Annual General Meeting 2010

59 members attended the event and enjoyed a light hearted meeting and a splendid lunch.

Our Chairman, Roger Francis welcomed all our new members and proposed a vote of thanks to the committee for all their hard work during the previous year. He also gave a brief summary of the matters discussed at the 'Chairman's Briefing' that he had attended at Canary Wharf earlier in the year. He reassured the meeting that our pensions are secure.

The committee were re-elected en bloc, including our Secretary Jean Clarke who has filled this role superbly over the last 15 years and Don Semmons, our Social Secretary, who has been organising the social events for 10 years.


Vice Chairman Graham Clark	Chairman Roger Francis	Secretary Jean Clarke

Tony Comber Welfare Officer	Don Semmons Treasurer and Social Secretary	Norma Pontin Assistant Social Secretary

Rosemary Singyard

Committee Member

Phyllis Webb

Committee Member

Fifty members and their guests enjoyed an excellent three course meal and watched live greyhound racing at the Coral Stadium in Hove.

This was the fifth year that we have been to the stadium and each year we have arranged a voluntary betting syndicate. For only the second time, we broke even and all the syndicate members got their original stake back. It was looking good, as we had broken even with 3 races left to be run, but luck was not on our side and we failed to get our winnings any higher. But nevertheless everyone enjoyed the afternoon and it was nice to catch up with our members after the long cold winter.

It was a warm and sunny day when our first golf competition teed off on the Kingfisher Course at Mannings Heath Golf Club, near Horsham.

24 members, including Brian Haite and Roger Tugwell, who had travelled down from Peterborough to join us for the day, set out to score as many points as possible, but mainly to enjoy the afternoon. After the traditional bacon rolls, shirtsleeves and in some cases shorts, were the order of the day and scoring was very good. The course was quite dry, but in good condition.

The winner with 41 stableford points was the evergreen Doug Thompson, followed closely by Peter Elliot, with Brian Haite in third place.


Messrs Lansdall, Elliott and Heather	John Jago

Chris Hudson	Messrs Tugwell, Tucknott and Haite

The Winners Peter Elliott, Doug Thompson and Brian Haite

A warm and sunny day greeted the 38 members and their guests as we made our way from Hove to Portsmouth for the short ferry crossing to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Although the crossing was very calm, it was a bit misty and most people stayed inside and took the opportunity for coffee and a snack.

Within 20 minutes of leaving the ferry port, we arrived at Osborne House, built by Queen Victoria as a family holiday home, this stunning Italianate palace offered a glimpse into the private life of the royal family. We took a peek into the royal nursery, saw the bedroom in which Queen Victoria died and marvelled at the exotic Indian-inspired Durbar Room. Then on the courtesy coach to the Swiss Chalet, and then back to the Victorian Walled Garden, now restored to its former glory.

From Osborne House, we made the short journey to Northwood, near Cowes, where Norma Pontin had arranged a cream tea at the local WI.

There we were treated to a wonderful tea with sandwiches, cakes, scones and an endless supply of tea or coffee. After the tea Don thanked Mrs Mary Chick and the ladies of the Northwood WI for laying on such a superb tea. Here is a photo of members enjoying the tea.

From Northwood, it took just a few minutes to reach Fishbourne where we boarded the ferry for the 40 minute crossing back to Portsmouth. As you can see from the photos below, the sun was still shining and it was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the views across the Solent.

Finally we boarded the Brighton & Hove coach for the trip back to Hove. Another enjoyable excursion.

On a warm and sunny day, 48 members and their guests joined the coach for the 90 minute journey to Windsor. Waiting for us at Windsor Promenade on the River Thames was the French Brother's boat, the Windsor Sceptre. We had sole use of the vessel that took us on our two and a half hour return trip from Windsor to Monkey Island.

Leaving Windsor Promenade, we had excellent views of Windsor Castle and Eton College. After passing Windsor racecourse, the boat went through Boveney Lock and passed Sutherland Grange, The Willows and Bray Film Studios. It went as far as Queen's Eyot and Monkey Island where the boat turned for the journey back to Windsor.

We saw a kingfisher, herons, grebes and cormorants on the journey, not to mention the scores of swans at Windsor Promenade. Here are some photos of this part of our excursion:

The boat shown lower left is one of the two Dunkirk evacuation boats that we saw.

