Members,
At the end of the last session our Programme Secretary received correspondence from David Bell, a long standing member of the association. It was received shortly after the excellent evening spent with Frank Smith who regaled us with his talk on sailing up beyond the North Cape. If any members are in the Harrogate area and can help then David would appreciate a lift if possible. Contact the Website Editor using the link in the menu above and I will be pleased to put you in contact with David.
I reprint David’s interesting email below….
Thanks,
Gordon – Website Editor
Hello Malcolm,
Sorry I could not manage this talk. Since the majority of LAE lectures have moved away from Leeds University it is difficult for me. Now having reached the age of 85 I do not feel up to driving far from my home here in Follifoot.
If there is a member living in the Harrogate area who could give me a lift to any future lectures that would be ideal.
I would have been very interested this time as we travelled by a Fred Olsen cruise ship on a similar trip via the North Cape to Murmansk from Bergen 20 years ago. It was the very first cruise ship to enter a Russian port since the fall of the Soviet Union. A very grim city indeed. The river estuary was littered with old rusty warships & submarines. It took ages to disembark as everyone was subject to a search by grim miserable looking security agents. We were not even allowed to walk around the city on our own only under escort. A very uncomfortable experience. This was far worse than being in Berlin just a year after the fall of the wall when attending the very first international machine tool conference there which was just the opposite. There we where welcomed with open arms.
I hope you are keeping well.
Kind regards,
David Bell
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