Donation to Birmingham Medical School
New member   Oladele Odusami
Letter from Michael Sterling
New Member - Elizabeth Seakins
New Member - Rabia Imbaz
2006 Annual Dinner
New Members List
Farewell
Our First Cypriot Easter
Jocelyn Trevor Newcombe Williams - Obituary
Kidderminster Medical Society Walk, June 2007
The Revenge of the Fig Tree
A Tree for the Post Graduate Medical Centre
Am Bastier (Skye)  CASEVAC May 2007
A Comedy of Errors
The Blue Badge
Discover Birmingham with a Blue Badge Guide
Medical Society Dinner 2007
Annual General Meeting 2007
A C2C Odyssy

Geoff Campion, Chairman of Trustees
Oladele Odusami
Michael Sterling, Vice Chancellor
Elizabeth Seakins
Rabia Imbaz
Report
Report
Editorial - Hilary Boyle
Isobel Davies
Richard Horton
Richard Horton
Barrie Davies
Tim Wadsworth
Lesley Hickman
Steven Booth
Chris Gait
Hilary Boyle
Hilary Boyle
Hilary Boyle
Martin Lewis

January 2007
Donation to Birmingham Medical School

After the Society confirmed at the AGM on 5th October 2006 the award of a postgraduate bursary and a donation to name a seminar room (newsletter No. 44), I accepted an invitation to attend a symposium on medical education at Birmingham Medical School, representing the Society and the other invitees, our president Paul Glossop and honorary secretary Wendy Kingston.

The symposium, on the future of medical education, was to mark the opening of the new facility, and comprised speeches by Sir Liam Donaldson (Chief Medical Officer), Professor Sir Graeme Catto (President General Medical Council) and Baroness Cumberledge ( Vice President Royal College of Nursing). All quite interesting and entertaining and the buffet lunch wasn't bad also !!

The new lecture theatre and seminar rooms were very impressive with, of course, state of the art functions and I was able to take these fairly poor photographs of the Kidderminster Medical Society Room.

On behalf of the Society I received both written and verbal thanks from Simon Lerwill, the development executivew, and particularly this letter from the Vice Chancellor.

Geoff Campion
Chairman of Trustees

Dear Dr Campion,

I realise that you have already received a number of letters in respect of your organisation's donation in support of the new Wolfson Centre for medical education and pledge to support a postgraduate Bursary at the Medical School. However, I do want to add my personal thanks, and indeed those on behalf of the whole university.

The stunning new facilities that you will have seen at the symposium last week augment the original 1938 medical school amenities that were unable to meet the needs of our expanded student population and make a dramatic difference to our medical education provision. As you know, part of your gift will fund a small group teaching room that will provide essential break out rooms for tutorials and allow students to discuss specific aspects of lectures in the adjacent state of art lecture theatre.

Your gift will additionally enable the school to widen its access to its postgraduate research programmes by providing assistance to those students who most need it. I am sure you are aware of how expensive higher education is becoming for students and that this is a major dissuasive factor for some very talented candidates. When realised,  your support will offset some of this financial burden and make a very real difference to the educational experience of the student selected as a recipient.

The university is very appreciative of this contribution and we are pleased to welcome you to our distinguished circle of donors who are invaluable to our work. Simon will, of course, keep you regularly informed about the awarding of the bursary and the student recipient will, of course, be writing to thank you personally.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Sterling

January 2007
NEW MEMBERS

Oladele Odusami

Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself. I was born and bred in Nigeria, trained in Ogun State University (Nigeria) where I graduated in 1998. I did my one year house job in Nigeria before proceeding to Grenada(West Indies) for a year internship training.

I arrived in UK in late 2000, did some locum jobs in Internal Medicine before joining the 3 year North Worcestershire GP VTS. I am currently a GP principal in Stanmore House Surgery where I am trying to build a good career in general practice.

I am married to Grace, we are blessed with two boys Timmy(2yrs) and Tommy(3months).

'Dele Odusami

Elizabeth Seakins

Like a Wandering Albatross I have returned to work in Kidderminster! I spent my trainee year at Stanmore House where Neil Jarvie was my trainer. After this I spread my wings & went on an expedition to Siberia (it's actually hot in the summer there!). This gave me even more of a taste for travel and soon the only part of the BMJ I was interested in was the overseas jobs! I found the perfect job, a GP in the Falkland Islands! This involved looking after the islanders, the big fleet of visiting fishing boats & occassionally servicemen. Home visits are much more fun when they involve the aeroplane landing on the beach or climbing up the side of a boat surrounded by a snowstorm of albatross! I have also worked in several other countries most recently in Labrador Canada. I'm still travelling around as much as possible! Back at Stanmore House I carry out minor operations & naturally am interested in travel medicine!

Elizabeth Seakins

Miss Rabia Imbaz

I was born in Pakistan, went to school in sunny Dubai, after my basic training moved to freezing silver city of Aberdeen. I came to Scotland as an Obs and Gynae SHO and progressed to Specialist Registrar and then senior registrar. During my SpR training I met Jay got married and followed him to the West Midlands.

