Lime Street Ward Club

2010 - 2011   Master Mr Stanley Liu

 

New Members Evening Wednesday 10th March - Ortega Leadenhall Market

Over 30 members both new and "not so new", met up for a very relaxed and enjoyable Members evening.  A good venue overlooking Leadenhall Market, excellent Tapas (a selection of various Spanish dishes) a glass or two...made for a very successful evening - a very good start to our Master's Year

 

Visit to Westminster Cathedral and Supper  - Monday 22^nd March
Our visit to the Westminster Cathedral, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, was attended by 48 members and guests.  This awesome building is a massive 354 ft long by 154 ft wide and is designed in early Christian-Byzantine style. Unfortunately we only had one guide but what a mine of information!  He explained in great detail all the fine mosaics and different marbles that appeared in the side chapels, noting that some of the mosaics had been painstakingly put in individually and some had been made up in small sheets - they were all truly magnificent.  We also had the opportunity to visit the top of the 269 ft campanile for a most spectacular view of London, even though it was very windy.  Following the visit we went for an excellent meal to The Cardinal Pub, which was situated behind the Cathedral; this was a wonderful ending to a most enjoyable visit.

Highgate Cemetery Tour & Supper Friday 30^th April

A full house of 35 people dodged betwen showers and impending dusk to gain a fascinating insight into this amazing place.

We were split into three goups and led by three very enthusiastic guides all having different slants on the place and its inhabitants. We were shown the obvious and the less obvious. Karl Marx's tomb.

We learnt that in fact this was not his original burial place which is much smaller and hard to access for the many visitors that come here.

KM only had 12 mourners whilst there were 50,000 at the funeral for a prize fighter. One corner seems to have all the leading reactionaries of their time buried alongside one another. We learnt much about the various symbols of death e.g. tools of a trade shown upside down, eternal life - a circular wreath......

Everyone who went will have come away with different thoughts and memories of an extraordinary place that was offered to Camden Council for £35. They declined the offer. It has only been saved by the dedication of local people.

Just about avoiding most of the rain we went for supper at The Angel, Highgate Village - just up the hill from the cemetery - very highly recommended

 

Annual Church Service - 19th May 2010
Over 70 members and guests enjoyed a short service lead by our Hon Chaplain, The Rev'd Mark O'Donoghue - the Lessons were read by our President and Master.

  

 

 

 The Civic Lunch - Guildhall - 19th May 2010
140 Members and Guests attended this year's Civic Lunch in the presence of The Lord Mayor, Nick Anstee and The Lady Mayoress accompanied by Alderman and Sheriff David Wootton. The Ward Club, unintentionally could have created a novel way of welcoming The Lord Mayor - to the sound of smashing glasses - not highly recommended. An excellent lunch was enjoyed by all, rounded off by a very entertaining speech by the Guest of Honour - Lord Carey of Clifton. Our Master's Guests included The Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, Mei Sim Lai, Len Bamber CEO St John Ambulance London (Prince of Wales District) and Christine Yau, Chairman, Chinese Community Center Westminster   

The Ward Clubs guests included Senior representatives of various other Ward Clubs with whom we have a friendly long term relationship.

 

 Charity Dinner at YMing - Soho

Just over 40 enjoyed an excellent Chinese Banquet preceded by a "sparkling" reception at this small very personal restaurant in Soho.

 

The exstensive menu included;
Crab Meat Rolls in spiced salt and pepper
Ribs Mandarin Style
Aromatic Crispy Duck
Prawns with Fresh Mango
Fried fish in Black Bean Sauce 
Toffee Apple, Banana, Pineapple

 

During the meal we were serenaded by the Rockaholix a capella quartet - who sing four part harmonies of 50's and 60's rock - they were good.

During the course of the evening there was a raffle for 3 hampers of Chinese "goodies" which raised approx £250 for our Master's charity St John Ambulance - Youth Section.

The evening finished with an auction for some very special Lots all (as with the hampers) very kindly donated by our Master. There was some very active bidding, encouraged by our auctioneer Peter Cave, for all of the lots. In total the Auction raised in excess of £1,100. A very enjoyable, entertaining and worthwhile evening.

 

Visit to the Royal Opera House - Covent Guarden
On Saturday 17 July some 40 members and guests assembled at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for a guided tour of the backstage areas. This gave a fascinating insight into the complexities of running the House, particularly as far as changing scenery from one performance to the next was concerned. The whole of the backstage area was extensively remodelled some 10 years ago and now has modern stage moving equipment as well as infinitely better facilities for rehearsal and costume makers. We were able to see the "corps de ballet" in rehearsal, as well as some of the costumes and dressmaking rooms.

