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var colum0 = '<center><img src="photos/ew62.jpg" width="440" height="260" align="Texttop" border="0" vspace="5" hspace="15" alt="RPEC Establishes Engineers Walk"><h2>Inauguration of Engineers Walk</h2> <h3>Members attending at Bristol Centre</h3></center>The Inauguration on 31 May 2006 was attended by Ms. Julia Elton of Clevedon Court, the well-known champion of engineers and engineering, Mr. Goery Delacote, Chief Executive of At-Bristol, Mr Julian Russell, the son of Sir Archibald, and the great-great-great-granddaughter of William Patterson Mrs. Michelle Miles together with a considerable number of RPEC members';
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var month = 9;
cc=0;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>January 14th 2009';
colum2[cc]='The Influence of Computers on Photography<br>Talk by Denzil Ellis';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h3>The Influence of Computers on Photography<br>Talk by Denzil Ellis</h3></div>Denzil worked for SWEB for 35 years initially as a contracting and development engineer then moving to sales and marketing, ending his career as the companies Indirect Marketing Manager.<br><br>Photography has been a lifetime hobby and at present he is Vice Chairman of Backwell Camera club and Exhibition Secretary for the Western Counties Photographic Federation.<br><br>The talk illustrates the changes in use and presentation of photographic images made possible by affordable digital cameras and computers.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center"><b>Original Photo </b>(Sample by Webmaster)<br><img src="photos/prague.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="450" alt="Original Photo" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="texttop"><br><br><b>Computer Processed</b><br><img src="photos/praguepro.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="498" alt="Computer Processed" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="texttop"><br></div>';
eday[cc]=90114;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>February 11th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Uses of Steam around Bristol<br>Talk by Paul Stephens';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h3>Avonbank Steam Dynamo & Condensor - Long Gone</h3>(SWEHS Archives)<br><img src="photos/avonbnk1.jpg" border="0" width="480" height="321" alt="Avonbank Long Gone Steam Dynamo & Condensor"><h2>Uses of Steam around Bristol<br>Talk by Paul Stephens</h2></div><div style="text-align: justify">Paul Stephens, for his day job, is the IT Manager for the Portbury factory of DS Smith Packaging, a manufacturer of corrugated boxes. However, his great passion is the history of the stationary steam engine and he has spent over thirty years photographing surviving examples in various parts of the world. This includes western Europe, The United States and Canada plus the island of Java. He has been chairman of the International Stationary Steam Engine Society for many years. Details of this society may be found at <a href="http:/isses.org" target="_blank">http://isses.org</a>.<br><br>. The talk uses photos from the late George Watkins who spent his entire life travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles photographing stationary steam engines. He died in 1990 and his collection of photos is now held in the English Heritage Research centre at Swindon.<br><br>The talk is supported by a series of photos by Paul, which show what can still be seen in Bristol and for completeness a few photos of sites about fifty miles from Bristol are also included.</div>';
eday[cc]=90211;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>March 11th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Bristol and the Zinc Industry<br>Talk by John Green';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]="<div style='text-align: center'><img src='pics/Avonmouth2.jpg' border='0' width='444' height='160' alt='Avonmouth Works' align='texttop'><h2>Bristol and the Zinc Industry<br>Talk by John C.Green C.Eng MIET</h2></div><div style='text-align: justify'>John studied Electrical Engineering at Loughborough and in the Royal Navy On leaving the Navy he worked for the Canadian Standards Institution and then in December 1965 joined what was then the Imperial Smelting Corporation as Assistant Works Electrical Engineer at their primary zinc smelter in Avonmouth.During his time there as Works Electrical & Services Engineer and then Electrical Projects Engineer he assisted on many technical innovations. He gained an interest in the history of the smelting industry and represented the Company at various seminars on the subject.<img src='pics/Zinc.jpg' border='0' width='225' height='225' alt='Zinc' hspace='15' vspace='5' align='right'><br><br><b>Bristol and the Zinc Industry</b><br>John will cover the development of Zinc smelting from India in the 16th Century, to the development of the unique Imperial Smelting Furnace at Avonmouth in the 1950's, via the pioneering work of William Champion at Warmley.<br><br>The presentation will include a 'simple' explanation of the metallurgy involved and finish with a piece of historical film from the early 1950s.</div><center><img src='pics/Zcbw.jpg' border='0' width='448' height='269' alt='Champion Brass Works' hspace='80' vspace='5'><br><b>The Champion Brass Works</b></center>";
eday[cc]=90311;
cc++;colum1[cc]="Wednesday<br>April 8th 2009";
colum2[cc]='Peru Talk by Ralph Benjamin';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="photos/Benjamin1.jpg" border="0" width="480" height="360" alt="IET Presentation to Professor Ralph Benjamin By Michael Clinch  our  President" align="texttop"><h3>IET Presentation to Professor Ralph Benjamin By Michael Clinch  our  President</h3>This occured at our February 2008 Meeting and refered to awards made by the IET to Ralph Benjamin namely: <br><br>Last year: the IET award for <b>Innovation in Electronics</b><br>This year: The IET <b>Oliver Lodge Medal</b> for fundamental contributions to IET<br><br><img src="photos/Benjamin2.jpg" border="0" width="480" height="431" alt="Ralph & Michael" hspace="15" vspace="5" align="texttop"><br><br>Talk by Ralph Benjamin:<br><br> Peru is quite a big country, with a wide range of altitudes, variety of climates, floras, faunas, and topographies, diverse ethnicities, cultures and architectures, and an intriguing history. In a brief but intensive trip in 2007, Ralph was able to observe and sample much of this and, will share it with us, helped by a judicious selection from his numerous slides.<br><br><img src="pics/Peru120.png" border="0" width="500" height="329" alt="Arequipa"></div>';
