MAURICE PORTER 1931- 2013. MEMORIES.

At the Service three of our members gave their memories to those attending.

A contribution to the Memorial Service reflecting on Maurice's professional life
 by Malcolm Woolley 

Maurice had a most successful career as a Chartered Engineer. He was the consummate professional who pursued his chosen specialism Bridges - with great gusto. We worked alongside each other for nearly Forty years in the Firm known locally as Giffords,a Firm of Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers; embryonic and local at the time we both joined alongside a lot of others in the late 1950s; by the time of retirement in the 1990s it was multi-disciplinary and international. Maurices contribution was central to this growth in size and reputation.  

Maurices early work involved a number of building structures but it was not long before he saw and seized the opportunity to work on the Hobart Bridge to be built in Tasmania, by far the longest and highest bridge that the Firm had been involved in up to then. 

This was a game changer of a project for Maurice that set the scene for him to practice his skills in major bridgeworks design on the international scene. Maurice was then the natural choice of lead designer when the opportunity arose later to work on a 2mile long road bridge in Concepcion, Chile.

As an aside: I do know that Maurice did like to travel. When, much later on, he was working on a project in Oman, the Client insisted, so Maurice said, to pay for him to fly home on Concord. An achievement that made  the rest of us just a little jealous. And, as I learned yesterday, so was Pat.

In the mid sixties the Firm moved to Netly Marsh and Maurice added a whole string of bridges to his name latterly as Partner in charge. If you travel into Southampton from here in Lyndhurst you will inevitably travel over three of Maurices bridges.  Similarly a journey along Wessex Way in Bournemouth will take you over and under several more. New Haw viaduct was a major structure carrying the M24 and Langston Flyover on the M27 was his responsibility.

 The list goes on: A bridge over the River Severn, Motorway bridges on MI, M42 and M69. Ill stop there although Im sure the list is incomplete.

From the very start the ethical nature of Giffords approach to work was way ahead of the general managerial behaviour of the times. It engendered a fine spirit of loyalty and self-motivation throughout the Firm. So much so that many of us tended not to notice going home time. From time to time wives were known to ring up after hours to enquire whether we knew we had a home to go to ------ or words to that effect!

This is the story of a man enthusiastic for his work; a man who engendered loyalty from those who worked for him and developed a style identifiably his own. One feature much talked about was the green ink Maurice used for memos and comment. There was a touch of the headmaster in Maurice when setting about checking something in detail. Both Alan Garside and Mike Cooper recall fondly the effect that Maurices dreaded green biro had on them, and their desire to do better next time.

Maurice had a reputation for driving dexterity and travelling at speed. Sitting beside him in the passenger seat was never dull and the odd skid, well controlled of course, was all part of the experience. On the occasion I am about to describe speed was not the issue but dexterity certainly was; Maurice driving, me in the passenger seat:

It was a cold day and there was a smattering of snow about; we both kept a look out for ice. Our speed was judiciously slow when we hit it and started to skid.  The road was not much more than a cars length wide and we were on a gentle downward slope. Suddenly the car veered to the right and embarked on what was to be a full rotational pirouette whilst staying on the road and maintaining forward motion. There had been much steering wheel work in the interim as Maurice battled to complete the 360degree turn without leaving the road. No dents no damage we proceeded on our way without stopping. And to our surprise to the tumultuous applause of some bystanders whose experience had not ended up so satisfactorily.

Maurice was an enthusiastic sportsman. You name the game and he most probably played it. Gordon Clark tells a story about the Dornoch Firth Bridge Competition on which we joint ventured. Maurice was really keen and he and Gordon went to visit the site and meet the Contractor. Maurice insisted on arranging a game of golf at the famous Royal Dornoch links. Gordon recalls that he and Maurice lost the match but had a great time before getting down to serious negotiation in the friendliest of atmospheres.

Away from the Firm Maurice made a considerable contribution to the many technical and professional bodies to which he chose to belong.  He was a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and sometime Chairman of the Southern Branch. He was in parallel a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and again sometime Chairman of its Southern Branch. In addition he was a Founder Member of the Solent Club of the Concrete Society.

Maurice had a natural desire to take part and a general zest for life. He had a polite and friendly manner, which together with his distinctive appearance made his addition to any gathering always welcome. In short; He had style.  He used these attributes to the great benefit of the Firm, to the Profession as a whole, and to the wider community.

