Book Review: Westwind by Ian Rankin

By Sheila H

‘Westwind’ by Ian Rankin is NOT a Rebus novel. It was published back in 1990, after ‘Knots and Crosses’ and ‘Watchman’, however Rankin’s career had not yet taken off and the book failed to sell. He revised it and it was eventually republished in the current version in 2019.

It tells the story of a scientist called Martin Hepton, who starts to suspect that something dubious is going on at a high level after one of his colleagues spots an anomaly to do with a communication satellite, at the same time as a space shuttle crashes on its return to Earth. The colleague is then found dead in suspicious circumstances. Martin decides to find out why and ropes in his ex-girlfriend and the sole surviving astronaut. They are pursued around London and to and from Lincolnshire by people trying to prevent the truth from leaking out and it is difficult to know who to trust; are top civil servants and members of the military involved?

The style is somewhere between Michael Crichton and Dan Brown and very different to a Rebus novel, but just as much of a page-turner.

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BWC Golf Update

Wet Weather & A Special Thanks to Ester

By Carol J & Barbara B

We are delighted to announce that the draw for the Spring Knockout has been completed and we have 13 ladies taking part. They can choose when to play their matches, and the first round is due to be played by 16 April.  However, the weather was not kind to golf courses in March.  It has been so wet, that many were closed. Ravenstein even requires players to carry a special plastic mat and to play each shot from this mat.

Even so, the final Winter 9-hole competition at Ravenstein was a white-out, with heavy snow followed by rain, so that the course was unplayable, even with mats.  There were 20 ladies signed up – the biggest turnout for a long time – to say goodbye to Ester MG.  Everyone had a nice lunch and then Ester was presented with three framed pen and ink drawings of Brussels done by our Lady Captain, Carol J. 

Ester is taking on the job of Sports Director for a golf club on the Costa Brava and we are hoping to organise a few Away Days there in the autumn. A big “thank you “to Ester for all her hard work as Lady Captain, for all the baked goodies she brought to competitions, and for organising the Winter Trainings and Beginners Initiation Package: the latter just weeks before she moved to Spain!

After some extremely cold weather, the rain then affected our fixtures.  Because carts and trolleys were not allowed, nobody played at Louvain-la-Neuve on 14 March.

Our AGM at the Clubhouse on 16 March went very well, with 20 out of 38 members attending the meeting.  A new member, Gosia G, has taken over organising the Winter Trainings from Ester.  Sue M has very kindly offered to follow the progress of the beginners with their Initiation Package at Louvain-la-Neuve.  We hope to be able to welcome the beginners as full members once they have passed their Brevets.  We are very grateful to Gosia and Sue for offering their time.

On 29 March, the French Ladies at the 7 Fontaines golf club entertained the BWC ladies for a Fun Format Competition.  Finally, to end March, we played 9 holes with only 3 clubs and a putter at Brabantse. This competition is sponsored by Janny Vrolijk and was to celebrate a big birthday.  Happy Birthday, Janny!