up there. When we arrived, we spent the afternoon looking at the Roman Catholic Cathedral which we found very interesting. We then went into the new Cathedral, which had not been completed when we saw Dick. After dinner we turned round and came all the way back.
The Members & Characters I Recall So Well
We had had a tremendous number of new members just after we started and many more after I became President. They were in the Club many years and Turner who, with the Canon, had done so much to start the Club had retired and wasn’t President. He went to live in Eastbourne and Gibbs also went to live in Eastbourne just before I became President. There was a tremendous turnover in Rotary. Some stayed for a long time and others moved on. It would be interesting to know how many Rotarians we have had in the 60 years we have been going.
Several members were members of the Hornchurch and District Council, which it was in those days. Gordon Warren, was treasurer, but, when he died, Bill Shalders took over and he became President. He was largely responsible for our work with the blind. He took part in the building of the blind garden in Harrow Park. After a few years he retired and went to live in Southwold.
Then there was Jim, the Chief Medical Officer. He was very keen on Hornchurch becoming one of the first smokeless zones. He achieved this; it was a tremendous task to undertake, but a necessary one, because in those days the fog was so thick you could not take the car out because you could not see. I used to walk to all those places that were reachable, as at night it was impossible to drive. I don’t think people realise nowadays what it was like. The air was filthy to breathe and Jim worked hard on the smokeless project. The smokeless zone was a great achievement for the area, as the smoke was a contributory factor to lung cancer in those days. We always had several members of the Council in the Club.
Alfred Salinger, the builder, whom I mentioned earlier, had also left us at this time, and Harry Wilson came in; he was a quantity surveyor. They kept strictly to the rules of one person per profession in the Club. We took my partner, Dick Coulton, into the Club a few years after me. He had been with me several years before I became President.
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