My special interest and training in high risk Obstetrics and foetal medicine made me successful in getting this challenging post of the Consultant Obstetrician in Worcestershire County - created to improve the maternity services. I will be utilising my talent to strengthen and develop the existing maternity. I am aiming at the development of low risk midwifery led unit and at the same time provision of specialised fetal and maternal medicine services locally so most women can be treated within the county.

My non clinical interests are fashion coordination and shoe shopping on regular basis Jand playing golf when I find the time.

I have only been in Worcestershire for three months but already feel at home here. Thank you for making me feel so welcome.

Rabia Imbaz

January 2007
Welcome!

     To the new members elected at the AGM in October –

GPs Elizabeth Seakins & “Sami” Odusami at Stanmore House, Feraz Irfan at Aylmer lodge, Ihsan Tarsi at York Street & Claire Turner at Northumberland House; KGH dentist Lorraine Holtom and consultants Bernie Coope, Graham Jones & Rabia Imitiaz.

April 2007
OUR FIRST CYPRIOT EASTER

This is our first Easter In Cyprus in our new home in the village of Anogyra, some 600 meters above sea level and one of only eight heritage villages on the island.I thought you may like to share the experience of  just how different our Easter experience in a  Greek Orthodox community was from what you expect in the UK.

 Our home lies a hundred yards from the very pretty little church. The bells ring daily at 6.45 but, during Holy week, they rang at 6.30am and hourly through the day. Papa (who doubles as the village stonemason - and very good at it he is) chanted each morning calling all to prayer.

 Devout Greek Orthodox communicants fast for forty days during Lent, omitting all meat and dairy products from their diet. The less devout hedge their bets and fast during Holy Week only!

 On Maundy Thursday my neighbour called and invited us to visit her home the following morning to watch the holy bread being taken from the oven. Janet bought her home a few years ago - a traditional stone house complete with a very large beehive oven in the garden. Custom dictated that the matriarchs of the village use this oven during Holy week. On Good Friday we were duly called at 6.45am to watch the removal of a vast number of loaves using what appeared to be a very large long handled shovel by a tiny and very old lady ( Elena is reputed to be 94 years old).She loaded all the bread into a hand cart and pushed it up to church for distribution by the Papa on Easter Sunday. The next person to appear was the wife of the local taverna owner who had made Flaounes. This is eggy, spicy, sweet bread which is again  traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday to break the fast. And finally at lunchtime on Good Friday we were invited to attend the killing of a goat in preparation for the festivities the following day when it was to be slowly cooked on a spit and served with salad and various vegetables. As you will imagine, this invitation was graciously declined!!!

 In the afternoon we were taken to church to view the floral decorations. The entire church was covered with flowers and the centre piece (traditionally decorated by the virgins of the village) was what looked like a four poster bed but the size of a childs cot and decorated with ferns, lillies and gloriously scented Damask roses. These Cyprus roses are grown here on the island commercially, and used in the perfume industry. Outside in the church yard young lads were building a bonfire, onto which people with anything to get rid of were adding to until it reached an alarming height.

 At 6.00pm on Good Friday, the bell began to toll and a procession of people with the Papa leading wended their way through the streets of the village carrying the ‘four poster bed’ decked with flowers eventually ending back in church for yet another service.

 On Saturday the whole village smelled of cooked meat. Wherever we walked there was souvla being cooked in gardens and on roadways - Cypriot pigs, goats and lambs certainly have a hard time around Easter ! The village shop sold out of eggs |(to be hard boiled and decorated), salad and vegetables by 3.00pm and there was a party atmosphere everywhere. By late afternoon the 10k little road to the village from the motorway resembled the M25 in rush hour  as relatives living in the cities returned to ‘their village’ for the Easter holiday celebrations. Our village which was built when donkeys were the only mode of transport was full to bursting with cars. No-one could leave if they had wanted to.

 The evening service started at 7.00pm with much bell ringing and chanting by the Papa and anyone else who had consumed enough Zivania to smother inhibition! . Under Greek Orthodox tradition, and very different from United Kingdom, no-one is expected to stay for the whole  service. People walk in and out of the church, chat to their neighbours, use their mobile phones,  have a cigarette and go back in only to repeat the whole performance in half an hour!

 And when midnight on Easter day had  finally arrived, it was time for the fast to be be broken. The bonfire was lit, fireworks went off and the feasting (washed down with liberal quantities of locally distilled Zivania and wine) began. This was briefly interupted for a few hours of sleep only to be restarted at the firsat opportunity and continued throughout the day. Easter Day afternoon was devoted to the children with games in the school yard when the eggs that the children decorated were rolled down the hill and eaten at the bottom. Fathers and children took part in a tug of war and later all had picnics in the school grounds.

 n this Greek Orthodox community, Easter is a far more important and celebrated occasion than elsewhere in the Christian world where Christmas seems to take the lead role. But do you know what stod out most in our first Cypriot Easter – the almost complete lack of commercialism. Here in Cyprus, Easter is a family occasion, a village occasion where the church takes the lead role rather than a background irritation!

