1. Operation
Raleigh - Jan Adams |
Either scroll down the page or click on an article. |
OPERATION RALEIGH
(ON SITE REPORT NUMBER I)
We are sweltering in the Marina in Tenerife with abnormally hot weather - don't want to make you too
envious! We are preparing the boat to begin the sail across the Atlantic tomorrow evening.
We left the I.O.W. on Saturday 3rd October after hanging around a pontoon for several days because of bad
weather. By the Saturday morning it was glorious sunshine and we had to motor across to Cherbourg.
Having set off from France early on the Sunday we then sailed through the Alderney Race past Ushart and across the Bay of
Biscay having the wind almost behind us all the way - a fairly glorious sail. We saw very few boats and only had the,
dolphins occasionally for company. After 5 days we anchored in a little bay South of Finisterre
for breakfast and Art Muros in N. Spain for a glorious lunch ashore. We then took it fairly steadily calling at Lisbon, Lagos and Cadiz each
for a couple of days and finally reaching Gibraltar on 18th October.
We were regally entertained in Gibraltar by the Governor and the Minister of Tourism at various receptions with the military band on one occasion. We managed a visit to Tangier on the hovercraft during our stay. On Saturday 24th October we left Gibraltar with an official sail past Europa Point and a military salute - a rather small looking naval vessel fired a starting pistol! We immediately ran into fog but fortunately it didn't last too long.= Our boat was the only one of the 30 boats to make a detour via Madeira. We called at a lovely small island called Porto Sante which is 30 miles north of Madeira. It is volcanic - no trees - but a lovely stretch of sand along its southern coast and for the first time we felt the sea was warm enough to swim in. We spent 3 days resting in the sun and then continued to Madeira arriving in Tenerife on 3rd November. Here again we have been royally entertained by the Tourist Board and the very exclusive Real Club Nautico de Tenerife. We have been provided with a complete day tour of the island, a reception in City Hall, a 'fun day' and a Sardine Supper. The local people have taken small groups for picnic and we were lucky enough to be taken to a restaurant in the hills for a Sunday lunch of T - bone steak.
Three weeks across the Atlantic is now a very necessary routine to escape the mild dose of alcoholic poisoning we are beginning to suffer from. Everyone keeps writing to ask what we do at sea all day. We spend 4 hours on watch every eleven - we sleep - we attend to essential ship's duties like cooking etc. on a strict rota. As everything takes 3-4 times as long to do when you are rolling around, the day (and night) soon go. The odd really rough spell we have had you need to spend the time in the cockpit (on watch or helming) or in bed , it is too uncomfortable to even sit.
Jan Adams
WINE TASTING
HARVINGTON HALL
Harvington Hall was the venue for the Kdderminster Medical Society wine tasting on
Friday 9th October. It was clearly a popular and heavily over
subscribed event The Great Hall seemed like the perfect setting with its roaring open fire,
Elizabethan art and recently restored oak panelling. Portraits of the Hall's past
occupants looking down on the proceedings and hidden Priest holes added to the ambience of the
surroundings. We were sat in tables of ten and there were about seventy tasters of mixed ability.
The evening began when the President Dr Chris Smith said a few words and welcomed the Tanners (wine
merchant) representative, who were to host the evening, and promised "a tour
of the Loire". The Tanners representative provided background information about the grape varieties, location and vintages
of the wines. Brief tasting notes were also supplied. However there was generally
more tasting than, wine tutorage. Indeed
some tables made significant progress down the list of wines before our tutor had even opened his mouth. Much
discussion ensued around the tables as to the quality and taste of the wine. Some
bottles had to shared among two tables. Thus there were cries of "can we have wine number five please?". We never did
find out what was meant by the "floral qualities" of wine number seven. The tasting was followed by a very good cold
buffet served in a side room that had a limit of 12 people at a time due to a weak
floor! The evening had been a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Paul Williams
click
here to go to the top of the page
Kidderminster Medical Society 1997 - 1998
This year we have had some novel and ambitious events mainly thanks to the introduction of limited drug company sponsorship. I feel that this had been a
success in that I have been able to organise things that appeal to a wider range of
members. I hope that the drug company involvement has not been intrusive. I would like to thank Christopher Smith for being an enthusiastic president.
