Annual Report 2008

On a bright, but chilly afternoon, 53 members and their guests attended the third lunch at the Coral Stadium Hove and were treated to an excellent lunch with the usual liquid refreshments.

We watched 14 greyhound races. As part of the arrangements, a race was named after our Club and we made the presentation to the winning trainer after the race. As you can see from the photograph, the winning dog was called "Physcos Dream"

The picture shows some of our members making the trophy presentation to the winning trainer. From left to right are club members Colin Green, Robin Frost (holding the trophy), Jill Funnell, Mick Funnell and Dorothy Frost

As in previous years, we had a betting syndicate in operation, but unfortunately this year we were not so lucky and lost on the day, but nevertheless everyone agreed it was again a very enjoyable afternoon amongst friends.

At the meeting the retiring Chairman Buster Ashdown thanked the committee for supporting him over the past 7 years. Buster mentioned that he had originally been asked by Graham Clark to stand as Chairman and that he had agreed to stand on a temporary basis for just 2 years. Someone pointed out that maths never was one of Buster's strong subjects!! Buster was very pleased to announce that Roger Francis had agreed to 'take over the reins' and introduced Roger to the meeting.

As a sign of appreciation for his hard work as Chairman, Buster was presented with an engraved silver platter by Graham.

Chairman		Roger Francis
Vice Chairman		Graham Clark
Secretary		Jean Clarke
Treasurer		Don Semmons
Social Secretary		Don Semmons
Assistant Social Secretary		Norma Pontin
Welfare Officer		TBC
Committee Member		Rosemary Singyard
Committee Member		Tony Comber

Just in case you don't know the above, this may help:

Back row: Don Semmons, Tony Comber, Norma Pontin, Rosemary Singyard and Graham Clark

Front Row: Roger Francis, Buster Ashdown and Jean Clark

After the AGM 60 members enjoyed a short break and made good use of the bar to quench their thirst followed by a splendid buffet lunch

On a blustery and showery morning, 21 male and 5 female golfers met at Singing Hills to play in the Brighton Spread Eagles Golf Society Spring meeting. The attendance was lower than at previous meetings, but it was nice to meet up with the 'regulars'.

For the first time, the 'Bob Russell' trophy was being played for, following Bob's generous donation of the trophy to the Society. This will be awarded to the golfer with the highest aggregate total from the Spring and Autumn meetings.

With the weather being variable and the very wet state of the ground, the scoring was lower than usual, but congratulations go to the winners who are pictured below, Peter Elliott and Jenny Heather holding their winners trophies. The runners-up were Mel Sims and Maureen Glynn.

Thanks went to Graham Clark, Robin Frost and Gavin Elliot for organising the event and to Don Semmons for checking the scorecards. Unfortunately, Graham had hurt his shoulder earlier in the week and was unable to play.

The pictures below show a group reflecting on the days proceedings after the buffet lunch, and the prizes on offer to the winners.

Derek Allchorn, Mike Barrett, Gavin Elliot, Arthur Elliott, Peter Elliott, Robin Frost, Maureen Glynn, Jenny Heather, John Heather, Peter Hewitt, John Jago, David Kaye, John Lockyer, Jim Lorimer, John Mace, Sue Mace, Shirley Mainwood, Wayne Peacock, Bob Russell, Don Semmons, Mel Sims, Pat Thorogood, John Tucknott, Maurice Watts, Richard Wright, and Saimi Wright.

Just for a change this year, it was a warm and sunny morning when 38 members and guests left Brighton for the afternoon visit to Chartwell. Having agreed a mutually beneficial deal with Pavilion coaches during the winter, they will be taking us on all our outings this year, so it was nice to see Peter, our driver, arrive at Hove Town Hall in good time.

The journey took just about one hour and we were soon sitting down to a 2 course lunch with coffee. As part of the arrangements made with Chartwell, we received an introductory talk from 'Patricia', who gave a potted history of the House and Gardens that was bought by the Churchill Family in 1922 Churchill spent as much time as he could here, except during the Second World War, until his death in 1965. Rooms in the house reflected the heyday of the family’s life at Chartwell in the 1920's and 30's, and fresh flowers, daily newspapers and the occasional cigar added to their special atmosphere. The house incorporates a museum room on the first floor and an exhibition on the lower ground floor.