eday[cc]=90408;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>May 13th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Annual General Meeting<br>followed by Talk:<br>Gadgets of Yesteryear <br>by Cyril Routley';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Gadgets of Yesteryear <br>by Cyril Routley</h2></div><div style="text-align: justify"><b>Cyril Routley</b> spent all his working life of 40 years teaching at Nailsea School in North Somerset. He initially was appointed to teach Latin when the school was a Grammar School but changed to French later on. He ran the reprographics room for a number years and was responsible for the introduction and development of a printing section to serve all the needs of a large school. During the latter part of his career he was the examinations officer, charged with all aspects of the administration of all public examinations and also internal, formal examinations in preparation for these. He retired in 2000 but fulfilled the examination role for a further two years, 2002-4 when the post became an administrative post rather than a teacher one.<br><br>During the past 9 years he has built up a repertoire of talks and speaks to all types of clubs and societies on Sundials, Gadgets of the early 20th century, Street Furniture (mainly in the local area), Collecting Goss and Crested China, and Blue Plaques in the local area. Currently he is reading several of the journals written by the early travellers to Australia on the ss Great Britain, with a view to producing a presentation on the realities of life on board the ship over 150 years ago. This is scheduled for late 2009.<br><div style="text-align: center"><img src="pics/gb1.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="375" alt="" align="top"><h3>Gadgets of Yesteryear</h3></div>This talk is a selection of gadgets patented during the years 1901-5. It highlights some of the weird and wonderful inventions made during that era, as a solution to problems which we never realised existed! The first section focuses on items loosely connected with food including a novel way to slice bread or deliver milk. This is followed by a group of items linked to clothing such as a method to protect you from the rain (with a very up to date application as well). The third section concentrates on health and hygiene in the main with rather astonishing thoughts about cleanliness concerning, for example, the toilet seat. Finally there are inventions which are miscellaneous in their usage including an early form of vacuum cleaner or an ingenious dog kennel.</div>';
eday[cc]=90513;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>June 17th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Summer Luncheon';
colum3[cc]="The Commodore - Kew Stoke";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Summer Luncheon</h2> <h3>The Commodore - Kew Stoke<br> Wednesday June 17th 2009</h3><img src="photos/Smmrlnch02.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="374" alt=""><h3>A Previous Occasion</h3></div>';
eday[cc]=90617;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>August 12th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Henry Ford<br>Illustrated Presentation  by Derek Fey';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="photos/ford00.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="328" alt="T Ford" hspace="25" vspace="5"><h2>Henry Ford</h2><h3>Illustrated Presentation  by Derek Fey</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Derek  graduated from Southampton University and immediately joined EMI,  Feltham, where he worked on a number of missile system projects before moving on to Pye’s. When Pye’s got themselves into severe financial difficulties he applied to BAC and took up a post in Bristol in 1966. He worked at BAC/BAe for 23 years as a Design Engineer in the Guided Weapons part of the company. During the period he worked on autopilots, control systems, aircraft systems, wrote software and designed installations.  When the cold war ended his project was run down and he left to become a freelance Auditor for Quality systems to ISO 9000. He finally retired completely in 2000 and is now a RPEC member. His wife Joyce is a keen supporter of RPEC and will probably assist Derek with the presentation. Joyce has a Chemistry Degree from Southampton and did research for BP who employed only 12 basic research scientists for their whole empire. She has Patents for the work she did to find oil which could withstand the very high temperatures used in the then new engines being built for Concorde.<br><br>Derek has visited the Ford complex in Detroit twice and on his latter visit was struck by how negative the attitude to Ford was in the UK. His illustrated presentation will provide a personal (and more positive?) view of Ford from the perspective of one who has a large number of relatives (30 approx) living in the Detroit area.</div><div style="text-align: center"><img src="photos/ford01.jpg" border="0" width="450" height="351" alt="Ford Motor Company" hspace="25" vspace="5" align="texttop"></div>';
eday[cc]=90812;	
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>September 9th 2009';
colum2[cc]='<div style="text-align: left">The Future of Telecommunications<br>Talk by Russel Haines</div>';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="photos/telecom.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="430" alt="Telecommunication"><h2>"Mobile Communications - Quo Vadis?"</h2></div><div style="text-align: justify">In this talk, Russell Haines will show where he believes we are going in the exciting and fast-moving field of wireless telecommunications. Starting off with a historical perspective and some underlying background material, he will show how wireless systems have evolved to their current state, with particular focus on cellular mobile phone systems and wireless Local Area Network "WiFi" hotspot systems. The latest developments in the industry will be explored, including new applications, new technologies and new external pressures, which will show the trends driving the next generation of mobile devices. Finally, some long-term research topics will be described to show what could be coming along in the coming decade.<br><br><b>CV/Bio</b><br><br>RUSSELL J. HAINES is Chief Standardisation Officer and a Principal Research Engineer for Toshiba Research Europe in their  Telecommunications Research Laboratory in Bristol. Before joining Toshiba he worked on GSM (2G) mobile phone development for NEC and on an emergency services communications switch at GEC Marconi.<br><br>He holds a PhD and a first-class BEng(Hons) degree from the University of Bristol.  He is a Chartered Engineer, a Eur Ing, a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of the IET and ACM.  He has more than twenty-five patents and numerous journal and conference papers. He is an active member of the IET Bristol Local Network, currently Vice-Chair and Schools Liaison Officer, and also mentors and supports colleagues to Chartered Engineer and Senior Member of the IEEE status.<br><br>He lives in Westbury on Trym in Bristol with his wife and two young daughters.</div>';
