CDWS Saint David’s Day Dinner 2022

Friday 4th March

The dining room at GXGC

It was so lovely to see everyone in the flesh again! All those Zoom meetings that we’ve had since St David’s Day 2020 were a good way to stay in touch, but not like the real thing, and what a turnout!  – There were 79 of us in total and it was lovely to see new members and guests as well as old friends. We had all been warned beforehand, that due to Covid we should all have had Lateral Flow Tests before we went.

This year our St David’s Day Dinner returned to Gerrards Cross Golf Club. The club house has had a real face lift since we were last there – the interior has been renovated and it looks very smart.  The bar and the dining room were festooned with Welsh flags. People started arriving at 6:30 and were greeted with a drink, giving people time to circulate around the bar, meet old friends and catch up.

Martin Hillary, the GX Manager was very helpful in making suggestions and putting up all the flags.

By 7:15 people were ushered into the dining room, where a table plan assigned them to their places. The tables were decorated with lovely floral displays of daffodils created by the ladies of the committee. Barrie Reece had printed the place names at the table to include the menu choices that people had made – just in case we’d forgotten – and had produced a programme for the evening.

When we had all found our allocated places our Chairman, Colin Picton, welcomed us to the evening and Gwyndaf John said grace.

Then the food started to arrive. For starters we had made the choice between tomato and garlic soup, smoked salmon mousse or asparagus with poached egg.  I had the asparagus and was pleasantly surprised that the poached egg was just right with a really runny yolk, which was quite an achievement when catering for so many people.

Main course was a choice of seabass, lamb shank, or a traditional Welsh cawl. My lamb shank was substantial and very tasty. While we were at the tables, Barrie Reece was touring the room with his camera taking lots of pictures (see more photos here).

Dessert choices were spiced oranges with orange sorbet, chocolate torte with fresh raspberries or a selection of Welsh Cheeses. I went for the cheese option and the cheeses were excellent and so generous that I could not finish them, though I had heard that the spiced oranges disappointed.

After coffee, Colin introduced our guest singer for the evening, Angharad Rowlands a Welsh Mezzo Soprano, accompanied by Iain Ledingham.

Angharad is at the Royal Academy of Music, studying on scholarship for a Master of Arts in Performance. A native Welsh speaker, Angharad grew up singing in the Welsh folk tradition, competing regularly in the National Eisteddfod of Wales. She made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2019, and this year Angharad will join Royal Academy Opera.

Iain Ledingham is a familiar figure to many of us, a professor in the piano, vocal and opera faculties at the Royal Academy of Music, and founder of the Amersham Festival of Music. We are very grateful to Iain as the source of so many of the very talented musicians who have performed for us over the years.

Angharad spoke quite softly, but that all changed when she started singing and she could really produce some power to her voice.

Angharad’s repertoire included a number of traditional songs with arrangements by Benjamin Britten, followed by works by Mozart, Bizet and Handel. The music then turned to a Welsh theme with Mae Hiraeth yn y Môr and Gwynfyd, and lastly Calon Lân, for which everyone joined in.

Jonathan Pegler then took to the keyboard and played the National Anthem, led by Angharad.

Colin thanked our performers and Ann Evans presented Angharad with a bouquet, while Iain received a bottle of wine from Jonathan.

Due to Covid restrictions, the committee decided not to finish with our traditional singing, but turned to our friends to say goodbye. Hopefully we shall have another opportunity for singing in the near future!

Thanks to all those involved in the planning and execution of our St David’s Day Dinner!

Barrie Reece took a lot of pictures at the event – see more of them here

Quiz Night 2022

Our 2022 Quiz Night was held on 21st January, and as with last year, it was a virtual event. Unfortunately, this meant that there was no fish and chips.
Jonathan Pegler had devised the quiz and hosted it over Zoom all the way from Porthcawl. Screen image of 2022 Quiz
In total there were 5 teams of either 5 or 6 members battling it out to try to answer some pretty fiendish questions set by Jonathan. I think that in terms of difficulty I would put this quiz somewhat between ‘University Challenge’ and ‘Only Connect’.

Jonathan started the quiz at 7pm. First, we were divided up into 5 teams each named after a colour in Welsh. I noticed that the members of last years winning team were split up to give other teams a chance!

Jonathan had already given us the questions and answers, but the files were all password protected so that we couldn’t access them until he gave us the code.
Each team was given a separate virtual ‘breakout room’ so that they could discuss the answers without being overheard by the other teams.

