The History of
Whitchurch Rotary Club
1938 - 2008

Visitors Welcome

We meet in the Dodington Lodge Hotel every 1st & 3rd Tuesday evening at 6:30pm for Dinner, every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 12:45pm for lunch, and if there's a 5th Tuesday, we meet at 7:00am for Breakfast. Visitors are welcome.

Presidents of Whitchurch Rotary Club

click to enlarge

PRESIDENT, 1972/73
J. Norman Hopley

Norman was educated at Preparatory School in Malvern, Wrekin College, Wellington, and Pembroke College Cambridge. After just one term at Cambridge, when World War II broke out in 1939, Norman enlisted in the Royal Artillery and then transferred to the Army Air Corps in the Middle East.

After leaving the army, Norman went on to Seale Hayne Agricultural College in Devon, before coming to the family seeds business, A.G. Leighton Ltd in Waymills. As managing director, he was a founder member of PriMer Seeds, - a national consortium of private agricultural seeds suppliers set up in 1970. A.G, Leighton was well-known in the world of horticulture and won many gold medals at Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Southport flower shows with its gladioli.

Norman was a JP, Steward and Member of the Council of the Royal Bath & West Agricultural Society, Vice President of the Whitchurch Male Voice Choir and President of the Bridgwater Bowling Club.

His interests included flat green and crown green bowling, archery and gardening, the North Shropshire Hunt and Sir WW Wynn's Hunt.

He joined Rotary on 20/1/59 and died 18/12/73, aged 53 years. His widow was president of Inner Wheel 1980/81.