The 477th Meeting was held at Badgemore Park on 13th September 2022.
The Chairman welcomed everyone and there followed a 2-minute silence.
The guest speaker was Colin McEwen who spoke about Charles Wheatstone, Inventor and Musician:
- Wheatstone was born in 1802 and as an individual he developed very quickly, holding his first concertina concert in 1829 and becoming a Professor at Kings College, London in 1834.
- His career path developed via technology and music.
- He was involved in the development of the 5 Needle Telegraph system on the Paddington to Slough Railway line in 1838(6 years before Morse Telegraph and 38 years before the first telephone).
- In music, Wheatstone took out in 1829 his first patent on a concertina which was subsequently engineered for volume production. One such pre 1900 concertina was shown to the members and played to them.
Minutes:
- The next event will take place on October 27, and this will be a visit to the Mill at Sonning.
- Henley Ladies Probus have invited the club to join them on a visit to Waddesdon on November24.
- Further events are being planned for 2023.
- After a vote of thanks to the speaker the meeting concluded