Club Chronicle

8 October 2026: Rtn David Axon: The changing face of music and entertainment

Report by Graham Furnival

At our meeting on 8th October the speaker was our own David Axon who gave us a talk titled, “The changing face of music and entertainment”. David took us allon a trip down memory lane but before doing so he spoke fondly of his parents who were both accomplished pianists. In those early days his musical entertainment  was around his local church and his own piano lessons gave way to his love of football. On reflection he now wishes he had pursued the piano lessons. Like many of us David did not have a TV in the early 1950s and he relied on visiting his grandparents for children’s entertainment on their TV. Indeed when his parents did acquire their first TV in 1954 it exploded soon afterwards! From listening to Family Favourites on the radio (otherwise called a wireless) David upgraded to a radiogram in 1956 where he could play records and listen to Radio Luxembourg, albeit with poor reception.

Subsequently at College, entertainment was provided by a visiting DJ and then in 1963 he attended the Manchester Odeon where he could listen to famous visiting pop groups who performed on stage, even though the music was often drowned by screaming girls. In 1967 at University David had his first tape-to-tape recorder, which was ground breaking as he could record his own music.

What followed was the VCR, CDs and the various devices we are all familiar with today. It was a thought-provoking talk where we all sat thinking about our own experiences of those early days of music and entertainment.

Rotary Young Musician District Final

Report by Anne Moriaty

The District Final took place in Brentwood Cathedral on Saturday 28 February in the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr Smita Rajesh, and her consort.

The audience were treated to a lovely concert with high standard performances from five vocalists and six instrumentalists. Sadly there could only be two winners going through to the Regional Final and after lengthy deliberations the accolades went to pianist Tailin Liu sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bishops Stortford and vocalist Harry Sunderland sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dunmow.

Our Chelmsford winners, Henrietta Lawrence and Chloe Mahler were worthy runners-up.

I had the honour of giving out the certificates and the Deputy Mayoress presented the winner and runner-up trophies.

Collection for Marie Curie

On 25 February 2026 President Graham, Francis Whitbread, Keith Dabbs, Anne Moriety and Steve, worked as a team at Morrisons Supermarket to collect monies on behalf of the Marie Curie charity. We collected a handsome sum, of which £80 was collected via card payment through the “SumUp” device. We enjoyed the day and special thanks to Francis who made the arrangements and remained all day throughout others’ slots. A photo opportunity could not go amiss.