This picture shows the back view of Chartwell House with Marian Hancock, Brian and Carol Jeffries, and Rose Semmons enjoying the warmth of the afternoon on the lawn, surrounded by the wonderful gardens.

Some members popped into the shop to make some last minute purchases before making our way back home after another successful excursion.

After picking up the 45 members and guests at Hove and Withdean, we made our way to the O₂ Dome for the long awaited trip to see the exhibition of the Treasures of the Valley of the Kings. We arrived in good time to look around the Dome and find a bite to eat before going into the exhibition. This is the first time the treasures of Tutankhamun have been displayed in London in over 35 years and with over 150 Egyptian artifacts on view it was a fascinating visit.

There were 11 exhibition rooms each showing various aspects of the discoveries made in the Valley of the Kings and the stunning beauty of some of the items on show made it almost impossible to believe that they were about 3,500 years old.

If you would like to learn more about Tutankhamun and the Treasures of the Valley of the Kings, one of our members, Jill Alcott (01903 263693) has given us details of the Sussex Egyptology Society and they have a lecture on 28th June in Worthing on just this subject. More information from http://www.egyptology-uk.com/intro.htm

We soon had to leave the Dome and we made our way to Cowfold where the local WI had prepared a wonderful cream tea and these photographs show our members enjoying the fayre.

Our Chairman Roger Francis, shown on the extreme left of the picture on the left, thanked Don Semmons for organising the trip and also the Cowfold WI for the tea. We then returned to Hove with more nice memories of a successful day out.

Mid-Summer Lunch

Wednesday 20^th July

This was the fourth mid-summer lunch that the Club has held at Wickwoods Country Club and Spa and the weather didn't let us down with a wonderfully sunny day. The cooling glass of Pimms (albeit a little late) was much needed and members were soon into their stride catching up on all the gossip whilst sitting in the gardens in the much sought after shade.

The buffet lunch was again of excellent quality and everyone was soon tucking into salmon, quiche, new potatoes, salad etc etc.

This year we were entertained by 'Robbie the Magician' and his close-up table tricks were certainly baffling and quite a few puzzled faces were to be seen amongst the 78 members and guests.

The pictures below give you a flavour of the enjoyment that we had during the afternoon and in particular during Robbie's' excellent cabaret act. Without wishing to embarrass anybody, the loudest laugh came when Robbie asked Diane Argent (nice to see her back) up onto the stage and after tucking various different coloured handkerchiefs into the top of Diane's dress, he pulled them out to reveal the handkerchiefs, but in the centre was a bra!!!!! whoops!.

Another successful event, for which we will have to find a new venue next year as Wickwoods are again undergoing a transformation and will not be available next year....any ideas?

The weather had been dreadful leading up to this long awaited trip and it was with some relief that the forecasters were suggesting that sunshine and showers would be the order of the day. For the first time for a long time, two coaches had to be booked to take the 77 members and their guests on this trip down to Southampton and although a shower greeted those members waiting at Withdean, the rest of the day proved to be shower free and quite warm with just a light breeze.

We boarded the catamaran "Ocean Breeze" at Ocean Village in Southampton and soon made our way out of the dock and into The Rivers Itchen. The skipper of the boat gave a commentary on all the relevant local and international items of interest. After 20 minutes or so, we are summoned to the lower deck for our three course lunch. The bar was rather busy and soon the food arrived and was excellent. The starter of melon balls and grapes was somewhat enhanced by the juice, that was more 'port' than 'fruit'.

The main course of a chicken roast was huge yet beautifully cooked and helped down with the odd glass of wine, everyone enjoyed their meals. Here are (left to right) Colin Green, Robin Frost, Harry Tuckwell, Mick Funnell, Jill Funnell and Dorothy Frost showing how it was done! After lunch most members made their way onto the upper decks to enjoy the fresh air and take in the scenery.

Here are Don and Rose Semmons with their grand-daughter Charlotte enjoying the cruise.