eday[cc]=90909;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>October 14th 2009';
colum2[cc]='Be kind to your wallet and <br>Save the World<br>Talk by Mike Rowe';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Be kind to your wallet and <br>Save the World</h2><h3>Talk by Mike Rowe</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mike Rowe trained as a Student Apprentice with the Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co. Ltd, Chippenham, spending the academic part at the Welsh College of Advanced Technology, Cardiff - now UWIST. After basic training, he passed through machine shops, fitting shops, erection shops, foundry, forge, tool room and wiring shops as well as the semiconductor plant and development labs. He worked on the design of railway signalling as well as remote control and automation for the oil, gas, water and sewage industries for his last Apprentice and early Engineer years. Then followed some time working on ship and aircraft simulators with Redifon Air Trainers. The longest period then followed with 23 years in the Independent Broadcasting Authority concerned with transmitter automation, monitoring and control until the IBA was destroyed by Mrs. T. who had rather taken against it. With his varied experience and wide interests, it often fell to him to sort out the stranger cross-disciplinary technical problems that can plague any complex project. This, in turn, led to consultancy on United Nations Development Projects in India and Malaysia. <br><br>Following early retirement, Mike and Pauline moved to France for 11 years to run a large property near Bordeaux as B&B plus Gites until a combination of grandchildren, climate change and health problems brought them back to the U.K.<br><br>His life-long interests, apart from all aspects of engineering and skilled crafts, include music and various church involvements. More recently, "Green" interests have come in and he is a member of several local "Green" groups as well as a member of the Bath & Wells Diocesan Ecology Group. Any thing French still looms large. He is the resident blacksmith at the Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury. <div style="text-align: center"><h3>"Be Kind to Your Wallet and Save the World"</h3></div>The talk will look at a wide range of means of both saving money and relieving the stress that our life-styles place on the resources of the Earth.<br>Throughout, the economics of possible improvements will not be forgotten. It will cover means of thermal insulation, including potential problems brought about by incorrect practice. Then there will be a look at heat-recovery ventilation (HRV)and efficient boilers including solar heating  both "stand-alone" and integrated. Both air and ground heat pump systems will be examined. Means of optimising existing heating systems will be discussed.<br>Away from heating, savings through more efficient lighting will be discussed as will the practicalities and economics of home electrical generation systems. Economies through water saving will be considered and, finally, a bit of a rag-bag of means of saving money.</div>';
eday[cc]=91014; 
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>November 18th 2009';
colum2[cc]='The Autumn Luncheon ';											 
colum3[cc]="The Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon";
colum4[cc]='';
eday[cc]=91118;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>January 13th 2010';
colum2[cc]='A Century of Small Steam Locomotives<br>A talk by Andrew Dick';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="tpic/modeleng.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="429" alt="Model Engine - Guildford Model Engineering Society"><br><font size="1">Picture by courtesy Guildford Model Engineering Society</font><h2>A Century of Small Steam Locomotives</h2><h3>A talk by Andrew Dick</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Andrew is an RPEC member and at our January meeting he will be talking on a subject very close to his heart.  As an introduction to his talk he writes:-<br><br><i>“My first Meccano set was received at the age of 5 and it was gradually built up with extra wheels & girders. This enabled me to build various road vehicles & cranes & also to learn a lot about basic engineering. I soon decided that I was going to learn engineering, reading every thing available to me - and I still do so.<br><br>During the war I took my London University BSc at Brighton in 1944. As this had been assisted by a Government bursary I had no choice where my first employment would be, this being the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. Having worked on engine oil coolers and, later, rocket propulsion, I left the RAE in 1948 to join the electricity generating industry.<br><br>After a 2 year graduate training course at Brighton power station, the next move was to Portishead working in the A station and then the B station, then being in charge of the operation of both stations. This period was very enjoyable but early retirement came at age 59 when the station closed.<br><br>I have had a lifelong interest in railway steam locomotives of all sizes. My talk will be about the development of small steam locomotives from the crude toys, rather like the Rocket, in 1900 to the “perfect in every detail”, built by amateurs by 2000.	I also hope to bring my very capricious mistress along to introduce her to you.”</i></div>';
eday[cc]=100113;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>February 10th 2010';
