Yeo Vale Historical Page

The Rotary Club of Yeo Vale was Chartered in 1986 and was originally formed with assistance and guidance from the Rotary Club of Yeovil with which it still has strong ties and also past District Governor, Bunny Smith from Weymouth.

We recently celebrated our 40th Charter anniversary at Yeovil Golf Club. Below is the text of the speech made by founding member and first president of the club, John Lowe.

16^th February 2026

President Bruce, District Governor Mike, guests, Rotarians

In the beginning was the Word, and that word was Rotary

It all seems such a long time ago that I had the privilege, as the Founder President, of thanking a hall full of Rotarians for their gifts, and their support for the newest Rotary Club in the District. That event, held in the Johnson Hall on 18 January 1986, was our Charter Night, when, with 26 founding members, we became the Rotary Club of Yeo Vale, in the presence of representatives from most other District Clubs

It was the occasion that we received our regalia, gifts from other Clubs, including the bell presented by our sponsors, the Yeovil Club, in memory of the late Roy Pither, Richard’s father. I recall some amusement at this because, some months earlier, we had appropriated the bell belonging to the Yeovil Club, demanding that they attend one of our meetings to retrieve it!

I also recall our Vice President, Andy Irwin, presenting Derek Langford, the Welsh representative of our then National President, with a leek, to commemorate that day’s English victory over Wales at rugby. Unless my memory is playing tricks, I think this was also the first occasion when I saw Andy wearing his black dress shirt!

No ladies were present that evening, although we did receive a congratulatory telegram from our Rotary Wives. In those days, Rotary was a male preserve, and I recall saying, when asked to be President, that it would be on the understanding that I would strive for the right of women to be Rotarians. I well remember David Ashford and I leading a debate about this one very foggy evening at a Club visit to the Isle and Royal Manor of Portland (which sadly we lost by a narrow majority). It took a court case in America for that to happen, and the Rotary movement is so much richer because of that basic right.

Enough of that occasion for now – I have been asked to say a few words about the formation of this Club

Throughout life we all have particularly significant events, some potentially life changing. For me, one of those was the letter I received, in November 1984, inviting me to an informal meeting to discuss the possibility of forming a new evening Rotary Club, based on Yeovil and it surrounds.

This was held at the home of Bill Marden, a member of the sponsoring Yeovil Club (hence we sometimes refer to the Yeovil Club as Mother). Also representing that Club was Philip Mitchell. Sadly both Bill and Philip are no longer with us

At that meeting, I met for the first time, Andy Irwin, John Yandle, and Freddie Brandwood (life has never been the same since!), along with Stephen Pilling and Brian Bennett, and John Bates, with whom I worked at South Somerset District Council. The basics of Rotary were explained to us, and we were left to consider whether we wished to be involved. All, except Brian Bennett (who eventually became a member of the Yeovil Club), together with Terry Kimpton, attended a subsequent meeting at Philip Mitchell’s home, where we were introduced to Past District Governor Bunny Smith, who guided and encouraged us in the formation of the new club. He was our first Honorary Member, but sadly died a few years ago

At subsequent meetings we drew up names of other potential members who were then invited to join us, and by the end of June around 18 of us were meeting every other Monday evening at the Three Choughs for steak and kidney pudding. Such numbers meant that a new Club was viable, and an inaugural meeting was held in September, with me as President and Andy Irwin as Vice President

This was a very happy occasion, especially as it was the first time that Wives had been invited to a formal meeting of Rotary. Very well organised by Nigel Lindsay, it was held in East Coker Hall in the presence of many members of our Mother Club, Yeovil, and visitors from several other local Rotary clubs. At that time our numbers had swelled to 26

Over the next few months, we continued to be coached in the ways of the Rotary movement. It was quite a learning curve, as only one of us, David Ashford, had ever been in Rotary before. As President, I felt obliged to learn as much about the organisation as possible – hence my Club nickname, Mr. Rotary!