Isobel Davies
Isobel and Barrie emigrated to Cyprus
(without regrets) in August 2006

June 2007

OBITUARY

Jocelyn Trevor Newcombe Williams

1928 - 2006

Joss, as everybody knew him, was born in Newport, Monmouthshire and educated at Newport High School and then Felsted School (which was evacuated to Goodrich in the war).  Following National Service, he went up to St John’s College, Cambridge, to study medicine.  His clinical undergraduate studies were undertaken at Guy’s Hospital and following qualification, he carried on there doing his house officer jobs. 

His initial experience of General Practice was as a locum in Eardisland, which was followed by a partnership with David Ellis in High Wycombe.

In 1964 he joined Donald Black in partnership at the surgery, which was at that time located in rather cramped premises in York Street.  Well known colleagues that worked alongside the two full time principals included Jan Adams and John Ball.  Janet Hughes subsequently joined the partnership and the premises increasingly became “unfit for purpose”.  Joss was instrumental in the negotiations with the County Council on the development of Stourport Health Centre, as part of the complex of County Council buildings, which also included the Library, Police Station, Fire Station and Magistrates’ Court.  The move from York Street to the Health Centre was eventually accomplished in 1972 on the opening of the buildings.

Donald Black reduced his hours in 1973 and Richard Horton joined the partnership in 1974, to be followed by Jim Paton two years later when Janet Hughes left. When Donald finally retired, the Practice increased to four full time doctors with the arrival of Gary Parsons and continued until Joss finally retired in 1991. 

Throughout his time in Stourport, Joss was a good and caring family doctor as well as being actively involved in additional work including holding an honorary contract at the Lucy Baldwin Maternity Home and representing General Practitioners on the District Medical Committee.

A keen rugby and hockey player in his youth, he remained a staunch Welsh supporter and was always to be seen with a daffodil in his buttonhole on St David’s day.  A keen gardener his buttonhole was often graced at most other times by a rose from his own garden.  He had four children from his first marriage, only one of which followed in their father’s footsteps to study medicine and become a GP. On his subsequent marriage to Brenda, he was again involved in the design and building of a new bungalow in part of the garden of his original home in Astley. 

He remained active in the initial years of his retirement but as time went on, he became increasingly infirm due to the ravages of osteoarthritis.  Always a fighter, he was reluctant to give in to the condition that restricted him so greatly and with the prospect of a permanent wheelchair existence threatening, opted to have a major operation on his back.  Although the operation went well, he sadly suffered a post-operative myocardial infarction and subsequent stroke from which he did not recover, dying peacefully in Selly Oak Hospital.

Joss will be remembered by many with affection, the epitome of the family doctor of days gone by, a good friend and colleague who is sadly missed.

Richard Horton

Wild Moor

Carding Mill Valley

View from Jinlye

June 2007
KMS Walk
16^th June 2007

 A small, select party met in the National Trust car park in Carding Mill Valley, above Church Stretton, on a Saturday morning in uncertain weather conditions! 

The Hortons were soon joined by Paul Williams and family (+dog) and subsequently by the Lewises (+dog) and Chris Gait (who made up for lack of wife by bringing 2 dogs)!  Finally the Starkies arrived (+dog) but more unwelcomingly, so did the rain.

Paul and family elected to potter around in Carding Mill while the rest of the party set off on a circular walk around the less well known northern end of the Long Mynd. 

Initially wooded and with an absence of sheep, all the dogs enjoyed their freedom off the lead as we contoured around Nover’s Hill before restraint was the order of the day as we ascended Long Batch.  A steeper ascent up to Plush Hill was rewarded with wonderful views of The Lawley, Caer Caradoc and the Clee Hills, with an occasional glimpse of the Wrekin through the clouds.  After a brief discussion about the alpacas (not llamas) in the field at Jinlye, the ascent became gentler, accompanied by skylarks singing overhead and ravens audible in the distance.

With the skies becoming darker and an occasional crack of thunder we arrived at the Port Way (originally a mediaeval road once used by pack ponies carrying lead ore and salt between England & Wales) in a downpour of rain and hail!  This was the point at which the party split into two, with the Hortons and David & Fiona Starkie (+Boris) electing to continue on the 17k route while the rest (as they had planned even before the downpour) returned along the top of the Mynd on the 9k route to the head of Carding Mill Valley and back down to the car park.

The longer walkers didn’t see a drop of rain for the rest of the day! Descending from the Mynd, we could see how localised the weather was with some places suffering the deluge, while others were completely dry.  Wonderful views of the Stiperstones opened up as we descended to Darnford and walked above the brook to Rattlinghope.  From there it was a steady climb back up to meet the Port Way, again with wonderful views looking back, across to the mountains of North Wales.  From the top of the Mynd, it was a gentle walk back down the valley to a welcome cup of tea in the NT tearoom.

