Annual Report 2015

The Club's 37th Annual General Meeting was held in the Spen Cama Pavilion at Sussex County Cricket Club in Hove and was attended by 48 members.

At the AGM, our Chairman Roger Francis, led the proceedings and mentioned in his annual report that in November last, twomembers of the Committee attended the Pensioners' Briefing and National Forum at Canary Wharf, the proceedings of which have been fully reported in the Winter edition of Connection Magazine.

Membership of the Brighton Club has decreased from 397 to 394 over the past year, 273 of whom are in receipt of a Barclays pension and 196 attended at least one Club function. Our twin aims are social and welfare, although our duties regarding welfare are not as onerous as it would appear as they seem to affect other clubs in the U.K.

With regard to the Social aspect of the Club, Roger thanked and congratulated Don and Norma for their tremendous programme of events during the year and asked that members support them during the coming year. Roger then thanked Graham Clark as Vice Chairman for his moral support and encouragement; to Tony Comber for his Welfare commitment; Committee members Buster, Rosemary, Gill and Justine for their support; Don wearing his hat as Treasurer, and Jean as Secretary and host of our committee meetings. These thanks concluded his report.

Don reported on the accounts that were adopted and a small gift was handed to Robin Frost for the work he does as accounts inspector.

Next years itinerary was handed out to members and in addition Don mentioned that he hoped to arrange a two day trip to Ypres to visit the WW1 graves and the Menin Gate. This would probably be on the 12th /13th May 2016

The AGM was followed by a splendid buffet lunch that was thoroughly enjoyed by all the attendees and many commented on how lovely the venue was and the friendliness and efficiency of the staff who looked after us so well.

This years lunch attracted 44 members and guests to this popular venue. We had an excellent 3 course meal and with all drinks included in the price, the afternoon provided both great entertainment with 14 live dog races and good company with some members trying their hand at betting for the first time - some doing slightly better than others!!!

Don again offered his betting skills to those members who wished to participate and although we didn't win overall, we didn't lose either, so members, who had an interest in the first 10 races, got back all of their initial investment of £10. Hoorah!!

25 members and their guests teed off on a warm but blustery day at this picturesque mid Sussex course that was in excellent condition. Having warmed ourselves with a bacon roll and cup of coffee before starting off, we set out with all good intentions to try and win the R T Box Memorial Cup, but as usual, there was a variety of scores handed in to the adjudicators in the Clubhouse, ranging from 11 stableford points (no names mentioned) to 36 points acheived by our venerable winner. After eating a splendid meal, the organisers, Robin and Graham, announced the winners and it was nice to see one of our longest serving members, John Lockyer picking up the trophy, not to mention the bottle of wine and some golf balls. In fact John almost swept the board having also won the nearest the pin competition. A few points behind John was David Oliver followed closely by Maurice Watts and Graham Clark.

After the presentations, Graham announced that he and Robin were standing down as the golf organisers and that John Jago and Chris Hudson, two of our younger members had agreed to take over from now on. A vote of thanks was made to Graham and Robin for all their hard work for the last 12 years and they wished John & Chris all the best for the future.

Here are some photos taken on the day. Look out for the deer and the rather worrying reaction by David Oliver to Robin upon receiving his prize!!!

With sunshine and showers forecast, 34 members and their guests left Brighton to make the trip to Basingstoke in Hampshire and to the John Pinkerton canal boat based at Odiham. The sun shone as we walked the short distance from the coach drop off point and the Basingstoke Canal and we boarded the boat for a leisurely 3 hour trip into the Hampshire countryside.

We stopped half way to view the ruins of Odiham Castle, where 800 years ago King John lived from where he made the short trip to Runnymede to sign the Magna Carta. Moments after we boarded the boat for the return trip, the heavens opened with large hailstones and heavy rain. Luckily the boat was covered, so no-one got wet. We then tucked into a ploughman's lunch to keep us going into the afternoon.

As we left the boat to return to the coach again the sun had kindly decided to come out so we remained dry for the short coach ride to New Alresford and the Watercress Line Railway. The name arose as it was used primarily to transport locally produced watercress to London when it was first built in 1865 and was particularly important during the wars for military traffic between the army town of Aldershot and the military embarkation port at Southampton.

After a short wait we set off on the 3pm steam train to Alton, a journey taking 45 minutes or so. The smell of the smoke and feel of the carriages reminded many of times gone by and we were aided by small boxes of memorabilia on the tables with items such as Green Shield Stamps, ration books, savings stamps and woollen swimsuit knitting patterns to jog our memories.

Apart from the box of memories, there was another small meal to be consumed, a cream tea with real cream and real jam. Tasty, but not too good for the waist line.

It was quite early when 44 members and their guests set off to go London to see the Colonel's Review of the Trooping the Colour Ceremony at Horse Guards Parade. The weather was perfect as we arrived in London in good time to grab a cup of coffee before walking down Whitehall, passing Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament and then into Horse Guards Road. We then took our seats in the stand and for the next two hours were enthralled at the colour, precision and the tradition of the Trooping Ceremony.

