9th September Arundel & Swanbourne Walk

1st September Trip on the Steam Ship SS Sheildhall

13th August Graffham

Thirteen walkers set out from the war memorial in Graffham village after hearing a brief resume of the setting of the area and its history.  Passing through the hamlet of Calloways, part of the Lavington Estate and Stud, we reached Graffham church dedicated to St Giles where we viewed the interior and learned a little of its history.  We continued the walk climbing a little way to the tree line of Graffham Down and followed a forestry track with beautiful views of the countryside to the north, and when we reached Haylands we then returned over meadows back through Graffham village to the Foresters Arms for a well deserved rest and an enjoyable lunch.

Ted Hooker, August 2025

16th July Probus Pétanque

On Wednesday 16th July some 22 Chanctonbury Probus folk met at the Horsham & Shipley Community Project (HSCP) site to play Petanque. This has become a favourite annual event and our host met us for a briefing whilst we enjoyed a cuppa and cake. There are 4 pistes each one allowing two 3 person teams to compete against each other. The teams were selected randomly as individuals and not as couples! The hosts provided 4 volunteers to fill in and help with scoring and advice. We played for a couple of hours and I think everyone was a winner in the end, even though I could hear a few moans as to how lucky the other team was with the bounce of the boules! A friendly competition I think makes participating a bit more fun. We ended our visit with a huge thanks to our host Russell and his helpers Ken, Maureen and Pam. We plan to return in 2026 unless people would like a second visit later this year?

We then made our way to the Crown Inn in Cootham for lunch. We were joined by 5 others who were not keen on playing but liked the idea of a social lunch. The food and service were excellent so thanks to Natalie, Scott and the staff. Nice to be able to support our local pub.

Laki Marangos (organiser)

8th July Walk Shoreham Boardwalk

28th June Chairman's Garden Party

12th June Warninglid to Slaugham Mill Pond

On a fine day, ideal for walking, 15 members and partners met at the village of Warninglid to walk the Warninglid to Slaugham Mill Pond circular route. The 3.8-mile route explored the surrounding hills and valleys via a variety of woodlands, pastures and parklands.

Afterwards, 14 of us retired to the Bolney Stage for well-earned drinks and lunch, all under the watchful eye of “Posh Bob”, who as usual entertained us all with his friendly and enthusiastic manner.

Ray Gatward

12th to 16th May Tour of Bruges, Ghent & Historic Ypres

1st May Chanctonbury Probus Club AGM

At the Club Annual General Meeting held on 1st May past chairman, Peter Bowen-Davies handed over the chain of office to the new chairman, Laki Maragos. 

16th April Ricardo visit

The April Social Event was an early evening visit, organised by Tim Healey, to Ricardo’s engineering and research establishment at Shoreham Airport. Ricardo are one of the country’s most innovative companies and have specialised in the development of vehicle engines for over 100 years. They claim to have produced the first commercial diesel engine (much to the annoyance of the Germans). From engines for tanks in the first world war and some of the earliest commercial motor bikes to their current manufacture, at Shoreham, of high-performance engines for the McLaren W1 they have continually pushed engine technology to the limit. They describe themselves as a strategic engineering and environmental consultancy. We were given a guided tour of their Shoreham facility and were able to view their test beds and laboratories for their work on measuring and then minimising vehicle emissions; noise; and vibration as well as their research into optimising vehicle performance. We were able to absorb the story of a company at the forefront of engineering development over the last century. Fifteen members and two guests attended the visit and eleven of us then went on to La Galleria Italian restaurant in Shoreham for supper.

The visit was led by Tim Healey

11th April 30th Anniversary Annual Dinner

Presentation of Founder Member badges to Jim Heath and Peter Welch by Club Chairman Peter Bowen-Davies.

8th April Henfield Circular Walk

The walk was led by Simon Powlson

11th March Walk Wisborough Green 

Twelve of us set off from Wisborough Green, a village with a twelfth century church and with a claim to be the birthplace of the game of cricket. We wandered south to the River Arun and the “Wey South path” alongside the former Wey-Arun navigation which is in the process of being restored to once again take canal boats. We crossed the swing bridge, one of the structures installed by the canal trust and climbed to the ridge overlooking the river valley before descending to another reinstated canal bridge and back to our starting point. Conditions were dry with just a few muddy patches which could be circumvented with a little care. The weather was a little on the cool side but very pleasant for a walk. Afterwards we all adjourned to the Bat and Ball pub for a good lunch.