A big thanks to everyone who came along, knowing that the weather was likely to be “changeable”.   We were very impressed with how well the children walked and also how well behaved the dogs were!  Star prize has to go to Fiona Starkie, who completed the 17k including nearly 700m of ascent and descent in 4 ½ hours which included a stop for a picnic lunch.

Richard Horton 

July 2007

The Revenge of the Fig Tree

Eleni is a 97 year old Cypriot neighbour of mine. She is just 4ft 1inch tall, walks a mile to the shop every day and lights candles outside her front door every night to guide the angels when they come to collect her ! She is a fiercely independent soul and only relies on us neighbours to do the heavy jobs that she can no longer manage.

And so it was with some concern,  a few weeks ago, that I heard a noise that sounded just like a tree being felled – and the noise seemed to come from Eleni’s back yard. A quick jog (well, fast walk really) round to her house, and the source of the noise was clear. A massive fig tree branch, heavily laden with fruit, had broken from the main trunk and crashed down, narrowly missing Eleni as she hung out her washing. Naturally she was very upset and frightened and it took a lot of soothing noises, and a promise from Peter (another neighbour) and I that we would cut down the whole tree the following morning to calm her down ( and a few extra candles that night).

Chain saw, axe and bow saw were the tools of choice as we attacked the offending tree. In temperatures of nearly 100F, stripped to the waist and with sweat pouring off us it took just 3 hours to reduce the tree to a pile of wood stacked and drying, ready for the log fire next winter. A very satisfying morning and a very happy Eleni, but little were we aware of the revenge that was fermenting in the decimated fig tree.

The following morning, Isobel my wife noisily scolded me for not using the factor 50 sun cream the day before when working out in the sun. And indeed it did feel sore on my back, front, arms and even my hands – in places where the sun rarely ventures. As the day wore on, so the soreness became more intense, despite layer upon layer of soothing creams, and a quick enquiry over the garden wall revealed that Peter was suffering the same symptoms. It was only that evening, while enjoying a meal at the taverna, that the cause of the rapidly worsening skin redness, soreness and blisters was explained.

‘You did cover yourselves up when cutting Eleni’s fig tree didn’t you? ’ said Andree, the taverna owner. Well, to be fair, in temperatures approaching 100F nothing could have been further from our minds - could it. ‘ Never touch the leaves or wood of a fig tree after dawn, when the sap has risen ‘ were her words. And indeed they were the words of many other knowledgeable Cypriots who made sucking noises of reproach and sympathy but, the problem was, no-one had told us before we embarked on the destruction of the fig tree!!

There followed a whole week of the intense soreness, redness and skin destruction associated with a chemical burn. Blisters the size of teacups, painful splits at joints and skin folds and an extreme hypersensitivity to the extent that even the touch of clothing made the eyes water. Probably the most soothing sensation was just to stand in  the swimming pool !!!

A search on Google found the following comments.

      Fig trees ooze a white latex sap from pruning cuts. This sap contains an irritant called ficin that can cause dermatitis. Wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, full-length pants, a hat, and full-coverage eye goggles (not just glasses) when pruning fig trees, then wash thoroughly afterward.

      The latex from the fig tree contains a proteolytic enzyme, ficin which is extremely irritant to skin and to the conjunctiva.

      Special cells in the plant produce a latex that contains ficin, a protein-decomposing enzyme similar to papain. Contact with skin causes dermatitis, making use of gloves advisable when working with or harvesting figs.

 It took weeks for the skin soreness and blisters to heal and Peter and I are left with an orange / brown pigmentation of the affected areas. We may well have done Eleni a favour by chopping down her fig tree but the vegengeful tree didn’t do us any favours. I am sure that my next contact with a fig will be the dried variety in a box at Christmas

Barrie Davies

Little Eleni

Eleni's House

The Vengeful Fig Tree

Ouch ! And it got worse

July 2007
A Tree for the PGMC               

Tim Wadsworth and President Richard Horton

Tim Wadsworth

At the last AGM of the Kidderminster Medical Society in October 2006 it was decided to plant a tree to commemorate the old Postgraduate Medical Centre, which could be done on its old site, now a car park, at Kidderminster Hospital. I was asked to see to this and I would like to inform members that a tree, a Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glyptostroboides), was planted by the President of the Society, Richard Horton, on 28 March, 2007 (see photo). The Worcester Acute Trust was happy to give the proceedings its blessing and in due course the tree should become tall and stately, if it survives and can get its roots through the builder’s rubble. A plaque to go with the tree will be organised.

