Speaker Gordon Murphy

Stirling Rotary meeting 19.08.16

Senior Vice President Stewart Wilson welcomed members; there were no visitors. Discussions took place on the subject of the Am-Am golf competition, which runs on Friday 26th. at Stirling Golf Club.  The following day will see the annual Barbecue, at Tommy Thomson’s house, starting at 6 pm.
Tickets are still available for The MacRobert to see "White Christmas" on the 20th October, please contact Margaret Sutton of The Inner Wheel Club of Stirling. There may also still be two tickets for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Wed. 12th Oct. contact John Rankin to see if they are still available.

Speaker for the day was our own Gordon Murphy, who normally talks on legal matters but, this time, elected to describe a recent holiday in the South of France, close to the Principality of Monaco.  During this time, the family decided to visit the Trophy of Augustus.  The Trophy is a monument which was built circa 6 BC in honor of the Emperor Augustus to celebrate his definitive victory over the 45 ancient tribes who populated the Alps. The Alpine peoples were defeated during the military campaign to subdue the Alps conducted by the Romans between 16 and 7 BC.
The stone used to build the monument was originally extracted from the Roman quarry located about 500 meters away and visitors to that site can still see the traces of sections of carved columns in the stone.  The monument, as partially restored by archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century, is 35 meters high. When built, according to the architect, the base measured 35 meters in length, the first platform 12 meters in height, and the rotunda of 24 columns with its statue of an enthroned Augustus 49 meters high.[
Gordon and family encountered one or two logistical problems in their quest for a close up view of the Trophy.  These took the form of confusing and unreliable  bus, train and taxi services, the latter also being distinguished by high cost and hair-raising driving. In the end though, it all turned out OK.
Junior Vice President Ranald Ross-Watt offered the Vote of Thanks and this was well supported.  Due to the aforementioned golf Am-Am, these will be no meeting this week. Stirling Rotary Club welcomes new members, male or female.  More information can be obtained from the club site www.stirling.rotary1010.org.
The vote of thanks was given by J.V.P. Ranald Ross-Watt and the club members showed their appreciation in the usual manner.

Ranald Ross-Wat