Melbourne Bearbrass Probus is an active, engaging, member-driven group who come together to undertake a wide variety of enriching and enjoyable social activities and outings, which enhance their experiences and interests, whilst enjoying the fellowship of an expanding, diverse, network of friends.
Welcome to the Melbourne Bearbrass website.
Please explore this landing page for reports on recent activities and to get an idea of the busy and fun-filled assortment of events we have planned this year. Apart from the monthly general meeting (always followed by a very social lunch), smaller special interest groups meet each month. The focus of these ranges from books and movies to mah-jong and wine tasting - the list expands as members recognise new opportunities to share their interests.
If what you see here whets your appetite, join us as a guest for up to three club activities before nominating for membership. Nomination is easily accessible on the top RH corner of this page.
By the way, our Publicity Officer Tony T has been putting his journalistic skills to good use – you can find more about several recent Bearbass activities from the online magazine The Probian here.
See you at our next monthly meeting at Docklands!
Best wishes
Jill de Araugo
President
A Bearbrass group of 15 enjoyed a morning’s history tour of Melbourne’s superb State Library, led by our guide Graham, who’d been a high school history teacher for more than 40 years. He led us through the gorgeous main rooms of the Library while educating us about its social and architectural history. We finished the morning lunching at the Library’s Mr Tulk Café.
The Library was established in 1854, barely 20 years after the city was settled. It opened as one of the two earliest free public libraries in the world. Anyone over 14 could use it, although there was a wash-basin to ensure all visitors had clean hands! For periods it was also home to Museum Victoria, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Public Records Office.
Graham told us how the original design competition was won by recently-arrived architect Joseph Reed, whose firm went on to design the Town Hall and Exhibition Building. His successor firm still exists as Bates Smart.
Governor Hotham laid the foundation stones of both the Library and Melbourne University on the same day July 3, 1854. The first book collection totalled 3800; the Library now has more than 4 million items including the diaries of John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, the folios of Captain James Cook, and the armour of Ned Kelly.
Graham led us to the awesome domed Reading Room, which for decades had its overhead glazing dimmed with copper sheathing because of water leaks. It’s now radiant with light but the pretty green reading lamps continue to add pastel color. The strange octagonal shape enabled a librarian to perch at the centre and keep an eye on all users, including via a rear-view mirror. He was known as the “Shoosh-er” for obvious reasons.
We loved the new exhibition of Ned Kelly’s plough-share armour, which we were told weighs 44kg. All around the exhibit are facsimiles of his self-justifying 8000-word Jerilderie letter.
We learnt a lot – including how little we knew…
Eighteen Bearbrass members and one guest enjoyed promenading around the Dome of the Royal Exhibition Building and absorbing the 360 degree view in fine weather!
Our tour started in the basement where our extremely competent guide led us through the history of the building and its uses.
In 1901, 12,000 dignitaries witnessed the opening of Australia’s Federal Parliament. In the same year the newly designed Australian flag was flown for the first time from the Dome. Disease, war and post-World War 11 migration resulted in increasing civic use of the building and gardens.
Overall, a very interesting afternoon exploring Melbourne’s Newest Oldest attraction!
This month’s meeting saw over thirty members gather at Docklands to induct Emilie B and Fran W formally into the club. From their introductions it quickly became clear that both women will be real assets. And if anyone needs any tips on restoring a classic Buick, we know to whom we can turn!
Guest speaker Lorraine Smith entertained and enthralled with her saga of the 1583 manuscript and its journey from Yorkshire England to a second-hand bookstore in Warrnambool by way of Korumburra and Kew. Absolutely fascinating! And what dogged determination kept Lorraine on the scent!
As usual the group retired to a fantastic lunch at TAP831.
When organiser Jim H planned the Bearbrass tour of the Liberator bomber restoration at Werribee recently, he expected blokes would comprise virtually all the party. But the end-result was 5 females out of 15 – and the women reported they’d had a great morning too.
The project involves the bomber with its huge 110ft wingspan, four engines and deep fuselage originally missing its tail. Work has been on-going for two decades at the one-time wartime airstrip, and the plane is still only half-built. Worldwide, there are only two flying (one is a cargo variant), with eight part-built and five in “bits and pieces”, said our hangar guide Paul Rourke, who is secretary of the B24 Liberator Memorial.
Our tour highlight was putting in our earplugs and watching the restorers start one of the Wasp
1200HP engines on a test-bed outside, erupting a cloud of blue smoke. We were warned not to stand in its slipstream – on a previous tour one woman did so to get a good photo and her white cardigan got covered in a mist of black oil.