It might be worth recalling here the history of the PGMC, opened in 1971 and demolished in 2004, which was outlined by Geoff Campion in the Society’s Newsletter (Number 39,April 2005) and its relation with the Kidderminster Medical Society. The Society was founded in 1893 as a vehicle for what would now be called Continuing Medical Education and was considerably ahead of the time. The President organised talks on medical topics throughout his year in office and these were written up in the minutes of the Society. The meetings were held in the boardroom of the old hospital in Mill Street and then in the out-patient’s waiting hall. When the new hospital in Bewdley Road came on stream in the late 60s, planned to be a fully fledged DGH,  the Society, as Geoff Campion has written, decided to build a Postgraduate Centre on the Bewdley Road site in which to hold its proceedings, and this it did, financing the project itself. It was, I think, one of the earliest postgraduate medical centres in the country.

So, the Medical Society was conceived with postgraduate education in mind and this was its major role for nearly 100 years, culminating in the PGMC. In the 1980s  postgraduate education became much more the concern of the Royal Colleges and the government who, between them have regulated it and provided facilities for it: now we have the multi-disciplinary Education Centre, provided by Worcestershire Acute Trust, at Kidderminster Hospital.

The Society has become now a social society, but it did not start out that way, and for a long time has been part of the glue that held the medical culture of Kidderminster together and the oil (to mix a metaphor or two!) that turned professional wheels particularly between consultant and GP. The old PGMC was its centre for 33 years and that is what this tree commemorates.

August 2007
Am Bastier (Skye)
CASEVAC May 2007

Barrie is always looking for articles for the newsletter, so I had agreed to get together something about my ascent of Mont Blanc in 2006.  However this is now over a year old so hardly ‘news’, and before I got around to it I had a rather more medical tale to tell from a recent trip to Skye.  Now, I’ll be happy to bore any of you at considerable length about the trip up Mont Blanc, but thought from a medical perspective this account might be of a little more interest, although I don’t seek critical analysis from our Orthopaedic colleagues…

Bewdley Mountaineering Club organised a trip to Skye for the Bank Holiday Half Term week in May 2007.  Of course it’s quite impossible for those of us without school aged children to go away that week, so I went up early and did a few Scottish Mountains from the Thursday before.  The highlight was to be the Sunday actually on Skye and to fulfil a long held ambition of actually climbing one of the Monros (mountains above 3000ft) on the fabulous Skye ridge, before returning on the Monday back to work.  The day dawned bright and clear; an unusual event on that beautiful island.   The ascent to the col was a pleasant enough slog, as ever on these mountains.  I’m usually the slowest in most ascents, partly due to carrying loads of emergency gear, and began to wonder whether I should have left some of the stuff out as one never needs it.  The ridge was a delightful scramble towards something called ‘the bad step’, which is a short down climb of about 12 feet only but graded ‘severe’ in rock climbing terms and with significant exposure on both sides.  At this point it was found that ‘someone had forgotten the rope’ with which we had intended to make a secure descent, so we found a lower way round which involved scrambling but did not need a rope.  We lunched on the summit with fabulous views of the Skye ridge, the mountains on the Scottish mainland and the outer isles.

As we descended towards the bad step, still wondering if we could climb up it without a rope, I heard someone exclaim ‘he’s broken it’, and saw a chap who had just come down the bad step with no rope and had fallen.  From 15 metres away it was clear that he had a compound fracture of tibia and fibula, whilst still managing to hold on by his fingernails to keep himself upright.  If you have to break your ankle on a mountain, you should always ensure that (as this chap did) you are followed down the steep pitch by a mountain guide, only 15 metres away from a Doctor (although an Orthopod would have been better) and preferably with the rest of Bewdley Mountaineering Club on hand.  The guide was useful to put a rope round the victim’s shoulders and help lower him to a lying position, but had no other equipment, having left it at the col to ‘quickly run up to the summit and back’.  We had a GPS for our co-ordinates, and mobile phones worked up on the ridge to call the emergency services who sent the coast guard helicopter about an hour and a half later.  In the meantime, blood flow was staunched with a couple of sanitary towels, and the leg straightened and held in position for an hour and a half on the same precarious bit of rock we had feared to scramble over an hour or so before.  Tramadol x 2 reduced the pain from 9 (11 when I pulled it a bit) to a tolerable 4 or 5 by the time the helicopter winch man arrived on the scene.  2 walking poles were dismantled and strapped to the leg with aid of a triangular bandage and some insulation tape providing reasonable splintage.  The victim had the grace not to go into shock.  Although he did get a ticking off when he admitted that his salbutamol inhaler was not actually in his rucksack down at the col but in the car at the foot of the mountain!  (Do I get QOF points for that?)

When the helicopter arrived everyone had to move away for a good 200 metres ‘in case the chopper comes down’ except, you’ve guessed it, for the doctor holding onto the leg.  I was offered a ride in the helicopter, but then I wondered if my fellow mountaineers would agree that I’d actually done the Monro if I had descended by helicopter, so I declined.  As I saw the victim and winch man swing wildly off the rock I realised it was a good decision.  The victim was flown to the local hospital on Skye and then on to Inverness where he spent a week after external fixation.  He is making a good recovery, and hopes to restart mountaineering after about 3-4 months.