colum2[cc]='The Roman Navy In Britain<br>Talk by Gary Gowans';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Roman Navy In Britain</h2><h3>Talk by Gary Gowans</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Gary Gowans studied history and archaeology at Exeter University, hence his interest in Ancient History (especially the Romans in Britain).<br>His whole working career was spent in the Post Office, coming to Bristol in 1990 as District Head Postmaster for Bristol and Taunton. He retired as Director responsible for delivery services in South West, and South and West Wales.<br><br>Of his talk Gary writes:<br> “Most people have heard of the Roman Army, few perhaps that the Romans had a navy in Britain. This talk hopefully will address this knowledge shortfall. Created by the Emperor Claudius for the invasion of Britain in AD 43 it was a very powerful fleet (3rd most powerful in Roman Empire). <br><br>The Fleet was used throughout 1st century AD in close co-operation with Army in its conquest of Britain (early example of combined operations).<br><br>Its Peace-time role involved movement of supplies, personnel, VIP visitors etc. In the late 3rd and 4th centuries it was the first line of defence against invaders from overseas such as the Angles, Saxons etc."</div><div style="text-align: center"><br><img src="photos/Roman.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="460" alt=""></div>';
eday[cc]=100210;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>March 10th 2010';
colum2[cc]='New Nuclear – Strategic need and EDF intent';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>New Nuclear <br>Strategic need and EDF intent</h2><h3>Talk by David Norfolk, EDF Energy</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">This talk will cover the policy drivers which set out nuclear new build as a key part of the UK’s future electricity generation mix, and the preparations that EDF Energy is making to contribute to a new nuclear programme.<br><br>The UK’s strategic need for nuclear rests on three key characteristics:<ul><li>Low carbon emissions, hence its contribution to combating climate change</li><li>Diverse sources of fuel compared with oil and gas, hence its contribution to security of supply </li><li>Cost structure, with high initial investment but low fuel cost relative to other base-load generation.	This contributes to stable and affordable electricity prices.</li></ul>However the nuclear contribution has declined since the 1990s as existing power stations age and close. Action is needed now if it is to be restored. Recognising this, the Government has decided that it is in the country’s long-term interest that nuclear continues to play a role in our energy supply. To facilitate this, the Government is consulting on ten sites considered strategically suitable for new nuclear development.<br><br>EDF Energy intends to make a major contribution to nuclear new build. Subject to a robust investment framework, we intend to build 4 nuclear units at two of these sites by 2025, powering up to 10 million homes and meeting about 12% of UK electricity demand. Our preferred sites are at Hinkley Point in	Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk. We intend to build EDF/Areva’s UK EPR design. Like Sizewell B,	this is a pressurised water reactor but it benefits from evolutionary design improvements.<br><br>These are major projects, and it will be important to take account of local views as we develop detailed proposals. But previous UK experience, especially from Sizewell B, demonstrates the potential benefits to local communities and the UK supply chain. We have already started pre-application consultation around Hinkley Point, and we look forward to making our formal applications during 2010 as a major step towards achieving the UK’s first nuclear new build.<h3><i>David Norfolk - Head of Environment, Nuclear New Build</i></h3><i>After graduating in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, David took a PhD in radiation chemistry at the CEGB’s nuclear laboratories, then developed optimised coolant compositions to maximise the life of the AGR nuclear power stations. When the rest of the electricity industry was privatised he forged a place for Nuclear Electric’s nuclear stations in the new commercial environment, joining the management team at Hartlepool power station and gaining an MBA on the way. He then worked on controlling nuclear liability costs, overcoming the final obstacle to nuclear privatisation and putting theory into practice by managing Magnox\’s relationships with government, regulators and other stakeholders.<br><br>David then transferred to British Energy, with posts at Dungeness B building strategic partnerships, in Toronto acquiring the Bruce power station, and on the management team at Sizewell B. He returned to head office to manage the relationship with environmental regulators, led a project on the case for life extending Dungeness B, then joined the team making the case for nuclear new build. Following the acquisition of British Energy by EDF, David now heads the Environment team preparing to gain the regulatory permits for new nuclear power stations at Hinkley	Point and Sizewell.</i><div style="text-align: center"><img src="photos/szwllb.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="300" alt="Sizewell B" hspace="50" vspace="5"></div></div>';
eday[cc]=100310;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>April 14th 2010';
colum2[cc]='The History of the Beachley to Aust  Ferry and the rescue of the Severn Princess<br>Talk by Tim Ryan';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>The History of <br>The Beachley to Aust  Ferry <br>and The Rescue of <br>The Severn Princess<br><br>A talk by Tim Ryan</h2><img src="photos/aust5.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="302" alt="The Severn Princess" vspace="5"></div><div style="text-align: justify"><h3> Tim  Ryan</h3>Asked to describe himself, Tim responded – <i>“Me? Born and bred in Chepstow. My Father was a Blacksmith and did repair work on the Ferries. I have vivid memories of using them and of the Bridge being built.<br>I was  Deputy Head teacher at a local Comprehensive School where I suppose that my claim to fame was that I appointed J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) to be Head of House!” </i><h3>This Talk</h3>The talk entitled "The History of the Beachley to Aust (River Severn) Ferry and the rescue of the Severn Princess". is liberally peppered with anecdotes of the Ferries in use, the risks taken by their users and the queues!<br>It is illustrated with a variety of cine film archives of the Ferries working and generally guides us through something of a "journey through the past".</div>';
