always on the grate. Only a total stranger would actually knock before entering. Nowadays almost everyone has at least one telephone and it actually seems on the point of rudeness to land on someone’s doorstep without at least a prior phone call to give them a chance to get the metaphoric curlers out of their hair. A massive contrast in one lifetime and I really have to wonder if the day of the Visitor is coming to a close.
Alright, enough pining, and time for a few words about our one-Group Branch.
Our meetings are held at Torrisholme Methodist Church, Morecambe, at 2.15 on the second Tuesday of each month except July and August. We usually have a speaker or some other imported entertainment and this helps to maintain a fairly reasonable attendance. Morecambe, like may other British holiday resorts is enjoying a gradual come-back as a tourist centre, no doubt on the back of the mounting number of reasons for not travelling by air. It is in fact quite a lovely spot with a wonderful bay and ready access to the Lakes. So if you find yourself up/down our way drop in and see us. We no longer have either a grate or a sneck but the welcome will be as genuine as ever.
Occasionally we have special outings and last Autumn we took advantage of a totally unexpected legacy from one of our dearest departed members, John Bond. We decided on a coach trip to Ullswater including a slap-up lunch at the famous ‘Inn on the Lake’, completing the first leg of the return journey on one of the lovely old lake steamers. (Sadly no longer steam-driven.)
The gardens of the hotel give directly onto the lake and as you can see from the picture we enjoyed a typical autumn day with sunshine and showers and more than one rainbow to brighten our memories of John. The return down the lake to Pooley Bridge with the brooding Helvellyn range on our port side and the fading sun’s rays from the opposite horizon glittering across the water was, simply, memorable."
