The venue for tonight’s meeting was the Scarborough Yacht Club, where we were treated to an excellent 3 course dinner, washed down by various beverages of choice from the bar.

Prior to this, Dr Gordon Hayes, a local retired GP, gave us a brief report on just some of the memorable events from his career, all of which were factual and had not been ‘Doctored’ in any way.

On one occasion he sent a baby with a raised temperature that he had some concerns about into hospital, following a late night call out. A week later, he was surprised to find the infant still in a hospital ward, having been successfully treated for meningitis, confirming that his concerns and split-second decision had been more than justified. 

Gordon also handed round various instruments, ranging from a quite expensive ophthalmoscope to a humble tape measure. The latter was used to check anomalies in calf size, which could indicate a Deep Vein Thrombosis. Colin B had some input on the subject, but then being a farmer he does know about calves. 

The talk was very well received, as illustrated by the queue of 41 Club members that built up afterwards, wanting to talk about their various ailments…!

Ian Burnett gave a vote of thanks, and asked if Gordon would now be returning to work, following the recent budget change which allowed GPs (and others) to stow away more money into their pension pot without penalty. Gordon considered the question for 2 seconds then replied with a firm ‘No!’