DOW CORNING RETIREES’ ASSOCIATION DISTILLATIONS September 2011 Dear Member, This could be the last issue of Distillations. At the AGM on 5th September 2011 Don (Chairman), stated that Angus (treasurer), Mavis (secretary), Brenda and Bert (trip organisers) and Mary Currie will be retiring as members of the Committee as from the AGM in 2012. He stressed that if people did not come forward to go on the Committee and be prepared to take on the duties then when they retire he would have to recommend the winding up of the Association. After we lost Hugh in January Angus nobly offered to act as treasurer until someone else was appointed and all the current officers have done a fantastic job for many years —and they want a rest. We do need more of the younger members to play an active part in organising the social events, perhaps with new ideas. Please could we have volunteers as soon as possible in plenty of time for the 2012 AGM. Val Caple (Membership Secretary) Update on the Travel Group The group’s September 2010 day trip took us to a very rain swept Salisbury. The cathedral was a fair walk from the coach park and by the time we reached our destination we were slightly damp! The recently completed font is magnificent and, for those suffering from vertigo, the reflection from the water affords and excellent view of the interior of the cathedral without the need to look up. A brief spot of retail therapy at the Wilton outlet was undertaken on our homeward journey. October saw the return of a dinner at the Masonic Hall, an enjoyable night out with good food and excellent disco. During the evening a collection was taken in support of Tony Perry’s attempt at the New York Marathon in support of the British Heart Foundation. The sum of £92.24 was raised, which Dow Corning will match, and Tony wishes to thank everyone concerned for their generosity and stated he should make £5,000 for the cause. 2011 started with a 5-day break at the Palace Hotel, Paignton. Once again the weather was mixed but the hotel accommodation and food were very good and we were asked to make a return visit in the future. Day trips included Dartmouth, Torquay and Teignmouth with, on our homeward journey, a break at ‘The House of Marbles’. The first day trip was to St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire; unlike our visit to Salisbury in 2010 the weather was excellent. We had a really good guide who did an excellent job recounting the history of St. David and the cathedral. This year’s second holiday took us to Northumbria for 6 days, based directly across from the station in Newcastle. Excursions included a day at Beamish Museum, a further day travelling up the coast to Seahouses and Lindisfarne (Holy Island) — the timing was perfect for crossing the causeway so we spent several hours on the island. (Great food in the Ship pub)! The third excursion was a more leisurely journey via the coast route to Alnwick Castle, the main home of the Duke of Northumberland and his family. There was certainly plenty of choice with the castle, gardens (including a tour of the Poison Garden), and the largest treehouse in Europe complete with a cafe at the top. Parts of the Harry Potter series was filmed at the castle, including the broomstick flying and quiddich sequences. If you could drag yourself away there was also Alnwick village to visit. The last morning was spent at Durham (visiting yet another cathedral!). For the Lindisfarne and Alnwick days Edwards had arranged a local guide, Laura, who really brought the area alive with her commentary. She got the driver to drop us off at Craster so we could sample the ‘freshly smoked’ Craster Kippers in a roll and also warned us about the ‘stottie rolls’ which are a ‘local delicacy’. The rolls/ sandwiches consist of a piece of ham or bacon and pease pudding. Whilst the ones on offer at the local ‘Greggs’ looked harmless enough the ones we saw being made at a small local butchers appeared to be a chunk of rancid ham and a slice of congealed stuff presumed to be pease Working tram service at Beamish Museum pudding. Laura proved to be a real asset to the trip and even had us singing ‘The Blaydon Races’ before she left us. The race, which originated in 1862, actually passed our hotel on 9th June as we were going to dinner. Welcoming us at Newcastle were Gwyn & Daphne Phillips (recently relocated to Biggleswade) — good to see them again but, unfortunately, Des & Joan Holland had suffered falls and had to pull out of the trip, we wish them a speedy return to good health. A delay of several hours was experienced on the return