Combe Florey WI – December meeting

10:16am Monday 5th January 2009

Combe Florey WI – December meeting On December 16 Roger Hurst, a retired police officer, kindly stepped in after the booked speaker for Combe Florey WI was unable to attend. He gave a talk entitled “Rogues & Royalty”.

Roger joined the police in 1961 when it was run a bit like “Dixon of Dock Green”! He eventually joined the CID at Wakefield where he met members of the royal family and was posted to the Isle of Wight. Cowes was the playground of royalty where Uffa Fox taught many of them to sail, though the Queen herself doesn’t like the sea.

Roger came into contact with some notorious gangsters at Parkhurst. He met the Great Train Robbers and also Ronnie and Reggie Kray, Richardson and Mad Frankie Fraser, serving 22 years for crimes of violence as torturer for the Kray gang.

Roger was also acquainted with Sarah Ferguson and the ex Postmaster General, John Stonehouse, who had attempted to fake his own disappearance. Roger shared many humorous anecdotes with us and we are grateful to him for attending at such short notice.

In January our speaker is J. Burgess with the talk “On & Off the Air – Working for BBC Radio”.