Please remember that your contributions are always welcome but please double check what you submit. (Someone provided a recipe using Bible verses, they didn’t work out; there were more answers than clues. As the recipe was anonymous I couldn’t contact anyone to correct it. Should authors wish to remain anonymous I will respect their wishes, of course.

In these days of computers you can put your writing on disk so long as I can transcribe it to my Word 2000 set up. (Disks will be returned if the owner’s name is known).

There is also a date for your diaries for which we would like to give you advanced notice. This is the Garden Party on 11th August. If this is to be held at Bosham it will begin at 1.45 pm so that we can catch the tide and those who wish can go for a boat trip. Further details of this and other events will be posted on the reception desk. Meanwhile anyone eager to set up a stall or help in any way, for example in providing food might contact Vicki or Sue.

The Awards Meeting on 11^th May at Fordwater School, beginning as soon as you are dried and dressed, (dress optional), is an opportunity to thank and congratulate members on various achievements. In addition to the four awards that have been given for some years, there is the Joy Quennell Award, donated by Gordon in memory of his lovely wife who died last year. We are delighted that Gordon is helping us to remember Joy in this way though those of us who knew her will never forget her. Who will be the first recipient of the Joy Quennell vase is a closely kept secret, known only to Gordon, Kevin, and Tricia.

Finally, We still need more members! Please tell friends about us if you think they may be interested and put the orange leaflets in shops, surgeries, or anywhere else. Besides helping other people you will be putting a smile on our treasure’s face. The more the number of swimmers who come to the pool each week, the nearer we come to balancing our budget.

22^nd February 1913 to

16^th January 2002

We were all sad to learn of the death of our President. For the long period of our association he took a deep and genuine interest in our activities and well-being. As a family member said, however, he had enjoyed a good life and was ‘ready to go’. We wish him well as he passes beyond our horizon. Many members of the Club know him best for his kindness in making his home available for our annual Garden Party. (Somehow he usually arranged for us to have good weather and a calm sea so that those who were taken for a sail round the harbour still felt able to eat their tea!) And, of course, there is the Gick Award, which is presented to the member who has given outstanding service during the past year. On many occasions the Admiral himself attended the awards ceremony and delivered the trophy himself. In May 2001 his ill health meant that his son, Alan, gave the trophy in his place. He was, however, well enough to greet us personally at last year’s Garden Party. We appreciated this and our last memory of him is a very happy one.

The Admiral enjoyed a busy and successful career in the Royal Navy and was serving in the Fleet Air Arm when the search for the German pocket battleship Bismarck took place. He led the swordfish attack and was the only one of his group to score a hit with a torpedo. It struck the ship’s armour plating so little damage was caused. For this he was awarded his first DSC. After directing anti-submarine operations in support of allied convoys to Murmansk, he served on the carrier Ark Royal and was mentioned in dispatches for his gallantry in saving lives when the ship was sinking, the victim of a U-Boat attack. He commanded the planes that were responsible for protecting convoys trying to evade submarine attacks on their way to the beleaguered garrison at Tobruk. Always a man of ingenuity he used Italian POWs to service his aircraft and improve the cooking in the canteen! By the end of 1942 he was a Lieutenant-Commander. His war ended in the far east where he was Air Group Commander of the 15^th Carrier Air Group. While he was based in Hong Kong he was responsible for ending the threat posed to men and vessels by Chinese pirates. Those who were wounded in the ensuing encounters were allowed to return home, to demonstrate through their condition that piracy did not pay. Unorthodoxy of this kind may have led to him not being promoted to the rank of vice-admiral. (He was also once fined for exceeding the speed limit when taking his ship through the Suez Canal)! Other achievements included commanding the first D class destroyer, the Daring, and the aircraft carrier Bulwark. The Admiral’s list of decorations and honours is impressive, CB,OBE, DSC and Bar, mentioned in dispatches twice; yet he is known to us as a kind, unassuming and generous friend. Sadly, obituaries failed to note his voluntary activities so there was no reference to the Otters!

The Admiral and his family supported us even at his funeral, where Gordon Quennell represented us as I was in India. The retiring collection was divided equally between the Otters and the Arthritis Research Campaign. We were astounded to receive a cheque for £580! This will be put towards the purchase of a hoist, details of which Bob Rendall will give later in this Newsletter.

The best news of all is the Alan Gick, the Admiral’s son, has agreed to succeed his father as the Club’s President. We are very grateful to him for so doing. His family values the contact as much as we do.

