St David’s Day Dinner 2024

St David’s Day Black Tie Dinner – held on 1st March at Gerrards Cross Golf Club

All 50 guests were greeted with a glass of bubbly or soft drink – as appropriate.  The lounge provided an excellent space to catch up with old friends and indeed some guests from the principality – Whitland to be precise. I was delighted to meet with the brother of one of my classmates at Narberth Grammar School. Our mutual aquaintances were numerous; a joyful start to the evening.

As usual Gerrards Cross Club did us proud with a very good 3 course meal; the leek and potato soup was so good I thought my mum must have had a hand in it. There were also many compliments directed at the sewin ( sea trout) – main course as well as the suitable lamb dish. The staff looked after us well and added to the friendly ambience of the evening.

 

The after-dinner entertainment was provided by a harpist – Lucy Hewitt.  A local artiste who attended Dr. Challoner’s High School in Little Chalfont. In 2021 she was the Bucks Young Musician of the Year. She concluded her Harp pieces with the Welsh National Anthem – which was accompanied by all guests singing with gusto.

 

 

The evening concluded with “community singing” around the Electronic Keyboard – superbly played by John Breeze. Six hymns ( 3 in Welsh and 3 in English) ensured that we all departed with ‘a song in our heart’.

Well done to the Committee for a very successful evening and fluent compering from Gwyndaf John – with both amusing and informative potted history of St. David.

Da iawn.

Gwyn Owen  5/03/24

 

You can see more photographs of the evening here.

Quiz Night 2024

19th January 2024

We all gathered at Coleshill Village Hall at 7pm for our first engagement of the year.

30 of us formed into 5 teams to do battle in Colin Picton’s Quiz Evening.

We were pleased to welcome some new (and newish) members and their guests –

Lorraine Boyd and her partner, Ian,  also Heather Roberts with her son Mark Roberts and daughter Susan Paul.

Chairman Gwyndaf John opened proceedings and handed over to Kate Picton to give an update on Jonathan Pegler’s progress in hospital. We all wished him a speedy recovery

Colin set us the first task of coming up with team names.

 

Team names were:

Lloydia (reflecting Gwyndaf and Janet John’s adventure finding a rare lily on Snowdon)
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (thanks to Bill Jones)
Wyddfa (Snowdon)
Old Speckled Hen (reflecting the team’s tipple of choice)
The Magnificent 7 (the team having a numerical advantage)

Colin’s quiz had a definite Welsh theme with rounds on…… Welsh Celebs, Welsh Geography and Welsh History.

There were 8 rounds of questions plus a picture round. However, the questions were not as difficult as some that we have had in previous years and even the English players were able to answer most of the questions.

At 8pm the Fish and Chips were delivered, and we paused to enjoy them. The Village Chippy at Three Households really does a fine job.

After our meal, the quiz continued, and in the end, Lloydia won by a comfortable margin.

The final scores were:

Lloydia                                              172
Llanfair pg                                        164
Wyddfa                                             130
Speckled Hen                                   123
The Magnificent 7                             150

 

There were no prizes, just the honour and bragging rights for winning (I have to say that Mr John did look rather smug).

Gwyndaf then thanked Colin on behalf of all the participants for all the work that he had put in to devising and running the quiz and we cleared up and went home just after 10pm.

Thanks again to Colin for all his hard work.

Christmas Drinks 2023

Christmas Drinks 2023 – Sunday 3rd December 12:30

This year Ann Evans  hosted the event at her house, The Tuft, in Chesham Bois. This was the original location for Christmas Drinks in the earlier years, until the Society became too large.

About 40 members attended as a few had called in sick at the last moment. We were lucky with the weather as it was quite clear and dry, without the snowdrifts that we have had in previous years!

As we entered, Ann and Kay Day greeted us with name badges – a great help if you can’t quite remember someone’s name.

Moving into the dining room we met Lloyd Jones at the drinks table, helping everyone to wines, beers and soft drinks.

As soon as everyone had arrived, Ann Tennant appeared from the kitchen, carrying canapes and soon various members were acting as waiters and waitresses.

There was lots of food to go round and it was great to see old friends and to meet new ones.

