9:56am Wednesday 21st October 2009
IF YOU want to know about life below decks in the Royal Yacht Britannia, then our September speaker, Lieutenant Commander Mike Hill, is your man.
He had only been in the Royal Navy six years when he had the opportunity to join the Royal Yacht in June 1960, immediately following Princess Margaret’s honeymoon in the West Indies. He then spent the next four years criss-crossing the globe with practically every member of the Royal Family.
Laced with a good deal of humour, Mike was discretion itself about the Royals but told us much about living in such unusual surroundings.
And, yes, the crew did sleep in hammocks and wear plimsolls to keep noise levels down on deck.
He retired from the Navy in 1983 and enjoys giving lectures on other nautical subjects, such as the Mary Rose and the Battle of Trafalgar. He is also a qualified speaker on family history.
Congratulations to our skittles team of Freda, Shirley, Sarah, Fran, Christine and Avril when they recently beat the other five WI teams in the North Basingstoke Group. They will now proceed to the semi-finals for this annual Hampshire competition which will take place next spring.
Our general knowledge quiz team of six were also competing during September when they took part in the Hampshire finals in Bishops Waltham. Unfortunately, they didn’t win – but thanks to them for valiantly taking part.
The speaker at our October meeting, Mr Palmer, kept us amused talking about the lighter side of his 30-year career in the Hampshire Constabulary. On Tuesday, November 3, at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Parish Room, we will be holding our annual general meeting. Once the important business of the evening has been dealt with, we will continue in lighter vein with a few quizzes and drawing competitions.
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