There were 6 separate rounds of questions with themes such as trying to identify obscure European languages (I didn’t even know that there was a Galician language), Science, opening lines from books, plays or music, Geography, Miscellaneous and General Knowledge – 70 questions in all.

From the start it was clear that Team Glas (Blue) was the team to watch, as they won each of the early rounds, and as the evening progressed their lead increased. The team comprised of Lloyd and Pamela Jones, Liz Seely and Rob Brett and Ruth Huckle.

We finished a bit later than expected, and Jonathan revealed the scores – Team Glas were the runaway winners scoring 102 out of a possible 115, but the other teams had all done creditably, with an average score of 78 or about 68%, so it was not Jonathan’s toughest quiz (apart from Round 1).

The results are shown below (note this is for the 2022 Quiz not the 2021 one)

2022 Quiz Scores
We congratulated the winning team (no prizes this year) and thanked Jonathan for his hard work in preparing, hosting, scoring as well as acting as chief technician in running the Zoom meeting and breakout rooms.
Let us hope that we will be able to meet in real life for our future events.

PS I have attached the Questions and Answers below, so if you want to either take the quiz yourselves or just check some of the answers, please click on this pdf file:

Questions and Answers

Christmas Drinks 2021

Christmas Drinks 12:30pm  12th December 2021

No-one was absolutely sure whether our 2021 drinks party would go ahead, due to rising numbers of Covid.

In the end after some careful thought about precautions the day went ahead. It was decided that we would have the windows open, have hand gel on hand, ask all the all guests to have taken lateral flow tests, and lastly that there would be no singing this year.

Ralph and Margaret Broomby were there to welcome us through the door, as people started arriving. The Broomby’s have hosted so many events in the past and we are very grateful to them.

In each room there was a welcoming fire, fueled by mulberry logs from a tree that used to grow in their back garden, a victim of honey fungus.

Numbers were down when compared with previous years with just under 30 people attending, but this gave us lots of room in which to meet and catch up with friends.

It was good to see many old friends again. We hadn’t seen Maldwyn Pugh for a while and it was nice to hear about how he is enjoying living in his new flat. Graham and Anthea Beavan came from Wokingham to catch up and tell us how their new house is going and it was good to see Graham Lewis and Anne Pierce Jones again.

Canapes were provided by ‘To Dine For’ who circulated with plates of interesting and tasty treats.

There were many examples of Ralph’s handiwork around the house.

Many of us looked out the window to admire Ralph’s new Summer House – he explained that not only had he designed it himself, but he had also built it during the summer lockdown. One would never have guessed – it looked so professional, large, sturdy and stylish.

The occasion wound down by late afternoon, with people leaving to get home before it got dark. Thanks to Ralph and Margaret for their hospitality, ‘To Dine For’ for the food, and to Kay Day for organizing the event.

Sorry for the lack of photographs!

A Summer Garden Joy

As I sit down to write this, it is Sunday September 12th. After a scenic ride from Amersham to home in Maidenhead, there’s no time like the present to write a report of my splendid afternoon with the Chiltern Welsh Society.  I think most of us ladies had an eye on the weather that morning. We had ferreted around in our wardrobes for a special summer dress to wear; after all there have not been many opportunities over the last 12 months to dress up. This was only my second physical event with the Society, having joined a year ago. I did enjoy meeting people on Zoom. However, there is nothing like a real life experience!

I had given myself plenty of time to explore the streets of Amersham and locate a parking spot. I walked down to number 16, to find Kay Day waiting at the gate to greet me. She said, ‘You must be Ruth, as you are the only person I don’t recognise from the list.’ As we chatted, Sue Jones and Rose Alkins arrived and kindly invited me to join their table; it’s always important to feel wanted on your first or second event with a different group of people. There was lots of catching up to do before the formal part of the afternoon. We were a group of 30 on tables of five, all sheltered under gazebos. In fact, I was really impressed when I turned up and saw the garden laid out in front of me.

Table 1 for the Late Summer Lunch      Bright blue matching chairs and, cheerful garden flowers adorned the crisp white tablecloths. At this juncture, our thanks to the ‘flower girls’ as they were referred to. The guests had come laden with their own wine, fruit juice, beer and fizzy water and people on the tables introduced themselves.  I maintain that Welsh is my first language and, was fortunate enough to be educated through the medium of Welsh from the age of 3 to 21. I was especially pleased to catch up with a few people who spoke Welsh and spent a while chatting to Bill Jones about the delights of Amlwch and Anglesey in particular!

