A brief history of Portishead Probus Club

Our club was formed as Probus ‘73 of Portishead in October 1973,  

The founder members met in the The Windmill overlooking the Bristol Channel, off Nore Road.   In September 1991 the venue was changed to the Clarence House Club, where it remains until today.  From around the turn of this century, Nigel Foster with his wife Trish, hosted Clarence House and looked after us for over 20 years. In 2020 activities were severely curtailed by the Covid Crisis, but we managed to keep contact with some members on Zoom, although many of our members were senior and not into modern technology. It was a difficult and worrying time for all not knowing the best way to avoid catching the virus, but still maintain contact. Our meeting venue was forced to close its doors and its financial survival was severely threatened. In 2021 as the threat diminished with the vaccine programme, a gentle restart was made with two ‘Bacon Butty’ events and members started to return to Probus. The first proper meeting was in September 2021 and an AGM was included to update members on our finance and management status. Our normal format is now back to a meet for a chat at noon possibly with a drink, then a two course home style lunch at 1pm followed by coffee, then a brief business update and an interesting talk by a speaker.

The ownership of Clarence House changed in 2023 to the local Taylor family under Luke’s leadership and we are looking forward to many years with them as our hosts. In November 2023 we celebrated our 50th anniversary and decided to change our name to Portishead Probus Club, which was felt to be more appropriate to our current status.

Current membership is around 55, and has been as high as 60, with regular attendance at monthly meetings of some 40+.  

The foundations established by the club’s early members have stood us in good stead.
Footnote - Two other Probus clubs existed in Portishead as well as ours, but in 2003 they amalgamated into Gordano Probus. Unfortunately Gordano Probus was wound up in 2023 due to a loss of active members, (whose average age then was 84), mainly as a result of the impact of Covid. Several of their remaining members transferred over to our Portishead Probus.

The beginnings of the Probus Movement - from Probus Online     https://www.probusonline.org/history/

The Probus Club movement was formed in the United Kingdom in 1965. It had its beginnings in two clubs, both created by members of Rotary and had its foundation in Welwyn Garden City. It has now spread to many countries throughout the world and has been described by a member in Australia as the best thing England ever exported.

In 1965 the population of Welwyn Garden City had grown to about 40,000 from fewer than 800 in 1921 and clubs and societies proliferated. Women and young people were well catered for, as were lovers of sport, music and the arts. Completely lacking were facilities for the increasing number of retired people.  Those who previously travelled a lot for work were particularly disadvantaged as they knew few people in their hometown.

Fred Carnhill, who had moved to Welwyn Garden City eight years after its foundation, was an enthusiastic member of the local Rotary Club and was addicted to cricket, bowls and soccer, but had retired and found a conspicuous lack of facilities for men in his situation.  His ‘simple idea’, as he called it, was the formation of a lunch club to serve as a focal point for the development of social activity amongst men of similar age and background.

Between the inspired idea and the establishment of a successful club lay a good deal of solid work. Fred Carnill sought support from Rotary through its Vocational Services Committee and was strongly supported by the Chairman of Welwyn Garden City Rotary. After a preliminary meeting in April 1965, the first ‘proper’ meeting took place on May 6th with 33 members of the new club present, together with six members of Rotary. This first club lunch cost 7/6d (37.5p) at the Welwyn Department Store’s Parkway Restaurant.

A priority was choosing a suitable name. Suggestions included The West End, The Brethren, The Carnival (based on Fred’s surname), and Regent (from the first syllables of ‘retired gentlemen’). From this range of ingenious and comic names ‘The Campus Club’ was chosen, being the location of the first meeting which overlooked the pleasant town centre area of the ‘Campus’ in Welwyn Garden City.  The new club had no difficulty attracting members. Telephones rang and enquiries were made even before men had retired! The news had spread via the press reports.

By the end of May membership had doubled and on June 3rd the first meeting, as a body separate from Rotary, was held although the Rotary chairman still took the chair.  The name was finalised and eight simple rules emerged, the most significant being the one that read: “The object of the club shall be the promotion of good fellowship”.   Despite its chosen name, The Campus Club has always claimed to be the founder of Probus. Following a letter to the Rotary International of Britain and Ireland (RIBI) journal in 1966, which described the club, a great deal of interest was generated with enquiries coming from all over the length and breadth of the UK.  Over the next six years Mr Carnhill was tireless in his evangelistic work. He wrote giving advice on forming a club, attended initial meetings, sent information and spoke to prospective new clubs. By 1971 about 150 Probus Clubs existed. Early clubs chose a variety of names such as Knife and Fork, Elevenses, Yesteryear and The Two XXs (ex-executives). The majority, however, adopted Probus.

The first club to name themselves Probus was Caterham, founded by Mr Harold Blanchard, who travelled daily by train to work in London, with James Raper and Edward Mockett OBE. All were reaching the point of retirement and realised they had a need for fellowship. In September 1965, Harold Blanchard was the chairman of Caterham Rotary Club Vocational Service Committee and retired from business. He proposed the idea to the Rotary Club.  The members of the Rotary Club Vocational Service Committee decided to organise a monthly lunch. In February 1966 a meeting was advertised for all retired professional and business men aged 60 and over. Fortytwo men turned up. A monthly lunch was arranged, at which the Rotary Club president took the chair until the club had formed its own rules and committee.   This was the inaugural luncheon of the first Probus Club in the United Kingdom to use the name PROBUS on March 2, 1966.  In May 1966 a committee was formed with Harold Blanchard as chairman. The name “Probus” had been suggested by a member who took the first three letters from ‘PROfessional and BUSiness’. Coincidentally it was the Latin word from which ‘Probity’ was derived. (the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.)  The Probus Club of Caterham was successful and became the first of many new clubs being founded, almost exclusively by Rotary Clubs.

There are now some 1700 Probus Clubs in the UK.  In some towns there is more than one Probus Club.

In 1974 Probus expanded into New Zealand and by 1976 the idea had spread to Australia. The first Probus club for seniors in North America was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Galt in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in 1987.  Although Probus membership has its greatest concentrations in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, clubs today exist in all parts of the world, including the US, Belgium, India, Portugal, Holland, Germany, South Africa and several other countries in Africa and Asia.  Other countries have staffed headquarters to which clubs can affiliate to gain advice and support. In the UK and Ireland it is seen as a strength of the movement that there is no central organising body, so each club sets its own rules, the watchword being informality.

Probus links

Map showing where clubs are      https://probusclub.net/clubs/

Register of Clubs       https://www.probusonline.org/clubs/

Public Speakers List    Browse by Theme | Public Speakers in the UK

Probus Regalia       https://www.probussupplies.co.uk/shop/