Club News
July meeting: Chairman, Roger Gourd, welcomed 15 members including the speaker, John Birkett and his assistant Jenny. The August meeting has been cancelled and our next meeting will be 1st September 2022.
Andrew Kellard is still weak but is expected at our September meeting. The Chairman’s Charity raised £30 and the raffle £13.
Please notify lunch changes by 10.30am the prior Tuesday for Thursday 1st Sept meeting to chris@moniz.co.uk T: 020 8660 6063. Please notify Member News to Almoner, Andrew Kellard T: 01737 554055. Please email editor@coulsdonprobus.co.uk with articles/news for the Newsletter
Outing to Chatham Dockyard 26th July 2022 including set of ‘Call the midwife’. There were 40 on the trip including other Clubs and guests. Thank you to Andrew and Jenny for organising and for looking after us so well. A good time was had by all.
Talks with Purley Probus
On 14th July, Ian Payne, Michael Southwell and Andrew Banfield met with representatives of Purley Probus to discuss the possibility of a merger. We think that a merger is beneficial to both clubs and have agreed a provisional April 2023 merger. Most committee places have been agreed. We will still meet at Purley Sports Club (1st or 2nd Thursdays to be settled). A full report will be made at our September meeting.
Speaker 1st September: Brian Biggs: ‘My Life on Tugboats’
6th October: Stuart Robinson: ‘Curiosities of the City of London’
Speaker: John Birkett — Garden Birds
John is a member of Croydon RSPB and his talk about birds seen in our gardens was based upon local surveys over the years. Jenny assisted on the computer.
The most common UK garden birds
| Rank 2022 | Species | Average no. in gardens | % gardens found in |
| 1 | House Sparrow | 4.21 | 63.2% |
| 2 | Blue Tit | 2.79 | 77.5% |
| 3 | Starling | 2.75 | 39.6% |
| 4 | Woodpigeon | 2.47 | 78.0% |
| 5 | Blackbird | 2.27 | 84.6% |
| 6 | Robin | 1.47 | 82.5% |
| 7 | Goldfinch | 1.40 | 29.7% |
| 8 | Great Tit | 1.39 | 52.8% |
| 9 | Magpie | 1.25 | 55.3% |
| 10 | Chaffinch | 0.95 | 29.6% |
John took us through all the birds one by one with beautiful images accompanied by each one’s bird song. He also talked about the changes in sightings over the years which depend on changing climate and also on the food available. Young birds need insects which have been declining. Do you remember when windscreens were splattered with insects? – not nearly so much now. Very often, nowadays, rooves are sealed and some birds have nowhere to nest.
We went through each bird – its successes and failures. Blue Tits have learned behaviours (pecking milk bottle tops) and it isn’t one flock you see, but different ones through the day. Starlings mimic car alarms. How do they decide who lands first from their murmur? The first get covered in guano.
And so for each of 40 bird species. Is it successful, when do we see it, does it migrate, when does it nest, what does it eat? As for an artificial heron – its message is ‘here are fish’.
Thank you John – very much enjoyed.
A Quiet House — Vincent Fosdike
Ah Vince could you come in early tomorrow and then go round and see the owner out, the experience will be good for you, he has been served and a police officer has been requested.
I’d never imagined at law school, it was to be all court rooms and conferences with counsel. The house was large and derelict.
The week before a girl had been sent to such a task and was shot dead on the doorstep of a Croydon house.
Apparently it is my job to demand entry, the locksmith then drills the lock I go in first and if it all “kicks off” the constable will arrest the owner if necessary. There was no answer my knock or response when the lock gave way. I had to go in first. It was a dark winters morning and there was no electricity so almost pitch-black inside. My trusty constable was a short young lady of less than athletic build. The owner had serious form for violence and was known to use stealth prior to striking with a knife. The constable deemed it best to stay well back as I crept round six filthy chaotic rooms determined at least to surprise him! Lastly came the cellar half full of coal, rusty bed frames and spiders.
Suddenly a white outline of a man lunged at me. As I stepped back, he fell to the floor lying still and wordless. I backtracked toward the dim light of the staircase. The constable came to my call and her torch revealed a tailor’smanikin. Her radio also revealed they had just arrested our man on Kingston bridge.
Time for a cup of tea!
Editor’s memoir.
INHERITANCE TAX – Michael Southwell
This is a subject that affects us all as we get older and I have covered below just a few subjects which may be of interest to members. Many people think it is easy to minimise this tax but other than a straight gift (about more below) there are so many anti-avoidance rules that make this very difficult. Many families have to pay a large extra amount of IHT as a consequence of what they thought was a clever avoidance scheme. Anybody considering such a scheme is advised to get professional advice.
Reservation of benefit: If a dwelling is donated to a relative but the donor continues to live in it or obtain a benefit then unless the donor pays a market rental, the donation is ignored and its value on death will be included in the estate. If this exceeds the exemption limit of £325000 then IHT will be payable. If the gift is made and a market rent is paid then this will be classed a rental property. As such new non-financial regulations will apply. The new owner will lose owner occupier relief andCapitalGainsTaxof28%(ifonhigherrate)wouldbelevied. Thisis because the donor would lose domestic residency relief. For example, a father passes ownership of his house to his two children but continues to live there. IHT is still payable and CGT rules would still apply.
Gifts made are exempt from IHT if the donor survives seven years. If he dies after three years, then a tapering relief will apply. If however the gift is not made to an individual but to a trust then this is potentially liable to a lifetime tax of 20% if the donor does not survive the seven years – then on death IHT will be at 40% once the basic exemption limit has been exceeded.
Each year a gift can be made of £3000 free of IHT and if this is not used in one year can be carried forward to the following year. Gifts can also be made out of regular income but this must be on a regular basis. Gifts in consideration of marriage up to £5000 by a parent or £2500 by a grandparent or £1000 by anyone else are also exempt.
There is also a property relief when calculating IHT of £175000 unless the total value of the estate exceeds £2 million. There is also relief for downsizing. This is only a broad summary but hope it helps with this complex issue.