Visit to the Wallace Collection 10th March

Monday 10th March 2025, we boarded the Woods 49 seater luxury coach for our visit to the Wallace Collection museum in London. There were 16 of us. After a slow journey we met our guide Richard Cohen, a retired history teacher, at the entrance of this magnificent building at the north end of Manchester Square. The Wallace Collection is displayed at Hertford House, formerly the principal London residence of the marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace. It was opened to the public as a museum in 1900. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace, Sir Richard’s widow, in 1897.

Right from the start of the tour, we began to admire this immense collection full of all sorts of art works.

Richard concentrated his chat on a few specific paintings to celebrate the International Women's  day just passed. There were only two women painters amongst the hundreds of other painters, but quite a few painted ladies as subjects with very interesting stories. Richard has an amazing recollection of facts and dates; Mme de Pompadour, Mrs Robinson, Lady Hamilton being the most fascinating.

There was not enough time to view the furniture and armoury collection. Maybe another time.

After lunch at a very comfortable cafeteria with an excellent light menu, Richard took us on a walkabout in Marylebone pointing out some of the history of the place including the burial ground for paupers which is now a kids playground. A stunning Cathedral of St James and a stroll through Marylebone High street with the numerous boutiques and coffee shops. We returned to the Museum for a cup of tea before boarding the coach at 4pm. Another slow journey home but a very enjoyable day out. Below is some feedback from participants...

 
I enjoyed the Wallace Collection today. I thought Richard’s knowledge was extensive and to narrow the collection down to women in honour of International Women's Day was clever given we could not do justice to the whole collection in the time we had available.

An enjoyable day with an easy coach journey and an excellent, entertaining guide.  My preference probably would have been to have focussed  on "highlights" of the collection rather than the "Women's Day" theme and with more comment on the actual art as opposed to the (interesting) back stories.

Apart of course from the company we felt the best bit about the day was Richard’s guiding. His knowledge and the way he brought paintings to life and told us about them which I certainly would not have appreciated on my own made all the difference. Also his knowledge about the Marylebone area again made all the difference between looking around on one’s own and with someone who again could bring it to life. I think the coach worked well and that in the event it would have been difficult for Richard if the group had been much larger.

"Hi Laki, great trip yesterday, Valerie and I really enjoyed it. Our highlights from the art collection were Madame Pompadour, The Swing, Mrs Robinson and Lady Hamilton. Our choices are based on the excellent art work but also the fascinating stories behind each of these women. Some of them rather risqué!" Ray Gatward.

We liked the fact that the tour was on a theme and therefore the paintings became more focussed.
We thought Richard was an excellent guide. Madame de Pompadour was our favourite painting, and story, with Fragonard’s swing a close second but in each room the picture Richard chose stood out among the rest. The Marylebone Village tour was really interesting, highlighting as it did some hidden gems.

With regards to transport, the coach was an easy and convenient way to access to central London.  The museum had excellent facilities.

We would be interested in further trips.

For me, it was the room full of Canaletto’s images of Venice- Fantastic!

Ten Pin Bowling 27th February

Ten Pin Bowling at Rustington.

Members from Chanctonbury and Storrington Probus Clubs renewed their friendly rivalry between the two clubs at the bowling alley at the Out of Bounds complex at Angmering on Thursday 27 February.

There was a good representation of players and supporters from both clubs. Having lost last year, it was Euan Crowther of Storrington who had the responsibility of organising the event this year.  

 Four lanes were taken over with a mixture of six Chanctonbury and Storrington players in each lane. The screens above the lanes showed how each team and individual was performing so that there was no hiding place. Everyone had respectable scores, some with the aid of the sides.

Each club put forward a team of three for the club award.   In addition, there were prizes for the overall best lady’s and man’s scores.  After the first round the Storrington team had drawn well ahead of Chanctonbury and never looked like faltering in the second round. Storrington came out the clear winners and so had the honour of receiving the magnificent “Lucky Strike” trophy with Chanctonbury coming away with the honour of organising the event next year.

The induvial event was a much closer with almost any player in a position to win after the first round but in the event Paul Weaver from Storrington had a storming second round and came out a clear winner and Sandie Percival from Storrington went ahead of the rest of the ladies to scoop the prize.

This annual fun event is a great opportunity for members of both clubs to have fun, get to know each other and to compare notes.

After the event everyone adjourned to the Black Horse at Findon for an excellent lunch with Storrington basking in the glory of victory and Chanctonbury to consider its training regime for next year’s event!

Skittles 16th January

The skittles team gathered at the Black Horse, Findon at 10.30 am showing keen interest in this annual event. The competitive spirit rose when the prizes of bottles of wine were mentioned. The participant numbers had fluctuated from 22 to 20 and down to 17 on the day due to unexpected health issues. So, we had 2 teams of 4 and 3 teams of 3. The teams which had 3 players took turns to be the missing player in order to even up the number of throws. It was incredibly annoying when a good throw resulted in no skittles dropped as the ball somehow flew between them. I lost count on the number of misses.... I blamed mine on not having had a coffee to steady my nerves!

After three rounds the top team was Ray Gatward, Sue Brett, Zena Hiscoke and Alison Hooker. The top gentleman score was by Ray and the top lady score was by Zena. Congratulations to the winners and well done for best efforts by the rest.... better luck next year.

Lunch was then served in the restaurant and my thanks to the staff for good food and excellent service.

Thanks to all for the support for this event and to Simon for taking care of the menu pre-orders during my absence.

Laki Marangos

Probus Golf 2024

There has been a lot of rain this year, most (but not all) of it occurring on days we planned to play golf. As a result, we have not graced the golf courses of West Sussex as often as we would have liked. We managed four days out – West Hove, Rookwood, Gatton Manor and Singing Hills. The first had been rained off as the last fixture in 2023. Our trip to Gatton Manor must have been on one of the hottest days of the year. All in all, it’s been challenging, testing and, at times overwhelming, but we did get to play four very different courses.

Unfortunately, only the organizer played in three of them, and so was the sole qualifier to win the Doug Charles trophy. Given this we have decided to carry the competition over to 2025 when we are hoping for better weather to allow all of us to show our golfing prowess on the links and uplands of the County.

But outside of the tempests, torrents and temperatures of 2024 we did have some good times. Gatton Manor must rank as one of the hardest courses we have played, and if there is ever an Olympics for sausage rolls it would be in contention for gold. Plus, its owners are incredibly candid, never before have we paid our green fees to ‘the last chance consultancy’. We hope it will recover as a business just as we have recovered from being completely out of our depth on its green swards, albeit we largely avoided those by spending most of our time and energy in bunkers, streams, ponds, woodland and anywhere with an OOB notice. If only we had had the foresight to have a guess the number of balls we are going to lose competition the day would have been perfect, well we would have had a winner with a vivid imagination

So, we look forward to 2025 and a fair and full challenge for the talismanic trophies of Chanctonbury Probus golf as we move on from this year’s washout.

Friday 15th November

On Friday 15th November, members from Chanctonbury, South Downs, Storrington and West Chiltington Probus Clubs, 23 in total, travelled the Wensum Valley Hotel Golf in Norfolk.

In the evening, they attended the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. Together with the outside lights, it was truly stunning. The following day they travelled on the Bure Valley Steam Railway at Aylsham and later Sandringham House Christmas Fare. Finally on the return journey home they stopped off at the Polhill Garden Centre, Sevenoaks, for some lunch. Most of the people voiced their desire to repeat the again.

The visit was led by John Gilbert

Tuesday 12th November

November Walk – Goring-by-Sea

The November walk was organised by Bruce and Maura (Tompson) and we met at The Bull Inn, Goring-by-Sea where 18 of us started the walk. It was a beautiful day and quite a contrast to last year when we had torrential rain and strong winds. We started South towards the sea, walking past Goring Hall through The Plantation and onto the coast before continuing towards The Bluebird Cafe. We then turned inland, walking alongside the Ferring Rife (the waterway used by smugglers taking goods to Old Ferring) towards the Ferring Country Centre. Our walk then passed a few bungalows before heading East, ending up at the Ilex Way, lined by the beautiful Holm Oak trees and eventually taking us back to the cars. We had lunch at Tides Restaurant in Goring-by-Sea where we were joined by Sue (Brett), Good company, lunch using locally sourced produce and served by the friendly team at Tides, what a very nice way to end the day.

