L-R: Hugh Wright and Club Chairman, Paul Davies It is now over two hundred years since the Napoleonic Wars raged across much of Europe but, remarkably, a collection of artefacts associated with one of the campaigns of that conflict has survived for all that time in the custody of one of our local families. At a meeting of the Bakewell and District Probus Club, member Hugh Wright brought several examples of these artefacts. They had been handed down through generations of his

L-R: Club Chairman Paul Davies and Kim Rainsford As in so many other aspects of life, the popularity of classical music composers can change remarkably quickly, such as that of Sir William Sterndale Bennett who was the subject of a talk to the Bakewell and District Probus Club by member Kim Rainsford. In his day, Bennett was highly regarded by his Victorian contemporaries but, since the early years of the 20th century, his music has fallen somewhat out of favour with the publ

L-R: Robert Thornhill and Club Chairman, Paul Davies Most of the speakers at the Bakewell and District Probus Club meetings are members of the club itself but on occasion, a guest is invited to talk on a special topic. One such meeting was held recently when the speaker was Robert Thornhill of Great Longstone, the current head of a long-established farming family in the village. Robert described how his farming grandfather in 1912 had decided to concentrate on poultry produc

L-R:John Hopkins and Club Chairman, Paul Davies On a recent typically cold, grey and wet December day, the members of Bakewell and District Probus Club were reminded of sunny skies and summer warmth by their colleague, John Hopkins, who presented a talk about his experiences as a schools inspector in Dubai. Having spent a career in teaching, culminating in a headmastership in Wales, and approaching the age of retirement, John was presented with the opportunity to serve as an

L-R: Tony Fry and Club Chairman, Paul Davies When, on the grounds of ‘Health and Safety’, we are prevented from carrying out a course of action, we sometimes complain that such considerations are an infringement of our liberties. However, the need for such legislation was clearly demonstrated at a recent meeting of the Bakewell and District Probus Club when member Tony Fry described three catastrophic industrial accidents which, most probably, would have been avoided had the

L-R: Steve Maybury and Club Chairman, Paul Davies To judge by the popularity of television and radio programmes devoted to the subject, crime thrillers are a source of continuing fascination to the public. Most of these are based on fiction but, in contrast, an actual murder committed in 1931 was the topic of a recent talk to the Bakewell and District Probus Club by member, Steve Maybury. The story, as related by Steve, was about an apparently contentedly married couple, Jul

L-R: Club Chairman, Paul Davies and Stefan Andrejczuk To many people in this country, the name of Marks & Spencer suggests the traditional British business but, in fact, it was founded by a penniless immigrant, Michael Marks who, in 1882, arrived in England unable to speak the language but who was determined to work hard to earn a living. The story of the famous retail business which bears his name and that of his partner, Thomas Spencer, was related to the Bakewell and Distr