Small grubby hand in my wrinkled hand

Together we explore his wonder land

Bumble bee soft as a pussy willow bud

Ruby red worm twists in dark brown mud

Black aunt scurries by; and a ladybird flies

A garden of magic, to a small boys eyes

Hand in hand we wander along

Listening to the blackbird’s song

Once I was old, now I feel young

I see with young eyes, ‘Thank you, grandson’.

It started raining at nine o’clock

Still pouring down at three

So we set out for a winter walk

My grandson and me

I wore boots of shiny black

His boots were shiny blue

I was fifty seven years old

He was only two.

Oh, we splashed in puddles deep

Squished in the mud by the tree

And we laughed and had fun

That wet winter’s day

My grandson and me.

Then he stopped, took my hand

In fingers tight curled,

‘I love you Nan’, he said,

‘Best in all the world’.

And the dripping world turned gold

A blackbird sang in the tree

And the winter sun shone warmly on

My grandson and me.

Nightfall brings out the beast in me,

I have to go out, I have to be free.

I slip into the garden

And climb next door’s wall

I prowl about their pond,

Taking care not to fall,

I jump on their dustbin

Then up onto their shed,

A flying leap lands me

On their sun bed,

I think I have snagged it,

But I don’t really care,

They should have put it away,

Not left it out there.

I think I’ll just pop into

Next door but one

They’ve concreted their garden,

That’s not much fun.

Nothing here to damage

Or play with at all.

Hang on a minute,

Is that a beech ball?

Oh dear! Now I’ve burst it,

What a loud pop,

Their back door is opening,

I’m off like a shot.

They own a big bull dog,

The size of an ape.

Back home again, phew!

A lucky escape.

Who’s that in my garden

It’s her from number ten,

Looks like she’s got herself

In trouble again.

Her last lot were ginger,

She knew who to blame,

His name was Big Tom,

He lives down the lane.

We wail together

About her sad fate,

And soon we are joined

By a few of our mates,

Then all of a sudden,

It turns into a brawl,

That’s the trouble with cats –

At Nightfall!

Recently Shirley and I went to Madeira on holiday with out friends, Maureen and John. Our hotel was in a place called Santo da Serra which was 550 metres above sea level. In Madeira each village seems to have its own collection of stray dogs. In our area there were about six that we used to see every morning as we ere leaving the hotel. One particular day we decided to walk down to the town of Machico, a distance of approximately 12 kilometres.

On leaving the hotel one of us spoke to one of the dogs, (we will call it Fred). This was a big mistake as it decided to follow us out of the village. We tried in vain to lose it but to no avail, it just stayed with us.

Every time a vehicle came along Fred ran out into the road to greet it. How he didn’t get run over is a mystery. He just kept running in and out of the road. Drivers glared at us as though it was our dog. We tried to indicate that it was nothing to do with us.

We walked down roads and lanes, and through woods along levadas and finally on to a small part of motorway leading into Machico – with Fred still up to his tricks. (By now we were nearly nervous wrecks).

Earlier we had decided to catch the bus or a taxi back to our hotel after our day out; now we were concerned about what would happen to Fred if we couldn’t get him on a bus. We had a cup of coffee in a café while we decided what to do.

Machico has its share of stray dogs and Fred wandered off with them for a while, so we wondered whether he would stay in Machico. He had disappeared for some time so we crept away thinking he had gone. We moved to a park about 200 metres away – where Fred came and sat beside us.

Eventually, he did disappear with other dogs but we felt quite guilty about leaving him. We caught a bus back to the hotel; all we could think about was Fred!

Two days later we mentioned Fred to one of the waiters and to our surprise he told us that he lived in Machico, had walked down to the sea with his family on the previous evening, and thought he recognised it as a dog that was always around the hotel. WE now felt a little better about leaving Fred and decided to visit Machico at the end of the week.

On the last day of our holiday we went to the area where we last saw the dog. We sat having a coffee and who should come along but Fred with two other dogs, seeming very full of himself and happy.

We are sure that he recognised us but he never came close to us and in a funny sort of way we think he thanked us for relocating him in a slightly drier and warmer place than Santa da Serra.

We had a lovely holiday and would recommend Madeira to anyone.

Margrith Hose writes:

I represent the Otters on a committee called Chichester Community Working Group. The group was set up in 1999 and its objectives are to provide local transport for people with disabilities, learning difficulties and mental health problems.

We have provided a dial-a-ride service for everyday journeys such as, to college, shopping, doctors’ surgeries, visiting friends or coming to the Leisure Centre. We shall use mini busses that are fully accessible for wheel chairs. The fares will be equivalent to normal bus services.