He has come up with the ideas of both the wine tasting and the trip to Birmingham
Symphony Hall (he even paid for the tickets up front!). I would like to also thank
Rachel Ward who was instrumental in both organising and executing the skiing trip
to Gloucester and organising the tennis evening, together with Jan Meggy and Gordon for their warm hospitality to all members and their children who came to
the tennis evening. Nigel Cockrell made a game effort to try and organise a golfevent but unfortunately did not have enough takers.
Thus the events that we have had in chronological order over the past twelve months have been: Trip to the New Year Concert at Birmingham Symphony
Hall; Skiing at Gloucester; Trip down the caves at Wolverley; Annual dinner at Stourport Moat House with guest speaker Don McLean; Tennis at Bewdley Tennis
Club, Wine tasting at Harvington Hall. The incoming president Martin Lewis and I have already had some
preliminary discussions about what to do next year but we are both a little bit lost
for ideas about a guest speaker or alternative entertainment at the Annual Dinner.
Any ideas for this or any other event will be gratefully received by either Martin
Lewis or any other member of the committee. ' I feel we have failed to honour our promise of last year that we would re-
invent the John Russell cup. Tony Carter, during recent discussions at lam in the
PCC assures me that some event will occur in the next 12 months.
David Malcomson
Thank you very much indeed for the invitation to be your President for the 105th year of the Society. I would also
like to thank Chris Smith and Christine most sincerely for all of their sterling
efforts on our behalf over the last twelve months. Maureen and I particularly enjoyed the Viennese Evening at the
Symphony Hall over the New Year and the annual dinner in the Summer. True to form Chris finished his term of office
in fine style with a splendid wine tasting evening at Harvington Hall. His is certainly going to be a very hard act to
follow!
This is clearly a most crucial time for the Society with decisions in the offing 'which are bound to have a
profound effect on health care for our
community for many years to come. I, for one, am extremely grateful to Richard Taylor and the other members
of the Campaign Group for all their
dedicated work over the last year two years and I trust that the fight to retain
worthwhile inpatient facilities in this hospital is far from over. I am also confident that we, as members of the
Medical Society, will remain as united as ever during this turbulent period and your Social Secretary and I will be doing
our level best to cement this unity of hospital and general practice with a varied series of expeditions and
entertainments over the next twelve months.
The social events for the year have not been entirely finalized as yet but we hope to include a Sunday
morning ramble in the Welsh Hills, a cycle ride from either Tenbury or Highley and a dawn chorus walk in the Wyre
Forest to be followed by breakfast at the Visitor Centre. I hope that it may also be
possible to support one of the concerts of the Kidderminster Choral Society in their centenary year and perhaps to hold
a musical evening on the top floor of the new Kidderminster library. Details of all
these events will be circulated very shortly and I am sure that Maureen and I can
count on your support for at least some of them. Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to help foster the
Medical Society over the next twelve months.
Martin
Lewis
click
here to go to the top of the page
The society held their annual tennis evening at Bewdley in July and walking on court with
Jim Paton was like stepping into a time-warp. Fred Perry would certainly have approved. Jim
turned up with an old wooden racket he might have borrowed from the Wimbledon museum.
But it looked as good as new, albeit it nearly two decades out of date, and just to remind us
that Rod Laver could hit the ball as hard as any of the graphite wielding beefcakes of today
Jims first smash not only cleared the baseline but landed just short of the River Severn.
Despite being a bit rusty after digging his antique bat out of the attic, Jim went on to
show that he could still playa decent game of tennis. Not surprising, really; his brother played
Junior Wimbledon.
The turnout was perhaps a shade down on last year, but good enough to have several
courts of doubles operating at once and the weather played a blinder. Madha EI Guindi wasso late arriving that he only had time for one set, but the quality was worth waiting for. He also
liked the club so much that he promptly asked for a membership form. Memo to the men's
captain - put him straight in the first team! A big thank you to Jan Meggy for putting on a
magnificent barbecue spread at her Bewdley home and for providing her strapping boys for the
water polo opposition that evening.