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Colonel Welsh Guards took the salute. The Colour this year was Trooped by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards. For this report, photographs will describe these events better than words, so a few of the many photos that were taken appear below. We had picked up our Blue Badge Guide, Jeanie, on our way into London and one of the many facts that she mentioned was that out of all the regiments on duty, only the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery (Black and Gold Uniform) allow women to join. 1,100 soldiers, nearly 350 musicians and 250 military horses took part in this year's ceremony. We later learn the Jeanie had been voted the Best Guide of the Year recently, and it was easy to see why!

We then returned to the coach for the short journey to Blackfriars and the Mad Hatter Public House for a very pleasant lunch and some liquid refreshments.

After lunch we board the coach and are treated to a wonderful guided tour around the landmarks of London by Jeanie, who has been a Blue Badge Guide for 33 years. Her knowledge of the City was second to none and when added to the humour and clarity of her commentary, it made for a fantastic journey around the City, stopping off at a new shopping centre close to St. Paul's where we went up to the roof terrace to see views across London.

Our tour ended at the Imperial War Museum where we spent 90 minutes looking round the exhibits covering conflicts from the First World War to the present day. Jeanie came into the museum and was on hand to answer questions and advised our members on the exhibits not to be missed.

After saying goodbye to Jeanie, we left London for the return journey back home after another successful outing.

Here is a small selection of the photos taken during our day: The final photograph showing the three persons who made the day possible, Don, Jeanie and Peter our driver.

It was a wonderfully warm and sunny day when 72 members and their guests attended the Mid Summer Lunch at Wickwoods Country Hotel and Spa at Albourne, near Henfield. The cool glass of Pimms on arrival was most welcome and everyone was catching up on the latest gossip and generally taking in the pleasant surroundings. Unfortunately the garden and terrace were not available to us, which may persuade us to seek an alternative venue if this is to be the norm!.

When all the guests had arrived we sat down to a superb two course buffet lunch that was excellent.

To complete the day, we were then entertained for over 40 minutes by the Dowager, Lady Crabtree superbly portrayed by Paul James from Eastbourne, who gave us a highly amusing talk on 'How to grow old disgracefully'. With a mixture of amusing personal anecdotes, comic monologues and sage advice, Lady Crabtree shared her wry observations about various aspects of ageing, such as dealing with fashion for the over-50s; health and beauty; failing memory, lost glasses… and how to fight back against the modern age. In this celebration of maturity, Lady Crabtree revealed that there are many advantages to growing older! Her story about her lost glasses in Barclays Eastbourne was particularly amusing!

The photo's below show the cheerful and relaxed atmosphere, the final photograph shows Lady Crabtree with our Chairman, Roger Francis.

It was a bit cloudy, with a threat of rain when 38 members and their guests boarded the coach to take us to Heavens Farm at Furner's Green near Sheffield Park in the Ashdown Forest.

At the farm we were met by Liz, our blue badge guide for the day, and our first task was to sit down to tea or coffee and biscuits in the renovated barn. After these refreshments, we returned to the coach and embarked on a guided tour of the forest going through places such as Chelwood Gate, Wych Cross and West Hoathly. Liz was excellent and was able to give us not only the history of the area, but the types of terrain and the reasons they were there. We stopped a few times to take in the views across the weald.

We returned to Heaven's Farm for a lovely ploughman's lunch and to have a look around the shops and displays. Many returned to the coach clutching bags with plants and memento's. We then travelled through some narrow roads, testing Peter's driving ability whilst making our way to Saint Hill Manor, located on the outskirts of East Grinstead, which is reputed to be the finest 18th century sandstone building in Sussex and the home of the Scientology Religion. This interesting manor house has been the home of many well known people, such as The Maharajah of Jaipur, but perhaps the best known owner being Ron L Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology Movement. After having a guided tour around the Manor, we end the tour in the Monkey Room, where we are treated to a cream tea, nicely laid out with the best china and teapots!

After tea, we returned to the coach and made our way back to home after another successful outing.

It was a bit wet and blowy when 31 members and their guests boarded the coach to make the journey into Buckinghamshire and to Hughenden Manor.

Hughenden, near High Wycombe, is a National Trust property and the former home of the colourful Victorian Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The Manor was also used extensively during World War 2 as a top secret base for drawing up maps of Germany and occupied Europe and supplying them to bomber command at nearby Naphill.

Hughenden offered a vivid insight into the charismatic personality and colourful private life of this most unlikely Victorian Prime Minister, who lived there from 1848 to 1881. We browsed amongst an extraordinary collection of personal memorabilia and items relating to its secret wartime past. We saw exhibits and read eye-witness accounts and experienced the life lead by some of the workers in the ice house bunker and found out why Hughenden was high on Hitler's hit list!

During the visit there were a number of short talks on a variety of topics including conservation, gardening, bee keeping and how the maps were produced during the war. Needless to say, there was also a café that provided us the the necessary food and drink to sustain us during our time at this very interesting property. The extensive gardens, mainly created by Disraeli's wife, Mary-Anne, were easy to walk through and admire and during the afternoon, on occasions, the sun came out to make the place look even more welcoming.

