Meeting reports and what’s on’s for Thetford’s clubs and groups this March
Probus Club of Thetford
The February talk to the club was by Paul Jordan about the antiterrorist branch of the Metropolitan Police, which he served in for many years.
He covered the history of the branch and its development, particularly through the 1970s and 80s, when much of its work involved countering the Provisional IRA. He provided a detailed description of the methodology employed and the painstaking work involved in obtaining evidence to achieve prosecution. Their work was not confined to the metropolitan area of London but covered the whole of the UK and sometimes overseas. Next month’s talk is on Guide Dogs, which illustrates the wide variety of subjects covered by our talks. Why not come along and sample our club?
The club has a wide variety of speakers on a wide variety of subjects. The club holds monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at 10.30am in the Church on the Way, Churchill Road, Thetford IP24 2JW. If you are interested, why not come along? You will be more than welcome.
The club also hosts a monthly lunch at local venues. More details can be found at:
https://probusclub.net/thetford
Doug Stephen
Thetford Inner Wheel
Our February gathering started with a very enjoyable meal at the Golf Club. A business meeting followed when we discussed voting for the International Inner Wheel Officers and then made plans for our Birthday Lunch in April. Members were reminded to collect items for the recycling initiative Inner Wheel is supporting.
President Janey MacKay then set us a quiz to test our lateral thinking expertise. We discovered very quickly that we were sadly lacking in that area!
For further information about Inner Wheel please go to www.innerwheel.co.uk.
Marian de Bass
Club Correspondent
Thetford u3a
Our January speaker was Derek Davies of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, who was a late but most able replacement for a colleague who was ill.
Founded in 1824 by Sir William Hillary, early funding came from public subscriptions to the tune of £7,000 (a massive sum for the times), prompted by the heroic lifesaving exploits of Grace Darling. A personal gift of £50 from Queen Victoria gave the organisation royal approval.
Early boats relied upon oars and manpower and much remained the same until the latter part of the last century, when first motorisation and then the development of a self-righting boat brought ultimate safety for crews to the fore. The RNLI will soon be building all their craft in-house at their headquarters near Poole. They operate 444 lifeboats across 238 stations, as well as providing lifeguard support on numerous beaches. Most personnel are volunteers and, of course, many have died in service on our behalf. Our members appreciate such selfless dedication, as was testified by generous post-talk donations.
Our meeting on Thursday 26th March 2026 will see Amanda Sutherland giving us guidance on “Make Do and Mend”.
U3A Thetford’s monthly meetings take place on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Church on the Way, Churchill Road, Thetford, IP24 2JZ. Doors open half an hour before the start at 2pm.
New members are always welcome. Contact membership@thetfordu3a.org for details.
David Thompson
Thetford Parkinson’s Group
Whether you’re newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s, or have tolerated it for some years, you are very welcome to come to our March 10th meeting at 11am in the Methodist Church. The Parkinson’s nurse will be there to offer advice and tell us what the nurses can help with. We are very lucky to have two dedicated Parkinson’s nurses in Norfolk.
Especially if you are newly diagnosed, our April meeting will be addressed by a lady from the Department for Work and Pensions. She will be able to signpost the way around the benefits available to those with Parkinson’s.
Coffee, tea and biscuits always there to greet you (and sometimes chocolate!) For more information please contact Rachel at rwaid2@gmail.com
Rachel Woods
West Norfolk Aviation Society
Welcome to the first report from WNAS and Happy New Year for 2026, as the January meeting was cancelled due to adverse weather.
In western Europe the F104 Starfighter was a very popular combat aircraft in the 70’s and 80’s. By popular myth, what was the easiest way to obtain an example?
Answer: “Buy a field and wait.”
To those younger readers, this references the truly appalling crash statistics of the F104, which was designed as a high altitude interceptor and wasn’t really suited to the low level ground attack role it found itself in for the majority of its service. Between 1961 and 1989 the West German Air Force lost 292 out of 916 F104 aircraft delivered (nearly 33% of the fleet).
Enough of this gloom. This week’s offering was a DVD on Concorde which was, to say the least, diverse, in that there were large sections referencing the B747, Nimrod and, bizarrely, a long portion on the joys of Las Vegas and how it can be a very cheap holiday IF you can resist the other offerings at the casinos!
After the usual delicious sandwiches and cake, a short discussion ensued regarding the relative merits of Concorde. Most interesting from my point of view was the reasoning behind the extra ‘e’ at the end of Concorde, thus spelling it the ‘French’ way. As it was an Anglo-French endeavour, I always assumed it was a sop to the French but apparently if you leave the ‘e’ out the meaning in French is Con Conk (poor translation I’m sure), which bearing in mind the droop snoot on the machine seems vaguely appropriate!
The next meeting is Tuesday 03rd March when the guest speaker will be Charles Howard-Vyse, an ex Tornado aircrew, and he will be talking about his time at NATO. Please check out our new website on www.westnorfolkaviationsociety.com.
Mark Burch
WNAS Scribe
