SHIPSTON ON STOUR AREA U3A

‘A Policeman’s Lot’ was the theme of the talk given to Shipston on Stour Area U3A at their monthly meeting by Alan Rogers MBE.

Mr Rogers served 33 years with the Warwickshire Police and patrolled a number of areas including Leamington, Warwick, Tysoe, Kenilworth and for a period Shipston on Stour for two days a week, mainly on traffic duty.

He told the meeting that as a 16-year-old he joined the police but was also a keen footballer, his speciality being goalkeeping, and was being coached by Bert Williams the then professional goalkeeping coach for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Having been offered professional terms at 18 he was persuaded to turn his career to the police as, at the time, it offered more security for the future.

Mr Rogers related a number of amusing incidents in his career from his first day on the beat in Kenilworth High Street concerning the miss use of ‘pelican crossing lights’ which resulted in his first arrest, to transportation incidents in the winter in Tysoe, evening visits to the mortuary at Warwick Hospital and the wise words of Judge Harrison Hall.

Development of the ASTRA scheme (Active Strategy To Reduce Accidents) which Mr Rogers, with others, was instrumental in developing became a very big project. The scheme consists of a series of short, hard hitting modules targetting the pre and post driver age groups in senior schools. The scheme attracted international recognition and an invitation came from the Indian Government to visit and explain the schemes merits. Having accepted the invitation Mr Rogers gave an amusing recollection of his interview with the Chief Constable when he asked for the finance to pay for his visit. Subsequently numerous visits were made to India by the team to instruct the Indian government departments and stories of hot, dusty and uncomfortable drives around the country were related. The scheme has now been adopted by the ‘Prison Me No Way’ teams as part of their programme for schools throughout the UK.

Mr Rogers now runs his own business providing lectures on Driver Training for Corporate Organisations to include Health & Safety and the legislation surrounding driving in the work place.

Tom Clifton, Chairman of the Shipston on Stour Area U3A thanked Mr Rogers for a very interesting and amusing talk.

If you would like more information on the Shipston Area U3A please contact the membership secretary Jackie Finlay e.mail address – jandb@64finlay.fst.co.uk.