eday[cc]=100414;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>May 12th 2010';
colum2[cc]='AGM follwed by a talk <br>"The Miners Lamp"<br> by Ed Curtis'
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='';
eday[cc]=100512;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>July 14th 2010';
colum2[cc]='Nailsea Glassworks, from Archaeological, Technical and Social Viewpoints <br> A Talk by Andrew Smith';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Nailsea Glassworks, from Archaeological, Technical and Social Viewpoints </h2> <h3>A Talk by Andrew Smith</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify"><b>Synopsis</b><br><img src="pics/nailsea1.jpg" border="0" width="250" height="279" alt="Nailsea Glass Tankard" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5"><br><br>The Nailsea Glassworks, in its time regarded as one of the most significant glassworks in the UK, was established in 1788 and was operated under a number of owners until 1873, when it ceased production, formally closing the following year.<br><br>There has been a number of development proposals for the site between the later 1980s and the turn of the twentieth century, with varying degrees of sensitivity to the historical value of the site, and archaeological interventions were carried out in response to each.<br><br> The one that came to fruition was that by Tesco Stores, Limited, <img src="pics/nailsea2.jpg" border="0" width="250" height="212" alt="Nailsea Red Light Fitting" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="5">who sponsored a comprehensive study from Avon Archaeological Unit, which had been involved with the majority of the interventions. In turn, Andrew Young, head of the Unit, asked the present writer to undertake the project.<br><br>In this talk, it is hoped , by referring principally to the archaeology found, to give an overall background to the glassworks, their development, the technologies employed, the products and the people involved. It will necessarily be in the nature of an overview, but will bring us up to the findings of the last evaluation in 2008.</div><div style="text-align: center"><img src="pics/nailsea3.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="141" alt="Nailsea Glass Rolling Pin"></div>';
eday[cc]=100714;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>August 11th 2010';
colum2[cc]='The Life of Michael Faraday, <br>A Talk by Dr. Peter Ford';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>The Life of Michael Faraday </h2> <h3>A Talk by Dr. Peter Ford</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Dr Peter Ford was a member of the Physics Department of the University of Bath until his retirement in 2007.  For many years he carried out research into the behaviour of materials at very low temperatures including their superconducting properties. In 2004, together with George Saunders, he published a book "The Rise of the Superconductors", which attempts to explain the subject to senior sixth form students and beyond.<br><br>More recently he has become prominent in the "Public Awareness of Science" and has given his "Liquid Nitrogen Show" at many schools and other venues.  In 2004 he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and is currently chair of the History of Physics Group of the Institute of Physics.  In the Queen\'s New Year Honours List for 2008 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to higher education and to science".<br><br>Michael Faraday worked for most of his life at the Royal Institution in London. He carried out an enormous amount of research work the best known of which is his discovery and enunciation of the laws of electromagnetic induction. This forms the basis of the modern electrical generation and distribution industry. However, his other work is remarkably diverse including seminal investigations into the fundamentals of the conductivity of electricity in solids, liquids and gases, the fundamentals of electrostatics and dielectrics, the distinction between, paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials, the liquefaction of gases and much else besides.<br><br>Dr Ford\'s lecture describes the life and work of Faraday in particular that of electromagnetic induction. It is at a non technical level and is richly illustrated with slides and experimental demonstrations.<br><br><b>Please note that that the refurbishment of the St Peter\’s Hall will have started in the kitchen area. Consequently No Refreshments will be available at this meeting</b>.</div>';
eday[cc]=100811;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>September 8th 2010';
colum2[cc]='Visit to RNLI Headquarters ';
colum3[cc]="Poole, Dorset";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h3>Visit to RNLI Headquarters</h3>, <h3>Poole Dorset</h3><img src="photos/lifeboat.jpg" border="0" width="462" height="316" alt=""></div>';
eday[cc]=100908;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>October 13th 2010';
colum2[cc]='Medical Robotics<br>Talk by Dr Michael Hillman';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Medical Robotics<br>Talk by Dr Michael Hillman</h2><div style="text-align: justify"><i>Mike Hillman is Principal Engineer at the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, a charitably funded Institute based at Bath\'s Royal United Hospital, whose aim is to design, develop and make commercially available, aids for the disabled and other medical equipment. He is a mechanical engineer and while at the Institute has been involved in a wide range of projects including engineering support of the hospital\'s medical physics department, aids for toileting and rehabilitation robotics.</i><br><br>Medical Engineering covers a wide field of activities from the study of biomechanics to the design of devices to assist people with disabilities. In many of these areas the intervention of robotic devices has been proposed.The talk will illustrate  the breadth of medical engineering, especially from the experience of the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, and will focus on the application of robotic technologies in areas such as surgical interventions, physical therapy and assistance in daily living.</div><a href="newsitem.html"><font color="#880000" size="+1">Check The News Flash!</font></a></div>';
