Dr. N.R. Warren 29 Send Barns Lane
Honorary Secretary Send, Woking
Old Walcountians 1930s Dining Club Surrey, GU23 7BS
Tel: 01483 222053
31st May 2008
Dear OW,
Old WALCOUNTIANS’ DINING CLUB
SUMMER Dinner
friday 4th july 2008
Our annual summer dinner will be held at The School on the 4th July 2008 and the main details are as under:
Date: Friday 4th July 2008
Venue: The School (The Hall) by kind permission of the Head Master, Dr. Martin Haworth.
Time: 6.30pm for 7.30 pm (Please note that a special reception will be held at this earlier time of 6.30pm)
Dress: Lounge Suit or Blazer and tie.
(For ladies, smart skirt and blouse, dress or trouser suit)
Price: £25.00 per person (to include drinks before dinner)
(Wine will also be available for purchase for the dinner itself and may be ordered when having pre-prandial drinks)
Our dinner this year is notable for two reasons, the first of which is that the Club will complete its fortieth year of existence when we hold our dinners this year. On a historical note, the first dinner was held in the summer of 1969 and there have been two dinners a year, one in summer and one in the autumn ever since. Dinners were originally held in Croydon, first in the Greyhound and then at the Fairfield Halls with the venue being switched to The School for the summer dinner in June 1993. The occasion also became the official Old Boys’ Day with a cricket match held in 1993 and ever since between a School Eleven and an Old Boys’ Eleven. The original reason for the institution of the Club was a previous dinner in 1967 held by his contemporaries to celebrate the knighthood of our distinguished member, Douglas Allen, now Lord Croham, who is happily still with us and who should be present at this dinner this year. The Club which started its life as the 1930s Dining Club and was comprised of a group of like-minded contemporaries who had been at The School before the war changed over the years into the Old Walcountians Dining Club, which takes in OWs of any vintage and has expanded in size, particularly in the summer, with numbers up to and over one hundred sitting down to dinner at different times.
This year will be no exception and I look forward to a prompt response to this letter, which may go out a little late since I rely upon the good will of The School to send it out for me and the School staff necessarily have other calls upon their time. However, the date has been widely advertised and those who wish to be present will have been aware of the date for some time and will have their money ready to send to me. As is my practice, I do not acknowledge receipt of the fee for the dinner, but, if you do not hear when you send your money, then you can say that you are ‘in’! If there is any query about an acceptance of your entry, I will be pleased to take calls on my phone (number above) preferably around 8.00pm to 9.00pm.
The arrangements for the day will be as usual with a cricket match starting around 11.00am and continuing all day with intervals for lunch and for tea. Lunch will be available at The School for those who give me their names in good time and tea will be available in the afternoon with the cricketers for those again who book. Most members, in fact, arrive later in the day around the time that drinks are being served in the Hall and that is when I usually meet most people, even if briefly. I look forward to a good turnout as usual and for one particular reason which I will now state. This year, I complete 20 years as Secretary of the Club and I propose to make this the last time that I personally will run the Dinner. I have made it known for the last two years that I intend to retire and, although there have been some tentative enquiries about taking on the job, there is no firm offer on the table at the present time. Nonetheless, I propose to retire so this may be the last dinner at the School for some time, although it may well be that somebody else will come forward to take up the baton to run the Club in the way it has been run and perhaps in a better way in the future. However, if you wish to come to a dinner at The School, and one that will certainly be held there, then this may be your last chance. I will be running a dinner in the autumn at the Fairfield but this is normally a smaller affair on the lines of the original Club dinner when we get 30 to 40 people, most of whom are regular attenders and live locally.
Finally I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on the day, preferably earlier in the day rather than later and hope for a good attendance, a pleasant occasion and a chance to meet old and new friends and acquaintances and to catch up with the gossip and news from contemporaries and others at the dinner and earlier in the day as usual. Again, I repeat I look forward to a good attendance and your prompt reply with your money will delight your Secretary and ensure your place at the forthcoming dinner. Again, I look forward to seeing you on the day or at least in the evening and the menu as my predecessor, ‘Polly’ Stuart Phillips, frequently said ‘will be well up to standard’.
Kind regards,
Bunny (Dr. N. R. Warren)
Old Walcountians 1930s Dining Club 29 Send Barns Lane
Hon. Sec. Dr. N.R. Warren Send, Woking,
Surrey. GU23 7BS
1. I will/will not be attending the dinner on Friday 4th July 2008 at 6.30pm for 7.30pm at The School (The Hall).
2. I enclose a cheque for £25.00 (twenty-five pounds) payable to ‘OWs 1930s Dining Club’. (This is because the account is still in that name)
3. I will/will not be requiring lunch.
4. I will/will not be requiring tea.
5. I do/do not wish to remain on the mailing list.
6. I would like my name to be placed on the mailing list (New Members only)
7. Mr.......................................... of...............................................
................................................
................................................
Years at School ...............................................
would also appreciate an invitation.
Signed.........................................
Name (block letters)
....................................................
Years at School.............to ................ House……………………..
I am willing to sponsor a Prefect/Senior member of the School for the evening and enclose an additional cheque for £25.
I do not wish to sponsor a Senior member of the School but would like to help with the scheme.
My interests include: …………………………………………………………..
Years at School.............to ................ House……………………..
