Based in Brockenhurst

Rhinefield Probus Meeting Report Nov 2015 to Jan 2016

The year 2015 ended on a very positive note for Brockenhurst Rhinefield Probus.

In the latter part of the year there was a surge of membership applications and we are now approaching the point where new applicants may be entered on a waiting list. This does not however preclude those very welcome newcomers from attending meetings but is a sign of the popularity of this Club and an indicator that total capacity is almost reached.

January started off on a musical note with a very informative and interesting talk on The History of the Bagpipe.  This presentation was made by Mike Gibson an authority on the subject and one of our own members. Mike has practical experience as he also played in the Royal Air Force Pipe Band.  He demonstrated and played many types of bagpipe and the chanters (melody pipes) during his talk. We in the UK normally would regard this instrument as of Scottish origin but this is not so. There are examples in church carvings, works of art and stonemasonry showing conclusively that the origins were in the Middle East, Asia and throughout Europe going back many, many centuries. In recent centuries the airbag has been made from leather taken from a large animal. In the early days however the airbag was the cleaned out skin of an animal often using the holes where the limbs joined the body to incorporate the pipes.

In addition to the use of the bagpipe in  traditional and military music  they were part of a classical repertoire too. An opera was written by Weinberger called “Schwanda the Bagpiper”  which features the bagpipes in one of the acts. Interestingly, although we associate the Scottish pipes with blowing into the airbag, there are many variants where the air is pumped into the bag from underarm bellows.

An invitation to members to try the pipes was not taken up !

Jim Forrest gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the members.

The January walk was around Pennington Marshes along the seawall and foreshore near Lymington and ended at The Chequers Inn where walkers were joined by a number of other members for lunch.

Future events include the Annual Dinner, a visit to the Aston Martin factory and a social weekend at a Warners Hotel.