Monday 14th October

Tangmere visit on 14^th October

Eleven of us braved the October drizzle and grey skies to visit the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum with its excellent and abundant displays, aircraft and stories.

Sheryl was our first guide taking us around the exhibits and stories surrounding Tangmere's role in 'setting Europe ablaze' by taking Special Operations Executive and Secret Service agents, organisers and radio operators in behind enemy lines in Europe. The Lysanders, like the one we looked at, played a key role in taking very brave men and women into France and other countries to link up with resistance groups and bring them arms, explosives and orders on what to do to help loosen the Nazi grip on Europe. We learned about several brave individuals who left from Tangmere including Jean Moulin, the first President of the National Council of Resistance in France. An ex-prefect he came to England in 1941 and met Charles de Gaulle, who considered him 'A great man. Great in every way'. De Gaulle asked him to coordinate and unify the different resistance groups and in early 1942 he left Tangmere for France where he applied himself to his task with great success. A year later he was back in London to report back to de Gaulle and launch a new plan for liberation. His work helped make de Gaulle the de facto leader of the Free French in the eyes of both his countrymen and the Allies. On his next trip to France Moulin was betrayed, captured, tortured and killed by Klaus Barbie in Lyon. Many of the other brave men and women who flew in and out of Tangmere suffered similar fates, but they helped give France back its self respect and play a significant part in liberating their country from Nazi oppression.

Our second guide, John, then took us around the many planes housed at Tangmere. He started with the Hurricane and Spitfire, the two iconic aircraft of the Battle of Britain, both of which flew out of Tangmere in 1940, with pilots like James Nicholson VC and Douglas Bader. They were so successful the Luftwaffe heavily bombed the aerodrome, though it was quickly restored and restarted operational flights, continuing to shoot down bombers and fighters across Southern England and the English Channel. He then pointed out an array of British post-war jet fighters (a Meteor, Hunter, Swift and Lightning) and a few of us wedged their selves into the separate cockpit sections of a Hunter and a Canberra bomber. The names of most of these aircraft would have been very familiar to us during our earlier lives.

Of particular significance to us as a Club was that the (very large) English Electric Lightning fighter reminded us of a former member, David Cowley. David flew the Lightning for a great part of his RAF career. He once had to eject from a flaming Lightning over the North Sea and later he was for a while the commanding officer of the last airbase used by this aircraft.

To end the visit our guide led outside the hangars to inspect five other aircraft parked at the edge of the museum. These aircraft comprised an RAF Phantom, Harrier and a Wessex helicopter and a Royal Naval Sea Vixen and a Sea Harrier.

This last aircraft had actually been in action in the Falklands War in 1982. Finally, we were pointed out what was left of the former airfield”.  

The visit to Tangmere was orgaised by Simon Powlson

Tuesday 8th October

October Walk - Patching Hill

Despite intense overnight rain we decided to go ahead with the walk last Tuesday. Nine of us were present and we walked from the World’s End pub to the top of Patching Hill, passing the Church with its distinctive spire, and the remains of the neolithic hill workings for flints. We passed by the beech wood which in the 19th Century enabled Patching to be famous for truffles before reaching the ridge with extensive views across to Long Furlong, Highdown Hill and the Downs and overlooking Michelgrove Park, former home of the poet Percy and writer Mary Shelley. We returned via the road through Patching, a village unusual in Sussex in that its population has actually declined since 1950, to the World’s End pub for lunch. 

The weather was dry and for a time the sun came out. Conditions underfoot were rather muddy in places which was not surprising after the extremely heavy overnight rain.

Tim Healey

Thursday 19th September

Hepworth’s Brewery tour 

Tuesday 10th September

Photographs of happy walkers who having left their cars at the Arun View walked to the Littlehampton Life Boat Station for a tour, then walked over the retractable foot bridge to the Littlehampton Fort at the mouth of the Arun, returning for lunch at the Arun View.

