the nn pal - penn club
TRANSCRIPT
October 2009
AGM 15th
September 2009
Russia since the end of the Soviet Union
It was a pleasure to welcome Roger Bartlett, Emeritus Professor at UCL, to the Club on the
evening of September 10th
. A fluent Russian speaker and Co-ordinator of the Friends House
Moscow Interest Group, he gave a talk to 18 members and guests on the evolution of Russia since
the demise of the Soviet Union from a Russian point of view. His insight gave rise to much
interesting conversation amongst the appreciative audience.
Details of the activities of Friends House Moscow can be found at www.friendshousemoscow.org.uk
The Club Secretary would be happy to hear from other members willing to give a talk in the Cadbury Room.
PPeeNNNN PPAALL TThhee
Editor: John Ward The Penn Club 21-23 Bedford Place London WC1B 5JJ tel: 0207 636 4718
www.pennclub.co.uk [email protected] fax: 0207 636 5516
Ken Robbie, co-
opted to return
to the Board
earlier this year,
assumes the
position of Club
Secretary. His
predecessor
wishes him well.
The AGM was held on a Tuesday at 6.30 pm in the hope that
members would find it more convenient than attending on a
Saturday. We are happy to report that there was no reason for
concern and that the meeting was quorate well before the
appointed time. Business was conducted speedily with the passing
of all resolutions. The evening continued with a social gathering
well attended and much enjoyed. Our thanks go to Frederico, lured
away from his kitchen in rural Kent, for the stunning array of
canapés.
Members may be interested in seeing
this free exhibition, given the
connection with the Penn Club. Sir
John Franklin set out in search of the
North-West Passage in 1845 and
perished with all his men in the
attempt. 21 Bedford Place was the
family home of his second wife, Jane
Griffin, who strove tirelessly in the
vain attempt to rescue the expedition.
St Cecilia’s Day Concert
Wednesday 18th
November 2009
St Paul’s Cathedral
10.30 am
North-West Passage:
An Arctic Obsession National Maritime Museum until 3
rd January 2010
It is hoped that members will support this
traditional event in the Club’s social calendar.
Around Bloomsbury with Ken Robbie
London abounds in performances of classical music. While most performances are evening concerts, there are
daytime recitals by solo instrumentalists and groups of musicians every week of the year. Penn Club members
staying at the Club are especially well placed for daytime recitals in Bloomsbury and nearby. If you are planning an
evening out, or an evening in the Club with a Swarthmore Lecture or a Dickens novel, you could enjoy some live
music in the middle of the day – often for no more than a voluntary donation.
A short walk up Woburn Place will bring you to the Grecian splendour of St Pancras Parish Church, where a recital
of organ, piano or string music, or sometimes a song or choral recital, is held at 1.15pm every Thursday. The other
regular music venue in the area is St George’s Bloomsbury, one of Hawksmoor’s great churches, where a concert
takes place every Sunday at 4.00pm. Occasional afternoon concerts are held at the Foundling Museum in Brunswick
Square.
In the City of London, there is a daytime recital at one or other of the parish churches every day during the working
week, and an organ recital every Sunday afternoon at St Paul’s Cathedral. The Bishopsgate Institute, near Liverpool
Street Station, hosts a concert every Tuesday lunchtime. In Old Street, close to the City, the rescued church building
now known as LSO St Luke’s puts on a few concerts most months, including sometimes the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime
Concert.
Across the river, Southwark Cathedral offers regular organ recitals at lunchtime on Mondays and other music
recitals on Tuesday afternoons. In Westminster, St John’s Smith Square has a regular Thursday lunchtime concert
series.
On a sparking early autumn day, your column listened to a superb organ recital by Cyril Baker at St Pancras Parish
Church and then strolled to the British Library to see the interesting exhibition In a Bloomsbury Square: T S Eliot the
Publisher – which runs to 6 December. We will return to St Pancras Church on 19 November for the lunchtime
concert to be given by the British Museum and British Library Singers.
Our next visit to the British Library will be on 14 December for the opening of the next exhibition, The Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam.
We welcome into membership
Victoria Allen Gloucestershire
Lorna Boyd Hexham
Graham Briscoe Weston super Mare
Helen Cadbury York
Katharine Cawthorne Hull
Nancy Chambers Gloucestershire
Aliison Clare Winchester
David Cook Newark
Jill Da Silva Crediton
Glenys Edwards Oxfordshire
William Edmundson Georgia USA
Randaolph Ellis Caernarfon
Delycia Feustel Massachusetts USA
Amanda Field Gosport
Jean Forbes Edinburgh
Margaret Gücklhorn Norfolk
Patricia Harman Lancashire
Patricia Heaven Bath
Patricia Humphries Somerset
Patrick Hynes Garstang
Dirk Juttner Warwick
Hilary Kidd Barnet
Peter Lee York
Analia Meo Cumbria
Jane Moffat Sheffield
Barbara Noll Ipswich
Susan Sipos New York USA
Eileen Stanning Lytham St Annes
Bob Summers Oxford
Louise Summers Oxford
Hilary Todd Exeter
Brian Walker Harrogate
Deborah Watmough Nottingham
We have been told of the deaths of
Alastair McCrae & Betty Sutcliffe
Christmas party in the Cadbury Room
Tuesday 15th
December 2009 at 6.30 pm
We are happy to be able to invite you to a Christmas party once again this year.
Seasonal fare, a quiz and good company will be on offer. If members wish
to bring friends with them, a modest charge will be made.
Playpenn
The English language is full of animals! Things get your goat, wrong-doers get frogmarched, pubs have signs hung
on low beams jovially telling you to duck or grouse, incompetent rowing eights on rivers catch crabs. Similes and
metaphors abound. Human characteristics are associated with animal attributes, physical appearance, nature or
behaviour, hence many an insult.
The naming of an object after an animal or the use of the same word is not always self-explanatory. As a child, on
my way to the Apple Market, I used to pass a small tailor’s shop behind Kingston-upon-Thames Parish Church in the
window of which was displayed a goose – a tailor’s iron.
So what creatures are these?
1 a depression made in the face of a brick 6 a rest for a cue in snooker
2 an oblong mass of unforged metal 7 a reel for winding yarn
3 a bullet 8 a dramatic flop
4 a papal edict 9 a device for operating a computer
5 a spy who infiltrates a rival organisation 10 a machine for raising heavy loads
Congratulations to Steve Macklin for a correct set of answers for the June quiz.
1 Buddha Banyan tree 2 A flag Cedar of Lebanon
3 Laurel and Hardy On the trail of the lonesome pine 4 Fortingall Ancient yew
5 George Washington Cherry tree 6 The Andrews Sisters Under the apple tree
7 The Mikado Tit Willow 8 The Isle of Man Douglas fir
9 King Charles II Hid in oak tree 10 The first day of Christmas Partridge in a pear tree
First floor bathrooms and toilets
Members will be glad to learn that the communal bathrooms and toilets have been refurbished, including
the provision of a shower room much less cramped than previously.
Television Room
We hope that the replacement and rearrangement of the furniture meets with your approval. The
intention is to make it a more intimate space and to reduce the impact of the room being a thoroughfare
to the far staircase.
Please send your answers to the Editor at the Penn Club by 1st
December 2009. The winner will be entitled to
one night’s standard accommodation for one at the Penn Club, subject to availability.
HOUSE NOTES
OCTOBER 2009