Event & Meetings Reports
Another milestone has been reached on this evening in the history of the Group, the change of venue to "The Sandboy", hopefully it will be a success. The premises were easy to find on the B1145 at Bawsey about one mile from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Car parking was easy and comparable with the "Pink House". Access to our meeting room was through a side door or via the bar. Judging by the few members who were eating and drinkiing I am sure the facilities were to a good standard.
Our meeting room was spacious and well appointed with chairs and small tables etc. and pleasantly warm.On a "lighter" note someone must read the instruction manual for the lights, to overcome the disco effect.
The speaker for the evening was our old friend David Grimes who spoke of Fairgrounds past, and his collection of slides was both informative and interesting. Some highlights were the various methods of making people ill by turning, twisting and throwing them around on machines which would not pass the Health & Safety regulations today. David mentioned John Savage who set up in business on the filled in river bed at Kings Lynn. He went on to design and build many fairground rides and steam traction engines. By all accounts he had a prosperous life despite the fact that the rides were priced in the 1,2& 3 pence bracket.
The slide show ended with some pictures of "modern" style traction engines which apparently did not find a market like the older styles did. Throughout the show it was obvious that a lot of effort was put into decorating the rides to attract the crowds.
The usual banter took place between David and his audience, with the meeting ending at 9.30 p.m. with coffee and tea being provided.
Peter Bowling
A potted history of the I A M by Martin Woodhouse
For those who missed it, this was an interesting and informative talk, showing the progress of the IAM from its inception to the present day. This was achieved with overhead projections and given by Martin, who, as many will know, is not lacking in confidence and does not suffer from word failure. He had dusted off the archives and found magazines and newsletters from way back all supported with factual information. Among the documents relating to the Norfolk & Norwich group were a copy of the minutes of the first committee meeting and a copy of the minutes of the first AGM.
The IAM was founded in 1956 with aim of improving the standard driving of the motorists of the day and they established test criteria to achieve this ideal. The IAM is a registered charity and largest Road Safety Organisation in the U.K. With over 112,000 members countrywide and 212+ local groups.
Some interesting, if horrifying, statistics were shown, 1.26 million people die each year in road traffic accidents and 3,000 of these on U.K. roads. 95%, of which are caused by human error.
The
IAM groups are also registered charities in their own right and are
affiliated to the IAM not owned by them. The Norfolk and Norwich group
is one of the biggest and has the largest area coverage ranging from:
Hunstanton & Cromer in the North to Yarmouth in the East, Downham
Market in the West & Bury St Edmunds in the South
It has currently some 740 members 72 associates and around 40 observers.
The high recruiting levels experienced by the group are achieved by face-to-face contact via a show stand travelling around the county. This has matured from humble beginnings consisting of a single table and chair to today’s Mobile Display Unit (MDU) purchased incidentally from the IAM for £50 (albeit much modified and improved) following their abortive attempts to control recruiting centrally. Photographs depicting the MDU at various events around Norfolk were on display.
All in all an illuminating presentation, particularly, for those of us who were unaware of the history of our organisation.
John Wallman
The second meeting at our new Kings Lynn venue saw the largest attendance for some years.
Mr Richard High gave a most interesting presentation about the regeneration projects being undertaken in the centre of King's Lynn and around the old "Muck Works" site in South Lynn. The talk was interspersed with aerial photos and also photographs of the streets in the 1960s and the present day. What a contrast! All that can be seen at the moment are tall screens hiding building works.
Mr High was able to explain a little of the recent history of the sad decline of this area. The landlord took their time to be convinced of the benefit of allowing a development company to take on the refurbishing and remodelling of a shopping centre that would meet the needs of modern retailers and their discerning customers. To support this extended "shopping opportunity", the Clough Lane Car Park is to become multi-storey. A great deal of thought has gone into the design of the building, which can boast of no pillars in the parking bays and an innovative raked ramp between floors. Although ultra-modern in its use of materials, it is hoped it will blend in well with the mix of architectural styles in the locality.
The final and most ambitious project is the possibility of building a Marina near the confluence of the Rivers Nar and Ouse and the opening of the Nar to navigation. The idea of cruising between King's Lynn and Liverpool has been raised. Capt. Vancouver's spirit lives on!
The presentation concluded with the opportunity for the large and attentive audience to raise questions of concern to the Advanced Motorist.
Frances Mann
Group visit to Reymerston Hall 2nd April 2005
In
sharp contrast to the cold and snowy 5th March, the original date of
our visit, the 2nd April turned out to be one of warmth and glorious
sunshine
when twenty-four members of the Group visited the home of Wing Commander
Ken Wallis to view his collection of Autogyros. Reymerston Hall, which
is approximately five miles from Dereham, is the home of a unique collection
of nineteen 'Wallis' autogyros built and flown by Ken Wallis since the
early 1960's.