Maurice admirably upheld the core aspirations of the Firm throughout his tenure. He leaves behind many artefacts to his credit and he will have given an additional sense of purpose to many of the people who worked for him.  

John Kernan then reflected on Maurice's huge Rotary contribution

Maurice was a man with many strong threads leading through his life, the strongest of which was undoubtedly his close and loving family, but the only thread that I will talk of today was of his connection with Rotary.

Our great friend Geoff Gook, who at that time was a member of the Hythe Rotary club, had been asked by the Rotary District to assist in the formation of a new club in the wasteland between Hythe and Ringwood, and so in the autumn of 1974 a disparate bunch of local businessmen, united by nothing more than the enjoyment of a midday beer or two,  started meeting for lunch once a week at David Bell`s Forest Lodge Hotel in Lyndhurst. We were informed of the work of Rotary and it`s objectives by Geoff and other luminaries from District, and after some months of talk and discussion it was agreed that we should try to form a new Rotary club.

 No one had been designated to lead this group, presumably the choice had been left to natural selection, but within quite a short time it had been agreed that Maurice was the one who should push the project forward as his qualities of clear thought, organisational ability, sound decision making, and sense of humour, made him the natural choice for the job. I believe that I am correct in remembering that twenty members were needed to charter a new club, and so it was that in early 1975 the New Forest Rotary Club held it`s charter dinner at the then prestigious Lyndhurst Park Hotel.

Maurice as our Founder President led us forward into the ways of Rotary, not as a clone of the other clubs around us, but with our own character and ways of doing things, one example of this is that, in spite of pressure from above, we rejected the idea of forming an Inner Wheel Club by deciding that our wives were as much part of New Forest Rotary as we were, that we would include them in our activities, and at least one formal or social meeting per month. This idea has of course stayed with us ever since, and is one of the things that distinguishes us from other clubs and helps give us the unity that we so value today.

 Maurice`s involvement and interest never flagged. In the early days his keen and competitive spirit led us to a great series of triumphs in the annual cricket matches against Hythe club, but we never admitted to them that Maurice`s determination to win entailed us enduring evenings in the nets at Redbridge School preparing ourselves for the coming game. Hythe would probably have cried foul and accused us of cheating had they known. On the other hand of course, they might have been making the same preparations themselves, but not getting the same result.

 Everything evolves over time and Maurice was never one to resist sensible progress, but the basics of the club organisation which he introduced thirty eight years ago are still to be seen in the way we operate today, his contribution was enormous and he, more than anyone, shaped the club we know today. I really cannot remember the year, but several years after our formation I had the pleasure of proposing Maurice for the first Paul Harris Fellowship in New Forest club in recognition of all he had done to establish and guide us on our way.

We share with Pat and the boys the loss of this remarkable friend and colleague. God bless you Maurice.

Alan Blair was unable to attend the Service but his contribution was read by his wife Janet.

I cannot tell you how sad I am not to be here today to say goodbye to my dear friend Maurice ( or Mo as I have always known him ) but I am in Edinburgh looking after my Mum. So I am particularly grateful to Pat for inviting me to write a few words  and to Janet for reading them.

Mo has always been very important in my life but never more so than when I worked for Wessex Heartbeat and during my 2 terms as President of New Forest Rotary Club. As the founding President of the Club he was someone  I looked up to ,and for him to include me in so many aspects of the life of the  Club made a huge difference to my confidence and sense of belonging. Indeed, when Heartbeat got off the ground he set up and chaired a local New Forest Support Group. He was always there for me with his quiet advice and support and these are things that I will never forget.

More than that, he was a wonderful friend to Janet and I and we have shared so many happy times together. We have always been included as part of Mo and Pats family and , having lost my own Dad a long time ago I have regarded Mo as my Dad in the New Forest .

During the life of any Rotary Club , members will come and go but there will only ever be one Founding President. That means Mo will go down in the Clubs  history. He will go down in our history as a very dear and special friend, and Janet and I like so many others will miss him terribly. Although  it is early in the day I will be raising my glass in Edinburgh ( and I know that Mo will approve of anyone raising a glass !! ) to Maurice Porter a special Rotarian and a special friend. "Rotary the World over.and beyond."