Club News
March Lunch and AGM:
Chairman, Tony Farrell, welcomed 21 members, guest Paul Sandford and our speaker for the Chairman’s Charity, Jane Legg of The Ryan Neuro Therapy Centre. The Raffle raised £30.
News of Members:
A silence was held for Dave Garner who passed away on 21st February and condolences were given to his wife Deanna and family.
Outings:
Wilson’s Music Hall 8th March. See write-up page 3.
Lunch changes by 10.30am the prior Tuesday to chris@moniz.co.uk T: 020 8660 6063. (2 missed deadline last month). Member News to Chris or Tony (tonyfarrell1953@gmail.com). Please email vincent@fosdike.com with articles for the Newsletter.
Speaker today:
Peter Stammers ‘How did World War Two end in Europe?’
1st May 2025:
By popular demand, the return of Jon Fox ‘Pantomime’
May is our Open meeting – wives, partners and guests welcome.
Annual General Meeting
Chairman Tony Farrell presiding.
A booklet was distributed to members containing Agenda, Nominations for 2025-26, Committee reports for 2024, Minutes for AGM 2024 and Accounts for year ending 31st January 2025.
Minutes of the AGM 7th March 2024 were accepted nem. con.
The Annual Accounts for year 2024-26 were agreed nem. con.
The Committee Nominees for 2025-26 were elected en bloc, nem. con. The new Committee is as follows:
| Chairman | Andrew Carver |
| Vice Chairman | James Dearlove |
| Secretary | Ian Payne |
| Treasurer | Michael Southwell |
| Luncheon Secretary | Chris Moniz |
| Outings Secretary | Terry Ribbens |
| Speakers Secretary | Bob Witham |
| Welfare Secretary [Tony Farrell also on Committee as IPC] | Tony Farrell |
| Without Portfolio | Bill Baldock |
| Brian Morris was re-elected Accounts Examiner nem. con. |
Outgoing Chairman, Tony Farrell, presented the Chain of Office to the incoming Chairman, Andrew Carver.
Incoming Chairman, Andrew Carver announced his charity for 2025-26:
Cystic Fibrosis Trust, a condition that slowly damages the lungs and digestive systems. Find out more at cysticfibrosis.org.uk
Andrew welcomed the new Committee and additionally Brian Morris (Examiner), Jim Mulvey (Webmaster) and Vincent Fosdike (Newsletter Editor). Do send Newsletter contributions to Vincent.
AGM Closed 15:10 followed by a Business Meeting chaired by Andrew Carver. Chairman’s Charity collection raised £44.
Ideas for further outings to Terry Ribbens.
John Morgan has had a bad fall and is in hospital.
Members birthdays in March: Andrew Frazer, Eric Jenkinson, Owen Kelly, Terry Ribbens, Michael Southwell.
James Dearlove to write Speaker summaries while Vincent in Hospital.
Meeting closed at 15:17
March Guest Speaker: Jane Legg
– ‘Chairman’s Charity
In March our guest speaker Jane Legg from The Ryan Neuro Therapy Centre, gave us an insight into the work they do. The plural is used as although the nearest one to us in Coulsdon the organisation has grown to 50 separate locations. None of them are area specific which makes the provision highly flexible.
Neurological conditions have no strict definitions as far as the centres are concerned but typically encompass Parkinsons disease, Stroke damage, and the early stages of motor neurone disease.
Via the use of physio and occupational therapy the aim is to maximise the independence of people affected by such conditions. Much of the benefit is ultimately acquired through the development of new neurological pathways which is achieved by extensive use of Gym equipment leading to greater stability, stamina and less neural fatigue.
Typically, members may attend for two forty-five minute sessions per week and be asked to contribute £90 p.c.m. if they can manage it. However this is not a strict requirement .
The Centres receive no government support and rely extensively on fundraising activities and volunteers. Our local branch has 16 volunteers.
The support offered is by no means just physical. A moment’s thought will show the extent that such conditions impact every aspect of life. Employment may be lost totally or partially or require re-training with a loss of income which in turn can result in mortgage arrears bringing with them the threat of loss of home! The pressure on relationships will be immense creating further anxiety and probably family stress beyond the immediate partner. These problems are not overlooked in the programmes offered. Accordingly there is a considerable aspect of social support which is increasingly recognised as part of the recovery and adaptation process.
The more one thinks about just how challenging these conditions are the more value we can all see in organisations working hard to help those affected.
Running such centres must involve considerable administration without which most of the activities could not be undertaken and no doubt volunteers without specialist therapeutic training would find a role in that area.
The Centre is at https://ryanneurotherapy.org/. Thank you, Jane.
Outing to Wilton’s Music Hall – by Andrew Carver
8th March 2025 – Coulsdon & Purley Probus and Sanderstead Probus
led by Terry Ribbens
We all met up at Purley Sports Club, where our brand new coach was waiting for our journey to East London to visit Wilton’s Music Hall. The Music Hall was in Grace’s Alley E1. Our visit began with a tour, led by a very informed guide.
The history of the buildings go back to the 1690s. Grace’s Alley was made up of several houses, a shop and pub. This is now used as the box office, bar area, offices and rehearsal space, the hall itself being built in the gardens of the original properties.
It was John Wilton who in 1859 went on to build the Victorian Music Hall, with his wife’s money, from the row of buildings on Grace Alley. It was Wilton’s ambition to provide West End glamour and entertainment for the East End working people and for the sailors of ships docked on the Thames nearby. John Wilton sold the Music Hall in1868, when preferring to open a West End restaurant. The Music Hall carried on under a number of different proprietors for the next thirteen years, until in 1877 a serious fire took hold of the buildings leaving only four walls and the ten barley twist columns, that today are still the supports for the balcony.
Towards the end of the 19th century the East End became notorious for extreme poverty, so to that end in 1888 Wilton’s was purchased by the East London Methodist Mission. A little bit of building work was carried out in the bar and kitchen area and the building renamed the ‘Mahogany Bar’. Why the Mahogany Bar – in 1826 the then landlord used mahogany fittings and had a mahogany bar. The Methodist Mission did not serve alcohol, it was only tea!
During the great Dock Strike of 1889, many dockers and their families were starving, so the Mission set up a soup kitchen, feeding upwards of 1000 families daily. The Mission remained open through some of the most testing periods of East End history, the Mosley March and the London Blitz.
The Mission closed in 1956, Wiltons was then used as a rag sorting warehouse from the area’s rag and bone men.
There were plans in the 1960s to redevelop the whole of the area around Cable Street. A campaign was launched led by John Earl, assisted by John Betjeman and later Spike Milligan to save what was Wilton’s Music Hall and buildings.
At a Public meeting in 1964, it was agreed there that the buildings would be saved from demolition – in fact in the seventies it was made a two-star listed building.
All types of different building works were carried out over many years – in 2012 donations amounting to £1,000,000 allowed repairs to the auditorium and in 2014 another £2.6 million was raised for repairs to 1–4 Graces Alley and 17 Wellclose Square.
In September 2015, the building was deemed structurally sound for the first time after fifty years of passionate campaigning. The building’s character is shabby chic – every corner gives witness to a different era.
After a bite to eat we settled down to watch the performance by the Charles Court Opera of Mozart’s Magic Flute – fully staged, set in the jungle and wonderfully performed by a small cast of singers. The Queen of the Night reached the high F.Terry, thank you so much for organising this great outing. Looking forward to the next one.