
2 minute read
The Oakers
We catch up with the convivial group of OMs who meet for lunch on the first Tuesday of each month at The Boot pub in Sarratt. Head boy Gerry Westoby (Ridgeway shares how they’ve kept themselves amused over the last year
It has become my ‘Line of Duty’ to write something about the activities of the Oakers (so called because they started off meeting in The Royal Oak pub). As you can imagine, because of the Covid-19 restrictions, I haven’t much to say about our lunches as there haven’t been many.
I have used my modest talents to keep the Oakers amused and give them hope that tomorrow will be a better day. We took up weekly Zoom sessions, a group of us celebrated New Year this way, and some of us attended Arthur Ferryman’s (Burton Bank 1954-1959) surprise 80th birthday party for which we were supplied with a delicious champagne, salmon and blinis supper box, which helped with the festivities. We met for lunch when possible: before things kicked off again this May, we had only managed three lunches in a year. We had all hoped for our usual Christmas lunch, but the two people rule from your own ‘bubble’ made this impossible. We were naturally disappointed but worse still we realised this would leave the pub at least £900 out of pocket. We felt some financial help was needed so I sent out a request to the Oakers for donations for ‘The Boot Fund’ and they responded. On the 14th December 2020 – the original date set for the Oakers Christmas lunch - my wife Jill and I headed to the pub for lunch where Gordon Mizner and Peter Wakeham were having a ‘business’ meeting. This gave us the opportunity to present Zoe, the Boot’s landlady with a cheque for the princely sum of £1240. She sent me the following delightful poem as a thank-you.
We shall continue to meet on the first Tuesday of the month at The Boot, except for the Christmas lunch, which took place on Monday, 13th December 2021. If you want to come along, there is no membership protocol or fees. Let us know you are coming so we can reserve you a seat!
Contact details: Gerry Westoby wescam21@aol.com
House 1956-1961)
Thank you poem by Zoe, the landlady of The Boot
There once was a Tom and a Gerry, And the rest of the Oakers so merry, They came to The Boot, For a jolly good hoot, Once a month, starting in January.
We serve them some pies, pud and wine, In the restaurant is where they all dine, But in March it all stopped, No more drinks could we pop, Guests for 4 months, we had to decline.
Lockdown lifted last summer, Oakers returned (yet fewer in number), Sanitisers and face masks, 2 metre distance, we asked, Then in autumn our doors closed, what a bummer.
But in through our door in December, Came that cheery face we so well remember, Gerry gave me a present, So incredibly pleasant, Tears rolled down the cheeks of this humbled staff member.
Though this thank you has been brewing a while, The size hasn’t decreased our smile, We’re so grateful to all, THANK YOU SO MUCH we call, Can’t wait to welcome you back in true BOOTiful style