So next time I slog up a slope thinking how heavy my rucksack is, I’ll just plod on and hope that I don’t have to use it all again. 

Lesley Hickman

Am Bastier (Skye)

UP, UP AND AWAY

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After many years of dragging the family around castles, stately homes and living museums, it seemed a natural progression to become a tourist guide. This was particularly so after an inspiring guided tour of Fonevrault Abbey, on the Loire, last summer.

However where do you start? A chance meeting at dinner with an existing Blue Badge Guide let me know a course was available for the Heart of England. Unfortunately it had started in April 2006 and I did not know about it until July! As the courses were only held every 6 years or so, it was now or probably never.

Unperturbed  I contacted the course organisers, who laid it on the line the enormity of the task ahead. An interview with a short answer exam on local history and presentation went reasonably well, with a place being offered. I was to join 15 other trainees who were wide ranging in their ages and experience. Many were existing experienced guides wanting to specialise in the Heart of England, coupled with a few novices like me.

The Heart of England region extends from the Potteries in the North to Oxford in the South, and Hereford in the West to Coventry in East – not a small area. The course consisted 4 hours of lectures per week, covering geology, history, architecture, monarchy, government, religion, literature, music, law, finance to name but a few. In fact anything that might interest a tourist.

The main part, however was practical guiding on coaches with a different route to learn for each Saturday. At any point in the day you would be asked, more correctly told, to take the microphone and commentate in an informative and entertaining manner for the next 10 miles or so. Help - no notes allowed and accuracy expected! After that a ruthless critique of each person which could make you feel about 6 inches tall, in front of everybody else. So it would take one day per week researching the route, at least one evening revising it before each Saturday. With the lectures the course was taking up 3 days per week.

However, apart from being verbally torn to shreds, the course was great fun. Discovering houses, castles and gardens in most unexpected places, with a like-minded group of people, was like a holiday. Each person had their own interests putting a different slant on each place. As each week progressed so did our knowledge and guiding skills. The first weeks were awful but later on we were giving good, and hopefully amusing talks.

The build up to the Institute of Tourist guiding exams was relentless. The Christmas holiday was taken up with a project – mine on the Gunpowder Plot and the Midlands personalities involved. Like the plot my project failed and needed resubmitting. However it was fascinating to discover the local history of what was nearly, in its day, the terrorist attack to rival 9/11. The unfortunate result was catholic suppression for over 200 years.

Over half of the routes were centred around the Cotswolds and Stratford upon Avon, being two of the main ‘honey pots’ for tourists in the region. Coupled with walking tours of towns like Warwick, Cheltenham and Stratford, we found hidden architecture, people and fabulous gardens that I had passed over in other visits. The course tutors consisted of an architect, a historian and a natural history enthusiast, bringing different ideas for each area.

The Institute of Tourist Guiding exams consisted of 4 writtens and 4 practicals. . The written exams tested ‘core knowledge’ of Britain generally as well as specific ones for the Heart of England. The practicals were the most worrying, with the coach commentary around Stratford and parts of the Cotswolds being the most arduous. It seemed to send most of the group, including me, into mild panic every time it was mentioned. Two of the group were Japanese and had to give the commentary in English, as well as sections in their mother tongue –  putting the rest of us to shame as they were so good.

The other 3 practicals consisted of Guiding in a church, a gallery and a walking tour of a town. In the gallery 25 pieces were chosen - paintings, sculptures, silver or stained glass – which you were expected to talk about for 8 minutes each. Then of course questions to find the huge gaps in your knowledge. This was one of the most enlightening parts for me, as a dentist with very limited art understanding. It opened up a whole new world to explore. The exam church was Burford, Oxon, which was started in Norman times and added to over the centuries, giving plenty of scope for the examiners! Birmingham was the walking route town, again particularly enjoyable to discover the hidden architecture and superb regeneration taking place.

Splendid Norman tower of Burford Church                      Refurbished Birmingham Town Hall

So at the end a shiny Blue Badge, a new look on the world and a new group of colleagues. We intend to meet up regularly to keep up knowledge and find new areas. Hopefully in years to come I will spend a few days each week guiding, but being self employed who knows? Even if this does not occur the whole experience has been enlightening and fun.

 ‘Should have done it years ago’ sounds familiar to all of us.

The Awards ceremony at Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick

                                                               Chris Gait    

Sept 2007
Discover Birmingham….

               Chris Gait’s “Blue Badge” sounded such an incredible achievement, his offer of a guided tour of Birmingham for Medical Society members needed to be supported – even if I had lived in Birmingham for nearly forty years and felt I knew the city well. The majority of the twenty strong group who assembled in the new Bull Ring on a sunny Saturday afternoon were also local graduates – but all of us were soon awed by Chris’ knowledge and felt we were really seeing our city with new eyes.

