Over 70 members enjoyed a great lunch at the Victoria Hotel Sidmouth where the food and service, augmented by the lovely Christmas decorations, were very much appreciated by all. The quality of the lunch gave a lie to the price paid by members – just £12 – as the meal was heavily subsidised. There was much chat, much laughter and the Christmas spirit was much in evidence.
Category: Events
Great Lunch, Great Service and Great Fellowship in Tiverton
Our October lunch was very successful and enjoyable. The Tiverton Hotel did us proud with quality in both the food and the service. Only 33 members and friends attended but there was no shortage of lively discussion and laughter. Everyone who attended indicated that it was one of our most pleasing functions so the committee are pencilling in the venue once again next year.
Murder and Cream Teas!
Members and friends gathered at Sidmouth in late August to watch the performance of ‘Strictly Murder’ at the Manor Pavilion. This is the second year running that the Club has initiated a theatre visit mainly thanks to committee members Peter and Barbara Johnson. Tickets were subsidised by the Club so a highly entertaining and easily affordable evening was enjoyed by those who attended.
In early September the venue was the Hartnoll Hotel near Tiverton when a superb cream tea both in quality and quantity was provided free to members. Again this was a repeat of the same event and venue as last year and the committee’s decision to return to the Hartnoll was certainly justified.
Sidmouth, Sunshine and a Lunch with Friends
The Belmont Hotel was the venue for our Spring lunch and what a good choice it turned out to be, not simply the excellent fare but the glorious surroundings and views on a perfect day weatherwise. 53 members enjoyed the friendship and food provided and were left wondering where else could they have partaken of such a lovely meal at a heavily subsidised price and in such great company. Membership of the Exeter Spread Eagle Club has distinct advantages!
Annual General Meeting, Speaker and Lunch 2018
The connection between nursing and the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) would appear to be tenuous but, in fact, one emanated from the other.
At our AGM at the Exeter Golf and Country Club on March 8th, Julia Tremlett provided an illuminating, informative and entertaining presentation, laced with humour, on the NGS and augmented by an excellent visual program.
The origins of the scheme date back to 1859 when a benefactor, William Rathbone, asked his former wife’s nurse, Mary Robinson, to find a suitable beneficiary for his largesse. Unsurprisingly, Mary nominated a need for the training of District Nurses, so that Rathbone built a training school for that purpose. Eventually the need to raise funds to maintain nursing training was recognised by Elsie Wagg who, in 1927, recommended fundraising via the opening to the public, on one day a year, of suitable gardens for which a charge would be made. With Royal approval and support this blossomed into the NGS we have today.
The NGS now donates to a range of charities with four prime beneficiaries being Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and Carers Trust.
Julia illustrated her talk with many photographs of the Devon gardens within the scheme and members were able to take away the NGS 2018 booklet.
Julia was thanked by Chairman Garry for a first-class presentation which had been hugely enjoyed by members. The photo shows Julia (second from left) flanked by Peter and Barbara Johnson, who organised the speaker, and Chairman Garry Adams.
At the formal AGM, there were no changes to the officers or committee. Garry, who is also the Treasurer, stressed the benefits of Club membership with the subsidies on lunch functions plus free coffee mornings and cream teas.
Any member requiring a copy of the full AGM minutes should email Les Rendell on lesrendell41@gmail.com or phone 01884 254375
Christmas Lunch 2017
Our Christmas Lunch does it again !
At the risk of being boring, Exeter Spread Eagles enjoyed another sunny day for their 2017 Christmas Lunch. In fact, the photo to prove this was so similar that we need only refer you to last year’s picture on these pages.
As we arrived at the Victoria Hotel, Sidmouth, we were greeted in style by a very cheery doorman.
Inside the Victoria was decorated in its usual sumptuous style.
But a real surprise was to see Cinderella (or so it seemed) being re-enacted in the Hotel Lounge.
Apparently, so we were told, Wendy had a breakage with one of her shoes, and a Hotel maintenance man came to assist.
Despite these dramatics, Chairman Garry Adams summoned us all to order, and so we sat down to enjoy a delicious festive meal, with good wine and even better company.
If you are a local Barclays pensioner, and haven’t been to one of our lunches before, why not resolve to come along to one next year? You will be made most welcome.
Cream Tea at the Hartnoll Hotel
A new venue proved a success as around 30 members attended the Hartnoll Hotel near Tiverton for a Tuesday afternoon cream tea on October 3rd.
In very comfortable surroundings and with excellent service plus delicious scones (fruit or plain) and plenty of jam and cream, a very pleasant couple of hours passed by – and all of this was free! It is clear that our coffee mornings and afternoon teas are becoming popular and the committee is trying to organise these at a variety of places, not always in south coast venues.
Mick Mabbutt brought along a terrific replica of the Golden Eagle he had made (see ‘That Golden Spread Eagle’ article on another page) and provided one of the many talking points generated among a happy bunch of Barclays pensioners, partners and friends.
Theatre Visit in August
A party of club members gathered on 24th August to enjoy a performance of ‘Birthday Suite’, a light-hearted farce, by Robin Hawdon at Sidmouth’s Manor Pavilion Theatre and where we were able to spend some social time together in the bar beforehand.
The general consensus from the group was that this first night performance was a successful evening and that further theatre outings should be considered in due course.
Cream Tea – Which way up?
Exeter Spread Eagles enjoyed another splendid afternoon Cream Tea at Froginwell recently.
But the dilemma of the day for members was “Which way up?”
Wendy favoured the Cornish way with jam first, and then the cream.
Her husband, Hugh, was clear that, as we were in Devon, the jam should be on top.
Mick could not make his mind up, and tried to have it both ways.
Let us know what YOU think !
Annual General Meeting 2017
We were extremely fortunate to have as our guest speaker for the Club AGM, the Reverend Canon Dr John Searle OBE. That full title hints at John’s life-long participation in Medicine, the Hospice movement in Exeter and the Church.
If you use the power of the internet, and Google John Searle, there you will find lots about his amazing career.
The imposing Spread Eagle that used to be on display in the old Barclays Exeter High Street banking hall has re-surfaced, after many years of being carefully stored in an ex-employee’s garage. It would have been scrapped long ago, were it not for that concern.
It was placed on display at the AGM, and we were delighted to see it again.
In the photo, Chairman Garry Adams is shaking hands with club member Mick Mabbutt. Mick, with his wife Sandra, have very kindly agreed to give the Eagle a new home with them. They will bring it back annually to attend our future AGMs.
Doug Drysdale, who remembered it well in its former setting, and Sandra are happily looking on.
Read Mick Mabbutt’s very interesting article That Golden Spread Eagle by clicking here.