Alan Price

Monday 19th August

A merry band of 13 members of Chanctonbury Probus Club took up mallets on Monday 19th August to take part in the Sussex Inter-Probus Croquet day on the finely manicured lawns of Sussex County Croquet Club at Southwick. 

They were joined by Probus members from four other local clubs.   

We were divided into those who were first timers or occasional players who were given some coaching in the basics of the game before their tournament and regular players who were given some coaching on tactics and had a separate tournament. 

The tournaments were very ably run by Jonathan Isaacs from South Down Probus club. We all had mixed fortunes in the morning session which was followed by an excellent lunch and liquid refreshment. 

At the end of the afternoon we found that our star players were Simon and Ken in the occasional players category who came second. 

As well as finding that some players who had only played many years ago had retained their skills the event was an excellent opportunity to meet members from other Probus Clubs and learn about how they operate. 

Alan Price 

Tuesday 13th August

Midhurst Walk

There were 17 people for the walk with a further 3 meeting us at the restaurant for lunch. The walk started at the North Midhurst car park from which we walked up the High Street and on to explore the old marketplace, church and the centre of the old town. Our intention was to skirt St Ann's Hill upon which was the site of the 11th Century Norman motte and bailey castle (and latterly stone castle). We were thwarted in this attempt as the footpath gateway had a 'road closed' sign with an excavator digging up the footings of the gate, it turned out it was an archaeological dig to find the original gate to the castle. So, we retraced our steps and walked down to the other end of the wharf where our original target was.

A visit to the old wharf followed and an exploration of the history of the wharf and Midhurst Canal that connected Midhurst to the network giving access to London, Birmingham and Bristol thus fuelling Midhurst's part in the Industrial revolution.

The walk continued from the edge of town and headed up to the 'roughs'. Before the roughs we reached the trickiest part of the walk, an ascent up a small escarpment on a single person path with two or three hairpin bends to help climb the gradient. It was a short section but a little steep in places and a hiking pole or stick certainly helped. The path then followed a field boundary where we meet up with the railway that once went onto Pulborough. At an old railway bridge where we turned for home, we recapped some of the railway history of Midhurst and followed woodland paths to pick up the Lipchis Way which we followed towards the river Rother and the edges of Cowdray park. We passed the Cowdray house ruins and arrived back at the car

park.

A quick change out of our boots and we made our way to Fratelli's where we all enjoyed a very nice meal at the Italian restaurant.

The walk was led by Stuart Arnold

Thursday 8th August

Visit to Eltham Palace

A party of twenty travelled by coach from Storrington to visit Eltham Place in Southeast London on Thursday 8th August. This former medieval palace became a Tudor royal residence and birthplace of Henry VIII. It was transformed in the 1930s by an eccentric millionaire couple, Stephen and Virginia Courtauld, into an Art-Deco mansion.

Only the great hall remains of the medieval palace, and this has been beautifully preserved.

Ruby, our guide from English Heritage, explained the history of the palace and the work carried out by the Courtaulds during their period of residence during the 1930s and 40s. We saw all the rooms of the house in art-deco style including the boudoir, library, reception hall, lounges and bedrooms. In the afternoon we had time to wander around the 19 acres of gardens with pools and cascades running down to the moat, before returning by coach to Storrington.

Thursday 25th July

Kia Oval Visit

On 25 July nine of us took the train up to Vauxhall to enjoy a tour of the Kia Oval. The Oval is the birthplace of modern English sport. In 1880 it was the first ground to host test cricket in England. In 1882 it was the birthplace of the Ashes, when England famously lost to Australia. The Oval also hosted the first ever FA Cup final, and the first international football and rugby union internationals. 

Our tour guides took us all through the history and geography of this iconic sporting venue. They were excellent, and we were fortunate to be there when Surrey were playing Yorkshire out on the pitch. We ascended to the roof terrace to watch a few minutes of the game for free, a cheaper rate than the £900 per person per day that companies pay for corporate hospitality for Ashes tests. Not only was the view over the pitch first class you could also gaze out at all of the iconic buildings that grace the riverside in London. While the weather could have been better, we were still able to enjoy ourselves and gain some knowledge about the history of the ground, cricket and characters that emerge from both. One popular informal blue plaque corner was the corner on the stairs where Shane Warne used to go for a quiet smoke in between tormenting England's batsmen. 

