Luncheons and Speakers – Yeovil Probus

The Probus Club of Yeovil meets at The Quicksilver Mail pub, Hendford Hill, Yeovil BA20 2RG – normally on the second Monday of each month (except when this coincides with a bank holiday).

2025
10^th February	Alien Technology	Bud Budzyenski	Bud will give his view on what an advanced race of beings would need, to travel unimaginable distances across the cosmos & visit or just observe us.
10^th March	Late Flowering Lyricist	Miranda Pender	Miranda will give a humorous light hearted talk which includes 6 original songs about why it may never be too late to change direction, the importance of seizing the moment & how, with a bit of determination, you might be able to achieve things you never dreamed of.
14^th April	An Auctioneer’s Ten Commandments	Richard Kay	Richard who is the director Lawrences Auctioneers picture department, will relate light hearted & informal saleroom reminiscences.
12^th May	Who Shot JFK? (and who didn’t)	Richard Hutley	Richard will give his view on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22^nd 1963 as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plasa in downtown Dallas Texas. But who shot him? Lee Harvey Oswold? The man on the grassy knoll? Was it 3, 4 or 10 shots? Or the magic bullet? History may not be what they let you believe!
9^th June	Hypnotherapy & The Power of The Mind	Andy Hill	Andy is a hypnotherapist working in Yeovil, Ilminster & Chard. His talk is fairly upbeat (but not silly), interactive & informative & covers topics including: What is Hypnotherapy? What sort of problems can Hypnotherapy help with. Interesting case studies (completely anonymised). The miracle of mind & emotions. How to get your mind on your side-top tips.
14^th July	Napoleon Soldier & Lover	James Porter	This talk combines the military & political life of Napoleon Bonaparte with his personal & love life. Churchill described Napoleon as “the greatest man of action born in Europe since Julius Caesar”. Certainly Napoleon was a man of quite extraordinary energy, dynamism, vision & ambition. He was a brilliant & inspirational military strategist & commander, as well as being a gifted & far-sighted politician & administrator. But Napoleon was also a human being & the talk examines his relationship with Josephine Bauharnais from its beginning, through her marriage & coronation as Empress, to divorce & to the string of other women in his life.
11^th August	Wonder Weapons of WW2	Dick Taylor	The story of twelve incredible but largely forgotten weapons fielded, tested, developed (and in some cases, fortunately abandoned) by combatant nations during WW2
8^th September	The World of Ghosts	Brian Wright	Brian will be looking at the many different phenomena called ghosts & their possible causes. We will discuss any experiences members have had, & look at the lecturers own experiences in a haunted mansion & during two ghost watches.
13^th October	Darien Breakthrough	Col. John Blashford-Snell CBE	Col. John Blashford-Snell is a former British army officer, explorer & author. In 1971-72 he oversaw the first north -south vehicular journey from Alaska to Cape Horn. Part of this journey involved crossing the Darien Gap-thick uncharted jungle & swamp in Panama & Columbia. An expedition to drive two newly introduced Range Rovers 17,000 miles through North & South America was initiated & Funded by the MoD. It entailed crossing a 250 mile stretch of extremely inhospitable land in the isthmus of Central America, through which there was no discernible route. The terrain was regarded as impassable, consisting of thick rain forest, several sizeable rivers & an extensive swamp. The area is home to all manner of ferocious, biting, poisonous creatures & vicious thorny toxic plants.
10^th November	AGM
8^th December	Uncle Bill: Britain’s Forgotten Hero – Field Marshal William Slim	Ashley Jones MBE	Ashley will explore the life of Bristol born soldier, Field Marshal Viscount William “Bill” Slim. Known affectionately as “uncle Bill” by his soldiers. Slim commanded the 14^th “forgotten” army in the bitterly contested Burma campaign of WW2, recovering from the 1000 mile retreat from Burma to India, only to return two years later to defeat the Japanese in the steaming jungles of South East Asia.
Previous 2025 speakers include:
13^th January	Westland Fixed Wing Aircraft	Joseph Lewis of the Heritage Centre	Joseph related the aircraft produced by the company from its first aircraft a seaplane in 1915 through the inter war years & the second world war up to the last fixed wing aircraft the Westland Wyvern.