October 2007 London Meeting
The meeting was a full house to hear Globetrotters President Janet Street-Porter give this months opening talk, Janet called her talk “4 Trips in 40 minutes”, she began with Estonia, talking about the excellent and moving Occupation Museum in Tallin before exploring outside of the capital, to the beach resort of Parnu with its art deco Scandic hotel and windswept beaches.
Across the Globe to Papua New Guinea (PNG), where she was invited to open British Council sponsored Film Festival, in a country that does not have any cinemas! She had no idea how dangerous PNG, especially Port Moresby is, when she asked if she could go shopping. No shopping, but Janet did get to meet tribal people who still sort out their differences with bows and arrows and axes. She along with the British Ambassador were dressed up in tribal dress and make up, before being given a pig as they departed.
Australias Larapinta Trail which begins in Alice Springs, was her next destination, taking 7 days to walk what is one of her favourite trails, though the annoying flies meant dressing in head gear and posting lunch letterbox style. The walk takes in places like Simpsons Gap.
Lastly Janet took us to Central Spain to the area around Aracena, a 1.5 hour drive from Seville with its Moorish castles and 13th Century Churches.The villages having a deserted cowboy feeling in the intense summer heat.
Many thanks to Janet for providing a very entertaing talk and for continuing to be our President.
After the break it was time for Ashley Butterfield, a Globetrotters Life Member. Ashley’s talk was called “Not the Magic Bus”, a reference to a new company running trips from the UK to Australia in relative comfort, well to be honest complete luxury compared to the first trips Ashley ran! Ashley got the travel bug early in life when at 12 he was encouraged to cycle from Yorkshire to London, though he cheated after Grantham, getting a lift from a Lorry diver.
After leaving school at 15 he worked for Wallace Arnold, though just in the office and soon got bored with working out how many miles the company’s busses were doing to the gallon. At 19 he left with £120 to hitch hike to India, arriving in India with £70 left, £64 of which then went on a boat back to Marseille. At this point he along with a friend bought a share in a bus which they took to India, though it kept breaking down, it had to be towed off the ferry and was refused entry into Germany because of its near bald tyres.
This was quickly remedied by a diversion into Belgium to a man who cut enough of a tread pattern to allow them back over the border! They eventually got to India and sold the bus which was on its last legs and destined for the scrap heap. Ashley decided using public transport for his trips would be easier and started running trips by rail and bus to India, he reckoned it cost £25 to get to Istanbul, he was always up for trying to make some extra money, including buying playing cards in Afghanistan and selling them in Turkey for which he spent a night in Jail.
Inbetween he worked for KFC in Earl’s Court and one day spotted a new Travel agency opening over the road, Trailfinders, He set up Asian Rover, a company which sold individual legs of the trip to India on trains and busses so that people could travel at their own speed and sold the trips through Trailfinders, he was 25% of Trailfinders business when they began, when he had to stop the trips in 1979 because of the Iranian revolution he was back to being 0.000005% of their business!
Ashley had a “Complaint” book along on his trips for passengers to let off steam about the discomfort etc, one entry from an American Circuit Court Judge probably summed up the trips “If I could I would send the worst criminals on one of Ashley’s trips rather tah jail, but it would probably be deemd a too cruel and inhuman punishment”!
By Padmassana
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on (+44) 020 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk