Annual Report 2004
Wednesday 21st April
Our first trip of the year took us
up to London to see this wonderful musical at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.
Everyone was on time as 48 members and guests left Hove Town Hall and then the
Withdean Stadium to make the short trip up to London. We arrived in plenty of
time to get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee. The theatre is right next to
Covent Garden so quite a few of us walked round the many shops and cafes.
The show was superb, with everyone
enjoying the toe tapping songs and dance routines. The acting was excellent and
the costumes authentic (so I am told!).
After
3 hours of wonderful entertainment, we returned to the coach and made the short
journey to Croydon, where we had a "Fish & Chip" supper at the
Fairfield Halls.
We got back to Brighton just after
10pm after another successful excursion.
Golf Day - Royal Eastbourne Golf Club
Wednesday 12th May
A warm day with little wind was
just what the 'doctor' ordered for the first Golf Day of the year. 30 members
made their way over to Eastbourne to play at the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club,
where two of our members, John Mace and John Bishop are regulars.
Thanks must go to Robin Frost,
Graham Clark and Tony Comber for arranging this highly successful day. Bacon
baguettes, before the golf, and ham 'n eggs afterwards were well received and
everyone enjoyed the day.
Richard
Wright in the men’s competition and Shirley Mainwood in the Ladies won the
golf. The longest drive was by Brian Moore and Richard Wright won ‘nearest the
pin’.
Here are
the winners of the competition.
Tuesday 20th July
We left Hove Town Hall at 9.30am
and after a couple more stops the 22
members and guests made their way into Kent for our visit to the Biddenden
Vinery and the Tenterden Steam Railway.
Our first stop was the vineyard at
Biddenden, a small village 2 miles from Tenterden. There we were greeted by the
owner and invited into his restaurant for a ploughman's lunch. There is no
doubt this would have satisfied the appetite of a ploughman, with a massive
lump of cheddar cheese, a chunk of fresh bread the size of half a loaf, not to
mention the salad and the glass of home made wine.
We
then took a short walk around the vineyard, where Marjorie Rawley soon showed
her true colours with a tremendous knowledge of wines and vines that impressed
the owner so much he offered her a job! Marjorie has been making her own wine
for years and is a connoisseur. The picture shows how much Marjorie enjoyed her
wine.
After looking over the winery
where they make wine, strong Kentish Cider and Farm Pressed Apple Juice we took
the short 15-minute journey into Tenterden and the Steam Railway. The weather
was warm and a bit muggy, but the sun finally broke through and it soon became
a lovely day.
We caught the 3.30pm train from
Tenterden to Bodiam and were served with a wonderful cream tea by a gentleman
who gave us a potted history of the railway, including the fact that a large
lottery grant had enabled them to extend the line to Bodiam when previously it
had terminated 3 and a half miles earlier at Northiam.
Here we see our secretary Jean
Clarke with Diane Argent and her guest Wendy.
Tuesday 28th September
Battle Abbey
Just 18 members and their guests departed from Hove at
9.30am on the short trip across country to Battle.
A view into the Toy Shop.
After browsing through the shops
in Battle High Street, several of us popped into the local cafes and bars for
some refreshment. At 1 pm we took the short trip down to the coast and
into Hastings where we spent a couple of hours of free time to browse, visit
one of the many "Fish & Chip" restaurants, wander or just sit and
take in the sea air!!
Hastings
We
then returned to Hove, avoiding Brighton Sea Front, where hunt protestors
were causing a few problems outside the Labour Party Conference. A very
pleasant and relaxing day out.
Thursday 30th September
Once again the weather was kind to
us as 28 members arrived at Pyecombe at noon and tucked into 'bacon butties'
and coffee. The first golfers went on their way at 12.30 and with the course in
excellent condition all was set fair for some low scoring. And so it transpired
that as the scorecards were handed into the organisors, some of the scores were
quite low. Unfortunately with a stableford competition, low scores are not what
are required as you receive points for completing a hole in a reasonable number
of shots! However, with the sun coming out and the company being as excellent
as usual, the scores appeared to be not too important to most participants.
It
was nice to see some 'new faces' to the golf day, and in the after dinner
formalities, Graham Clark welcomed John Charlton, Mary Hopwood and Tony Alcott
to their first event. It was nice to see Tony Comber at the event, following
his recent golfing accident that caused serious damage to his eye, although he
didn't actually play.
Incidentally, the winners were
John Lockyer in the mens and Mary Hopwood in the ladies competitions. Other
awards were presented to Arthur Elliot, Doug Thompson and Richard Dickens.
The
winners with their prizes!
The following also participated in the event:
Derek Allchorn, Gerry Arnold, John
Bishop, Peter Cantwell, David Fairs,
Keith Fisher, Brian Fitch, Mike Hewson,
Chris Hudson, John Jago, David Kaye, Harry Lilly, Neil McNamara, Shirley
Mainwood, Bob Russell, Don Semmons, David Skinner, Dave Stedman, Norman Tessier
& Richard Wright.
Wednesday 24th November
Our
final trip of the year took us up to London to see this wonderful musical at
the Lyceum Theatre in Wellington Street. Everyone was on time as 48 members
(including two grandchildren) and guests left Hove Town Hall and then the
Withdean Stadium to make the short trip up to London. We arrived in plenty of
time to get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee. There our ‘49th’ member, Monica
Compagnoni who now lives near to London and made her own way to the theatre,
joined us. The theatre was right next to Covent Garden so quite a few of
us walked round the many shops and cafes that were already festooned with
Christmas decorations.
The show was excellent, with some
of the costumes quite breathtaking. The elephant and the giraffes in particular
were fantastic. The story line was easy to follow and the acting superb. Some
comedy and magical stage affects all added to a marvellous afternoons
entertainment.
After 3 hours of wonderful
entertainment, we returned to the coach and made the short journey to the
Fairfield Halls, Croydon, where we had our usual "Fish & Chip"
Supper.
We got back to Hove just before
10pm after another successful excursion.
Christmas Lunch
Thursday 9th December
The final event of the year again took us to Wickwoods
Country Club and 102 members and their guests enjoyed the seasonal food and
activities.
There was, as always, a wonderful party atmosphere and the
food served was of the highest quality. Thanks to the generosity of some
committee members, and the members who purchased raffle tickets, the prizes
that were on offer were fantastic. Added to this were two cash prizes for the
winners of the “Sit Down Lottery”.
We understand that Wickwoods is being refurbished during
2005 and we may have to look for an alternative venue for this coming year. We
will of course keep you informed.
Summary
2004
Firstly, on a disappointing note,
we had to cancel the planned trips to France and Bletchley Park due to lack of
support. Also the outings only attracted a small number of members with just 22
attending the ‘Wines Vines & Railway Lines’ and 18 ‘Battle & Hastings’.
Secondly, on a brighter note, we
had full coaches for the theatre trips and an increasing number of participants
in the Golf Days.
Finally, we hope that we have
provided you with some entertainment during the year, and we will shortly be
drawing up our programme for 2005. Thank you to those who have supported us
during 2004 and we look forward to seeing you on more outings this year.