Club President, Jim Speirs, welcomed returning visiting Rotarian, Past President John Arthur, from Motherwell and Wishaw Club and guest speaker, Tom Carson, to the Club’s regular weekly meeting.  John is the brother of the Carluke Club’s own Past President Michael Arthur and Tom, who attended to give a talk on “The History of Flying”, was a returning speaker who, until retiral, was a mechanical engineer who took up flying, as a hobby, in 1986. 

A good friend of the late “Tex” McGuinness, Tom gave a humorous account of some aspects of aviation’s history but more particularly the Edinburgh Flying Club, of which he continues to be a member.   Apparently flying is fairly straightforward, it’s the art of coming back to earth that seems to pose the greatest hazard.  Tom has had experience in flying many types of light aircraft and seemed to have a soft spot for the old Tiger Moths but he left none in doubt as to his love of flying for flying’s sake. 

Not an inexpensive hobby, the ever increasing cost of fuel, coming in at £2.00 per litre and with an average use of 37 litres, per hour’s flying, this has obviously precluded some of the flying he used to do.  It was not unknown to take off from Turnhouse for Stavanger, Berlin , the Channel Islands or other Continental destinations  One wonders if fuel prices will ever see such free use of the air by amateurs in the future? 

There were several interesting questions posed at the end of the presentation with John Arthur commenting on the greater ease of navigation prior to the “Beeching Cuts”.  Pilots could find their bearings by following the railway tracks and then “buzz” the station platforms to find out the name of the station, thereby setting course for the correct destination.  Rotarian Jim Lewis proposed the vote of thanks.

In other business President Jim reported that he had, along with Douglas Forrest, Tom McNicol and their respective partners attended, the Biggar Festival Ball.  The event took the form of a Jazz/Swing Night and the Biggar Rotary Club hoped to raise at least £4,000.  Jim also announced that he and a supporting group of Carluke Rotarians and spouses were attending the District 1020 Conference at Inverness the coming weekend.  Jim had agreed to take part in a sponsored abseil of the Eden Court Theatre and with support from many Carluke members he hoped to raise several hundred pounds for “Mercy Ships”.  He was also happy to report that the Club’s Curling Team had made it into the next round of the Ram’s Head Trophy in a tightly fought match against Strathaven Rotary Club.  It was also announced that the Community Service Committee would co-ordinate the Club's response to the "Remember our Heroes Past and Present" campaign.

The Club meets regularly on Mondays at the Cartland Bridge Hotel, 6.15 for 6.30pm. For further information contact any Club member.