One encounter had everyone smiling. Heather Roberts, a new member from Chorleywood arrived with her daughter Susan. Heather was originally from Pontypridd and it was pointed out that two of our longest standing members, Chris and Hazel Thomas were also from Pontypridd.

Well, it was quite a re-union, as it turned out that Heather and Hazel were in the same class at school – and even more interesting that Heather and Chris once went out together.

Although pressed neither Heather nor Chris would reveal what happened all those years ago when they went for a walk to the top of the nearby mountain (hill?).

Janet John circulated handing out copies of the 2023 Winter Newsletter (and saving postal costs).

At about 3pm everyone was handed a song-sheet and we all gathered around the piano as Ann played many of our favourite carols.

We all said our goodbyes at around 3:30, before it got dark, and made our way home again.

 

 

 

It was a very joyful occasion, and our thanks go to Ann for hosting the event again, Ann Tennant for the lovely canapes and to Kay for organising the event.

 

More photographs of the day can be found here.

 

Trip to Jesus College Oxford and Christ Church Cathedral

Oxford Trip Report

On Wednesday 6th September, a select band of members set off for Oxford. We all went by car, using the Park & Ride at Thornhill.

We all arrived at Jesus College about 10am and were met by Simon Smith, the Conference and Events Manager.

Simon explained that Jesus is one of 38 colleges in Oxford and that there are very strict rules about what can be done with the building, particularly the exteriors.

The college dates back to 1571, during the reign of Elizabeth I, and her picture hangs in 2 places in the college. Hugh Price, lawyer, cleric and founder of the college, petitioned Elizabeth to ‘establish a college for the spread and maintenance of the Christian church in its sincerest form’

Jesus College ChapelGoing through from Turl street through the porter’s lodge we entered the Front Quadrangle, the oldest parts of the college are here and date back to the 16th century.

The chapel was added in 1619 and now serves as an location for meetings and events as well as being the chapel for the college.

 

The Hall was built about 1618, and features the first portrait of Elizabeth I. Looking round the walls there were many other portraits of famous students, staff and benefactors, including, founder Hugh Price, Harold Wilson, King Charles II and Lawrence of Arabia.

 

We then climbed the stairs to the Fellows Library, built in 1620 and rebuilt in 1679. The books used to be chained and are now slowly being digitised so that they can be consulted online.

The library has many early books in Welsh, including Bishop Morgan’s translation of the bible into Welsh (around 1588). The oldest book dates from 1467, a version of De vita Christiana by Saint Augustine, but many of the oldest books are now held in the Bodleian Library. The library contains benches at which the books can be read – they are called ’15 minute’ benches as the design has intentionally made them so uncomfortable that scholars could only bear them for 15 minutes at a time.

We then walked through the Third Quadrangle and over to the most recent addition to the college – the Cheng Yu-tung building, which is very modern and contains modern teaching rooms, student accommodation and a ‘digital hub’. The view from the top of the building is wonderful, and we stopped for a group picture.

It was then time for lunch, so we made our way back to the Hall, where a table had been reserved for us. The food was surprisingly good, but the benches were somewhat unforgiving!

After lunch we had a couple of hours to ourselves and some spent the time shopping, some doing more sightseeing and others stayed in the shadows to avoid the heat of the midday sun.

The Choir at Christ ChurchWe all met up at Christ Church Cathedral for 3pm, where we were met by our guides Anne and Steve Handsley. Christ Church is unique in that it is the college chapel and also the cathedral for the city of Oxford, and as such one of the smallest cathedrals in England. This means that the Dean of the church is also the head of the college.

 

The Jonah WindowBefore the college was built, it was the site of the church of St Frideswide’s Priory. In 1532, Cardinal Wolsey chose the church for his proposed new college – Cardinal College, but Wolsey soon fell out of favour with the king, Henry VIII for failing to secure him a divorce, and eventually the project was taken over by Henry in1532, renaming it Christ Church (Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis).

More recent claims to fame include the use of parts of the building in the Harry Potter films.

There have been a good many alterations to the building over the years, but much of the building dates back to late Norman times.

St Michael's WindowChrist Church is famous for its stained glass windows, including the Becket Window from the 14th century, the Jonah Window by Abraham Van Linge in the 17th Century, the St Michael Window by Clayton and Bell in the 19th century, and the famous pre-Raphaelite Frideswide Window by Edward Burne-Jones, also from the 19th century.