Table 2 for the Late Summer Lunch      Table by table, we were invited to the serving area, where the To Dine For ladies had set up a veritable spread. Our food had been pre-ordered, I had salmon, others had chicken and there was a vegetarian option, all adorned by a variety of salads, I have to say it was very tasty. We had olive and chilli bread, which you could wash down with the drink of your choice.  Extra food was available if you wanted a top up. Chatter, covering a multiple of varied subjects, was constant. David Powell managed to pop round each group to photograph everybody deep in conversation.  For dessert there was fruit salad, tiramisu, chocolate tart with lashings of cream, should you want it. To round off the meal tea and coffee were served with some lovely chocolate mints. All in all, I would say the afternoon was a massive success, everybody was pleased to catch up, after such a long time of being at home.

Table 3 for the Late Summer LunchTable 4 for the Late Summer LunchThe Construction Team      I would like to give a special mention to Ernest Morris, whose delightful garden we enjoyed and for the loan of the gazebos by Alan Longshaw. Thanks too to David, Gwyndaf, Alan, Peter Johnston and Colin Thomas for erecting these and, getting the furniture in situ; hopefully it was dismantled a bit quicker than it went up. Thank you very much to Kay for her organisational skills and making the afternoon such a success, we all know that these events, don’t ‘just’ happen.

Along with several other people I talked to, we are all looking forward to the next diarised activity, Christmas drinks. In the meantime, enjoy the autumn sunshine, while it lasts.

Ruth Huckle

Golf Day 2021

The weather was fine and course conditions good for the CDWS Annual Golf Day on 27th August.

Ten members turned out for the event at our usual venue of Oaklands Park Golf Club.

Golf Day 2021

For the team competition players were allocated to three teams of three, each with a similar aggregate handicap. They were led by a lady captain, namely Kate Picton, Margaret Broomby, and Pam Britton.

The team scoring was the tried and tested Chris Thomas system, though the man himself was unable to be with us on the day. The Stableford points of all three players counted on the par-3 holes, the two best scores counted on the par-4 holes, and only the one best score counted on the par-5s.

All players competed for the best individual score including the tenth player, Brian Evans, who accompanied the final team on their round. As he went around on his golf-buggy he also played a useful role as a ball spotter for his playing partners.

To their consternation, the visitors found their usual handicaps cut, as Oaklands is rated as an easier than average course under the new World Handicapping System.

Oaklands members played off their usual course handicap, with the exception of Colin Thomas. He claims that his official handicap is now 29, but we all remembered that he returned the top score last year playing off 24. Unsurprisingly there was unanimity that he should score off the same 24 handicap this year. He still managed to return the second highest score!

It has to be admitted that the players’ performances did not match the excellence of the conditions.

With one notable exception. Pam Britton was in superb form and her 41 points was much the highest individual score on the day. With her in such good form her playing partners, Ralph Broomby and Gwyndaf John, only needed to make a modest contribution for their team’s shared victory.

The strong hitting trio of Kate, Rob Britton and Alan Longshaw made up the first three to tee off, and they returned a team score of 65 points. They also claimed a record for the number of “Blobs” on the team scorecard after much time spent searching for lost golf balls.

Oaklands is a tight course that rewards accuracy rather than length. As was found out by Ralph and Brian as well as Alan, all players more used to the long open fairways on the courses of Gerrards Cross and Harewood Downs.

Pam led the way in the second trio with low straight shots that ran on for a decent length down the fairways and avoided the trouble that lurked in wait for any loose shot. Her team scored 80 points.

Margaret Broomby’s team of her, Colin Thomas and Rob Brett all played consistently. They put up a fight to finish a close second with 76 points.

As ever with a round of golf everybody experienced highs and lows during their round. But everyone was very pleased to be out on the course together once again, and enjoyed the event.

After our morning’s exertions the players enjoyed a light lunch in  the open air.

Rob Britton has won two veteran’s competitions at Wexham Park in recent months. On this occasion however the honours were well and truly deserved by his wife.

Pam

Pam was presented with a bouquet of Agapanthus flowers for her team’s victory and also scooped the bottle of wine for the best individual score.

 

 

 

Gwyndaf John

Summer Lunch 2021

Gazebo ConstructionA fine selection of able-bodied chaps gathered at Peter & Beth’s home on Saturday morning to put up the gazebos for Sunday’s Summer Lunch. The garden looked like a team of gardeners had been at work, but Beth assured us that they did all the work themselves.

Alan Longshaw had brought over his tents and Bill Jones was there to help even though neither of them were going to be able to make it to the lunch itself – what altruism!

