THE president of Cowdenbeath Rotary Club for 2018/2019 is a someone who has covered a more than a few miles during his career as an international banker.

Norman Black told Thursday's meeting that he had grown up in a small village near Stirling and then moved to the outskirts of Falkirk.

On leaving school in 1965 he joined the National Commercial Bank but soon was part of the Standard Chartered Commercial Bank and it was then his travelling started.

He said: "By 1969 I was in Calcutta in India but was to find myself in Jakarta, but it was a time of unrest due to a visit from the Japanese president. There was a lot of annoyance at what had happened during the occupation of Indonesia by Japan.

"By 1975 it was the Lebanon I was based in and shortly after it was on to Dubai.

"One of the most amazing and interesting places I was involved in was Hong Kong where there were 320 branches and it was the start of the run-up to the handover of the colony to China."

After spending considerable time in Hong Kong he was in the Philippines before then being given a role in New York.

He was to wind up his banking career in the Falkland Islands.

Norman added: "I was the only banker in the Falklands and we spent seven good years there before retiring in 1996.

"I found it immensely interesting to work in so many countries and meeting many, many different people.

"When I retired it was then I really moved into the world of Rotary in the Falkirk area and I am now looking forward to being president of this very long established club."