It took just 60 minutes to reach the Natural History Museum in Cromwell Road London, where we picked up our guide for the afternoon, Tony Hall.

Tony gave us a detailed commentary whilst making our way across the city to the Olympic Site in East London.

The new 85,000 seater Olympic Stadium was very impressive, as were the new Aquatic Centre, Velodrome and Olympic Village. All these new amenities should be finished next year in time for venues to be tested and finalised before the real thing in July 2012.

After another fabulous day out, we returned to Hove in good time to get home and watch the World Cup football, where my prediction of a 3 - 1 win for England didn't quite work out, but well done to Graham Clark for his correct prediction of 1 - 1.

It was warm and sunny as the 57 members and their guests arrived at The County Ground in Hove for the annual mid-summer lunch. This is the second time that we have been to this venue and following redevelopment work during last winter at the home of Sussex cricket we had our lunch in the new Boundary Rooms.

The cool glass of fruit punch was most welcome in the warm weather and we were soon tucking into a beautifully prepared chicken caeser salad, with the now compulsory glass of white or red wine. The dessert was a very refreshing and tasty Citrus Tart with Crème fraiche.

After the meal we had a talk from Hugh Griffiths, the Secretary of the Sussex County Cricket Club Museum Trust, about cricket in Sussex and Hugh was joined by his colleagues Roger Packham and Nicholas Sharp.

Hugh spoke about C B Fry, who played for Sussex between 1894 and 1908, and told the story about Fry wanting the cricket club to supply him with a car, but not any car, he wanted an MMC model, that was one of the classic cars of the time. For those of you who know a little bit about modern day cricket will recognise that nothing much has changed in 100 years in this respect! C B Fry's cricket jumper from the1900's was on display.

Roger Packham, who helped John Major write his book, 'More Than a Game', told us about cricket at Sheffield Park and shared several anecdotes that had the audience enthralled.

Our Social Secretary, Don Semmons handed Hugh an envelope containing a donation of £40 to the Museum Trust.

To complete the afternoon, we had a free raffle and the fine selection of prizes were soon being grasped by the lucky winners.

A quick thank you to Sam for sorting out the parking for us and to John & Joan Wright who thankfully were not required in the role as first aiders.

On a warm, but cloudy day, 49 members and guests boarded the Brighton & Hove Coach for the short journey to Wisley Gardens in Surrey. It took less than an hour to get to our destination and we were soon tucking in to a three course lunch in the Conservatory Dining Rooms. The food was excellent with a very tasty minted yellow pea soup, grilled free range chicken with pesto followed by a summer fruit pavlova.

We were lucky to have as John Lockyer's guest , Mr Ashley Stephenson LVO, a horticulturist who worked for many years in the Royal Parks in London and became the Bailiff of the Royal Parks and Palaces. He gave us a brief talk on his career and then took groups around the gardens giving us all the benefit of his great wisdom in all things at Wisley. Here is Ashley showing John Lockyer a plant. (No prizes, but what plant?)

A warm but cloudy day greeted the 48 members and their guests as we made our way from Hove to Dorney Court which is just a stones throw from Windsor.

Dorney Court has been the home of the Palmer family for more than 450 years, passing from father to son through thirteen generations and the three guides who showed us round, Robbie Gibbs, Daphne Grant and Anne Kaye certainly knew their history of both the family and the property having all been guides there for over 20 years. The house was just intriguing and some of the contents dated back to the 15th Century. The family still live in the house and use the Victorian and Ed3wardian bedrooms for their guests. The property is used frequently by television and film companies and ITV were in the process of 'striking' their sets as we were being shown round. An episode of Mid-Somer Murders had just been filmed where Phyllida Law was murdered when a pile of newspapers fell on her; those piles of newspapers were still there!!

The church and surrounding buildings have also been used for period dramas as they are virtually unchanged since they were built. Here are some photos:

We then took a short walk to The Walled Garden Centre where we were greeted with a massive ploughman's lunch with fresh baguettes. This was followed with a rather large slice of home produced cake.

