Social Events

Music Group

The Music Group is organised by Jeff Bulow and meets on the third Friday of the month through the year, except August, with different members giving a presentation of their choice of music.

Walking and Lunch Group

Local walks are occasionally planned from April / May by Pete Adkins, usually about 4 miles, followed by a pub lunch with the lunch club. Details appear on the notice board at meetings.

Lunch Club

This meets monthly through the year for a pub lunch at 12.15 at various venues in the area, on the second Friday of the month, organised by Bernard Brownhill. Details appear on the notice board at meetings.

Dates for your Diary

Thurs Dec 19

Our annual Carol Service on 19 December at 2.30 pm with music from an ensemble of the Salvation Army Band. Please note that this is not at our previous venue of St James Hall. Instead it is at St Martin in the Fields church, Green Lane South, Coventry. Tea, coffee and mince pies will be provided after the service, with a voluntary collection.

Trips out to come

TBA

Recent Trips

24 July 2019: Visit to Amazon fulfillment centre in Coventry. 27 Coventry Probus members, partners, friends and associated groups attended the Amazon Fulfilment Centre tour at Lions Park, Coventry (BHX4). This site has only been operational in the last year. Of the 22 fulfilment centres in the UK, this one and Dunfermline are the only two in the UK that take in deliveries from suppliers and feed them into the Amazon worldwide network. The group saw many of the processes being performed and the tour group agreed that it had been a very interesting and informative tour.

5 June 2019: Members shared with another group for a coach trip to Highgrove for a guided tour of the gardens, then a short visit to Corinium Roman Museum at Cirencester,

On 19th February 2019, members and guests visited the JCB factory at Uttoxeter. Keith Taylor submitted the following article to the Probus magazine:

Twenty five members and guests of Coventry Probus Club enjoyed a wonderful day-out visiting the world headquarters of JCB at Rocester, Staffordshire, near Uttoxeter.

Arriving mid-morning they were treated to coffee and biscuits followed by an introductory film: “The Story of JCB” and then a two hour escorted tour of the product display area and the production facilities –“ plates of steel turned into full blown JCB’s before our very eyes”! This was followed by a splendid lunch.

In 1945 JCB was started in a small lock-up garage (12ft X 15ft) by Joseph Cyril Bamford, manufacturing mechanical farm equipment – he sold a tipping trailer for £45 in October 1945. It was made from steel salvaged from air-raid shelters and can be seen in the product display area to this day. Three years later, he started making tipping trailers powered by a hydraulic piston and the business took off. Today, JCB owns 22 plants around the world yet continues to operate as a family business.

October 2018 – International Space Centre in Leicester, and the adjacent grand Victorian building, the Abbey Pumping Station with its massive decorated steam beam engines.

September 2018 – The WW2 Western Approaches Museum in Liverpool, from where the Allies conduct of the Atlantic war was controlled.

June 2018 – A cruise on the River Severn in Shrewsbury, including lunch at Ye Olde Punch Bowl near Bridgnorth.

May 2018 – An afternoon visit to the Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre near Bishops Tachbrook.

Past Social Events

12 July 2019: Annual Probus BBQ. Terry & Sheila Onions kindly invited Members of Coventry Probus Club and their Partners (and Guests) to join them for the Probus Club Annual Barbeque Lunch at their home “The Roundhouse” in Fillongley, Visitors cooked their own meat or fish and enjoyed excellent accompaniments and wonderful desserts. This is always one of the highlights of the calendar and was a very successful event with the weather being very kind to us again.

8 May 2019: Charles Hanson talk and valuation event. This included a buffer and an antiques quiz, with many interesting items to identify in teams. Charles is well known from Bargain Hunt, Flog It!! and Antiques Road Trip. He gave an excellent talk and then assessments of value for items brought by visitors.

Past Spring Dinner