We established the format of the Club more or less as it is now, and moved venues frequently, holding our meetings, variously, at the Pall Tavern, the Manor Hotel and Langtrys – in fact, anywhere to avoid eating steak and kidney pudding! We also decided on our first project – a scented garden for the partially sighted at Mudford Recreation Ground. A classic example of the blind leading the blind

However, as members of an interim Club, we were still not Rotarians, so we then embarked on organising the main event, our Charter Night, the 40^th anniversary of which we are celebrating tonight. It says a great deal about the friendship and camaraderie within the Club that there are around half a dozen of us who are still members or honorary members. It seems a long time ago – most of us were in our 40s, had hair that wasn’t white and didn’t suffer from arthritis and short term memory loss!

Over the following months and years, like any new and enthusiastic organisation, the Club involved itself in a variety of new initiatives. My role tonight is not to catalogue the history of the Club (did I hear a sigh of relief!), but I will mention some of the most important and memorable

As a new Club we soon became in involved in the international campaign to eradicate polio, a challenge taken up by Rotary International with its Polio Plus campaign. I recall Founder Member Alex Rollo designing a tie with the tear-drop emblem which we had made and sought to sell to members of local Rotary Clubs. Sue and I set up a stall at the District Conference in Torquay managing to sell a box of 50 ties

I was very keen that the local service clubs should work together, and we re-established the Yeovil Charity Ball with the help of the Yeovil Rotary Club, Lions, Soroptimists and Round Table. The event was held for 2 years at Leweston School, and helped to raise money for Polio Plus, to the extent that we were able to hand a cheque for £1,625 to the District Governor

Another thing we did towards Polio Plus - in response to a challenge from Marion to write a Valentine poem, we produced this book, which we sold making £200

Right from the beginning, the Club has been involved with Young People. One of our Founder members, Vic Gane, who was head of Stanchester School, suggested that we offer practice job interviews to final year students. This we did for many years, sometimes with the help of wives and Soroptomist members. Later this help was extended to Senior Student (i.e. prefects) training

Other involvements were the annual District organised ‘Kids Out’, and days out for senior citizens, as well as fund-raising events. I well remember rattling a tin on Middle Street dressed as a rabbit! Obviously fund-raising can be fun too, although the pleasure of taking part in the Clubs organisation, for several years, of Golf in the Dark must have been tempered by the weather. The concept of members with luminous balls is a little disconcerting!

That reminds me of another event. A couple of our founder members who worked for Pittards organised a ‘leather’ fashion show, obviously attended by our wives. One of those members, Dr. Peter Laight, had invented a treated leather which changed colour with heat – I seem to recall from green to red. Typically he had a pair of boxer shorts made up, which Allan Houghton decided to try on despite the size being far too small for him. The changes in colour certainly showed up!

In those days very few people had either computers or mobile phones, and I recall Peter Laight presenting members with a lovely leather-bound Filofax

Another memorable event was the trip to Ascot to celebrate the Millennium. It was an opportunity to really dress up, and a full coach of members and wives had a wonderful day and so did the bookies!

Fund-raising for community projects was greatly helped when we were asked to help run and supervise the South Somerset Music Spectacular. This event involved different stage performances by single or groups of children, for several nights, initially at the Octagon and later at Westlands. Ticket sales to family members raised significant amounts. I have wonderful memories of those evenings, particularly the finales when all participants sang together on stage

Another involvement was the Rotary run Youth Speaks competition – for many years the club ran the local round at the then Park School, the winners going forward to competition against other schools in the District. In the competition, teams of three (a chairman, speaker and proposer of the vote of thanks) compete against each other.   The speaker, after 3 minutes on a chosen topic, was then asked a question by the audience. To ensure this went off smoothly, I used to ask the school for a precis of the subjects, and then furnish a Club member with a suggested question. I did not, however, ask one of our delightful Founder members, Freddie Brandwood, who would speak, intelligently, at length on almost any subject, and then provide the answer!

