OFFICE BEARERS

CHAIRMAN
Ron Campbell
01592 761852

PAST CHAIRMAN
Maurice Shepherd
01334 656536

SECRETARY
Allan Black
01334 653754

TREASURER
Peter Speirs
01334 652866

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
John Brand
John Topliss

SPEAKERS TEAM
Mike Edwards
David Galloway

REPORT EDITORS
David Cleland
John Topliss
Michael Loughridge

TALK MEETING

 Wednesday

14th April 2021

10.00 am Join after 9.50am

Fife's Lost Railways

Sandy Thomson

CHAT MEETING

Wednesday

21st April 2021

10.00am Join after 9.50am

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CLUB NEWS

Where would today’s talk be leading us? With the talk’s title of ‘El Dorado and other Legends’ already known, 27 members of Cupar Probus Club at 10.00am on 24 March were on Zoom, ready and waiting – and intrigued. The speaker, Mike Simpson, was a gentleman who’d visited us before, on Zoom, and having enjoyed his talk last year it was our pleasure to have him return.

Our Chairman, Ron Campbell, began the meeting by welcoming Mike Simpson, and then continued in his usual manner to identify some historical facts for the 24 March. The first was within our lifetime and memory and a major incident involving a ship in 1989 - The Exxon Valdez. It left Alaska bound for California with a cargo of crude oil, but struck a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean, creating one of the worst single oil spills in US history. It so happened that, currently this week, another ship was causing a different type of crisis, having run aground and blocked the Suez Canal. In 1603, James VI of Scotland was proclaimed James I of England and Ireland, joining the English and Scottish crowns – a subject that is very relevant at the moment in Scotland. Ron’s final fact was that 24 March 1958, Elvis Presley broke a lot of girls’ hearts by joining the US Army.

It was noted that several club members were ill, or unable to join us, and it was agreed that the Secretary would send them good wishes from the club.

Ron then introduced today’s speaker. Until very recently Mike Simpson was President of Kirkcaldy Probus Club, having served his year during the Covid restrictions. He taught French and was Depute Head of Viewforth High School. We last saw him in August 2020 when his Zoom talk then was ‘Glimpses of Greenland’. Today it would be ‘El Dorado and other Legends.’

Allan Black

 TODAY'S TALK

El Dorado and other Legends

Mike Simpson spoke to us last year on Greenland and his talk this year stayed on the other side of the Atlantic but considerably further south as he presented a fascinating array of facts about Colombia backed up by excellent photographs.

The climate varies from the tropical beaches on the coast to the snow covered volcanoes and mountains of the Andes including 10% of the Amazon rainforest. In between is excellent farmland, often looking quite like here? It is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries with more than 51,000 species registered.

Muisca civilization flourished in Colombia and the surrounding countries from AD 600 till the Spaniards arrived around 1600. Gold featured massively in this society: “El Dorado” (“The Golden”) was the fabulously wealthy city believed by the conquistadores to exist in the region. Unlike the conquistadores the natives did not gather gold for its intrinsic value but for its spiritual and symbolic meaning; they used it for earrings but also for fishhooks. The kings were covered in gold and dipped in the lagoon to pass it on to the gods: half of Muisca gold production ended up at the foot of lakes. The Spaniards ruled till the start of the XIX century when Simón Bolívar led Colombia and surrounding provinces to independence.

We saw interesting pictures of the cities Mike visited like Cartagena on the coast and the capital Bogota: almost 9,000 feet high. It is one of the world’s highest capital cities. Coffee plantations and salt mines were visited, and museums, not just for gold but also e.g. for plesiosaur remains. There are museums too for the novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez or the artist Fernando Botero. Another famous Colombian is the cyclist Egan Bernal, first Latin American winner of the Tour de France. Cycling is now second only to football as Colombian’s favourite sport. Infamous was the late Pablo Escobar: before being shot (by rivals? police? US Special Forces?) he may have amassed $30 billion from drugs. One of his caches which he may have forgotten about contained $60 million. Coca is not just used for cocaine but goes into teas and sweets: legal to buy in Colombia but not to take out of the country.

Foreign Office advice to British visitors is that crime rates remain high with a special danger being administration in drinks of scopolamine. This comes from plants grown in carefully guarded areas and is useful for various medical conditions (e.g. travel sickness) but criminals use it for temporarily incapacitating unsuspecting victims. However our speaker and his wife encountered none of this and thoroughly enjoyed their visit. That was passed on to us in the enthusiastic and skilful presentation of image and commentary.

David Cleland