The club’s first meeting of the new season was held on Thursday at the Expanse Hotel. The chairman Cyril Dawson welcomed members and introduced Peter Crooks, a new member. After an excellent lunch, Len Collins the speaker finder, introduced Gordon Gresham, who was returning to conclude a talk on Papua New Guinea, the first part of which was given three years ago.
With some remarkable film of tribal elders and the Papua New Guinea terrain Gordon explained how the Leahy brothers had set out to explore and extract gold from the mountains. The brothers were the first white men in the country’s interior in the 1930s. The quarter of a million natives were astonished to see them wearing clothes when they only wore grass thongs. They thought the explorers were gods and brought gifts and food. When an aeroplane appeared they were told by the brothers that “good things come from the sky” and readily set to work to help make an airfield.
Without any experience of work they willingly worked for shells and beads.
There is no written Papua New Guinea language and Gordon’s film showed how tribal elders passed on stories of killing, lawlessness and how children were taken for flights in an aeroplane, by word of mouth.
The explorers were there to exploit mineral reserves and did so very successfully. Gold mining is still mined but now as a vast industry along with copper and other minerals and oil has been discovered in the surrounding seas.
Roger Stanley gave an appropriate vote of thanks to the speaker for an interesting talk.
Further information about the club’s activities can be found on www.bridlingtonprobus.weebly.com
With some remarkable film of tribal elders and the Papua New Guinea terrain Gordon explained how the Leahy brothers had set out to explore and extract gold from the mountains. The brothers were the first white men in the country’s interior in the 1930s. The quarter of a million natives were astonished to see them wearing clothes when they only wore grass thongs. They thought the explorers were gods and brought gifts and food. When an aeroplane appeared they were told by the brothers that “good things come from the sky” and readily set to work to help make an airfield.
Without any experience of work they willingly worked for shells and beads.
There is no written Papua New Guinea language and Gordon’s film showed how tribal elders passed on stories of killing, lawlessness and how children were taken for flights in an aeroplane, by word of mouth.
The explorers were there to exploit mineral reserves and did so very successfully. Gold mining is still mined but now as a vast industry along with copper and other minerals and oil has been discovered in the surrounding seas.
Roger Stanley gave an appropriate vote of thanks to the speaker for an interesting talk.
Further information about the club’s activities can be found on www.bridlingtonprobus.weebly.com