The Rotary Club of Monifieth & District
Rotarians having fun while working for the Community!
Mairi provided a quite excellent presentation on the history of Newport, Tayport, Wormit et al. Explaining how the rise in ferry traffic spurred the population and industry growth along the southern side of the Tay turning it into a popular place to relocate from Dundee during the time of industrial growth.
Iain Rouse-Mitchell from the Royal Bank of Scotland led an interesting session on the current frauds and scams that we should be looking out for and how to avoid them. Not unexpectedly, there was a great deal of post-presentation discussion with many members keen to share their own experiences.
As President Ewen assumed his role as President of the club for 2026-27 (see his excited or is it shocked expression) the club was also treated to a fascinating talk on the history of Iceland from local historian Val Vannett.
Also in June, we were treated to the heroic tale of how Past President Brian Cunningham took on the challenge of the West Highland Way, and almost gave up as the wind, rain and sleet dented his earlier confidence. However, it was a story of triumph over adversity and the club commended his valiant efforts as he successfully completed the challenge.
In June, we were visited by Past district Governor Brian Stewart who reminded the club of the importance of Rotary own charity – Rotary Foundation.
A busy March for the club with a range of speakers and an outside visit to Maggie’s Centre following on from our donation. Excellent update on the success of the Monifieth Community Fridge which our President Jim Culloch is closely involved with, and to tail-end the month, an excellent, thoughtful and insightful presentation on his time as a Padre with the armed forces in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan from the impressive Rev John Duncan.
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.
It was a delight to welcome the Governor of Rotary District 1010 along to the club at the end of September. Rather than “talk at” the members, Graham requested a series of questions be arranged and tackled them very ably.
The club gave a warm welcome to Councillor Craig Fotheringham who provided great insight into his role as Provost of Angus. Equally welcome was an invitation to tour the Provost’s offices at some point I the near future.