Our Bearbrass party mingled and chatted with the many volunteers with their intricate projects all around the airframe. Some ex-fitters are as old as 90. As it was an Open Day for the public, they were happy to down tools and educate us about the B24s’ engineering and aviation history – the RAAF used 287 of them for long-range bombing and training.
One day this B24 will proudly taxi onto the airstrip, engines roaring – but it’s never going to take off. A great and unique morning’s experience for our Bearbrass Club.
For the walking group’s April stroll, five hardy walkers completed the 4.5km stroll from Luna Park to the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club.
The expected bracing sea air gave way to calm and warmth; thermal underwear and beanies definitely not required! Whilst not worn, Brenda’s multi-coloured hand knitted beanie won “the beanie prize” of a sustaining glass of red wine.
Walkers started off the stroll sipping much-needed coffee. Bronze statues, calm blue-grey water, clean sand, buildings, the old St Kilda pier and the construction of the new pier were admired, examined and discussed along the way.
Finally the hardy walkers-strollers enjoyed seafood and, of course, chicken parma at APYC. Books, writing, philosophy, knitting, grandchildren, football, holidays taken or planned were the topics of discussion whilst taking in the surrounding and calming beach and sea vista.
My thanks to the participants who strolled rather than walked at their normal fast pace and to Russell for organizing the yacht club.
The expected bracing sea air gave way to calm and warmth; thermal underwear and beanies definitely not required! Whilst not worn, Brenda’s multi-coloured hand knitted beanie won “the beanie prize” of a sustaining glass of red wine.
Walkers started off the stroll sipping much-needed coffee. Bronze statues, calm blue-grey water, clean sand, buildings, the old St Kilda pier and the construction of the new pier were admired, examined and discussed along the way.
Finally the hardy walkers-strollers enjoyed seafood and, of course, chicken parma at APYC. Books, writing, philosophy, knitting, grandchildren, football, holidays taken or planned were the topics of discussion whilst taking in the surrounding and calming beach and sea vista.
My thanks to the participants who strolled rather than walked at their normal fast pace and to Russell for organizing the yacht club.
A Bearbrass Probus party of eleven sampled about 40 of Heathcote region’s best wines during a three day trip recently. We did the 120km to Heathcote via car pooling. Club Secretary Mel G, also founder of the club’s thriving Wine Group, hired locally two vans and drivers from BlueWren Shuttle Service for Thursday. The vans let us safely cover the local 70 kms of travel between four wineries.The only glitch was a one-hour power blackout during the final dinner at Heathcote Inn. The hotel staff had to tot up our bills by phone-light, and arrange to get us all back safely to our rooms. The least-inconvenienced was one member who uses his Tesla rather than a hotel for his sleeping arrangements.
Thursday morning was enlivened by a fierce downpours plus hail but by coincidence the “rain bomb” stopped each time we arrived or left the wineries.
Heathcote is famous for its ancient red Cambrian/greenstone soils, leading to fine shiraz along with cab-sav and varieties such as Sangiovese and Viognier.
The day’s highlight was perfectly-presented Italian-style tasting plates of cheeses and hams at Wren Estate’s elegant reception room after our sampling of their keynote wines.
Thanks to Mel’s organising, each of our tastings at five wineries was exclusive to our party, some with wine-makers on hand to explain their craft. We paid tasting fees that were rebated from the cost of whatever bottles we bought.
En route to Heathcote we did our first tasting mid-way at Blackjack Wines, Harcourt, before lunch at Heathcote Winery. Our two-van taxi service – the only one in town - was on hand to get us to and from dinner at Juniper Lounge.
Thursday’s travel started with Tellurian Winery and after lunch at Wren’s, we motored on to Flynn’s Wines and tastings and coffee at Munari.
Perhaps the most interesting of the visits was to Flynn’s, with its rustic layout and proprietor Greg Flynn on hand in his mud-stained boots, shorts and well worn T-shirt. He took us through the skills, realities, equipment and hard work of a wine-making business, and the many pitfalls between the vines and successful bottling. The vats of deep-red fermenting grapes which he aerated with a stainless-steel prodder gave off a great scent and we enjoyed its very “young” taste.
Congrats to organisers of this complex, stimulating and smoothly-run Bearbrass expedition.
