Category: Programme

We had a terrific talk at the club on our return in January on the rather intriguing war “hero” Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, a naval officer who, among other bizarre feats managed to drag two gunships the length of Africa from the southern Cape to Lake Tanganyika in North Africa in order to battle the Germans during WW1. His first command, HMS Niger, was torpedoed in port by a U-boat whilst Spicer-Simson watched from ashore. Grateful thanks to speaker David Binnie for his highly entertaining account of this unusual character.

A fascinating talk from Ewan Pate on the connection between Dundee and Texas in the 19th Century as Dundee’s rich funded a huge cattle ranch in the USA.

130,000 acres of Texan cattle ranch was owned by a conglomerate of Dundee businessmen in the 19th century, later sold making a huge profit for the many canny Dundee citizens who each took a small share. A fascinating tale and soon to be told in greater detail in Ewan Pate’s forthcoming book.