And a round of applause, if you please, fur Gordon, who managed the considerable feat of
cooking the meat and dishing it out with only one arm. The other was immobilised in a sling,
having come off worse when Gordon got into an unseemly fight with his ride-on mower a
fortnight or so earlier. After undergoing several hours of repairs, Gordon was discharged from
Kidderminster casualty department the same afternoon. Asked to comment on the ride-on
mower's condition, a hospital spokesman described it as "comfortable." Perhaps so, but not
when the rider is lying pinned under its back wheels!
Michael Ward
click
here to go to the top of the page
REPORT ON MEDICAL SOCIETY SKIING TRIP
On a fine March evening, a ragged group sporting bobble hats, anoraks and some proper
skiwear boarded a coach in the hospital car park and soon arrived in Gloucester. We were issued with boots
and skis and divided into groups. The experienced sped off to do their own thing on the slopes while the
novices, two groups of adults and one of children, were led off to flatter areas.
After some introductions, our instructor showed us how to ski a short distance and persuaded each of
us to display our aptitude. I had never been on skis before so I was pleased to complete my first attempt
without falling over. Smug mode did not last for long since my natural grace, poise and agility meant that none, of my subsequent runs
ended upright. We were shown more complicated manoeuvres like turning and stopping I didn't get the hang of either but some of my colleagues showed
great potential.
After a break for refreshments, the keen and the foolish returned for further trials. The ski lift was another novel experience - your nether regions jerked uphill with
the rest of your body dragged along later. Chatting on the way home, it was agreed that it had been an original idea for an
outing and a social success. But what did the experienced skiers think of the opportunity to practice their skills? It seems that views were divided between those
who felt that it was useful for improvement and those who thought the surface was so
different from real snow that it was not much help. As to the novices, how many were
started on the slope to addiction? Time, may tell.
Vic Schreiber
click
here to go to the top of the page
After junior jobs and a year in G.P. I came to the Midlands, at Prestwood Sanatorium, in 1938 hoping to do some
reading and to forward an interest in Tuberculosis but two unconnected events caused a change in plan. War was declared and I
married. I then had another year in G.P. before five years in undistinguished service in the A.A.M.C., with a
bonus of two years Tropical Medicine and a course in Bomb Disposal which fortunately took place in unsuitable flying
weather and a dearth of suitable bombs. A favourable M.A.C.P .Ed. examination was followed by a Consultant
Physician appointment at Yardley Green Hospital, where I continued until retirement in 1977, having seen the formation
of East Birmingham Hospital (later Heartlands) by amalgamation with Little Bromwich Hospital.
After retirement, work with Pension Appeal Tribunals and part time with Pneumoconiosis Panel was a new
experience and allowed time for relaxation. It is an unfulfilled ambition to land a salmon. Unfortunately my dear
wife developed a progressive illness requiring increasing attention. She died in 1995 after 56 years together.
I have seen many changes in Medical Practice in the last 60 years. Probably my most useful contribution was to
take part in the M.A.C. Trials of anti-tuberculosis drugs, the success of which resulted in major changes, in respiratory
medicine. Within ten years our hospital for children at Kyre Park had to close due to lack of patients. The chest unit at
E.B.H. retained a few beds for Tuberculosis but quickly filled up with non - tuberculous pulmonary disease.
I am grateful for membership of the K.M.S. with the opportunity to make new friends. I enjoy attendance at
clinical meetings, albeit with lessening understanding. I play Bridge inadequately and give some attention to the
garden where the lawn appears to enlarge yearly. Perhaps this year may see that salmon landed.