journey, due to an overturned lorry on the M5, and a ‘one-off’ diversion to Cardiff, which added a further ¾ hour to our journey time. For future holidays we will only pick up/drop off at Barry site and wherever we stop for a refreshment break, i.e. Reading Services. The Cascade, Alnwick Castle Page 2 July saw us back on the river, the Severn this time, for a fish ‘n chip cruise on the Conway Castle followed by some free time in Tewkesbury. An additional coach trip has been organised for August, a mystery day out. The September trip will start at Hereford followed by a guided tour, with samples, of Weston’s Cider Mill at Much Marcle. The last social event of 2011 will be the annual dinner at Barry Masonic Hall on Friday, 4th November — invitations will be sent out during September. Advance planning for 2012 includes asking Edwards to sort out a visit to Floriade being held at Venlo, Holland. This event is held every 10 years and we are currently anticipating using an overnight ferry from UK to Holland to cut down on the coach journey. More details as they become available. Fish ‘n Chips on the Conway Castle, Tewkesbury Thanks to all of the travellers for their support and also our new ‘trolley dollies’ Rob and Ken for keeping us supplied with refreshments on our journeys up and down the motorways. Brenda Dowdell, [email protected] or 410437. Excerps from Captain’s Log – Mallorca – June 5th to 12th 2011 The party consisted of Val Caple, Mike and Anne Dams, Peter Davies, Dave and Julia Fulford, Bob Griffiths, Margaret and Stuart McMillan, Alan and Sue Taylor, Richard and Jennie Thomas. The aim was to walk and enjoy ourselves in north west Mallorca in the Serrade Tramuntanas. We had reviewed a range of graded walks offered by our tour organiser and prioritised selections so that the walks we undertook were the most popular. We kept a close eye on the TV weather forecast each day, but we did have our own resident weather-forecaster in Mike Dams. Mike was also our official walk distance recorder with his faithful and accurate “pedometer”. We only used the new-fangled GPS once. Sunday. We assembled at Cardiff airport to check in for the flight and undergo the security checks. Going through airport security always reveals something, and today was no exception. Stuart had to return his Ready to start the first walk penknife by post (again!) and the checks found empty water bottles, both metal and plastic, insect spray and a metal emergency whistle. As we were the only flight at that time we surmised that the security staff were either bored, undergoing training, or both. A very comfortable mini-bus was waiting at the Palma airport and whisked us through the new tunnel to Puerto de Soller. The Marina Hotel is a family run hotel, based in a quiet, pedestrianised area of the esplanade, with a prominent beachfront position and outdoor restaurant terrace with a strip of sand separating it from the crystal clear, warm sea. The view from the hotel across the bay is magnificent. The picturesque Puerto de Soller to Soller trams run so a truly ideal location for swimmers and walkers. We later learnt that among the many groups of walkers in the village were 13 from Tiger Bay who were staying at the same hotel! Monday – Puerto de Soller to Torre Picada & Sa Illeta - 8 miles. We walked from the hotel around the harbour esplanade (dodging the trams) and made our way through woodland paths up to the prominent stone tower, Torre Picada, that overlooks the entrance into Puerto de Soller harbour and a large stretch of coast to the north. The path overlooked the clear blue sea, most of it along tracks under trees with nearby rock faces providing additional shade. Unfortunately this area has suffered a number of landslips recently and so the path had been re-routed. At one landslip part of the group decided not proceed further because of fallen trees and huge boulders making further walking tricky. However four intrepid explorers continued to the walk destination, a “sitja” (charcoal burning circle). We had a delightful snack stop overlooking the pretty bird breeding isle of Sa Illeta. After returning to the Marina hotel we undertook what would become our typical evening activity – a wee-drink before dinner, dinner in the restaurant and a wee-drink before retiring, usually accompanied by the hotel evening entertainment. Tuesday – Coast walk to Deia – 8 miles. A climb from the hotel up an old cobbled donkey track gave some good views over Puerto de Soller and its magnificent harbour bustling with fishing boats, leisure craft and tripping boats to nearby tourist spots.