Members slides: we had a veritable marathon of Globetrotters showing
slides. Part 1 included Dan Buckman showing slides on Belgium and
Poland; Ernest Flesch showing slides on how people make their living:
rice growing in China and Sumatra, threshing, picking and fanning rice;
rubber tapping in Sri Lanka, and oxen pilled water wheel in Rajasthan
and tobacco farmers in Yemen. Jean Clough, the Globetrotter gate
keeper and more, showed slides on the funeral pyre of the grandson of
the last king of Bali and regaled us with some of the more ghoulish facts
on how bodies are burned.. Phil Koniotes, always good for excellent
slides and anecdotes showed us some fabulous slides of fish. Not just
ordinary fish, but sharks, huge bump head wrasses, parrotfish cocoons,
unicorn fish and er…porcelain toilets. The Beetle was on the edge of
her seat, salivating and counting the days to her next dive trip!
Part 2 consisted of Philip (The Whisperer) Ferguson who showed
us slides of vintage cars and lorries and a train with Australia written
on the side…in Cuba. Peter Mann started off with some slides
of pubs in London called The Globe, yes, we know, any excuse Pete! He
then sobered up and we visited a series of structurally and visually amazing
bridges in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Dick (Curtis) made a couple of appearances at the projector
and showed us a series of slides, all of which he reckoned had St Pauls
in them. After much good humoured derision, he handed over to Jacqui
(Trotter) his erstwhile stand in who finished the Members Slide show
with some pictures of Tasmania and lots of people riding penny farthings…
Saturday 1st September
Next on 1st September, we have Beth Wooldridge talking on “My
Many India's”, as a tourist, traveller, student, travel-author,
and woman – Beth's experiences around the sub-continent were often
coloured by her different guises. After the break, Justin Marozzi
will give a talk on “The Slave Routes of the Libyan Sahara”,
retracing the ancient routes totalling 1500 miles, 1200 of which were
by camel. Justin is also the author of “South of Barbary” a
story of the expedition.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court,
behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday
of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back
on Saturday 1st September. For more information, you can contact
the Globetrotter Info.line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website:
http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/