This year’s AGM was held on March 14th at the Library at the Dock. The meeting was a good mix of formality, fun and gratitude and induction of five new members! Outgoing President Sue H delivered the annual report and Treasurer Ray D explained the club’s financial position. We thanked Jean H for her organisation of morning tea for the past three years and then showed our appreciation for outgoing committee members Greg J and Allison H. Following a lively morning tea, elections for this year’s committee were held and we are proud to announce your 2023 committee, pictured below.
- President Jill De A
- Vice President no nomination
- Treasure Ray D
- Secretary Mel G
- Officers: Coral-lee K, Julie C, Jan S, Colleen H. Sheryl T.
- Immediate Past President Sue H
Following the election, we heard from incoming President Jill. We all know Jill a great deal better after her presentation. Picture above is outgoing President Sue handing over incoming President Jill.
A happy group of Probians celebrated afterwards at Tap 831.
Where do you find an armourer, a knife maker, a stone waller, a bridle maker, a cooper, a wheelwright, a lace maker and a corn dolly all in the one place?
At the Lost Trades Fair in Bendigo!
8 ‘Bearbrassians’ ventured to Bendigo by train, to view the wares of 180 artisan makers.
There were chair makers shaving spindles, impressive boot makers and fabulous hand-made hats, wood turners and their lathes, leather plaiters, their whips and rope makers.
We were astonished by the number of people there to view this creativity and skill, so we hope that they pursue any interest and keep these lost trades alive.
Members of the Wine Tasting Group explored South African wines at the February meeting.
We met some new grape varieties: such as Cinsault, Carignan and Pintotage. And marvelled at the consistent deliciousness of the wines!
In a first for the group, everyone enjoyed everything. And in a red-letter event – Julie C has now tasted four red wines that she actually likes!
Be on the look out for Darling Cellars’ Chocoholic Pinotage!
A dozen members of the Club, in three tranches, got to see the hidden, secret side of Melbourne’s famous State Library recently. It’s one of the world’s oldest (from 1856) and still busiest libraries, with its design echoing the Library of Congress and the British Museum Reading Room. The guided tours “below decks” are rare events.
From the Library’s initial collection of 3800 books, it now has that many books about Bridge card playing alone. The total is 3 million books and items grow at 20,000 a year. If laid end to end the books would stretch 96km. Half are stored offsite in Ballarat. Non-books include music materials, theatre posters and flyers and even “Zines” or household collections about things like UFOs and croquet.
Lots of rooms underground were stashed with odd furniture awaiting repair, as if for a garage sale. But there were also 40m rows of card index boxes - Dewey was more valued for his card indexing systems than for his cataloguing. For example, the Library via card indexing can quickly give you the list of Victorian murders 1949-75, with name of person murdered, where the body was found, date found, who was charged with the murder, when they were charged, and sentencing details.
We even found an “elephant lift” in working order from the 1920s – the “elephants” referring to “double elephant” folios of plant and animal drawings. We crowded inside and discovered one wall of the lift could be slid back for loading big items.
The Library’s most famous “Double Elephant” is a John Audubon folio “Birds of America”, from a set of 100 folios (38in by 26in) with each of the 435 birds life-size, hand-coloured and “in action”. A copy on the world market is now worth at least $US16 million. The Library got its copy from a private-school owner in Geelong who was going broke, and the Library’s founder (and also “Hanging Judge”) Redmond Barry beat him down from 200 pounds to 100 pounds for it in the 1870s. Other treasures include a folio of 16th German woodcuts including Durer’s.
Asked if the Library had suffered any thefts, our guide Norman thought for a moment and said, “Yes, in 1991 someone stole one of Australia’s largest gold nuggets that was on exhibition here, the 8kg Pride of Australia. It had been recently found at Wedderburn in 1981. It was worth $250,000 when the smash and grab people made off with it, and I doubt anyone will ever see it again.”
Our three groups were thrilled with the tours and are already plotting more Bearbrass trips to this magnificent and beautiful building.
The “let’s go to the movies Wednesday (but Thursday this month) group” went to the Nova cinema in Carlton to see the movie “The Banshees of Inisherin” staring Brian Gleeson and Colin Farrell and directed by Martin McDonagh.
Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, the film follows lifelong friends Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship.
With the acting talents of Gleeson and Farrell (last teamed in the film In Bruges) and the writing and direction of McDonagh (of award winning Three Billboards nearing Ebbing Missouri fame), this film is bound to be truthful, at times both brutal and humorous, and above all Irish.
Post film the group retired to the University Café and discussed our thoughts over delicious food and good wine, all at a reasonable cost.