The tour finished at about 4:30, and we set off to find the bus to the Park & Ride car park.

I think that everyone found the day instructive and enjoyable.

There are some more photographs on the Photo Gallery here.

 

Golf Day 2023

25th August – Oakland Park Golf Course

As always for this event the sun shone down on the hardy golfers who were keenly competing for this annual Major event.
This year Gwyndaf had organised a Texas Scramble. A very enjoyable format that involves all the players in every golf shot regardless of ability.
The results were very close apart from the winning team who achieved an impressive score worthy of winning the golf club Championship had it been achieved by a single player !
Well done Pat and the two Robs.

Detailed scores are listed below ….

Teams & scores:
75 strokes – Pat Whitworth, Rob Brett & Rob Britton
80 – Margaret Broomby, John Whitworth & Gwyndaf John
81 – Pam Britton, Ralph Broomby & Eryl Morris
84 – Jane Morris, Colin Thomas & Alun McCarthy

Ladies nearest the pin: Jane Morris
Gents nearest the pin: Gwyndaf John

Gwyndaf presented the winning team with a number of much needed golf aids – a “shot saver” for more accurately lining up putts and other strokes; A “golf ball grabber” that fits on the putter handle so that the player doesn’t need to bend down to lift the ball from the hole; some clip-on pencils; and a pack of ball position markers.
Rob Britton presented a bottle of wine to each of the nearest the pin winners.

20 members sat down for a lunch of Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce & veg followed by lemon tart with mixed berry compote and whipped cream
Bill Jones brought along the Society’s new banner, the first time it has appeared at one of our events, though it has been promoting the Society at external events
An excellent day was enjoyed by all.

Colin Thomas

More photographs here.

2023 Summer Lunch

We have Ernest Morris to thank as our host again this year.

Many thanks to Bryn O’Neal, Lloyd Jones and some very generous friends of Kay Day who lent us their gazebos for the event after we double booked with the Longshaws.

Sunday morning on 2nd July started with Ernest welcoming the gazebo team who set to work putting up the 4 tents, seven tables and forty chairs in record time. They then all rushed back home to get washed and dressed and return for 12:30.

In the meantime, Ann Evans, Kay Day and Ann Tennant laid the tables and prepared the food.

Numbers were a little down this year, with some last minute cancellations reducing our number to below 40.

At 1 o’clock, Ann Evans welcomed everyone to the event – our 23rd year and everyone found a place at the tables.

We were all a little worried that the wind would catch the tents and send them skywards.

At one point the catering gazebo was caught by the wind and had to be weighed down with bricks.

In the end there was more of a problem with the paper napkins and tablecloths which seemed to want to take to the skies, but it remained dry, which was the main thing.

Ann Tenant had prepared a really delicious and substantial salad, with many of us returning for seconds, and there was a great choice of desserts.

In the absence of our chairman Gwyndaf, David Powell thanked the tent team, Kay Day for organising everything, Ernest Morris for once again being our host and Ann Tennant and her team as caterers for their efforts in making the day so successful and asked that anyone who could, to help dismantle and put away the gazebos, tables and chairs.

We had a great many volunteers to help, and in no time the tables and chairs were cleared and put into Ernest’s garage, and, after some puzzling we worked out how to get the gazebos down and back into their carriers.

Thanks to everyone for making another successful Summer Lunch!

2023 AGM

CDWS AGM 12th May 2023

This year we chose a new venue for the AGM – the Jubilee Hall in Amersham. This is a new building on Rectory Hill, near the railway bridge, and just down the hill from Dr Challoner’s and is the home of the 2nd Amersham-on-the-Hill Scout Group.

The building has several meeting rooms, and we had booked the Ernest Shackleton room. When we arrived to put out the tables and chairs, the first thing we noticed was the faint smell of fresh paint. Soon afterwards we also noticed that the fire alarm had gone off! Thankfully one of the leaders from the Beavers managed to turn it off.

There were about 33 members in attendance, and chairman, Colin Picton, kicked off the meeting at 7:30. Colin went through the formal part of the evening with approval of last year’s minutes and a run through of all the events we had enjoyed over the past year. Membership remains at about 110, and Colin welcomed several new members to the Society.

