The Summer Lunch returned to Ernest Morris’s home in Chesham Bois this year on Sunday 5th July
On the Saturday afternoon we erected the gazebos. There were only 4 of us this year, with Rose Edwards joining Colin Thomas, Lloyd Jones and David Powell to do the preparation.
Ernest’s garden was looking lovely with a large well-kept lawn to spread out on.
It was quite warm and we had difficulty preventing Ernest from doing the heavy lifting, but we managed to complete the task and get all the tables and chairs out before 6pm.
We then hoped that a stray wind wouldn’t blow them all down, as the catering tent needed quite a few running repairs.
Ann Tenant’s team arrived early on Sunday morning to prepare the food and dress the tables, and by 12:30 all was ready for the guests to arrive.
The weather was just right, warm with some clouds and a slight breeze.
This was a chance to catch up with old friends and quite a few new members too, and some people started reading the newsletters that were distributed among the tables.
Fewer people had signed up this year, with only 4 tables being needed, and by 1pm we were getting worried as not everyone had arrived yet, but as food was served, the remainder arrived – all apart from poor Jayne Pegler who had the day wrong!
Ann Evans welcomed everyone and thanked Ernest for the use of his garden, Kay Day for arranging the catering and the gazebo team for their hard work.
The food was lovely as usual, with ham, salmon, chicken and different salads. A wide range of desserts were on offer and it being Ann Tenant’s team – there were lots available to go back for seconds!
We have had the gazebo that we use as the catering tent for probably 15 years, but it was showing its age today, with one leg none too straight! Still, it had served us well for many years.
As the afternoon progressed, the clouds disappeared and the temperature started to rise, causing some on the sunnier side of the gazebo to transfer to the shadier spots of the garden.
Soon Ann was thanking everyone for coming and she presented Ernest with a bottle of wine as thanks for his hospitality.
As the tables were cleared we had quite a few volunteers to help put away the tables, chairs and gazebos as the temperature continued to rise.
Another successful Summer Lunch – thanks to all those who made it such an enjoyable day.
His Chairman’s Report ran through the events that we had organised over the previous year, starting with the Summer Lunch (where more help is needed in setting up the gazebos) which was hosted by our President, Ann Evans.
Membership of the society has remained constant at 121.
That concluded the formal part of the meeting, and we broke for a meal provided by Ann Tennant and her daughter-in-law, Jagger. This was up to their usual standard – delicious – with a choice of chicken or salmon and lots of different deserts.
Being new to the location, we did have some tense minutes trying to set up the overhead projector, but then Wendy was able to start her talk.
The evening finished at about 10pm with Gwyndaf thanking Wendy for such an interesting and informative talk.
We all met at Milton’s Cottage at 10am on Friday 10th October. Most of us arrived early and, as the weather was good gathered in the garden.
Milton took refuge from the plague in London by escaping to this cottage in 1665, and, although he lived here for less than two years, wrote his most famous work Paradise Lost and began Paradise Regained, whilst living here with his third wife.
We then walked down the hill to the parish church of Chalfont St Giles. Here we met our guide Tony Ferguson, who is not only an author and speaker, but also a member of the St Giles watch, which helps to ensure that the church remains open to visitors.
One of the most striking features of the church is a set of 14th century wall paintings depicting scenes from the bible. These were discovered and revealed by the Victorians, but about 20 years ago suffered damage as a result of thieves taking lead from the roof.
We gathered at 6:30 to be greeted with a glass of fizz or a soft drink, and this gave us the chance to catch up with old friends and to talk of anything except rugby.
This year we were particularly pleased to be joined by Bob Ford (who was chairman when I first joined in 2010) and Jayne Pegler as well as Peter & Pat Chapman, who had travelled from their home in Brecon to be with us. It was also good to see Ernest Morris back with us after his accident.
As usual with Gerrards Cross Golf Club, the food was very good, with the most popular choices being Beetroot and Orange Gravadlax and Lamb Tagine followed by Merlot poached Pears with Blackcurrant Sorbet.
After the meal, Gwyndaf introduced our speaker for the evening, Sarah Green, the MP for Chesham and Amersham.
Sarah was born and grew up in Corwen, Clwyd and speaks Welsh fluently.
John Breese then took to the piano and played the National Anthem, followed by a number of old favourites and everyone joined in using the song sheets provided.
The evening finished about 10:30pm, another successful St David’s Day celebration.
Colin Picton had created the quiz and was acting as question-master, assisted by his glamourous assistant Kate, though she introduced herself as ‘Samantha’ (after the fictional assistant on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue).
On Thursday 19th September, a group of 15 members met at10:00am on Windsor Bridge for a walk around Windsor and Eton.
David & Gwyndaf had done their homework and planned a walk that was to take in sights of Windsor that many of us had not seen before. The walk was loosely based on The Queen’s Walkway and a series of 63 of the town’s attractions, but we were to cover only the sights in the centre of the town.
There were many unusual attractions: the death warrant for Charles I, a game of hopscotch based on monarchs connected with Windsor and the parish church of St John the Baptist which held an 18th century picture of the last supper, a wonderful carved altar rail by Grinling Gibbons and the royal pew with two grand wooden thrones.
First we visited the new church which was built in Victorian times (1867), to house the growing population of the village. Unusually for a Victorian church, it was built in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style rather than gothic. The church bell was taken from the old church and is said to date from about 1290.
Trish then took us on a path leading behind the new church to a much smaller building. This dated back to about 1220, built by the Cistercian monks at Missenden Abbey on a site of an older wooden church. One of the first things that we noticed were the old sun dials on the exterior wall. These were Mass Clocks, for telling the time for mass.
Inside there were traces of the medieval wall Doom painting showing the weighing of souls and another depicting St
Christopher.
figures of St Mary and St John. Below that, the main window depicts three puritans including John Hampden in the centre and Oliver Cromwell to his left. This window was originally meant to be for the church in Little Hampden, but was rejected as it contained the figure of Cromwell.
We then walked through the woods, which were carpeted with wild garlic and their aroma filled the air. Some of our walkers took the opportunity to gather leaves as they can make a very good pesto. Luckily, it had not been raining recently so the path was not very muddy.
As The Lee is quite high up, there are no streams and the village used to rely on a pond for its water. In 1897, in the year of Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, a well was dug to provide clean water. This was quite a task, as the well is 365 feet deep, 4 foot six inches wide, and the workers had to rely on candles for their light and a blacksmith’s bellows to provide ventilation. It was commissioned by Sir Arthur Liberty and built by Liberty’s craftsmen.