eday[cc]=101013;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>November 10th 2010';
colum2[cc]='The Autumn Luncheon';
colum3[cc]="Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon";
colum4[cc]='<<div style="text-align: center">h2>The Autumn Luncheon<br>Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon</h2></div>';
eday[cc]=101110;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>December 8th 2010';
colum2[cc]='Life on SS Great Britain<br>Talk by Cyril Routley';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>A Life On The Ocean Wave<br>Talk by Cyril Routley</h2></div><div style="text-align: justify"><i>Cyril Routley spent all his working life of 40 years teaching at Nailsea School in North Somerset. He initially was appointed to teach Latin when the school was a Grammar School but changed to French later on. He ran the reprographics room for a number years and was responsible for the introduction and development of a printing section to serve all the needs of a large school. During the latter part of his career he was the examinations officer, charged with all aspects of the administration of all public examinations and also internal, formal examinations in preparation for these. He retired in 2000 but fulfilled the examination role for a further two years, 2002-4 when the post became an administrative post rather than a teacher one.<br><br>During the past 10 years he has built up a repertoire of talks and speaks to all types of clubs and societies on Sundials, Gadgets of the early 20th century, Street Furniture (mainly in the local area), Collecting Goss and Crested China, and Blue Plaques in the local area. His most recent talk concerns the realities of life on board the ss Great Britain as recorded in the journals written by travellers to Australia some 150 years ago.</i><br><br><img src="pics/ssgb2.jpg" border="0" width="620" height="480" alt=""><br><br>This talk includes a very brief history of the ss Great Britain to set the ship in context. The main emphasis of the presentation will be various aspects of life as experienced by those travellers who sailed to Australia in her during the period 1852-1875. This includes the accommodation, the importance of religious observations, the "cargo" carried, health considerations, the difficulties faced by passengers on a long voyage, the emphasis on presenting the best possible image of the biggest and fastest ship afloat in its time.</div><div style="text-align: right"><b><i>John C Green C.Eng MIET</i></b></div>';
eday[cc]=101208;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>February 9th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Clifton Suspension Bridge<br>Talk by Mike Rowland';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="pics/Bridge Construction 1.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="421" alt="Building The Bridge 1886" hspace="20" vspace="5"><br><img src="pics/Bridge Construction 2.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="408" alt="" hspace="20" vspace="5"><br><img src="pics/Bridge Openig.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="426" alt=""><h5>Suspension Bridge Opening 1866</h3>Mike Rowlands talk will cover the history, construction, maintenance  and operation of the bridge and the issues facing it today in the 21ST century.<br><br><img src="pics/clifton.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="450" alt="" hspace="20" vspace="6"><br><br>A notice from the Times has been added to the item on Frank Whitehead in the newsletter.</div>';
eday[cc]=110209;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>March 9th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Bristol Robotics Labratory<br>Talk by Professor Alan Winfield';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Bristol Robotics Labratory</h2><h3>Talk by Professor Alan Winfield</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Alan Winfield is Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He conducts research in swarm robotics in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and is especially interested in robots as working models of life, evolution, intelligence and culture. Alan is passionate about communicating science and technology. He holds an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship with the theme Intelligent Robots in Science and Society, and blogs about robots, open science and related topics at <a href="http://alanwinfield.blogspot.com/">http://alanwinfield.blogspot.com/</a><br><br><img src="ppics/Robot.gif" border="0" width="122" height="190" alt="Robot" hspace="15" align="left">Alan introduces his talk as follows:<br>  Intelligent Robots are becoming ubiquitous: we are used to the idea of robots exploring Mars and, closer to home, we now have robot vacuum cleaners, robot pets and robot Lego. But these robots are very different to the fantasy robots we see in the movies. In this talk I will explore the amazing reality of intelligent robots, illustrated with real examples from current research in the Bristol Robotics Laboratories, and speculate about the future possibilities of robots in society from both technical and ethical perspectives.</div>';
eday[cc]=110309;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>April 13th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Marine Turbines<br>Talk by Desmond Lowe from Atlantis Turbine';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center">Marine Turbines<br>Talk by Desmond Lowe from Atlantis Turbine</div>';
eday[cc]=110413;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>May 11th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Annual General Meeting';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Annual General Meeting</h2>Followed by a <h3>Talk by Prof Ralph Benjamin CB, PhD, DSc, DEng, FIEE, FCGI, FREng.</h3></div>Most of us spend more time travelling by road than by any other means, and we often suffer frustration and delay at light-controlled intersections. There is research into intelligent optimisation of the red/green pattern at individual intersections and, at the other extreme, into fully automatically controlled networks of driverless vehicles. <br><br>This talk will discuss how a network-wide system of synchronised traffic lights and appropriate guidance to drivers can allow normal vehicles and drivers to complete their journey across the total network without ever being held up by a red light. This scheme also greatly increases the saturation capacity of the network. It can evolve to accommodate a progressively increasing proportion automatically controlled traffic, if desired.<br><img src="tpic/trafficlite.jpg" border="0" width="594" height="322" alt="Light Traffic">';