There was no sign of rain as the Brighton Spread Eagles Golfing Society met for their Autumn Meeting at the Dyke Golf Club near Brighton.

25 members, some wearing shorts, went out to compete for the autumn cup, the Mike Barrett Trophy. Although the sun was shining, the wind was a bit keen which didn't give us the best conditions for high scoring. However, some excellent scores were recorded as the cards were handed in to the administrators.

As usual the day started with coffee and bacon rolls and a catch up with each other, many of whom only meet up each year at these golf meetings. It was again nice to see Roger Tugwell and Keith Pike who regularly travel down from Peterborough to play. Brian Haite didn't travel down on this occasion due to an previous appointment at Old Trafford!

After the cards were checked and after a splendid two course meal, our new organisers, John Jago and Chris Hudson announced the winners for the day, with Richard Wright being declared the winner on countback with Jenny Heather and Mel Sims all scoring the same number of points.

The next presentation was for nearest the pin on hole number 5 and this award went to Chris Hudson. The prize for nearest the pin on hole 17 wasn't won as no-one reached the green due to the wind!!!! Two other awards were made for the best scores on the 'front' nine and the 'back' nine and these went to Graham Clark and John Crane respectively.

John and Chris then made a presentation to Graham Clark in recognition of his work over the last 13 years in jointly running the golf section. A presentation will be made to the other joint organiser, Robin Frost, shortly.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, John announced the winner of the Bob Russell Trophy for the highest aggregate score achieved in the Spring and Autumn Meetings, and this went to John Crane on countback from John Lockyer who both finished on the same score.

It was nice that both Mike Barrett and Bob Russell were able to present their own trophies to the winners.

On a damp afternoon, 42 members and their guests boarded the coach to make the short journey over to Eastbourne to see Tom Conti and Gwen Taylor in Somerset Maugham’s play, 'Before The Party'. We arrived in good time to grab a bite to eat and drink before walking the short distance to the theatre.

The play was set at a time just after the second world war was over and the Skinner family are trying to return to normal. The various twists and turns during the play were superbly acted, with Tom Conti playing Aubrey Skinner, trying to be the head of this mannered household, whilst Blanche, his wife and socialite, played by Gwen Taylor was more concerned with keeping the osprey feathers in her hat straight than with solving the serious human issues that confronted the family. Funny moments were frequent and even a scripted door knob falling of at inopportune times proved quite hilarious. Laoisha O’Callaghan played the smashing down to earth Nanny with more common sense than the lot of them, and youngest daughter Susan – beautifully played by Eleanor Thorn – was always asking questions that were too uncomfortable for the adults to answer.

The highlight was arguably Blanche's entrance after they had been to the party, with her osprey feathered hat in bits and her shoes covered in leaves and mud following a storm. Her efforts to remove her stockings and clean of the mud from her legs and feet was hilarious, made more so by Tom Conti's comments and facial expressions. Overall, an excellent production.

After the play we made our way over the road to the Plantation Coffee House for an excellent cream tea before making our way back home.

It was a bit damp and cloudy when the coach left Hove at 10.30am and after a couple of other pick-ups, 49 members and their guests made their way to London, to arrived in good time to have a bite to eat and drink before the matinee performance of Jersey Boys at the Piccadilly Theatre.

The 49 seats that we had, towards the back in the stalls, gave us a great view of the stage, and it didn't disappoint. Featuring electrifying performances and catchy tunes such as ‘Sherry,’ ‘Ragdoll’ and ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ The musical followed the story of The Four Seasons -- four young blue-collar boys around frontman Frankie Valli who invented their own sound to become one of the most successful American bands in the 1960s. Many members were heard joining in with the songs that were brilliantly sung by Sandy Moffat as Frankie Valli and the rest of the group.

After the show, we made our now customary journey to the Strand Palace Hotel for a two course carvery with some new Christmas decorations to see in The Strand.

After the meal we returned to the coach for our trip back to Hove and all agreed that it was another successful outing.

We again went to Deans Place Hotel in Alfriston for our annual Christmas Lunch and 126 members and their guests enjoyed another wonderful occasion. This is the eleventh year that we have been welcomed at Deans Place and it appears to get better every year. This was the highest number of members since 2005, so thanks to all those who attended.

The main room was beautifully decorated with festive adornments and the 13 tables looking very Christmassy and neatly laid out. Screaming balloons again filled the air as our youthful members let there hair down (those that had any!!!) Yet again the food was excellent and the service was even better. There was certainly plenty of food and it was well cooked.

The afternoon continued with the usual games of 'Irish Bingo' and the much awaited raffle and everyone agreed it was a wonderful event and we will be back at Deans Place next year on Thursday 1st December. Even Peter, our wonderful driver, said that he had enjoyed the occasion, in spite being asked to deliver all the raffle prizes and walking miles in the process!!

Finally, Don had produced some DVD's showing a variety of photographs taken over the last 15 years of Pensioners Club outings. These were sold at £5.00 each with all the proceeds going to the Macmillan Nurses Cancer Support Charity. With the additional £ for £ from Barclays Bank, we will be sending around £650. Thanks to everyone who purchased a copy.