Club News

Jubilee Ball

The Club started the Jubilee weekend in style with a ball at Woodcote Park, where 360 members and their guests marked the occasion with drinks, dinner and dancing.

Derby Weekend

More than 1,300 members and their guests enjoyed the Derby celebrations across two days at Woodcote Park. It is three years since our last full-scale Derby weekend and it was an absolute delight to see so many members enjoying themselves.

Jubilee Cedar

On Sunday 5 June, seven Woodcote Juniors – representing the seven decades of Her Majesty’s reign – made their mark on the history of Woodcote Park by planting a new cedar tree on the edge of the Cedar Lawn.

Aged from two to ten years old, the Woodcote Juniors were selected at random from all those who were put forward. They were Madeleine Cook, Samuel Dolan, Sammy Hastings, Abigail Lock, Eva McMonagle, Beatrix Reeves and Rowan Thouard.

Senior 120 Lunch

In May, the Club welcomed 28 members of the Senior 100 to Woodcote Park for their annual lunch. The Senior 100 are the 100 current members who have been members of the Club longest, with joining dates ranging from 1942 to 1963.

For the second year, the Club also welcomed members of the Senior 20: the longest standing lady members, with six able to attend. Nicolas Fenton, who has been a member since 1960, kindly spoke in response to the toast to the Senior 120.

Director of Operations

Jonathan Brown has joined the team as the Club’s new Director of Operations.

He was previously the Hotel Manager at the five-star Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa and joins the Club with a wealth of experience in luxury hospitality and leisure.

Before joining Luton Hoo he was at The Grove – another five-star establishment – for more than a decade and his earlier career included time at the Lanesborough and Athenaeum Hotels.

Motoring Committee

The Motoring Committee has welcomed Elizabeth Irvine as its newest member.

A Club member since 2004, including as a Junior, she is also a member of the Goodwood Road Racing Club and the MG Owners Club. “I’m keen to encourage more younger members to take part in the Club’s motoring events,” said Elizabeth. “For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion for cars, especially classic cars. It has brought an immense amount of joy and excitement to my life and I want to share this opportunity with others.”

Journeysmiths Travel Photography Competition – prize value £12,000

With a top prize worth up to £12,000 on offer, it is worth setting out this summer with your camera or smartphone in hand and your eyes open for opportunities.

The winner of the Journeysmiths Travel Photography Competition, which is open exclusively to Club members, will receive a bespoke international photographic trip organised by Journeysmiths, the specialists in high quality wildlife holidays.

The deadline for entries is Monday 5 September 2022 and all you have to do is submit a print of a photograph illustrating travel, of any kind. Your photograph doesn’t need to be taken on safari or in a rainforest – it could be anywhere in the world including the UK – but the subject or the composition will need to make people stop and look.

Full details of how to enter are on the Club website – just search for ‘Journeysmiths’. Three of the images shortlisted in the last competition: A Norwegian Refuge by James Farr, Let’s Be Friends by Anthony Wilkinson and Venice Beach by Stacey Mutkin.

Spike Bar Canopy

This autumn a canopy will be installed on the Spike Bar Terrace, with heating and lighting, to extend the season when al fresco refreshments can be enjoyed. In the summer it will provide some much welcome shade as well as helping with the cooler evenings or wetter days.

It has been carefully designed to fit in with historic Woodcote Park, with the shape inspired by an upturned holly leaf.

