NEWSLETTER
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UNITED KINGDOM Association NEWSLETTER |
| No 156 | March 1999 |
The trip of a lifetime, a glow in the dark experience, your chance to collect fissionable material at no cost! Bring the family and make a day of it while adding to your CPD.
On March 27 a visit of the Dungeness Power Station and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RHDR) will tour the power station in the morning and play (sorry, ride) on the railway in the afternoon. The tour of the power station is free but the railway will cost between £5.40 and £8.90 depending on how much you wish to use it. The start time of the Power station tour is 10.30 a.m. sharp at the Dungeness Power Station Visitor Centre. The tour will take us up to lunch time when we can hop on the RHDR railway which is only a short walk from the visitors' centre.
The BNFL Magnox power station visit starts at the visitors' centre, then on to the A station, visiting the main change area, the blower hall, viewing gallery (looking on to the pile cap and charge machines), the central control room, turbine hall and back to the visitors' centre.
I have been told to say that the power station is an industrial site and sensible shoes must be worn, flip flops (jandals for people not acclimatised to UK slang) and sandals, etc. are not suitable.
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is a steam railway opened in 1927 as "The world's smallest public railway." The locomotives and carriages are one third size and based on the powerful express engines of Great Britain and North America. The railway starts at the picturesque Cinque Port of Hythe and travels via the holiday areas of Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay and New Romney to the fishermen's cottages and light houses at Dungeness. The 13.5 mile railway hauls steam trains over the almost level terrain of Kent's historic Romney Marsh.
The trains run from 12:00 noon till 4.30 p.m. from Dungeness and I am assured that this will give us enough time to travel on both of the steam locomotives in operation. A Dungeness - Hythe ticket is £8.90 and is valid for unlimited travel on the day and includes entry into the Romney Toy and Model Museum at Romney which caters for children of all ages.
More info on the railway is available at http://www.rhdr.demon.co.uk
For those not wishing to visit the actual Power Station there is a bird sanctuary right beside it where many unusual species of bird can be seen. Don't forget to take your binoculars.
Forthcoming Events:
After a somewhat slow start our programme for 1999 promises to be quite eventful, following on from the visit to Dungeness there will be a trip to Kew Museum in April and to Greenwich in May to tour the many sites of engineering interest (hopefully via a few local hostelries).
A venue for this year's summer barbecue has still to be arranged - any suggestions would be most welcome.
The AGM and Annual Reception at New Zealand House have been booked for Tuesday 1 June, and the Christmas Soirée has also been booked for Friday 3 December.
If anyone has any exciting projects that their company is working on or any sites they would like to visit please contact our Chairman, Graham Barber or the Hon. Secretary so that a visit can be organised.
We are currently considering holding a "Problems Evening" where we discuss engineering problems we have encountered and how they were resolved. If you have any experiences you would like to contribute please let the committee know.
Our thanks to the Australians for organising a great evening at Australia House for the Christmas Soirée. Although I was not able to make it myself I have received many good reports and thanks.
After a couple of false starts, the Hon. Secretary has managed to obtain email copies of the latest Professional Review Requirements from Head Office and will include copies for graduates with this newsletter. If you do not receive your copy and would like one sent to you please contact either Brian Anderson or the Hon Secretary or visit the UK Association web site to pick up an electronic copy.
Many of you may already be aware that the Hon. Secretary hopes to return to New Zealand for good this year. Despite what you may have heard from past Chairmen, the duties of Hon. Secretary are not very arduous as the committee is so supportive. Now that much of the communication is via email formal letters are rarely needed. If you have access to a computer and preferably email, you enjoy socialising and would like to contribute to the smooth operation of the IPENZ UK Association please let the Chairman or Hon. Secretary know. Think of it a continuing professional development, I know I do.
Up until recently our newsletter was written by the excellent narrator, Keith Armstrong, he has since retired from writing the newsletter and we are still looking for a successor. In the interim the Hon. Secretary has been editor but this should change when she returns to New Zealand. If you are running light on CPD days, learning editing skills and other research should stand you in good stead. Why not give it a try?
Head Office News
IPENZ International
Peter King is interested in gauging membership interest in establishing a list on the IPENZ listserver for members who are based overseas.
The object is to provide a self-help contact and mentoring service for those who may want, or can offer, advice in the various countries where New Zealand engineers work. Such a list would require its members to join, as per the jobs service. They would then be able to send email to the list which would distribute it to all other members on the list. There would be no regular despatch (unless someone on the list feels the urge to send one) but it would provide an "advice line" which would bring together the combined knowledge of the membership.
If you are interested please reply to peter@ipenz.org.nz with International in the subject heading.
Sounds like an excellent idea and could be a good way of keeping in touch with the UK Association if you are travelling around a lot.
News from New Zealand
TWO New Zealand women, Rhonda Avis, 27, and Michelle Strathern, 26, were kidnapped and murdered in Uganda this week along with four Britons and two Americans. The husband of one of the women, Mark Avis, 27, another New Zealander, was amongst the six survivors of the kidnapping. It is thought that the kidnappers believed the New Zealanders were British.
THE FINAL act of a New Zealander killed in an avalanche in the French Alps last week was to save the life of another skier. Timothy Jon Purvis, 29, died when he was hit by an avalanche while skiing near Courchevel. He had been snowboarding with a British friend when an avalanche hit. The friend was buried, with only his hand showing from the snow. Mr Purvis dug him out just minutes before a second avalanche struck.
WAIHI Gold Company has restarted open-casting mining at it's Martha Mine, less than two weeks after old workings collapsed leaving a deep chasm.
PRIME Minister Jenny Shipley and her Government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion on Tuesday, as the crisis over the New Zealand Tourism Board and the advertising company Saatchi and Saatchi deepened. The Government survived the no-confidence motion by 61-59.
All Blacks' jersey may be changed when Adidas starts supplying the uniform. Radio talkback lines have been running hot over the perceived threat to the ultimate New Zealand icon. All the New Zealand Rugby Union will confirm is that the hoops on the All Blacks' socks will remain.
| Trip to Dungeness Power Station | Saturday 27 March 1999 |
| Visit to Kew Museum | April 1999 |
| Tour of Greenwich | May 1999 |
| AGM and Annual Reception | Tuesday 1 June 1999 |
| Christmas Soirée at New Zealand House | Friday 3 December 1999 |
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