Seahouses, Probus

We met in a ground floor room at The Ship Hotel as the stairs to our usual venue are proving a problem for some.
Seahouses harbourSeahouses harbour
Seahouses harbour

President Tony Willis announced that Iain Hume, one of our founders, has been made an honorary member. Iain left the area a few months ago to live in Yorkshire.

The president told us that at a meeting with Alan Glen, of The Ship, a lift was planned for access to the upstairs room.

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The committee has set Wednesday, October 3 for the Annual Lunch. It will be held at Bamburgh Golf Club.

Secretary Fraser Suffield reported that 18 members attended the December meeting and that new lists of members and speakers for 2018 were available.

Treasurer Forbes Grant stated that the funds were healthy and only a few subscriptions were outstanding.

The president then introduced speaker George Scott, whose topic was The Amazing William Nightingale, a one-time preacher at Craster Methodist Church.

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George’s family have lived in the area for many generations and are strongly associated with the church. His wide knowledge of the community showed.

He became interested in William Nightingale when as a youngster he sat in front of the fire at his grandmother’s house in Craster, chatting about events in the past.

As William Nightingale was associated with the Methodist Church in Craster, George gave the fascinating background to the movement in this area. Several members had relatives from the 1900s mentioned.

The mystery is about Ruth Swan Brown, from Alnmouth, who went missing in the 1890s when staying in the Leeds area. Suspicion fell on William Nightingale.

After a short question session Michael Ledston gave the vote of thanks for an informative history of Methodism in our area and the mystery surrounding William Nightingale.