Opinions on the tone of the film were diverse, but everyone agreed it was a wonderful film that left many things to think about.
It will be a hard one to beat when we next go to the movies on Wednesday February 15th.
The weather forecast was awful for our recent post-Christmas picnic.
Early morning that day saw heat and humidity and mid-morning, black skies and rain. But Bearbrass Probus was undaunted. Fourteen members and friends arrived laden with food treats at Point Park by the city’s river, and the air became cool with light refreshing breezes. The park was delightful with its grove of trees, excellent tables and views of busy life on the river and residential towers behind.
We tucked into the feasts, enjoyed each other’s company and afterwards adjourned to the 21st floor apartment of one of our couples for coffee and even more splendid panoramas of the clean-washed city. In arranging this event our committee took a gamble on both the weather and whether people would come so soon after Christmas – and got it right for both.
Congrats all round!
The February meeting was packed with people and interest. The members were joined by 11 visitors to see Julie S and Chris P (picture on the left) formally inducted into the club and hear from author John Howell on his book, “The Only Women at Gallipoli”.
From the introductions made by Julie and Chris, we can be sure they will “hit the ground running” with club activities.
John Howell kept us enthralled in recounting his story of “The Only Women at Gallipoli”. In November, 1915 a woman appeared amid the fighting at Gallipoli. She laid a wreath on a grave and then disappeared . It was the grave of a hero, a man killed at the landings and awarded the Victoria Cross. There were two women who truly loved this man. Was the visitor a dedicated nurse and hospital founder who saved the lives of thousands in a 50 year career - a woman awarded medals by Britain, France and Turkey? Or was it a famous explorer, fluent in Arabic and Persian, a friend of the famous including T E Lawrence and Winston Churchill and the only female delegate among thousands at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919? Five years of research revealed this amazing true story. It has emerged from tantalising clues, unpublished love letters and false trails deliberately left to hide the truth. Which woman was it? Who was The Only Woman at Gallipoli?
After that wonderful and tantalising story, as usual, we headed of for a great lunch at TAP 831, subsidized thanks to the generosity of the City of Melbourne.
Another great evening tasting wines, although a little less curated than some other evenings. We tasted wines brought along by members of the group, based on whatever selection criteria they chose.
We tasted:
- Pikes 2022 Clare Valley Riesling
- Pauletts 2016 Polish River Clare Valley Riesling
- LÁrtisan 2020 Pinot Noir France
- Artisans of Barossa 2021 Barrel Blend Grenache
- S. C. Pannell 2019 McLaren Vale Basso Garnacha
- Trambusti 2021 Chianti.
The two rieslings were very interesting with the Pikes very crisp and dry and the Pauletts showing the characteristics of an aged riesling with its "keroseny" nose and palate (not as bad as it sounds!). The french pinot noir was delightful and the two grenaches were light and fruity. The chianti to finish, was a much drier wine, with much more depth of colour than the grenaches. The group was split on the best wine with votes shared for every wine tasted.
As is our habit, we were off to The Clarendon Hotel for dinner (and a few more glasses of wine!).
Cheers!!
Our Christmas event for members and guests was at the Melbourne Cellar Door on South Wharf.
Starting at 6pm with a complimentary drink and nibbles we mingled to catchup with everyone’s “going ons” before sitting down to a roast dinner followed by a range of desserts.
Well done to organisers Sue H, Allison H and Jan S for organising a great event, enjoyed by all (PS – because you are so good at it, you have the job next year too!!!). A generous subsidy from the City of Melbourne enabled the cost to members for the event to be very reasonable.
This month we tasted a collection of Italian wines. The plan was to taste three reds and three whites from different Italian regions to showcase the strong regional characteristics of the different wines. The tasting was styled on the Italian daily ritual that embodies "la dolce vita", the aperitivo, involving drinks and snacks while Italians unwind and catch up with friends before their evening meal.
The three whites were:
- Fiano di Avellino from Campania
- Pieropan Soave Classico from Veneto
- Stellato Vermentino Pala from Sardinia
The three reds were:
- San Marzano Primitivo di Manduria
- Amaranta Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
- Talenti Rosso di Montalcino.
The opinions on favourite white were split between the fiano and the soave, but the jury was clear on the red, with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo being clearly the favourite.
As always we proceeded on to dinner in Clarendon street, for good food, (more) wine and great conversation!