Alan directed the operations, showing us which bit fitted where, and there was a general discussion about positioning of the gazebos in the garden. It didn’t take too long, and by midday, we were able to sit under the canvas to enjoy a well-earned drink and biscuit.

Many thanks to the construction team!

Sunday Lunch on Saturday 4th July at ‘Silvana’

With everyone having looked with fear and trepidation at the weather forecast for mid-day on the Sunday, what a great joy it was when Jupiter declined to agree and offered us a window of opportunity to have a most delightful and convivial get-together in the wonderful garden of Beth and Peter Sykes-Johnston at Gerrards Cross. On arrival at Silvana, and being welcomed by a Welsh Flag, a Welsh Dragon placed auspiciously on a small table offered the use of hand-gel to ward off the Covid terror.

  • Food Gazebo

Volunteers had been there earlier to put up 3 large excellent white Marquees sufficient to comfortably accommodate tables, each with up to 6 people, to keep us safe within the Covid guidelines.  Food was professionally provided by “…To Dine For…”, most ably administered by Stephanie and Susan, and most excellently arranged by Kay Day. The mature garden, resplendent with trees, flowering shrubs, floral beauties of all kinds interspaced with garden effects, was drowned by the engaging chatter of people enjoying a moment of real integration away from zoom meetings and distant exchanges. Each table was adorned with a white tablecloth and a floral tribute placed centrally, carefully arranged place settings, and supported with comfortable chairs. The sun shone, the air was warm: a Greek Elysian Llwyn Afallon by any standards!

In orderly fashion, befitting the recognised culture of the CDWS, each table rose when requested to collect their food and return to continue exchanges and reminiscences of visits to Wales, present and past events, news and family matters.

Photographs were taken of happy faces amongst the Welsh gold as each one toasted the future of the Society. The photographer witnessed only one fall amongst the aging assembly and that was of a beautiful stainless steel water-fall in the shrubbery! Those of us who managed to walk around were amazed at the variety of plants interspersed with vibrant sculptures and child oriented Peter Rabbit type memorabilia.

At an appropriate point, retired Chairman David Powell was thanked warmly by Lifetime President, Ann Evans, for the masterly way he had conducted the Society through a difficult Covid time and was presented with a bottle of the elixir of Welsh life – Penderyn Whisky – intended to alleviate his pains and help him continue unabated his work as a Committee Member.

As it was the President’s Birthday that day, a rousing tribute was sung to Ann to commemorate the auspicious event! Thanks were expressed by the newly elected Chairman, Colin Picton, for the wonderful part that Kay had played in arranging the cuisine, for the loan of the Marquees and the members who had erected them, and use of a beautiful garden for the event by Beth and Peter. Beth was then presented with a bouquet of flowers in grateful thanks, and Peter responded with Welsh candour and harmony.

Shortly afterwards, as if prompted by an unseen Zeus hiding in the trees, the heavens opened and blessings came down to ensure that we packed our bags and left for home!

Just another wonderful day in the history of the Society!!

Barrie Reece

2021 AGM

Aside

2021 AGM Report

Friday 14th May by Zoom

Our 21st Annual General Meeting started as a Zoom meeting at 7pm with Jonathan Pegler acting as host to approximately 40 members. Before the serious business of the evening, we were randomly divided up in breakout rooms to meet people in groups of 4 or 5 to catch up and chat.

David Powell opened the formal part of the evening with apologies for absence, and approval of the Minutes of the 2020 AGM (with one correction!). As it would have been difficult to see a show of hands, Jonathan used a Zoom-based voting system, which allowed one vote per device (two people sharing a screen only had one vote).

David then gave the Chairman’s Report for 2020/21, saying that little did we think that when we had to hold the AGM by Zoom last year, we would be doing the same in 2021. In 2020/21 we had to cancel the Summer Lunch, but were able to hold a Golf Day in September. We also held virtual events for the Christmas Drinks, the Quiz Evening and our St David’s Day celebrations – which was a shame since we had such a good speaker in Dr Rowan Williams.

Under the eased Covid restrictions in April, Gwyndaf and Janet John were able to organise a Spring Walk to view the bluebells in Hedgerley.

David added that it is a pity that this year’s AGM is only a virtual one, as it marks 21 years since Ann Evans established the Society and proposed a vote of thanks to Ann. He then went on to give thanks to the Committee members for their work over the last year, and especially to Peter Chapman, who is now standing down as Treasurer after moving to Brecon.

Covid permitting, the Committee plans to hold a Summer Lunch on 4th July, courtesy of Peter and Beth Sykes-Johnston, a Christmas Drinks party courtesy of Ralph and Margaret Broomby, the Golf Day and hopefully another event in the Autumn.