Freddie was a wonderful character and is greatly missed, especially by Sue and I who became very close friends with him and his wife. But this does remind me of a story. I always felt that one of the hardest jobs in the club was as Speaker Finder for meetings. I do not recall who was responsible, but one evening our Guest spoke about Killifish. These are small, vibrant, egg-laying freshwater fish known for their dazzling colors. The enthusiastic speaker, for almost 30 minutes, proceeded to inform us about the types and colours, including the Latin names of their various sub-species. After about 10 minutes of boredom, I got the giggles, making it very difficult for others to keep straight faces. Unfortunately, after the speaker had finished, Freddie then asked him a question, and we had another 10 minutes to endure. For several years after, we used to decide whether a speaker was boring enough to be worthy of the Killifish award

Internationally the Club became involved with Group Study Exchange, and several members hosted team members on their 3-4 day visits to this area. Sue and I were lucky enough, on a couple of occasions, to host team leaders, a Rotarian and his wife, from Australia and from the USA, with whom we then kept in touch. In fact we visited Mike and Judy Hall in Virginia, and they have subsequently stayed with us on several occasions with their two daughters

In the late 80s a link was established with the German Club of Bensheim and Heppenheim, and several inter-club visits were enjoyed. Most of the Germans spoke good English, and were extremely sociable and hospitable, and Sue and I are among several members with really lovely memories of those times. Even though the link ceased because of lack of support, our friendship with Gerhard and Edith has continued with visits in both directions, and I have always felt so welcome when attending meetings at their Rotary Club in Bensheim

Internationally, the links with Mufulira have also been one of the Clubs most rewarding achievements, down largely to particular Club members’ preparedness to visit and provide much needed facilities and support

Rotary is about fun too, and I have wonderful memories of the conferences several club members attended, especially the themed dances and balls. I recall an evening in Bournemouth, when as part of the District Team being charged with looking after the guest speaker. On meeting him earlier that afternoon, he commented that he had forgotten to bring a bow tie, which I was able to lend him. At the interval in the formal dinner he decided to leave the top table and  join the Yeo Vale table and we had a most enjoyable time with him – it was the artist David Shepherd

Another conference that we attended as a Club comes to mind – I think it was also at Bournemouth. In those days of men-only membership, it was usual for organised trips to be arranged for wives, during conference sessions. One of our wives, however, suggested an alternative trip to see the Chippendales at the Pavilion Theatre instead! This was totally forgotten about until, at a ladies night a few weeks later, the wife in question was presented with a life size cut-out of one of the Chippendales wearing little more than a bowtie. When we moved house a few years ago, I found this at the back of a wardrobe!

Throughout its time Yeo Vale has continued to organise events and support local organisations, not least Yeovil District Hospital, often firing well above its weight in fund-raising. The excellent Club’s web-site shows that such commitment is on-going, and I continue to be proud to be a member. It was always known as a fun, though sometimes irreverent, club which other Rotarians enjoy visiting

Part of that reputation was our visits to other Clubs – we were once given a Friendship Cup, a condition of which was to take it, with a few members, to another Club which was then to pass it on within a couple of months. The Club holding it at the year-end was expected to return it to Yeo Vale, so the process could start again.

I think that cup is now lost?

I still consider that being a Rotarian is both an honour and a privilege. We are given the opportunity to develop new relationships, often for a lifetime, and are able to use our professionalism for the benefit of the local and international community. I also believe this brings character development, as an individual. What you get out of Rotary, to some extent is what you put into it. My life has certainly been more fulfilling because of my involvement with both Yeo Vale and my several years a member of the District Team. That wider dimension was especially pleasurable for both Sue and I. District Officers, though, are not always welcome visitors to other Rotary Clubs. I remember starting my presentation on such occasions with the comment that I was reminded me of the three white lies – of course I love you darling; there’s a cheque in the post, and I’m from District and I’m here to help!

40 Years ago, in my speech on Charter night, I concluded with

‘‘Over the next year, I am certain that we will find others to join us to help share the load and make achievements more possible. Rotary has already added a new dimension in comradeship; but it has also created new opportunities to serve. Thank you again for your generosity, your support and your faith. You have given the Yeo Vale Club a memorable beginning – we intend to achieve a notable history”

Clearly those expectations have been fully met, and I am sure that we are all proud to be Members of the Yeo Vale Rotary Club.

So looking to the future, please raise your glasses for the toast to

The Rotary Club of Yeo Vale

40th Charter Anniversary Dinner 2026

Yeo Vale Inaugural Meeting 1985

Charter Dinner 1986