After the visit we moved on to an excellent Dim Sum (As the Hon Sec described it - "Spanish Tapas") lunch at one of our Master's favourite haunts in Chinatown - New World, just around the corner from Covent Garden.

 

Queens Gallery Buckingham Palace - Friday 3^rd September
Members gathered outside the Queen's Gallery on a sunny evening for a private visit to the special Victoria & Albert Art & Love Exhibition.   We were ushered in following stringent security checks – several people set the alarms off – having remembered to empty their pockets they had forgotten to take off their badges!  We had an excellent presentation by one of the curators who gave us a fascinating insight into the collection and armed with us with sufficient information on some of the more special exhibits.    We were able to have a leisurely stroll around the vast array of exhibits, some quite exquisite others just fascinating – a necklace made from teeth!  After the visit we were able to indulge in some retail therapy over a glass of wine.  We felt rather privileged to not only have a private tour but also have the shop open JUST FOR US!  Some members then adjourned to Balls Brothers for more wine and a bite to eat.    An enjoyable evening was had by all.

2^nd Informal Inter-ward Quiz - September 15th
After last year’s  inaugural event created and organised by Lime Street Ward Club another very successful Quiz hosted by Bishopsgate Ward Club at the Bishopsgate Institute, a spacious and interesting building in the course of major refurbishment.  The questions set by our past master Robert Woodthorpe-Browne and presented by the ebullient question master Prof Mainelli covered a wide range of fields including such topics as the environment, immigration and questions taken from GCSE papers (No one got all of these right)

16 teams took part including 6 from Bishopsgate. The Lime Street Team did better than last moving to “mid-table” but Bread Street won again.  Plans are already underway for 2011.

 

Visit ot Spencer House - Sunday 3rd October
Tucked away in a small street of St James' Street is one of the hidden gems of London, Spencer House. Built in 1756-66 for the 1st Earl Spencer as a private palace to include some of the first neop-classical interiors in Europe. It can only normally be viewed on a Sunday. Railway and Tube Line closures, threat of a Tube strike in the late afternoon did not deter approx 40 members and their guests from visiting this beautifully restored Georgian house, currently the Head Office of Rothchild's - we were divided into two groups and judging from the comments afterwards, both had excellent guides. who regailed their different groups with anecdotes and very detailed information on the history and background to the House and its occupants. If any one enjoys stunning architecture, paintings, furniture, gilt, this house is a must - it is is open every Sunday.

After the tour we adjourned to a local pub for a glass of wine and a cosy pub lunch - it stoped raining in the afternoon as well.

 

Red Cross Sheep Drive
Lime Street Ward Club were 1 of only three entrants in the afternoon drive, where contestants had to make their own "sheep" . This was part of the Red Cross inaugeral Charity Sheep Drive. Our entry of a Sheperd, Sheperdess and a "Bear in Sheep's clothing!" competed against a "Dog in sheeps clothing" (1950's probably Triang) entered by the Worshipful Company of Glovers and a microsheep on a skate board approx 10cm long! entered by the Red Cross. (Full pictures to follow) - we won "Fastest Sheep" (of a very sedate flock). Overall the Red Cross raised over £5,000 with our contribution from Ward Club Members and friends of the Sheperd and Sheperdess being over £700.

 

Port Tasting 22nd November
Around 30 Members and guests enjoyed a very entertaining and informative presentation on a range of Taylor's Ports. The evening was orgainsed via Metzendorff involving the Fladgate Partnership.

The evening started with a glass of Taylor's Chip Dry and followed at a fairly brisk pace by an unusual CROFT "Pink" - same strength as other typical ports (around 20% alcohol) but with some of the colour extracted and made using White Port concepts. Fonseca Bin 27 was followed by Taylor's LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) 2004. LBV being a "ready to drink" port. As soon as it is bottled after being in cask for around 4 to six years it is ready for drinking. 

Taylor's 10 year old Tawny and 20 year old Tawny followed on - some very appreciative murmurs were starting to emerge. Tawnys are aged in Oak Vats for 10 or 20 years... losing their Red Colour (hence the name) and are ready for drinking when released. The evening ended with Fonseca Guimaraens 1996  and last and by no means least Taylor's Vintage 1985 - a really stunning end to the Tasting.

An excellent  Hot and Cold Buffet with wine followed in a very attractive ante-room - unfortunately some of the Ports had not been totally consumed during the tasting - this had to be remedied.  

 
A really great event, location and speaker.

Christmas Carol Service
It was with great regret that it was decided to cancel this years service in view of the very inclement weather in some parts of Southern England. Certainly we would not have wanted the Choir to be unable to get home, let alone many of our members. We arranged with St Helens that gifts for the children that would normally have been collected from the Church were able to be left at St Helens Church.