Afterwards we got lunch in a riverside pub and compared notes on our experience of the game - two of had some the rest of us did not. Before heading back to Vauxhall station for the train ride home.

The visit was led by Simon Powlson.

Wednesday 17th July

Play Petanque

Some 22 club members and partners participated in the annual "Play Petanque" event at Laki's football club which is part of the Horsham and Shipley Community Project, in Shipley. We also had support from 3 partners who came to watch and enjoy a lovely sunny day out.

It was good to see Derek Hiscoke and Zena after a long absence from club social events.

Our host, Russell, offered us coffee and cakes and gave us a brief explanation on the game. We were assigned to 4 groups of 6 to play in the 4 pistes available. As we were short on 2 players, two members of the hosting club joined as players. We also had two others assisting with playing rules and scoring.

Each group of 6 was split into two sets of 3 players competing with each other. Fairly soon after starting the competitive attitude of Probus people became obvious and noisy!

We played for about 2 hours before making our way to the nearby pub, the George and Dragon, for lunch.

We thanked our hosts who made us so welcome and helped us enjoy a fascinating game well suited for our age group!

Laki Marangos (organiser)

Tuesday 16th July

Chanctonbury Probus Club Ladies’ Lunch

The wives and partners and Associates of the Chanctonbury Probus Club met for a summer lunch at the Tottington Manor Hotel.

Twenty-one ladies attended and enjoyed good company and a lovely meal. The service, as usual, was efficient, helpful and friendly and the food was excellent.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable occasion.

Tuesday 11th June

A walk from Bolney

For the June walk 18 of us completed a 5km circuit from the The Bolney Stage passing through Wykehurst Park, the Bolney Wine estate and Bolney village enjoying the variety of country-side scenery that makes up this part of the southern edge of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Fortunately, the weather was kind to us and we completed the walk in the dry and considering the recent wet weather without getting muddy!

Following the walk, we were joined by Mike and Sue Brett, to enjoy a very leisurely lunch in the The Bolney Stage.

Thursday 16th May

A visit to Hampton Court Palace.

22 Probus folk including 3 guests and our guide Caroline Cloutte, boarded the Woods coach for Hampton Court. The weather was a bit iffy but as it turned out we only had to deal with a few drops on arrival and when walking on the grounds.

During the drive, Caroline gave us a brilliant and well knitted history lesson, including some ghost stories, so we were all ready to view the splendour of the palace once we had the necessary coffee and pastries at the Tiltyard Cafe at around 11 am. This is the official summary about the Palace........

The original Tudor Hampton Court Palace was begun by Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century, but it soon attracted the attention of Henry VIII, who brought all his six wives here. Surrounded by gorgeous gardens and famous features such as the Maze and the Great Vine, the palace has been the setting for many nationally important events.

When William III and Mary II (1689-1702) took the throne in 1689, they commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to build an elegant new baroque palace. Later, Georgian kings and princes occupied the splendid interiors. When the royals left in 1737, impoverished 'grace and favour' aristocrats moved in.

Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public in 1838. It has remained a magnet for millions of visitors, drawn to the grandeur, the ghosts and the fabulous art collection.

Personally, I preferred the Tudor part of the Palace with the amazing tapestries and superb ceilings. I think the Wren part was a bit dark inside but nevertheless splendid in architecture.

Overall, a lovely day out with friends and although unlikely to remember most of the details Caroline amazed us with, a very happy and long-lasting impression remains. 

Laki Marangos

Tuesday 14th May

On Tuesday fourteen of us braved the climb up to Halnaker windmill. It was a steady climb in ever improving weather. By the time we breasted the ridge the cloud had largely cleared giving us panoramic views over the County and out to sea. Towering over us the windmill sparkled in the newly arrived sunshine. It was a glorious sight.

After drinking in the views, we strolled back down to the Anglesey Arms to enjoy a well-earned meal and drink. Thanks, heavens, for the drier ground underfoot.