The boat continued on its way into the River Test and finally into the River Hamble, passing by some immense container ships. Unfortunately no cruise liners were in port, but there was no shortage of interesting scenes and facts to keep the attention. The largest container ships have the capacity to carry over 15,000 containers, here is a photo of the Bunga Seroja Satu, the largest ship in the Malayan fleet that carries 8,000 containers

The 3 hours soon came to an end and it was time to make our way back to the coaches and back to Sussex after a super day out.

The best weather of the year was a bonus for the 18 members and guests who took part in the Autumn meeting of the Brighton & District Spread Eagles Golf Society. Unfortunately this was the lowest number of competitors since the Societies inception in September 2002.

This was our first visit to the Ifield course and thanks go to Gavin Elliot for his efforts in organising the event. The photo below shows the rather attractive clubhouse and surroundings.

The course was in excellent condition although the average scores were a little on the high side. For the first time we had an announcer on the first tee, calling out the names of the participants.

For the first time, the 'Bob Russell' trophy was being played for, following Bob's generous donation of the trophy to the Society. This was awarded to the golfer with the highest aggregate total from the Spring and Autumn meetings, and the first winner of the trophy was Peter Elliott, who had totalled 67 points over the two meetings and was a clear winner. The photo below shows Peter accepting the trophy from the donor, Bob Russell

The winner of the Autumn competition was one of our guests Brian Austin, with 33 points. Here is Brian accepting his prizes from Graham Clark.

Graham also scored 33 points, but was placed second on countback. Graham received a small cup and was congratulated by Gavin Elliot. John Jago was placed third. There were also prizes for 'Nearest the Pin' which was won by Peter Elliott and the 'Longest Drive' that was won by Colin Ash.

Gerry Arnold, Colin Ash, Brian Austin, Graham Clark, Gavin Elliot, Peter Elliott, Keith Fisher, John Jago, David Kaye, Mike Lansdall, John Lockyer, Jim Lorrimer, Bob Russell, Don Semmons, Mel Sims, Doug Thompson, Maurice Watts and Richard Wright.

This years trip to Eastbourne started at Lancing and made its way along the coast arriving in Eastbourne in good time to see the Frances Durbridge thriller, Murder with Love. Just 31 members and guests went into the Devonshire Park Theatre and enjoyed the play that starred former Eastenders star, Leslie Grantham in the leading role as Inspector Cleaver. The plot had several twists and kept people wandering 'whodunnit' up until the final scenes.

As usual the play was followed by a cream tea at the Pavilion Tea Rooms. Our chairman Roger Francis thanked Norma for running the event in the absence of Don, who had been unable to attend due to illness.

PS. (For the first time for 8 years I missed this trip as I had suffered a DVT in my right leg the week before. I would like to thank everyone for their kind messages and the 'Get well soon card'. I am pleased to say that I am making good progress and will be back in action very soon. Don.)

On a chilly day, 45 members and their guests made the trip up to London to see the hit musical, 'Hairspray'. We arrived in good time to allow members to have a bite to eat or do a quick bit of Christmas shopping, before going into the Shaftesbury Theatre to watch Michael Ball and company.

The story is set in 1962 in Baltimore and Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion – to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance programme, 'The Corny Collins Show' and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. The cast performed with such enthusiasm and energy, it made it a joy to watch the entire show. The comedic performance by Michael Ball playing Mrs Turnblad, Tracy's mother, was hilarious and the whole show was enjoyed by everybody. The standing ovation at the final curtain was fully justified.

Like all good things, it quickly came to an end and we boarded the coach for the short trip across London to Knightsbridge and the Rembrandt Hotel were we had a superb 3 course Carvery dinner. It was then back to Hove to end another successful day out.

The final event of the year again took us to Dean's Place for our annual Christmas Lunch.

126 members and their guests, some making use of the free coach that had been arranged, arrived in good time for a natter and a drink before making their way into the dining room for this much awaited event.

The meal was excellent and the crackers and balloons etc made for a most enjoyable afternoon.

The usual raffle was again a huge success and with a couple of games of 'Irish Bingo' the event was enjoyed by everyone. Next years event will be at the same venue on Thursday 10th December.

I hope that you have enjoyed the trips and events that have been organised for you during 2008.

Mid-Summer Lunch

Wednesday 20th July

Wednesday 20^th July