An obviously captive audience                                                                            The Blue Badge Guide Himself

         From Nelson’s s statue, noting the outdoor pulpit on St Martins in the Bull Ring, past modern sculptures and engraved texts, to a gun factory in Carrs Lane, to the church built on Mr Phillip’s cherry orchard –now the Anglican Cathedral boasting glorious Burne Jones windows- we followed our leader through the bustling crowds:  a task made far easier after David Malcolmson’s purchase of a fluorescent pink dolphin shaped helium balloon to replace Chris’ discreet (folded) blue umbrella! We zigzagged past architecture unobserved by pavement watching workers and shoppers, learning  the origins of Corporation Street, Colmore Row and Birmingham’s Medical School, to the Town Hall (I’d always wondered  about the identity of the statue on the steps!) where Chris no longer had to struggle to be heard above the background clamour. Strolling through to the canal bridge linking  the International Convention Centre with Brindley Place, he kept us enthralled with information - the colourful story of  Baskerville’s type, his wife & his death; how the Queen caused the renaming of the ringway; how the precinct inside the Central Library was intended to be a bus station; standing on the deliberate mistake in the Persian carpet brickwork of Centenary Square, and many other explanations of features along the way. Over the course of the three hour walk, in the midst of twenty-first century Brum, Chris managed to weave a wonderfully rich picture of the city’s history and characters.

             Having eaten humble pie, and come away with a greatly enhanced appreciation of the city centre, I’m looking forward to sharing this with the next of our visitors who wish to visit Birmingham – all credit to Chris and very many thanks for such a fantastic trip! 

                                                                              Hilary Boyle

November 2007

Annual General Meeting 2007

Reversing the pattern of previous occasions, the small group who assembled for the AGM on 1^st November, enjoyed a wonderful meal in the Education Centre before the business part of the evening. Higher blood glucose (and alcohol) levels, combined with transferring to an adjacent meeting room to focus minds, seemed to work very well, and a substantive amount of business was efficiently conducted.

The demise of paper newsletters seems to have contributed to a general down turn in numbers attending society events, and it was agreed to resume thrice yearly paper editions. Flyers for future events would continue electronically, due to costs, but the newsletter would aim to include as much information as possible about them. Essential to this would be both more forward planning by social secretary and President, and the establishment of an up to date data base. A letter to all members with tear off reply slip and an enclosed addressed envelope were agreed.

Geoff Campion having stepped down form the Trustees, Martin Lewis reported on the seminar room at Birmingham Medical School and the bursaries for students from the locality. If there are no locally connected recipients, other money may be awarded as a pump priming bursary for a research fellow in musculoskeletal studies at Worcester University.

Paul Williams reported on society events including storytelling, a walk on Long Mynd, “Comedy of Errors” at Harvington Hall and Chris Gait’s Brum city tour. The Annual Dinner was imminent, and there were plans for 2008 activities.

Paul Newrick had sent a brief written report on the post graduate accounts, and Chris Gait circulated society accounts.

Richard Horton stepped down as President, with Clive Prince taking over and Umesh Udeshi as the new vice-president. Sally Rumley, Paul Williams and Chris Gait remain as secretary, social secretary and treasurer respectively.

Jim Paton, Tim Chew & Chris Gait were elected honorary members. New members elected were  Majid Ali, Nadim Asman, Rachel Bright-Thomas, Clare Curtis, Chris Docker, Nicola Dutton, Chris Eaton, Marie Gibson, Graham James, Phil Preston, Sharon Thomas and Steve Thrush.

                                                                      Hilary Boyle

November 2007

            Medical Society Dinner

             Wharton Park Golf Club was clearly familiar, from its sporting connections, to some of the Medical Society members who congregated there for the annual dinner, but was a very new setting for many of us. Paul Williams had obviously taken the razing of Spring Grove as a sign that a wholesale change was in order – this year we had a different venue, on a Saturday evening, with a disco instead of an after dinner speaker. Happily, the turn out was excellent and all the familiar faces were there – as well as many new ones. Perhaps the light hearted suggestion from another “elder member” of name badges might be amended for next year to naming all the individuals, rather than just giving the surgery or department name, on the table plan?

             The experiment was a great success in the purpose built, and so rather more welcoming, new venue. A bar area at one end of the spacious dining room gave far more room for pre-dinner drinks, which could thus be  enjoyed in a more gracious manner than hereto – although the traditional crush at the bar seemed an essential part of the ritual for some! Round tables spread farther apart was another welcome improvement, allowing far easier conversation levels than past years.  Also - after a standard three course meal and coffee, toasts and a few well chosen words from Richard Horton, as retiring President - it was easier to circulate between the tables and groups for more socialisation before the music and dancing. My energy flagged long before most, but I have it on good authority that an excellent show of both skilful and energetic dancing (not necessarily simultaneously!) was demonstrated late into the night.

            Many thanks again to Paul for organising it all!