Thursday 22nd February

Drop the Dead Donkey

In February twenty of our Members and Associates saw a performance of “Drop the Dead Donkey – The Reawakening” at the Chichester Festival Theatre. This satirical TV comedy about the goings on within a TV newsroom launched on Channel 4 in the 1980s and the play brought it up to date with the original cast being brought together again to form a new news channel. The script was right up to date dealing with current news items. The team was still as hapless and their organisation as chaotic as ever. The cast included Neil Pearson, Stephen Tomkinson, and Victoria Wicks together with a guest cameo performance from Trevor McDonald.

Following the performance 16 of our number had a fine meal at the Spur at Slindon.

Monday 5th Feb.

Ten Pin Bowling at Rustington.

The annual Ten Pin Bowling challenge between Chanctonbury and Storrington Probus clubs was held today Monday 5th February 2024 at the Out of Bounds Bowling alley in Rustington. Three teams from each club competed for the new challenge trophy "Lucky Strikes". There were 5 bowlers per lane and everyone had 2 games each of 10 frames. A closely contested match with Chanctonbury's Lane 1 team having the highest overall bowling score. The winning team were Tim and Jane Hulbert, Angela Jones, Laki Marangos and Graham Moss (virtual presence). The winning score was 935 with the Storrington team of Clive Boland, John Brocklebank, Ken Collins, Peter and Vanessa Edwards a close second with a score of 921.

The overall winner was Laki Marangos with a score of 220, with Peter second on 208, Paul Weaver third with 200 and Clive Boland 4th with 199.

Hard luck Storrington, but as the losing team they will be organising next year's challenge. Training starts soon I am told.....

I think everyone had an enjoyable morning. We then went to the Black Horse in Findon for our lunch, which was also enjoyed by everyone.

My thanks to all the participants and to Paul Weaver for collating the Storrington playing and meal pre-ordering information.

10th January

Skittles at the Black Horse, Findon

A group of fit, well relatively fit, mares and stallions from the Club met for skittles at the Black Horse, Findon. 

Some 18 riders were divided into teams of four and three in accordance with their horse breeds with two spectators on the rails. At the end of the first circuit or round the Old English team led the field with 24 points with the Shire Horses showing their age at the back with 15. 

By the time the field had finished the second round the Shire Horses had maintained their lead with 43 points but the following horses were bunching up close behind them with Mustangs on 39, the Arabians on 35 and the Shire horses at the back of the field alongside the Shetland ponies both on 32 points. 

The third round saw the Old English majestically still leading the field with the rest bunching behind them ready for a supreme effort on the final lap. The tense final circuit saw lots of excitement with a turnaround in the positions. The Arabians with two young mares and an old stallion stormed through on the inside to win with 84 points followed by the disappointed Old English on 79 points after having lead for the first three laps. It was clear that the Highland ponies prefer the Highlands to the flat Findon course. 

On the individual horse scores two mares, Zena and Judith, having both knocked down all nine skittles with two balls finished as joint winners with the magnificent individual score of 26, just pipping Valerie by a very short head on 25. Where were the stallions one might ask! 
Following the prize giving all the horses were grateful to be well fed and watered in the skittles barn after their morning exertions. 

4th November 

A night out in Brighton

Eleven Members and Associates travelled to Brighton on a Saturday night in November and after a fine, and remarkably economical, Italian meal at Pinocchio’s restaurant moved on to the Dome Concert Hall for an orchestral Concert.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by rising star Luis Castillo-Briceno treated us to a performance of Dvorak’s Carnival Overture followed in the first half by Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, a concerto for solo violin, solo viola and orchestra. In the second half the intensity was ramped up with an exciting performance of Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony which gave all the members of the 80 strong orchestra the chance to show off their talents.

11th October 2023 

Chairman’s Invitation Lunch

Chairman John Gilbert arranged the lunch at Avisford Park Hotel. After a few hic-ups (mainly one barman for 48 people), everybody sat down to an excellent meal. The food was good, the wine flowed and the non stop chatter, implied that on the whole the event was successful. It was made doubly special with the ladies in their fetching finery.

20th September 2023

Guided tour of Parham House

Alan Price ably organised some 20+ members visited one of the country’s finest Elizabethan houses and its gardens on our doorstep on Wednesday of this week.

On arrival at Parham House we were greeted by our experienced guide, Carol, in the house’s original kitchen where we had coffee and biscuits to prepare for our tours.