In Memoriam

Mr Brian James

18/10/1934-14/04/2021

Mr Alexander Williams

20/09/1973-05/12/2021

Mr Brian Turner

18/07/1936-05/01/2022

Mrs Jean Kallmeier

28/11/1930-07/01/2022

Mr David Leathers

11/12/1942-17/01/2022

Mrs Gail-Nikki Howard Keep

29/05/1943-24/01/2022

Mr Patrick O’Brien

04/11/1930-16/02/2022 Mrs Dianne Gabitass

09/11/1939-26/02/2022

Mr Martin Colvill

16/10/1940-04/03/2022

Mrs Elizabeth Goodwin

21/03/1943-04/03/2022

Mr James Smillie CA

07/06/1929-15/03/2022

Mr Robert Verney

03/04/1949-16/03/2022

Mr Albert Barnhurst

12/12/1934-19/03/2022

Mr Thomas Brass

04/05/1948-30/03/2022 Mr Anthony Connerty

26/12/1938-02/04/2022

Mrs Brigitte Pusch

29/06/1939-03/04/2022

Mr Roger Wolf

13/06/1949-09/04/2022

Mr Harry Lucas

25/02/1932-18/04/2022

Mr Jack Wachsberger

06/04/1931-22/04/2022

Mr Peter Brown

06/06/1933-24/04/2022

Mr Geoffrey Webb

11/05/1929-04/05/2022

Activity Group News

A Bout de Souffle

Film

The Film Society arranges for films to be shown every month at Pall Mall, as well as a number of screenings at Woodcote Park.

Following the extremely popular screening of A Bout de Souffle in April, the Society screened Parenthood, a comedy starring Steve Martin and Keanu Reeves, on Father’s Day. Next, the Film Society will be showing Cinema Paradiso on 17 July.

For the latest information on forthcoming screenings at both clubhouses please visit the Activities section of the Club website.

Bridge, Woodcote Park

The Woodcote Bridge Circle continues to enjoy playing Duplicate bridge face-to-face again in The Cedar Room on Monday evenings. Members are returning to the airy room to confidently meet friends where the bridge tables are well spaced out. There are usually 12 to 14 tables.

Members have also joined in Chicago bridge on Wednesday afternoons. Whilst taking a summer break, Chicago bridge will return later in the year on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. The dates will be advertised on the Club website and on the notice board at Woodcote Park. The Committee has also been busy arranging Bridge plus Golf/Bridge fixtures, played at home or away.

Our bridge classes have proved very popular so new ones are planned for both beginners and intermediates in September. The classes will run on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 5.00 until 7.00pm. The term will consist of 11 classes and members will be charged £110.00. The tutor, Sue Jackson, is very experienced and has taught many of the Woodcote Park Bridge Circle, so do come and learn a new skill during the autumn and winter.

For more information about bridge at Woodcote Park, please visit the Club website, email bridgewpcommittee@royalautomobileclub.co.uk or keep an eye on the notice board in the reception area at Woodcote Park.

Squash Finals Night and Annual Dinner

Due to the delayed completion of the 2020 tournaments, it was a mere 203 days since the last Squash Finals Night and Annual Dinner. That did not stop the usual exuberance for the evening in March which gave members another chance to write their name onto the historic boards in the basement of Pall Mall.

As always, there was some superb competitive squash supported by members watching from the gallery with Long Bar drinks in hand. Afterwards, the Mountbatten Room was the setting for a sumptuous three-course dinner and the awards ceremony.

Thank you to the Squash Professionals for their tireless organisation in arranging for all the tournaments to be completed in record time and to the Banqueting Team for a marvellous dinner.

Richard Johnson and Shayne Baillie receiving their cups from Angus Baillie.

Many congratulations to all the winners:

The Open Tournament: Richard Johnson The Campion Cup: Shayne Baillie The Lowenthal Veterans Trophy: Adrian Ezra

The Herbert Vintage Cup: Cliff Martindale The Stainton Over 65’s Cup: Iain Nicholson The Edwardes and Berman Doubles: Roland Steere and Pete Highmore The Handicap Doubles Trophy: Ross Gardner and Olly Briault The A Handicap: Hamish Gilder

The B Handicap: Tom Moore

The Coaches Cup: Richard Bottomley The Canada Cup: Will Welton

Automobile Club de France Snooker Match

The annual snooker match against the Automobile Club de France took place in London on the first weekend in April, after a COVID break which prevented the matches in 2020 and 2021.

The friendly matches on the Friday night included our team of Dean Fuller, David Cons, Stewart Cowley and John Veness. The Saturday Cup matches team consisted of Howard Wand (captain), Dean Fuller, Declan Tiernan, John Veness and Bill Szekeres. The French were led by Ivan Rambaud with his team of Pierre de Matharel, Gildas Boreau

Snooker at Woodcote Park

On 27 April the Woodcote Park snooker section celebrated the end of the season with the final of the singles competition. The evening concluded in the Derby Room with dinner and prize giving. and Henri Meunier.

