Club News
May Lunch: This was our Open Meeting and Chairman, Andrew Carver, welcomed 21 members, 14 partners and guests, Companion Mark Malwah and our guest speaker Jon Fox. £70 was raised for the Chairman’s Charity, Cystic Fibrosis Trust. The raffle raised £46.
Birthdays in June:
Bill Baldock, Norman Williams, Bob Witham.
Outings:
Visit to Titsey Place took place on 14th May – contact Terry Ribbens on tribbs42@gmail.com for more ideas on outings.
Speaker today:
Andy Richardson ‘The Aviation Hall of Fame’.
3rd July 2025:
Steve Bird ‘Wellington’s Military Career’.
Welfare Officer:
Please contact Tony Farrell if anyone knows of a member in difficulty.
Lunch changes by 10.30am the prior Tuesday. Please email vincent@fosdike.com with articles for the Newsletter.
May Guest Speaker: Jon Fox ‘Pantomime’
The Club welcomed back Jon Fox for another fascinating talk, this time on the history of pantomime which, yet again, was delivered with great panache, liberally filled with solo renditions. Most Club members and their guests have no doubt enjoyed pantomimes over the years with younger family members, but were perhaps not fully enlightened on the historical importance of this art form? Jon informed us that he particularly enjoyed acting and singing at school and he suggested that pantomime is often the first introduction of live acting for today’s children.
Whilst we perhaps consider pantomime as a quaintly British tradition, it actually developed from Italian street theatre of the commedia dell’arte in the 16th century. The principle underlying theme continues (thankfully) to be good triumphing over evil, and often involved miming. It apparently took about 150 years for the original concept to transform into the pantomime we love today. Traditionally, the character taking centre stage was Harlequin (the English name for the Italian Arlecchino), and the famous actor of Regency England, Joey Grimaldi, first represented the ‘dame’ with a white face.
It transpires that the height of this form of drama extended from the 1880s onto the 1950s with typically about fifteen productions staged each year in the West End alone. A number of famous actors followed in Joey Grimaldi’s footsteps, notably Dan Leno during the height of the music hall period, and in more recent decades, the likes of Gracie Fields, Arthur Askey, Les Dawson, Roy Hudd, Leslie Grantham and Christopher Biggins. In common with many other British traditions, pantomime was exported throughout the world, in particular to Canada.
Another name of considerable note in the world of pantomime is Paul Elliott, an actor and producer with his own company (originally Elliot and Burn, and which then became Quedos). Paul was known initially for instance for Dixon of Dock Green and he celebrated sixty years in show business in 2018.
In modern times however, the main production titles tend to be limited to Cinderella, Aladin, Jack & the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington. Typically, a pantomime season would extend over a three-month period, each company often performing three times a day; truly hard work. Members and their guests learned that the term slapstick comedy derived from the actual word slapsticks which were formed of two flexible pieces of wood at one end used by early pantomime artists to produce loud slapping noises without causing any injury! Jon gleefully illustrated the art of pretending to slip on a banana skin, perfectly demonstrated, and as he exclaimed, the timing is crucial when the action is executed with a timely pause.
Jon also informed us that he had been a professional critic (watching amateur productions) throughout the country for about forty years. There is clearly nothing in this art form which he cannot describe or demonstrate enthusiastically! The main theme in Jon’s interesting talk is that this form of comic drama is forever evolving.
Thank you Jon for another very well-received talk.
Titsey Place by Andrew Carver
On Wednesday 14th May, Terry organised a trip to Titsey house and gardens.
We met firstly at the Bull public house, a community run pub in Limpsfield. The journey from Coulsdon to Limpsfield took well over an hour as there had been an accident on the M25, necessitating the closure of the motorway at Caterham. Once there and having satisfied our thirst and hunger, we made our way to Titsey place, only a couple of miles away.
We spent some time looking at the gardens, which were lovely, several gardeners were hard at work keeping them in pristine condition. I wish our garden looked so well maintained!
At the appropriate time we all gathered in the house for our guided tour. Two tour guides led us around the house and explained that Titsey is one of the largest surviving historic sites in Surrey. It dates back to the sixteenth century. The estate was originally bought in 1534 by Sir John Grisham, of the famous London merchant dynasty, and descended in the early nineteenth century through the female line to the Leveson-Gower family, a cadet branch of the family of the Dukes of Sutherland. The Leveson-Gower family lived at Titsey until the death of Thomas in 1992. There being no heirs or close relations in 1979 the Titsey Foundation was set up to preserve the estate for public benefit.