Starting at 10.30 a.m. the Group were given a talk about the principles and theory of the autogyro and were then free to roam around the hanger to view the different types of autogyro and the many interesting exhibits and photographs relating to Ken's life in aviation. The star of the collection must be the famous, 'Little Nellie', used in the Bond film "You Only Live Twice". Ken, using a Type WA-116 that he built in 1962 carried out all the autogyro flying in the film. It is interesting to note that he made 85 flights over 45 hours for just 7 minutes of film used in the picture. The sequences, filmed in Japan, were often made at around six a.m., at a height of 6,000ft above sea level, with 'James Bond' wearing a short sleeved shirt. This proved to be rather cold even for our intrepid pilot. Another interesting point is that all the guns and rockets fitted to "Little Nellie" were fully operational although not using real ammunition.
The highlight of the visit was a flying demonstration of the two-seater autogyro WA-116-T "Zeus 3" which was flown by Ken Wallis in the film "The Martian Chronicles". Over one hundred different pilots have flown this machine during its evaluation stage and their names are written on the mast holding the rotor assembly. We all wended our way down to his airstrip, which gave us a wonderful photo opportunity as he taxied between the trees on his journey to the runway. Once lined up Ken started the rotor turning and, after winding up the Franklin engine, was airborne in a very short distance and climbing at a tremendous rate.
The remarkable stability of these wonderful machines was demonstrated when Ken flew circuits of his home with his feet and hands off the controls waving to those assembled below. Although there was very little wind he made the aircraft virtually hover before making some spectacular high speed runs and turns. After landing Ken very kindly answered questions, took part in a Group photograph and individually signed "Little Nellie" postcards for most of the Group before we said goodbye to Reymerston Hall after a very enjoyable and interesting visit.
The
agility and versatility of these wonderful little machines is something
to behold. Ken Wallis has held all eighteen World records for autogyros
and has proved that they can out-perform and out manoeuvre most other
aircraft in weather that would ground nearly all
them . They can be towed behind a car and are
instantly ready for operation as soon as they are removed from the
trailer. They are also very cheap to run and maintain and have had
over forty years of development.
So, why are they not used commercially?
Roy Purdy
The Confessions of an "Insurance Claims Inspector"
Our speaker for the 13th April was Eddie Hopkins who gave an interesting presentation, supported by slides, on the ramifications of car insurance and what happens after an accident.
Eddie is well known by the long serving members having been in the N&N IAM for many years both as a member and an observer. Having retired from the police he is now a self employed Claims Inspector. The talk was fairly wide ranging, covering Car Insurance companies and their changing profile over the years, through what to do when involved in an accident, and finally the results arising as a consequence.
Companies have both amalgamated and fragmented in many ways and as a result no longer employ investigators in house but operate through agents to engage the services of a Claims Inspectors. The prime function of these inspectors is to gather detailed evidence of accidents particularly where the claim is either substantial or suspicious. Interviews relating to such investigations are lengthy and can last anything up to two hours as the insurance company requires minute detail in order to evaluate a claim and minimize fraudulent claims.
What to do in accidents! Much of this is covered in your insurance company's handbook but particular emphasis was made on two areas, firstly "Never admit liability" and keep diary notes of the accident e.g. precise location, weather, road signs etc. and afterwards dates of hospital or GP visits or treatments all of which may be importance afterwards. A useful piece of advice was to accept the "Legal cover" element on your insurance policy; this entitles you to a lawyer in the event that one is required.
One interesting observation when viewing the many slides of scenes of accidents was that many of them could have been avoided if the driver had been an I.A.M. graduate and had developed the skills associated with that of a practicing advanced driver.
This was an interesting and informative presentation and much appreciated by the members who showed their appreciation in the usual way.
John Wallman
Talk
by Andrew Ingham. March 21st 2001.
Wisbech has always been known as the Capital of the Fens and Andrew gave a very interesting talk about the town ranging from about 1946 up to the present day.
Being a very regular visitor to the town over the years, I was able to recall many memories of it as the evening went on. The photographic standard of his slides was excellent and this showed the architecture of many of the old buildings very well and also the filling in of the old canal, which ran through Wisbech from East to West. This enabled a dual carriageway to be built and now carries the through traffic which then transverses the River Nene by the Freedom Bridge and on into Lincolnshire.
