Seaford Scene August 2019

the probus
club of seaford
Our most significant recent activity was the celebration
of our 50th Anniversary. Our Club was one of the first
in the country to be set up, in January 1969. Some
four dozen members, partners and guests met at
Blatchington Golf Club for an excellent three-course,
Silver Service meal, much enjoyed by all.
Our May speaker was Neil Sadler, a retired Police
Officer, with a passion for the British Canal System.
His talk was entitled ‘Gongoozling for Beginners’, with
the explanation that a ‘gongoozler’ is someone who
knows absolutely nothing about canals, but who insists
on sitting at the lock-side offering ‘helpful’ advice. Neil
explained that canals really were the starting point for
the ‘Industrial Revolution’, an easy, safe and comparatively
fast form of goods transport, at a time that the road
network was dreadful. It was also economical: a pack
horse may be able to carry a few hundred weights on its
back, it might be able to pull one ton in a two wheeled
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cart, maybe five tons if the wagon was on rails, but
the horse could pull a thirty-ton barge on the canals.
Often, to save money, the canal builder did not put
the tow-path through the tunnels. Boards were placed
across the cabin roof, and two men lay on their backs
and ‘walked’ the boat through, with their feet along the
tunnel roof. A very exhausting, and quite dangerous
activity. Canal building also lead to some spectacular feats
of Civil Engineering, such as Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte
Aqueduct on the Ellesmere Canal, over the River Dee.
Neil now has a share in a narrow boat, and is able to
enjoy holidays exploring the network.
At our most recent meeting the speaker was one of our
own members, Derek Budd. Derek gave us an insight
into the life of the jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong.
Armstrong’s career had started in the Deep South
of the United States, in the era of racial segregation.
Armstrong would often arrive at a high quality hotel, to
find his name in lights over the entrance: but the door
keeper would not let him in, and directed him to the
back door. He was playing in the posh hotels but was
not allowed to stay there, because they were ‘Whites
Only’, and he was directed to cheap lodgings nearby.
Eventually Armstrong adopted a ‘No Stay, No play’
stance: if I am good enough to play here, I want to stay
here! Early in Armstrong’s career there was a ‘breakaway’
movement, away from ‘Traditional’ Jazz towards what
was known as ‘BeeBop’. Armstrong and his colleagues
were rather scathing, and took the mickey (in a friendly
way) by emphasising the words of the ‘Wiffenpoof’
song: ‘They are poor little lambs who have lost their
way!’ Derek also illustrated, by playing a recording to us,
the enormous musical range that Armstrong had. He
played a song with a note so high that most trumpeters
couldn’t reach it, and yet Armstrong held and sustained
this note. A fascinating insight into a great character.
Our club meets on the Second Tuesday of each month,
at 12 noon for 12.45, at Seaford Gold Club, 111 Firle
Road BN25 2JD. New members are always welcome.
Please ring our Membership Secretary on 01323
899300 for details.
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