2Ann Lawrence asked a question about older members. Some members are no longer able to attend any of our meetings but still wish to keep in touch with the society. Ann asked whether it would be possible to let these members become ‘honorary members’ with no fee, but still included in emails and sent copies of the newsletter. David Powell said that, as treasurer he should point out that newsletters and postage would cost £4 per annum. The chairman proposed a vote on the issue and it was carried unanimously. The society will now offer an honorary membership to those who can no longer attend meetings.

David Powell then gave the Treasurer’s report, showing that the Society’s funds were in good order.

Next was the election of the Committee members. Colin thanked the committee for their work, without which the Society would not be able to function. Barrie Reece is unable to take up the role of our next chairman, but Gwyndaf John has volunteered to take over, as Colin will be stepping down from the position after 2 years in the role. Merle Davies is stepping down from the committee and her role as Minutes Secretary, Colin offered to 2take over this role. David Powell has been acting as Treasurer for the last year, and Lloyd Jones has volunteered to join the committee to take up this position.

After the committee had been elected, Gwyndaf addressed the room as the new35 Chairman. Of course, many will remember that Gwyndaf has held this post before, in 2010. The new chairman thanked Colin for his work over the past two years, and our President, Ann Evans presented Colin with a present of Welsh whiskey.

Gwyndaf again thanked the committee and asked for members to consider volunteering for committee membership.

Ann Tennant then served us all with dinner with three choices of main and several alternate desserts. We are all very thankful to have Ann, and are constantly surprised at how she prepares such good food on her own at such reasonable prices.

After the meal, Gwyndaf gave us a very interesting talk on the subject of ‘The Search for the Snowdon Lily’. This flower can only be found in two locations in the UK, both in Snowdonia. The flower is the only Alpine bulb in the UK and is probably a remnant from the ice-age.

Gwyndaf described the history of the original discovery of the flower by Edward Lhwyd (Lloyd) around 1690 and the flower was named after him (Lloydia serotina). Gwyndaf described his search (with Janet) which involved climbing Snowdon to find it at one of only 5 sites in the UK.

Gwyndaf then answered questions and the evening finished just before 10:00 pm.

Spring Walk 2023

Spring Walk April 27th 2023

We had a good turn out for the Spring Walk this year – 20 of us in all, and it was a good thing that we set off in the morning, as it poured with rain all afternoon.

We all met at 10am at The Potter’s Arms in Winchcombe Hill, a lovely pub selling real ale and with a good choice of lunchtime food. We spent some time selecting and ordering our food for lunch before setting off across the Common, down a footpath to a small pond called Gawde Water beside Horsemoor Lane.Gawde Pond

We crossed the road and went along the footpath across Warren Field from where it was just possible to see Penn House, the home of Earl Howe, who is patron of the Chiltern Society while his wife, Countess Howe is patron of the Amersham Festival of Music. Here, under the trees we found a large clump of bluebells (though nowhere as impressive as those in Church Woods in Hedgerley).

Gwyndaf and Janet John had selected an easy and a more difficult route and at this point those who wanted to avoid a steep slope (and to 5get to the pub earlier) took the quicker route with Janet. The rest of us followed Gwyndaf down a slope through trees where in days gone by bodgers used to work, and then joined an old wagon track leading back up the hill on the other side of Penn House, through woodlands known as Charcoal Grove.

CoralrootOn the way Gwyndaf found several plants of interest, including the Coralroot, a tall pink flower which is quite rare (in most places)96, but one of the few places you can find it is in the Chilterns.

We then proceeded around the back of the ground of Penn House, an area known as Little Readings, looking into the grounds to see a gardener hard at work.

Further on, we re-crossed5 Horsemoor Lane, past a farm and some woodworking buildings, across a field with views across to Penn Street and its church, then turned right into a path edging Priestlands Wood, back towards the common and The Potter’s Arms. On the way we were told of the hundreds of different types of dandelions, and were informed about sedges – all being asked to recite ‘Sedges have Edges’.

We returned to the pub right on time to enjoy our food and some real ales and before the rain started after lunch.

 

Thank you to Gwyndaf and Janet for planning and leading the walk.