The Horse Fair which is now a shopping centre was where horses were sold on Whit Monday each year but was discontinued in 1806. I recall, at the end of the last war, coming back from a day out at Peterborough and having to wait on the Horse Fair on a miserable afternoon in October for the next bus. And at 4.0pm the carillon of bells started to ring from the tall clock close by. The hymn tune they rang was, "The Church's One Foundation Is Jesus Christ Our Lord." The bells rang one complete verse and it was the only sound to be heard at that time and made a great impression on me. I understand the bells no longer ring which is very sad but, on reflection, the amount of traffic which now passes through close to the clock would make the chimes unheard.
It was interesting to see the many old shops which now seem to us 'Old Un's' a distant memory. One special photo was the interior of a corner shop with the shopkeeper, who had a strong resemblance to Norman Wisdom, serving two young boys. Another great interest was the fashions of those days with most men wearing caps or trilbys and long coats.
Another great interest was the trams which plied between Wisbech East Station, Emneth and Outwell and the shots showing trams chugging alongside of the road interested many in the audience. I recall, in my railway days, the huge amount of soft fruit which was grown and carried by the railways in the 40' and 50's and the W & U Tramway carried its fair share of the traffic.
Andrew spiced his talk with many lighthearted remarks about some of the photos and this made the evening most enjoyable.
Ray Bullock
The Workings of the Crown Prosecution Service by Peter Tidy
Peter's
talk had the potential disadvantage of having to follow the usual
double act of the Chairman and Secretary. Who said live entertainment
was dying in Norfolk!
For those who were not able to attend the meeting, this report will be even more frustrating because of Peter's recounting of incidents and decisions made by the CPS that were strictly off the record. They provided a fascinating insight to the decisions that were made about cases that did not reach the courts.
The CPS was established in 1986 by bringing together the prosecution functions previously undertaken by the police and by county councils into an independent body within the Criminal Justice system. The result is a CPS that is aligned with the organisational boundaries of the 42 police forces and is close to the community it serves through the Magistrates and County Courts. It performs four roles; advising the police during criminal investigations (and is developing this role further to advise and help the police in terms of evidence gathering and investigation); reviewing all cases raised by the police and decides which will go to court; preparing the case and then providing advocacy as crown prosecutors.
The decision to prosecute is based on two simple tests and following guidelines set out in the CPS' Code. Is there a realistic prospect of conviction using the evidence provided, and would it be in the public interest to prosecute? Peter used several scenarios to describe the difficulty in assessing public interest. For example an elderly minor shoplifter, where the action could be attributed to health or other issues; or a youth, where a criminal record for a very minor offence would result in consequences that would severely damage their future prospects. Another example was of a simple driver error, such as swerving to avoid an animal, having resulted in deaths and injury. No offence had been committed but the relatives of the victims were seeking prosecution. This sparked a lively debate on the relationships between perceived justice, emotion and whether the consequences of an incident should determine that some form of prosecution should take place.
Peter also highlighted the disparity between an offence and its consequential sentencing. For example driving without due care and attention that resulted in fatalities only carried the maximum penalty of a fine and/or community working. Yet an incident of dangerous driving, such as excessive speed, carried a potential penalty of 14 years in prison. To gain public confidence on this issue of disparity the government is considering, to misquote Gilbert and Sullivan, of making the punishment fit the consequences of the crime.
Peter summarised by saying that people need the confidence that, once a decision has been made on whether to prosecute or not, the decision was made correctly. There was lingering concern that a decision may be made correctly, but that the correct decision was not made. Black and white cases are very clear; it is the very many shades of grey that are the problem.
Brian Strowger
Talk by Bill Wellbourne Fenland Aviation Museum Wisbech on 25 April
Bill was extremely enthusiastic and explained in great detail in his talk the difficulties that are encountered in the recovery of crashed WW2 aircraft.
The "digs" as they are known take a huge amount of planning. Initial research could involve speaking to eyewitnesses or consulting MOD or local archives before doing a "recce" of where the crashed aircraft is thought to be.
In the main, the aircraft are found by metal detectors but in some cases small fragments are still to be found on the surface.
Once found a licence for the dig has to be obtained from the MOD. This is normally refused if the bodies of the crew are thought to be on board. Permission also has to be obtained from the farmer who owns the field and also from the local historical society.
The dig, which is normally done with a JCB, takes about a day to recover the remains. One of Bills deepest digs was to recover a Spitfire, which was 26 feet under the ground. His biggest recovery was an American B29 that was based at Sculthorpe and crashed near West Walton.
He then went on to show us some extremely interesting slides of digs together with slides of exhibits from the museum which includes preserved planes and engines, gun displays, a static display of more modern aircraft and a mock up of a Boeing 747 cockpit.