eday[cc]=110511;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>June 8th 2011';
colum2[cc]='The Summer Luncheon';
colum3[cc]="The Commodore Hotel, Kewstoke";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h3>The Summer Luncheon<br>The Commodore Hotel, Kewstoke</h3><img src="photos/TableC08.jpg" border="0" width="560" height="419" alt="Table C" hspace="5" vspace="5" name="pic12"><br>Photo from a previous occasion (June 2008)</div>';
eday[cc]=110608; 
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>July 13th 2011';
colum2[cc]='A Century of Small Steam Locomotives<br>A talk by Andrew Dick';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><img src="tpic/modeleng.jpg" border="0" width="400" height="429" alt="Model Engine - Guildford Model Engineering Society"><br><font size="1">Picture by courtesy Guildford Model Engineering Society</font><h2>A Century of Small Steam Locomotives</h2><h3>A talk by Andrew Dick</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify">Andrew is an RPEC member and at our January meeting he will be talking on a subject very close to his heart.  As an introduction to his talk he writes:-<br><br><i>“My first Meccano set was received at the age of 5 and it was gradually built up with extra wheels & girders. This enabled me to build various road vehicles & cranes & also to learn a lot about basic engineering. I soon decided that I was going to learn engineering, reading every thing available to me - and I still do so.<br><br>During the war I took my London University BSc at Brighton in 1944. As this had been assisted by a Government bursary I had no choice where my first employment would be, this being the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. Having worked on engine oil coolers and, later, rocket propulsion, I left the RAE in 1948 to join the electricity generating industry.<br><br>After a 2 year graduate training course at Brighton power station, the next move was to Portishead working in the A station and then the B station, then being in charge of the operation of both stations. This period was very enjoyable but early retirement came at age 59 when the station closed.<br><br>I have had a lifelong interest in railway steam locomotives of all sizes. My talk will be about the development of small steam locomotives from the crude toys, rather like the Rocket, in 1900 to the “perfect in every detail”, built by amateurs by 2000.	I also hope to bring my very capricious mistress along to introduce her to you.”<br>(This talk deferred from two previous attempts)</i></div>';
eday[cc]=110713;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>August 10th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Visit to Museum of Bath at Work';
colum3[cc]="Meet at 14:00 at Museum<br>Let Mike Rowe Know!<br>Numbers Needed! Contact ASAP!";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h3>Museum Of Bath at Work</h3><img src="pics/Bathwork1.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="472" alt="Museum of Bath at Work"></div>';
eday[cc]=110810;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>September 14th 2011';
colum2[cc]='REMAP - Technical Aids for the Disabled<br>Talk by Bruce Lee';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<p style="text-align: left"><center><h3>REMAP<br> – Technical Aids for the Disabled - <br>a talk by Bruce Lee</h3></center></p>From a cursory search of the internet one could be misled in to believing that REMAP must be all about the tuning of internal combustion engines – a very wrong impression in the context of our September meeting.<br><br>Yes our meeting is about REMAP - a very special charity, working through a nationwide network of volunteers who are using their ingenuity and skills to enable people with disabilities to achieve much-desired independence. The charity works through local groups (panels) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Volunteers work on a varied range of interesting, often challenging, and always rewarding projects. Much of the work is done in their homes but they remain very much part of a team whose other members will provide mutual support and help.<br><br>At the meeting Mr. Bruce Lee of the Bristol REMAP Panel will tell us about some of the work that REMAP is doing in what someone once described as the “Wallace and Grommet end of the market”. Taking this as a compliment Bruce suggests that REMAP could be translated as “Really Elderly Men At Play”.He also supplied the following details:<br><br>Though I am a "silver surfer" (I would be unable to work without email and broadband)  I tend to shy away from such as projectors and Power Point. I try to keep the audience interest by talking about actual problems and showing them our solutions.<br><br>I usually entitle my Talk  "Don\'t hold your breath!" This fits in with the premise - the difficult we do immediately, the impossible usually takes a little longer.<br><br>The Talk has four main aims - to tell the world about REMAP to find new recruits to help in our work to meet possible clients (do you have any disabled members?) to network - for materials and skills<br><br>So, my talk will cover the History of REMAP and how we work for the disabled community.<br><br>As to a CV, I am 78. I trained originally as a Fitter and Turner, after 10 year service in the Royal Australian Navy - I was born in Australia, I have spent most of my working life in the Printing Machinery Industry as a Service Engineer and Export Marketing Executive. My Grandson tells me that I have visited 128 countries. I speak fluent English (remember that I am an Australian) and French, good Italian, tourist German and Spanish and about 100 useful words of Arabic. I have a working knowledge of Bristolian. I have spent 12 year plus as a REMAP Volunteer and, after 55 years as a householder consider myself as a competent DIY man.<br><br><center>Click logo to visit REMAP website<br><a href="http://www.remap.org.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="pics/remap.jpg" border="1" width="225" height="75" alt="REMAP logo"></a></center>';