We returned to the coach for the short drive to Eton, as we had a little extra time available, we took the opportunity to have a short drive around Windsor to view the Castle and other landmarks.

Then on to Eton College where we were welcomed by two guides, James Napier and Margaret Murphy. They took us round the main buildings of the College and we were treated to the most detailed descriptions of what life was like back in the early years after the College was founded in 1440 by Henry VI. We sat in one of the classrooms that has been in use for over 400 years. One of the habits adopted by students leaving the College was to etch their names onto the oak panelling or any other surface they could find. In the classroom, there were several etchings dating back to the 1660's.

We were then taken into the chapel and other rooms that had been used by the likes of Princes William and Harry, the poet Shelley and 18 British Prime Ministers including the present incumbent. Here are some more photos. If you would like to see all the photos I took, please click HERE.

After saying thank you to our guides, we made our way back to the coach for the return journey to Hove. The whole day had been interesting, if a little tiring, but well worth the effort.

On Wednesday it poured with rain, on Friday it poured with rain, but on the Golf Societies Day on Thursday, the weather was fine and pleasantly mild for the time of year.

33 members and guests teed off on the finest downland course in the Region and enjoyed the wonderful views and well kept course. Points scoring proved a little tricky with fast greens and the uneven lies, but everyone enjoyed the afternoon and the good company.

Bob Russell, Mike Lansdall and John Lockyer Brian Jeffries and Tony Alcott with a view of Brighton

After the meal, Robin Frost thanked Graham Clark for organising the event and he also thanked the Dyke Golf Club and their caterers for laying on such nice food. Robin also mentioned that it was nice to meet up again with Brian Haite and Roger Tugwell had again travelled down from Peterborough for the day.

Tony Alcott, Gerry Arnold, Bob Austin, John Bishop, Richard Box, Graham Clark, Gavin Elliot, Peter Elliott, Arthur Elliott, Keith Fisher, Robin Frost, Brian Haite, John Heather, Peter Hewitt, Chris Hudson, John Jago, Brian Jeffries, David Kaye, Mike Lansdall, John Lockyer, Jim Lorimer, John Mace, Brian Phillips, Royston Price, Bob Russell, Ted Scalé, Don Semmons, Don Sellar, Doug Thompson, John Tucknott, Roger Tugwell, Maurice Watts and Richard Wright.

On a mild October day, 49 members and their guests joined the coach at various locations and we made our way up to London and to the London Palladium to see the much acclaimed 'Sister Act'. We arrived in good time to have a bite to eat and drink before the 3 p.m. matinee performance.

Patina Miller played the lead role as Deloris Van Cartier and put in a tremendous performance that had us all joining in, laughing and clapping.

The entire cast were excellent and the show was spellbinding from start to finish. An superb show enjoyed by everyone.

After a short delay, whist one of our guests decided to get lost in the short distance from Argyll Street and Grosvenor Square, we set off to Croydon and to the familiar surroundings of the Courtyard Restaurant in the Aerodrome Hotel, Croydon for a three course Carvery meal, that apart from a few hiccoughs, was well received.

On a rather wet afternoon, 40 members and their guests arrived at the Theatre Royal in Brighton to see Alison Steadman starring in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. The production was extremely well presented and told the story of novelist Charles Condomine (Robert Bathurst) and his second wife Ruth (Hermione Norris) who were haunted by a past relationship, when an eccentric medium, splendidly played by Alison Steadman, manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles's neurotic first wife, Elvira (Ruthie Henshall) , at a séance. Needless to say the resulting scenes were very funny.

After the performance we popped over to the Royal Pavilion for a cream tea in the Queen Adelaide Tea Rooms. A wonderful tea and a wonderful Show.

Once again the Pensioners Club saved up it's best event for last and 107 members and their guests made their way to Deans Place Hotel in Alfriston to enjoy the traditional Christmas Fayre. The free coach allowed those members who wished to, have the odd drink or two and as always, the food and service were excellent.

Roger Francis, our Chairman said a few words about the year and thanked those who had put in all the hard work to make the Club run so smoothly and events so popular.

After the meal, we had the raffle with it's usual array of wonderful prizes and just to add a bit of fun to the proceedings, a couple of games of bingo.

If anyone would like copies of any of the photographs shown in the above report,