Bill concluded his talk by saying that contrary to what some people might think "we are not grave robbers we are just trying to put something back"
Bill Wellbourne
Presentation by Wing Commander Ken Wallis to West Norfolk Advanced Driving Group 27 June 2005
I don't think that I have ever before sat through 3 straight hours of someone talking without losing concentration. This by a man of nearly ninety who can only be described as "exceptional". Brave, ingenious, capable and very intelligent are other words that spring to mind. He has done so may things with his life and can still remember and describe them in a detailed and fascinating manner. He was throwing out facts and figures with such machine-gun rapidity that I know I did not manage to capture all that he said on paper but I hope the following will give flavour to his amazing career.
Before the Autogiro
His father became interested in motorcycles, motorcycle racing and then building motorcycles at the beginning of the last century. On a visit to Paris in 1908, his father and brothers saw an aircraft and decided to build their own out of steel tubing. This was wrecked after a few hops but the mechanical bug had bitten deeply by then. Pre-Great War military exercises drew the brothers into despatch riding and into the motorcycle business.
In the 1930s Ken built boats and took part in propeller-driven speedboat racing. He had particular success with an engine with no throttle, only an advance/retard lever to control the speed. This craft had the unfortunate habit of occasionally starting and running in reverse! He has built car bodies on machines as diverse as Austins and Rolls Royces.
Initially turned down by the RAF for flying due to very poor eyesight in one eye, he persuaded a doctor that he could see sufficiently and gained his civilian pilots licence (12 hours tuition, £14 cost). Luck and subterfuge gave him entry to the RAF and initially he flew Lysanders during the war, patrolling to look out for for the expected German invasion fleet. Low level work was practised by flying UNDER telephone wires!
He went onto Wellington bombers dropping propaganda leaflets as well as bombs and crashed twice, the first time parachuting from under 750 feet and the second time crash landing after an altercation with barrage balloon wires. On his second crash, the aircraft came to rest only eighteen inches from the edge of a vertical quarry face. At the time he was still building "special" cars and because petrol was difficult to get, he put together an electric motorcycle. This then led to making model electric racing cars, this fifty years before Scalextric.
Running an RAF air-gunnery training flight led to an ability at target shooting (up to the level of shooting at Bisley!), designing and making guns and then cameras. He flew over the Anzio beach head in support of allied landings in Italy but when he applied to transfer to flying Mosquitoes, his poor eyesight was found out and he was transferred to a technical branch of the service. Here he helped to develop the rotary cannon and worked with the man who invented the Sten Gun. He designed new bombs, discovered ways of penetrating the then very new jet aircraft engines with gunfire and then somehow or other got back into flying first Canberras, then Meteors and Vampire Jets. When working in the United States he unknowingly ordered General Curtis Le May out of the way of his Rolls Royce car whilst demonstrating its starting abilities. Then he was flying Boeing B36s over the North Pole loaded with nuclear weaponry on cold war patrol and in his spare time racing speedboats on the Missouri. Back in England he was given the opportunity to fly airships from Cardington.
After the Autogiro
In 1930 R. Hafner unveiled the Rotachute which was designed to allow individual troops to be pulled behind a bomber and do a controlled landing in enemy territory. This did not find success but a Dr. Benson then designed a gyro glider from which Wallis developed the Autogyro. As I understand it, this is a small aircraft with a "pusher" propellor at the back, given lift by free- spinning helicopter-like blades. It is slow (max speed about 100 mph) but very versatile and delicate in its applications.
It was first flown at Shoreham airfield on 2 August 1961. The Army Air Corps were very interested but then decided to go for enclosed conventional helicopters instead. Ken left the air force in 1964 (I was 9 then) to concentrate on the Autogyro project. He was asked to help make a "spaghetti-James Bondish" film in Brazil and after being interviewed by the media, the real James Bond people contacted him. After Cubby Broccoli saw him make an impressive short take-off, he was booked for You Only Live Twice and Little Nellie became a household name.
Ken and the Autogyro were feted by the publicity people and he performed stunts such as using the autogyro to race police cars, fly under bridges in Switzerland, and strafe terrified camera crews in Germany. In Sweden in 1969 he flew the first two-seater. Plessey developed ground-penetrating radar and this was attached to an autogyro to look for buried bodies including the still-missing Lord Lucan. A previously undiscovered Roman Temple was found in Hayling Island and underground water pipeline leaks were found. The autogyro also found roles as crop-sprayer, TV documentary film platform (no downdraft from rotor blades) and as a tracker of suspect vehicles.
