Henley Probus Club

THE 477th meeting of Henley Probus Club was held at Badgemore Park on September 13.

The chairman welcomed everyone and there followed a two-minute silence for HM Queen Elizabeth II.

A number of reports were provided to the meeting by the chairman, treasurer and secretary.

The highlights were:

The Christmas lunch will be held at Badgemore Park on December 13 (this will replace the scheduled
meeting).

The next event will take place on October 27 and will be a visit to the Mill at Sonning theatre.

Henley Ladies’ Probus have invited the club to join them on a visit to Waddesdon on November 24.

Further events are being planned for 2023.

The chairman then introduced our guest speaker, Colin McEwen, who spoke about Charles Wheatstone, inventor and musician.

Wheatstone was born in 1802 and he developed very quickly, holding his first concertina concert in 1829.

He became a professor at King’s College, London, in 1834.

His career path developed via technology and music. He was involved in the development of the
5-needle telegraph system on the Paddington to Slough railway line in 1838, six years before the Morse telegraph and 38 years before the first telephone.

In 1829, Wheatstone took out his first patent on a concertina, which was subsequently engineered for volume production.

One such pre-1900 concertina was shown to Probus members and played to them.

After a vote of thanks to the speaker, the meeting concluded.

Henley Probus meets at Badgemore Park on the second Tuesday of each month. It starts with an informal gathering of members (plus visitors) for a discussion and coffee with the formal meeting commencing at 11.30am followed by lunch.

If anyone is interested in joining the club, please make themselves known to Roger Griffiths, membership secretary, by calling (01491) 575137 or email
regriffiths@waitrose.com

Roger Roberts