Membership numbers have fallen slightly from 119 to 114, with one new member – Ruth Huckle.

Peter Chapman then gave his final Treasurer’s Report, a very short one. Our balance as of 31st March was £3239.06. The report was accepted by a Zoom vote.

It then came to the election of the Committee.  Jonathan Pegler has taken on the duties as Treasurer pro-temp. We also have a new Committee Member to welcome – Dr Barrie Reece.

A single unanimous vote was taken for the committee and the results are as below:

Position Name
Chairman Colin Picton
Minutes Secretary Merle Davies
Treasurer Jonathan Pegler
Membership Secretary Ann Lawrence
Secretary Gwyndaf John
Committee Members: Barrie Reece
  Kay Day
  David Powell

David then handed the meeting over to Colin Picton, as our new Chairman.

Colin thanked David for his chairmanship over the past 3 years and went on to introduce our speaker – Neil Rees, an IT professional who is also a keen amateur historian and writes for the Bucks Free Press and has some fascinating facts about Aneurin Bevan.

 

 

Aneurin Bevan – Welshman, Founder of the NHS and Chesham Resident

Aneurin “Nye” Bevan was born in 1897 in Tredegar in south Wales, growing up in a coal mining community. Elected as Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in 1928 and serving as Minister of Health in Atlee’s post-war Labour Government, Nye is considered the architect of the National Health Service, which started on 5th July 1948 and was inspired by the model of the Tredegar Medical Aid Society. The NHS was born out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth.

 

Nye Bevan and his wife, the MP Miss Jenny Lee, lived in Chelsea until 1954. However, Nye wanted a home near London, but in the country. He was told about Asheridge Farm, near Chesham, which was on the market and he bought it for £9,000.

The old farmhouse came with just over 50 acres, plus farm buildings, and 2 cottages. The farm manager and cowman were kept on, together with the herd of Guernsey cows and 60 hens. Nye became an enthusiastic farmer. He built up the herd to 60 cattle, and also started to keep pigs. 

Nye and Jennie were very social, joined in local life, and shopped in Chesham. He used to visit the Blue Ball pub in Asheridge where he was friendly with the landlord and with many of the regulars.

Still working a couple of days a week in London, Nye would catch the train to London from Chesham Station.

In 1960 Nye fell severely ill and was later diagnosed as having stomach cancer. He died on 6th July 1960 at his home aged only 62. Bevan’s death led to an outpouring of national mourning, and there were memorial services to him both in Wales and at Westminster Abbey.

Jennie Lee did not share her husband’s interest in farming. In 1961 she rented out the land at the farm, but continued to live at the farmhouse until 1968, when she moved back to London.

In 1964 Jennie was appointed Minister for the Arts in Harold Wilson’s government playing a key role in establishing the Open University. In November 1970 she was made Baroness Lee of Asheridge, and continued to work from the House of Lords. She died in 1988 aged 84.

2021 Spring Walk

Anne's groupOn Thursday 29th April Gwyndaf and Janet John organized a Spring Walk around the woods at Hedgerley.

Due to the fact that we hadn’t been able to meet in person for so long, there was a great deal of interest and 24 people signed up for the walk. The Johns organized us into 4 groups of 6 so that we could be properly socially distanced, and recruited Colin Thomas and David Powell to lead the other two groups.

The plan was to meet at the pond in Hedgerley at 10:30, book our meals at the pub and then set off covering very similar walks but at different times and in different directions. However, when parking the cars, people were so pleased to see each other again, that in true CDWS fashion, they stopped to chat and soon it was 11:00.

Nevertheless, we were able to give our orders at the pub and set off, aided by handouts from Janet showing us the difference between Spanish and English bluebells and pictures of other wild flowers to look for on the walk.

Both Gwyndaf’s and Janet’s groups had the advantage of expert wild flower knowledge, but the two other groups were supplied with pictures of plants to look out for – a bit like the old I-Spy books we had as children. The early purple orchids were not out yet, but the cowslips made a great display in the Glebe Meadow by the church.Cowslips

Three of the groups went for a slightly longer walk covering the trip to Hedgerley Green as well, but David’s group just covered the woods and then headed straight back for the pub.


The food was good and so was the beer, and the bluebells were almost at their best (a cold dry spring had delayed them a bit).

Thanks to Gwyndaf, Janet, Colin and Di Thomas and David for leading the groups.

 

There are some more photographs on the 2021 Gallery page.