Hector Ross
click
here to go to the top of the page
I have, recently become a member of the Kidderminster Medical Society and hope that the next few paragraphs will
help introduce myself to other members. I started medical school at Sheffield in 1984 and
enjoyed my five years there, the highlight of which was a three month elective period in India. Peripheral attachments in
Scunthorpe and Rotherham were perhaps less memorable! I qualified in 1989 and stayed in Yorkshire for house jobs. After my
house year I returned to the Midlands and started vocational training with hospital posts at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry and South Warwickshire
Hospital, Warwick. I spent my trainee year in Warwick, the practice being in a very pleasant part of the town close to the castle. Having completed
vocational training I did G.P. locum work for several months in the Leamington and Coventry areas, including a few nights for the
deputising service in Coventry. I took up a partnership in Hagley in October 1994. I knew the area
quite well as I was born in Stourbridge and grew up in the Black Country. Soon after starting work in Hagley we moved over from Warwick and we
now feel settled here. My husband Andrew teaches in Worcester. I enjoy playing tennis and am
a member at Blakedown Tennis Club. Andrew is a keen club cricketer and turns out all too regularly for the Hagley first XI. We also enjoy walking,
gardening and visiting art galleries. Our new 'hopby' is our baby son Charles who arrived in March. I
return to work in July after maternity leave to find out first hand what it is like to be a working mum!
Louise Evans
click
here to go to the top of the page
As a schoolboy I never went to school from home but was boarded 120 miles away; so were the other four siblings in my family. At the end of
each term, for the vacation, everyone returned to the village in the south of Sri Lanka. Nothing was planned but each morning we would decide what to
do. If we found the paddy fields under water following previous day's rain in the mountains we would hurriedly make a raft using banana tree trunks and
row for miles in the flood and, if the sun was too hot we would remove our clothes and take a dip in the muddy water. We would wander about the tea
plantations, climb mountains, pick wild berries or watch rare birds. Often we would follow elephants for miles on foot if we saw them being taken to work. It
was a delight to watch them wallowing: in one of the many streams they crossed on their way. We would return home before sunset and no one would
question as to where we had been. Swimming in the river that flowed through the village needed permission from the parents and most often we complied
with this rule.
At school, being a boarder, there was time for sports and I did what I liked, rather than what my build dictated. Weighing just over seven stones and no taller than 5 foot 4, I represented my school at rugby and basket ball for a few years; playing hockey and running the 440 relay for my house were perhaps more appropriate. Rugby was my favourite sport but following a minor concussion during a Combined Universities match it was time to stop. Three of us were in the medical college at the same time and it was to economise that we decided to prepare a skeleton on our own. It was only after opening the gunny bag given to us by the village hospital mortician did we realise what little change six months underground does to soft tissue. When I First arrived in Glasgow in August 1975 I had a few anxious moments trying to converse with the taxi driver. Not only did I get used to the accent but over the next seven years the people we met and the places we visited in Scotland left us with a strong nostalgia. After I achieved my goal and a few more years of experience it was time to return home. Manoj was eight years old. Isura just one and Chandi a qualified nursery nurse; back in Sri Lanka I had a satisfying professional and a social life mainly due to the opening of the Southern University Medical School. Imagine preparing a lecture in Neurophysiology as a visiting lecturer to students who switched from Sinhalese to English after entering the medical college. Being a tutor in family medicine and an examiner were less demanding, but frankly rewarding were the duties as the Social secretary of the Galle Medical Association.
The annual Law-Medical clash needed months of planning for keenly contested competitions including two cricket matches, a netball match, Fanta
drinking for ladies and beer drinking for the men ending up with a dinner dance at a beach hotel.
Chandi had her private nursery which expanded to have a hundred children and twelve on the staff. Manoj sat of his 0 /Levels in Shinhalese and
Isura was a few years in school; everything was going on well, but again the grass in the opposite bank appeared greener. So here I am once again, this
time properly, in England since 1991. My First application was to Kidderminster and I do not know if I was the only applicant!
Chandi and the children accompanied me to continue with education. Chandi's interests are at the other extreme to that of mine and started work
at a primary school and tutoring Childcare courses. Finally as a hobby I have something that grows but does not occupy space, and gives great
contentment; meditation and its different techniques out of which Loving Kindness is my favourite.
(with apologies there have been small omissions from this article due to shortage of space).
Chandra L Pathirana
click
here to go to the top of the page