In 1981 the military were once again interested and it was tested for SAS-type use and as an aircraft for use on ships too small to use conventional helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. This necessitated Ken flying onto and off some very small decks in rocky circumstances. There was also other experimental cold war use. Recently he built a replica of his fathers first steel- tube plane and it flew.
Suddenly it was half past ten and I was released from his thrall. There are few real heroes left in the world but Ken Wallis does seem to be one of them. I hope I do him justice in this recounting of his tale.
Sandy Reid
Viv Williamson - Mole Catcher to the Queen
The first mole catcher in 300 years to be awarded a Royal Warrant, Viv Williamson originally served an apprenticeship as a gamekeeper, and his mentor used to catch moles and cure and sell their pelts to a furrier in Wisbech. Viv now tends the Sandringham estate, golf courses and gardens, as well as Environment Agency and Ministry of Defence premises. He delivered a fascinating insight into his work, bringing with him many examples of the hardware associated with catching and despatching unwelcome creatures.
The main part of the talk focused on the mole, a delightful little animal with a beautiful, soft 'velvet' coat. Weighing only 3 to 4 ounces each, and with 42 sharp teeth, moles have to excavate sufficient soil each day to find 200 earthworms to eat, and in doing so, leave the familiar heaps of spoil which has been dug out of the ground. As Viv said, the skill of his profession is in knowing where to set the trap to catch the mole - and sonic devices or smoke bombs are a waste of money - humane trapping is the only way! The only wild predator of moles is the fox, and as the mole spends most of its time underground, it tends to survive to dig another day.
Viv went on to talk about wasps, and show the audience samples of their nests. Like moles, their numbers seem to be increasing due to the incidence of milder winters. There are three types of wasp in Britain, beginning the season eating aphids, and by the end of the summer eating anything sweet. The incidence of hornets' nests in new houses locally was becoming a problem last year, and we saw photographs of Viv dealing with wasp and hornet nests. He also showed us an amazing bumble bee nest, and pleaded with us not to worry about these familiar, non-aggressive insects.
A number of other beasties were discussed: mice, the brown rat, grey squirrels, and rabbits: Viv has the answer to infestation by any of these, and showed us the modem means of dealing with them, along with ghastly traps of all kinds, outlawed since 1958 when gin traps and the like were banned from use. Viv gives many talks, and all donations received for these are given to the breast care unit of the Queen Elizabeth hospital, in memory of Viv's mother. £10,000 raised by Viv has already been used for the purchase of new equipment for the unit.
Pamela Austin
Ted Clements had come to entertain us again and had kindly brought along his very high tech reaction time giving a few of those present a chance to test their reactions.
He gave us a mixture of anecdotes from his time as Chief Examiner for the IAM with quite a bit of name dropping proving that it is not just mere mortals like us that want to improve their driving skills.
Mixed in with facts on accidents and some suggestions on how to improve Road Safety. How effective just seeing a Policeman can be on some peoples driving and making Road Signs more visible.
He also feels that giving a commentary, even when you are alone is a very good idea as it makes you think even more about what is going on around you.
Cathryn Waldon
My Life & Times in the Motor Trade by David Grimes
Normally we see David with his sets of slides, but this time it was going to be different He came into the meeting, put a chair on the stage, sat down and made himself comfortable. He had been asked to come and ramble on [for about 3 hours he said] about how he got into engineering.
His Headmaster saw that he wasn't interested in sport so allowed him to make electrical bits & pieces instead. His early innovations include illuminated signs for the Science Lab, stop lights and indicators on his bike which were the envy of his school mates and providing useful income when he made them some of the same. His family home did not have electricrty so he constructed a water wheel and later a wind generator to provide electricity to light the house.
David and his family lived on the Sandringham Estate where his father was a footman to King George VI. He decided that he was not interested in following his father, he was more interested in nuts & bolts. On leaving school he went to work in a local garage. David explained that in those times you had to be an engineer able to strip and rebuild engines, gearboxes etc nowadays it is just a case taking out the broken one and replacing it with one from the stores.
David decided to have a break from the motor trade and joined the RAF where he found himself a job in RAF Coastal Command servicing high speed rescue launches. On completion of his time in the RAF he returned to a motor firm in Kings Lynn making a good business in repairing crashed cars by joining the good front end of one with the good back of another or vica-versa. A method called cut and shut now very illegal.
David then went on to start up on his own and built up a thriving business, all his work coming in on personal recommendation - he never advertised.
(There is much more to David Grime, than this but space precludes, the more detailed report I got....Ed)
Thank you David from all of us for sharing some of your memories.
Dorothy Nash