eday[cc]=110914;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>October 12th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Lesser Known Attractions of Historic Bath<br>A talk by Dan Evans';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<p style="text-align: left"><center><h3>Lesser Known Attractions of Historic Bath</h3><h4>A talk by Dan Evans</h4></center>Dan Evans is a retired history teacher and now very much enjoying "freedom in life" out walking in the fresh air and taking photos and preparing talks for local groups.<br /><br />In his illustrated talk  Dan will draw on his professional and retirement interests,to give us an interesting and illuminating afternoon....</p><p align="center"><img src="pics/bathtram.jpg" width="520" height="401" hspace="10" vspace="10" align="bottom" alt="" /><br /><strong>Tram no 2 and the Royal Literary and Scientific Museum both now no more</strong></p>';
eday[cc]=111012;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>November 9th 2011';
colum2[cc]='Autumn Luncheon';
colum3[cc]="Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon<br />";
colum4[cc]='<div style="text-align: center"><h2>Autumn Luncheon</h2> <h3>Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon<br> Wednesday November 9th 2011<img src="../pics/Image00001.jpg" width="576" height="432" alt="A Previous Occasion" /></h3><h3>A Previous Occasion</h3></div>';
eday[cc]=111109;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>January 11th 2012';
colum2[cc]='The Royal Meteorological Society<br>Talk by Prof.Paul Hardaker, CEO';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]="<div style='text-align: center'><h2>Professor Paul Hardaker</h2><h3>PhD, FRMetS, CMet, CEnv</h3></div><h3>Biography</h3>Paul is a mathematician by background whose early research work focused on modelling and instrument studies in radio propagation, working with organisations such as British Telecom, the European Space Agency and the Rutherford-Appleton Labs.  He later moved to the Met Office where he spent 14 years in a variety of roles including heading up an international consultancy on hydrometeorology, and the Remote Sensing and Observations Branches.  He then became Programme Director for the Met Office's Development Programmes and latterly the Met Office’s Chief Advisor to Government, providing support to the Government in areas such as climate change policy and the civil contingency programme.<br /><img src='ppics/pph.jpg' width='200' height='225' hspace='10' vspace='5' align='right' /><br />Paul has led the UK delegation to several UN and EU technical committees on meteorology, he has been a member of the Physics Advisor Panel at the University of Wales, one of the Government’s Science and Society Champions, Chairman of one of the national e-Science projects, and the founding editor of the international journal Atmospheric Science Letters (ASL).  Paul has also been the Interim General Manager for EcoConnect, a joint-venture between the UK and New Zealand Governments to provide environmental services across the globe, and for 3 years, a Non-Executive Director and Chief Scientist of a City company working in risk management.  He was Chairman of the Research Council’s programme on the Flood Risk from Extreme Events (FREE) and has held a visiting professorship at the University of Salford.  For five years Paul was also a Board member of the Society for the Environment and a Non-Executive Director and latterly Deputy Chair of the Board of NHS Berkshire West.<br /><br />Paul is currently Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society (the Learned and Professional Society for weather and climate).  He is also a visiting professor at the University of Reading and has provided external support to several UK Universities on weather and climate.  Paul is also a member of the Science Steering Group for the UK’s Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme.  Paul is a member of the Board of the Science Council and the Chairman of Sense about Science, a charity that helps to equip people to make sense of science at the heart of topical public issues.  He is a member of the Standards Quality Council for the qualifications awarding body PAA\VQSET, a reviewer for the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, and a member of the Steering Group for the e-Research South consortium.  Paul is also a regular contributor to the media on weather and climate.<div style='text-align: center'><img src='photos/weather.jpg' alt='Weather Picture Of The Year - TelegraphPic' width='553' height='361' /><br /><br /><strong>Weather for our January Meeting?</strong> <br /><br />Photo courtesy of TelegraphPics</div>";
eday[cc]=120111;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>February 8th 2012';
colum2[cc]='Einstein<br>Talk by Peter Ford, Bath University';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='<h3>A Talk by Dr. Peter Ford</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify"> A repeat visit by our speaker and here is what we said before:<br />Dr Peter Ford was a member of the Physics Department of the University of Bath until his retirement in 2007.  For many years he carried out research into the behaviour of materials at very low temperatures including their superconducting properties. In 2004, together with George Saunders, he published a book "The Rise of the Superconductors", which attempts to explain the subject to senior sixth form students and beyond.<br><br>More recently he has become prominent in the "Public Awareness of Science" and has given his "Liquid Nitrogen Show" at many schools and other venues.  In 2004 he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and is currently chair of the History of Physics Group of the Institute of Physics.  In the Queen\'s New Year Honours List for 2008 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to higher education and to science".<br><br></div>';
eday[cc]=120208;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>March 14th 2012';
colum2[cc]='Marine Turbines<br>Talk by David Collier, MEYGEN';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='';
eday[cc]=120314;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>April 11th 2012';
colum2[cc]='Nuclear Power<br>Talk by Gwyn Evans';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='';
eday[cc]=120411;
cc++;colum1[cc]='Wednesday<br>May 9th 2012';
colum2[cc]='Annual General Meeting <br>"Tinnitus" a talk by Michael Rowe';
colum3[cc]="St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze";
colum4[cc]='';
eday[cc]=120509;
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