President Sue led a small keen group to the magnificent synchrotron at Clayton near Monash University. We spent an unforgettable 90 minutes being shown around the complex by our guide Emma, a young science graduate and future scientist of things nuclear.
Emma briefed us on how the 150m circular machine accelerated a beam of high energy electrons to nearly the speed of light and into a storage ring where they could whizz around for hours or even days at a time, bent by powerful magnets. Her key point was that the synchrotron was not a “collider” i.e. atom smasher, but a giant microscope even able to map the molecular structure of the Covid-19 virus.
Although the facility seemed deserted, Emma assured us that scores of researchers were holed up in offices and labs running experiments often round the clock, with teams swapping to give each other some sleep. Most users get usage free but commercial firms such as miners or manufacturers get charged around $700 an hour – which still seems pretty cheap these days.
Among her tales was how synchrotron research colleagues in Chicago were able to prove Phar Lap was poisoned with arsenic in the US in 1932. The proof was from two small hairs from Phar Lap’s neck in the Melbourne Museum. A day or two before his death, the hairs under synchrotron light showed a heavy dose of arsenic beyond any natural level. However it’s still unknown whether the poisoning was deliberate or through some sort of human error such as a careless stablehand.
One of the most inspiring applications at Clayton was to create better understanding of premature babies’ poorly-functioning lungs, which led to successful treatments. Emma said that if untreated, such babies’ lifetime medical costs could be many millions, so the synchrotron’s original $200m cost was being recouped several times over worldwide just from this research application.
It is now even being used to specially scan and irradiate adults with cancers that can’t be tackled conventionally.
Our visit was a particularly stimulating challenge, opening our minds to some frontiers of science.
Recently, a group of 15, largely men , braved the hail, wind and shine to learn about the historical Observatory located in the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Observatory dating from 1863, when Melbourne was booming from the Gold Rush , is a heritage listed site. Some of the historical equipment used when the Observatory was operational has been preserved , and is still used for sky observations.Our volunteer guides from Astronomical Society of Victoria, Russell Cockman and Colin Pickthall, allowed us to view the sun via the two telescopes . One was a photo heliograph and the other a general telescope. Luckily, the sun came out for us at times!
A fascinating history to hear and a unique experience for members. The reinstallation of the Great Melbourne Telescope of 1869 in its original building, is underway via the ASV and the Melbourne Museum.
Lots of action at November club meeting
About 35 members and friends enjoyed our November 8 monthly meeting and keynote speaker Jen Porter on “Archaeology in Melbourne’s CBD”. Jen is the Artefact Manager for Ochre Imprints and has practised as an archaeologist for over twenty years. She gave us a great talk on how the planned Town Hall Station excavations have unearthed tens of thousands of relics of Melbourne city’s past, including teeth galore pulled by a friendly but determined dentist and of course myriads of little clay pipes.
Before the talk, President Sue H and Membership Officer Allison H inducted our new member Cynthia C, who gave us a short autobiography as a get-to-know-you. Welcome to our club, Cynthia!
Then followed Tony T’s quiz focused on the impending State election. He had 23 questions all taxing our knowledge of politics and political personalities. Top scorer was politics buff Shane M, who made off with the first prize which was a giant tin of chocolates. About eight members came equal second and a run-off eliminated all but two who collared the plum-pudding prizes.
There was a big turnout of close to 30 for another fine lunch at TAP831 Restaurant, which the City of Melbourne generously supports via a meal subsidy for each member. We all agreed the chef’s tasty meals are worth at least five Michelin stars.
This was our last meeting for 2022 and next month we’ll get together on December 13 for our grand Christmas party.
Our Events Planning supremo, Jan S has done a massive amount of work to develop the Major Events Program for 2023. Further detail will emerge, but it looks like there will be something for everyone in the program this year. Events include:
- February 3rd: Secret Places of the State Library
- February (end of month): Rone at Flinders St Station
- March 11th/12th : Lost Trades Fair at Bendigo racecourse
- April: Dome Promenade of Royal Exhibition Buildings
- April: RAAF Base Museum, Point Cook
- May: Jayco Caravan Factory, Dandenong South
- June: Athenaeum Library Tour
- July: Moorabbin Air Museum and lunch at Flight Deck Bar & Grill
- August: Australian Tapestry Workshop, South Melbourne
- September: Kenworth Truck Production Factory Tour, Bayswater
- October: Tour of Capitol Theatre
- November: Australian Sports Museum
Watch this space!!
107 Victoria Harbour Promenade
Docklands, VIC 3008
Australia