The singles did not fall in our favour; we were 3-0 down after the first three matches, with Billiards Chairman John Veness managing to come back from a deficit to achieve a black ball win, leaving the match poised at 3-1 and all to be played for in the doubles. However, it was not to be, with the French winning the first doubles match and therefore securing their first victory since 2006! The final result was 5-1 to the ACF.

Our hearty congratulations go to Ivan and his team for a spectacular win. We look forward to the return match in Paris next year where we will endeavour to regain the trophy.

Hearty congratulations to Giles Gleave, winner of the singles, and also to Luke Edgcumbe and Aiden Robson, the winners of the doubles competition. They are seen below receiving their trophies from Woodcote Park snooker chairman, Ashley Stevenson.

John Virgo speaking

Snooker Dinner with John Virgo

We were delighted to host the Club’s first Snooker Dinner in May with guest speaker John Virgo.

After an excellent dinner in the Mountbatten Room, he regaled us with tales from playing and working alongside snooker legends such as Steve Davis, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor, his decade of presenting Big Break on the BBC and his long career as a commentator.

We were also delighted to welcome Jason Ferguson, Club member and Chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Jason joined John Virgo for a question and answer session after John’s speech, hosted by Billiards Committee member Christian Harris.

Special thanks must go to Matthew Marshall and the pastry chefs for their ingenious work on the menu for the evening; the snooker ‘chalk’ dessert with ‘cue ball’ ice cream was a pleasant surprise as was the red ball ‘rack’ of petit fours with coffee.

Chess Circle ‘Back on Tour’

Over a very wet weekend in May, a joint team from the Club’s Chess Circle and the Cercle de l’Union Interalliee, Paris, travelled to Washington DC to take on the might of the Washington clubs. Our contingent numbered six, three ladies and three men, and we were joined by a team of four from Paris.

This was the first overseas trip by the Chess Circle since the pandemic caused the cancellation of our Washington trip in May 2020. The joint team stayed at the University Club with a schedule of matches arranged against the Army & Navy Club, the Metropolitan Club and the Cosmos Club.

First up was the Army & Navy Club – two teams of ten played two games each resulting in an overall win to the RAC/Cercle of 15 to 5.

The Saturday brought no let-up in the rain, but it did bring our traditional opponents the Metropolitan Club into play. This match was first played in the early 1980s and is always keenly fought. The morning saw the Masters Trophy and the holders, the Royal Automobile Club, managed to retain the trophy by the narrowest of margins: 5½ to 4½. The afternoon saw some exciting chess with the RAC/Cercle coming out on top by the margin 11 to 9 and retaining the Challenge Trophy.

On Monday our final outing was against the Cosmos Club, played over nine boards, with the RAC/ Cercle combination prevailing by a score of 12 to 8.

Overall some 69 games were played – a record for our Washington trip. Overall best performances (with six out of a possible seven points) were by Michael Yeoh and Stephen Meyler. In all, it was a great weekend of chess and socialising in the Washington clubs.

of vigorous debate. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel that addresses the issue of artificial intelligence – but also the big issue of love. His exceptional writing won our respect, but it also gave us the opportunity to discuss whether the robots were actually endowed with better human qualities than humans. The highlight of the evening was a fabulous dinner in the Terrace Room. Discussion on the book continued, but more importantly it allowed the opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. A toast was raised to our librarian, Trevor Dunmore, who runs the club, offers excellent book suggestions, and keeps the show on the road. Thank you Trevor!

Pall Mall Book Club Summer Supper

The Book Club meets in the Library on the first Monday of the month at 7.00pm, to discuss, more often than not, a work of contemporary fiction. It’s a thoroughly congenial meeting with lively debate and sharing of opinions. It’s surprising how hearing others’ views can add to your opinion of a book. Wine, soft drinks and snacks help to make the event a social one. Twice a year, in June and December for Christmas, our discussions are followed by an excellent dinner.

June’s meeting was no exception to the rule