After the tour, we made our way to the tea room where we all tucked into a cream tea, some even had room for cake! A very enjoyable afternoon, the whole day was enhanced by glorious sunshine. Our thanks to Terry for organising the visit.
If you haven’t visited Titsey I really recommend it, and for those who are members of Historic Houses, there is no entry fee.
The Second Lost Generation by Vincent Fosdike
Don’t mention the mortgage!
Family gatherings carry a degree of tension so this may be a good time to reprise some common underlying causes as we are far from Christmas and not yet into the possible shared summer holidays.
A recurrent theme between “Boomers” (1946-1964) and
“Gen Zoomer” aka Gen Z (1995-2010) is the housing ladder.
The Z’s usually open for the prosecution with allegations that the Boomers have in some way pinched the housing stock and placed it firmly beyond reach thus causing them to become “Gen Rent’ for life. Thus rendering them victims of the dreaded Landlord for life.
The Boomers guilt is further compounded by the possession of better quality pensions and travel passes plus the ability to bed block their favourite hospitals when the young clearly have greater need!
Apparently, Boomers had it easy all their lives and don’t know what suffering is like. Post war food rationing (until 1953), rented accommodation with little security, no central heating, no car, fridge no T.V., lower life expectation, no foreign travel until conscripted and dentistry without pain relief are pathetic defences to our later riches. Longer working hours and industrial diseases are met with blank indifference.
In the middle of this resentment is the pivotal role of education. Boomers seldom went to “uni” often failed grammar school entrance and made do with a technical or domestic training fitting them for dead end jobs . They were delighted when things did pick up in the 1960s and houses could be bought by lesser mortals and the Ford Cortina or Mini might be seen in significant numbers. By the 1970s the housing ladder entered our vocabulary!
Apparently, these halcyon days have gone forever for our children.
Our children only have the obligatory £50,000 “uni fees” for degrees that employers are not keen on but still use for selection purposes and unattainable mortgage rates.
These combine to make the idea of children completely uneconomic as our decreasing birth rate now projects a falling and ageing population as we oldies take up what is left of our national wealth in the comfort of our half-occupied house. Yes, apparently we do have it easy!
However, the bank of mum and dad has proved a good stand- by as our children would like assistance with housing and childcare costs and generally get it even if the 7-year tax rule can be a risk for such generosity. I have come across a sense of entitlement in this area underpinned by Boomer resentment. More than once in my professional life, clients have hinted at this Z resentment, loans are formally changed into “gifts” under a certain sense of Boomer guilt. Has this begun a rift between generations? If so a curious form of civil war is developing which like all such conflicts costs both sides dearly.
Gradually the burdens of Z generation will become unsustainable as their parents need care home fees and adaptations to accommodation and even occasional medical fees to alleviate painful delays, and tax destroys what is left of the inheritance. We may have had the peace dividend post war which allowed the entitlement effect to flourish .The inflated housing ladder has vanished, as the economy crumbles the only answer is that the generations must reduce their expectations and be friends again and accept the inevitable, if grandchildren are to be the norm.
Reunion Lunches and an Anniversary Day by Ian Payne
In May we held the annual reunion lunch for the Mudlarks walking group, which included some of our Probus members – the erstwhile walkers now too old and decrepit to walk five miles before lunch. The group had been led for many years by our late-departed Probus member Dennis Evans.
In like vein, another group, Coulsdon and Purley Debating Society, with past members of Probus fame, particularly the late Ian Scales, recently held its annual reunion lunch. It closed last year due to dwindling numbers, after 116 years of monthly debates.
Still going strong: Friends of Farthing Downs & Happy Valley also boasting of Probus members. Why not come to the Anniversary Day on Father’s Day (tell your children and grandchildren and bring a picnic) on Sunday, 15th June, 10.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. Celebrate 50 years as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and 25 years since the unveiling of the Millennium Cairn. Archaeological walk led by Historic England. Also a Wildlife walk and a Wildflower walk, various stalls – Bourne Society, CNHSS, City of London, Downlands Trust. For the children, there’s a Wildlife Quiz with prizes.
Upcoming Events in Coulsdon and Purley
Friends of Farthing Downs & Happy Valley
Anniversary Day – Farthing Downs
Sunday, 15th June, 10.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. Celebrate 50 years as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Old Coulsdon Village Fair
Saturday 12th July, 12 – 4.30 p.m. Rotary organised events and activities at Grange Park (opposite Tudor Parade), Old Coulsdon.
Classic & Super Car Show Sunday, 24th August, 12:00Purley Sports Club