This area is not generally open to the public now but its display of copper cooking utensils is amazing.

Although many of us had visited the house before, probably on more than one occasion, Carol’s encyclopaedic knowledge and obvious love of the house, its history and all the many artefacts contained in it made it come alive in a way that is not normally possible.  We started our tour in the Great Hall with many paintings of the Palmer and Bishopp families who had owned the property and were intrigued by the large heavy leather water jug on display on the central table which was on casters for ease of use. The tour finished in the extraordinary long gallery, the third longest of its kind in the country, where the far sited architect had provided a panelled ceiling so that if the roof leaked and damaged the ceiling only the damaged part of it would need to be renewed.

We learnt that although the house was built in 1577 only three families have owned it since that time and that the house is in its current excellent condition with much of the original furniture and artefacts due to its purchase in 1922 by the Hon. Clive and Alicia Pearson who used their wealth and resources to restore the property and then opened a major part of the house to the public shortly after the last war.

We then made our way outside where we met by head gardener, Andrew, who proudly told us that the gardens were actually older than the house as they had been used for the monastery that had been on the site before the Reformation.  Andrew had only been head gardener for a relatively short time during which his major challenge had been to rid the gardens of bindweed. This had given him an opportunity to replant some of the beds where the new plants had quickly become established. 

We were fortunate to avoid the rain and adjourned to the nearby Crown Inn for an excellent lunch and listen to the local group Feelin’ Lucky who entertained us with songs and music from our era whilst the rain came down outside!

21st August 2023

Inter Probus Club Croquet

Simon Powlson and Jean Keeling were the winners of the Inter Probus Croquet amateur section held at Southwick SCCC. 

Laki Marangos was the runner up in the Professional handicap section. 

10th August 2023

Visit to Wimbledon 

A coach load of 31 members, partners and one guest made the trip to SW19 5AG for a guided tour of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet club, for a behind the scenes visit of the lawns, club facilities and the famous museum. The sun was shining to make this extra special. Our blue badge guide Caroline Cloutte, enchanted us wonderfully with her amazing knowledge of facts and figures and fascinating insights into the past and present events and personalities. We saw some of the 18 courts including sitting at the famous Centre Court (court 13 does not exist for obvious reasons!). Lunch was enjoyed at the Wingfield cafeteria, named after the "father" of lawn tennis Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in c.1873. We then had a leisurely visit to the world famous museum, past the inevitable shop, aided with audio guides, aiming to digest the incredible story of this club, to read about the star players, to view the trophies and play with interactive displays, before boarding our coach for the return journey home. 

Overall a very interesting and enjoyable day out.

25th July 2023 

Visit to Shoreham Fort

A group of 30 members, from Chanctonbury Probus Club, visited Shoreham Fort, where they were given a guided tour of the site. Built in 1857, in reaction to the threat of an invasion by Napoleon’s forces, the group learned about its clever design that makes it impossible to see from the sea, as it blends into the South Downs landscape. It was decommissioned in 1906 and nine years later it started being used for film sets and was bigger than Hollywood during these early days. Left to decay for a number of years a group of dedicated volunteers took on the task of rebuilding the site. Work is ongoing, but all the materials are paid for through donations. After the visit, 26 of the group had an excellent lunch at the local restaurant “Into the Sea”. – a very enjoyable and memorial day."

23rd June 2023

Inter Probus Club Croquet

Some photos from the warm-up day for the Probus Inter-club croquet competition taking place in August. 

19th May 2023

A visit to the National Memorial Arboretum

Members of Chanctonbury Probus Club, drove to the Leonardo Hotel Hinkley Island, with a 3 hour stop off at Stratford upon Avon. That evening, the members had a very entertaining and palatable meal in the Marco Pierre White restaurant. The following day everybody visited the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire which was stunning and very moving. There are 150 acres of manicured lawns, bushes, trees and gardens, together with over 400 memorials, plaques and figures relating to ALL services that have taken part in the various campaigns, battles, skirmishes and national confrontations.

The members returned home pleasantly exhausted but grateful for having experienced what the day was about – a memorial day. The picture shows Ted F. Barbara, Gill, Ted H and Alison standing by the memorial for the children evacuees.