                                                                                          Hilary Boyle

A C2C Odyssey

 Son David and I arrived at the harbour in Whitehaven on a grey and damp Friday morning in mid May (see photo). The C2C was the first National Cycle Route designated by Sustrans, and since 1994 well over 125,000 coast-to-coast crossings have been made. The route is a challenge for many, but has wonderful sections through magnificent countryside, and takes cyclists away from traffic over difficult terrain in West Cumbria, around Keswick and in County Durham.

We were transported to the start point courtesy of wife Maureen, and she also provided very valuable baggage transfer for our two overnight stays. Having set off in the rain, the weather improved within an hour or two. The route initially followed the line of a disused rail network, which had formally served a myriad of local iron mines. The true mountains of the Lake District were soon in sight and several modest climbs on quiet lanes culminated in the steep but spectacular pull up to the Whinlatter Forest at around 1000 ft.

Unfortunately the achievement of this first objective coincided with the only major mechanical hiccup of the entire trip when David’s bike developed a puncture. This was fairly rapidly repaired but recurred within a few hundred yards and it was soon apparent that the whole outer tyre was somewhat perished! At that stage we were still seven miles or so from Keswick and the only available cycle repair shop in the vicinity. There followed a rather stressful hour or two, with increasingly frequent stops to pump up his very flat tyre, until we arrived at the cycle centre just before it was due to close for the day.

Next morning, after a generous breakfast, we set off again across fields and more delightful country lanes. It was soon raining once more but at least the weather was coming fairly briskly from the west and therefore the prevailing wind not only blew the clouds across rapidly but was also at our backs to assist us up some rather steep hill climbs that were to come.

After Penrith there followed a long steady climb up to some spectacular Lakeland views from Beacon Edge. At this point we were leaving the gentle Eden Valley behind and soon embarked on an even steeper accent to the impressive viewpoint of Hartside, before beginning the traverse of the North Pennines, ‘England’s Last Wilderness’, much of it designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hartside, altitude 1904ft., boasts the highest café in England where a large mug of tea for £1 went down really well, surrounded by impressive numbers of lycra-clad cyclists and leather-bedecked motorbikers. David, of course, had arrived there a considerable time before his old dad and claimed that he was about to send out a search party when I staggered into view!

Once over the Hartside summit huge rolling moors opened up before us and we were off down a fast A road with David proceeding at full tilt and me rather more cautiously with the break rubbers beginning to smoulder! When safely down on the valley floor we followed a lovely undulating lane, with sheep grazing in beautiful yellow carpeted flower meadows, and watched the spectacular tumbling flight of lapwings against a clear blue sky. Soon we arrived at our second night stop in Nenthead, an old lead mining town high in the Peaks, having covered 80 miles in the first two days and with most of the steeper climbs behind us.

Regrettably the lodgings in Nenthead did not live up to our expectations, with light switches hanging off the walls and a shabby old shower cubicle in the corner of our bedroom. The beds were none too comfortable either but after all our exertions we slept reasonably well and were served up an acceptable breakfast next morning. The road out of the town also came as something of a shock with another steep climb for two or three miles to reach Black Hill, the highest point on the C2C at 1998ft. The scenery in this part of the North Pennines becomes even wilder and grander and continues to be pockmarked by the remnants of former mining activity.

From this point there followed two very welcome downhill sections interrupted by more short sharp accents. After that we joined the Waskerley Way which has been converted from a former railway track across Stanhope Moor into an off road walking and cycle trail. On this we cruised down hill for ten miles and crossed the superb Hownsgill Viaduct, above a steeply wooded ravine. Although the views from this bridge were spectacular, our appreciation was disturbed somewhat by notices from the Samaritans displayed at each end and a very poignant bunch of flowers tied to the structure near the centre.

A mile or two later we entered the outskirts of Consett and here the route divides with one path directed to Newcastle and the other, which we chose, where the endpoint is Sunderland. On the whole the scenery from here on was less picturesque than Cumbria or the Pennines but was obviously steeped in industrial history. Thus the route took us past the Beamish Museum, with it’s unique full-scale recreation of past industrial and agricultural life in the North-East, and also many of the specially commissioned sculptures along the C2C. The Terris Novalis was certainly one of the most outstanding with 20ft high stainless steel surveying instruments created to symbolise the regeneration of Consett after the closure of it’s massive steel works. Washington Wildfowl Trust was also an attraction on our route and finally the Wearmouth Bridge and the Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland Football Club, came into view. The last part of our journey through Sunderland largely followed the left bank of the River Wear and terminated on the promenade.

The other three photographs show us arriving on the promenade in Sunderland, then an obligatory shot with our front wheels in the North Sea and finally David and I showing off our hard earned C2C tea shirts. Overall we found the Sustrans route a thoroughly enjoyable challenge. We covered the 133miles from Whitehaven in less than three days and, thanks to our road crew, we were back in Kidderminster before 10pm on the Sunday.

Martin Lewis