Visit to Dennis Severs' House

The CWC journeyed back in time 300 years on our exciting trip to Dennis Severs' House on Friday, January 29th.

Visiting this historic gem, located in London's Spitalfields, feels like entering into a still-life painting of a time long since past, but with the smell of food being cooked and the distant ringing of church bells to stimulate the senses.

A truly authentic experience, we were invited to silently tour the candlelit house and peer into the lives of an imagined 18th century Huguenot family. With each room frozen in time, decorated as former owner Dennis Severs envisioned it would have looked those many years ago, we were reminded of the House motto: "You either see it or you don't."

In the parlour, a feast was in full swing with meat pies, pomegranates, bread, oysters, and fruit covering the table. Wood-burning fireplaces in every room, quill and ink on the tables, and a clothes line draped in white linens were all reminders of a distant, less convenient age. The vast collection of china and oriental rugs along with the maps and globes reveal a lifestyle of elegance and worldliness that helped usher in our current global age.

This house speaks volumes about London’s history and although we had to stick to the rules of maintaining silence (and no photos) throughout the visit we enjoyed learning more about the creative artist Dennis Severs and the Spitalfields area from our host and curator, David Milne - pictured with us.

A fun time was had by all! Thank you to Art and Design Leader Unni Claridge for finding this gem and to Flora Tan for admin on the day.

Tours of the house can be booked strictly by appointment only! Visit the Dennis Servers' House website for more information.

Submitted by Laurel Steurnagel.

Let's Do Lunch: Royal Automobile Club

The Emancipation Run from London to Brighton celebrated the passing into law of the 'Locomotives on the Highway Act', which raised the speed limit for 'Light Locomotives' from 4 miles per hour to 14 - and also abolished the requirement to be preceded by a man on foot.

This was just one of the many interesting facts about automobiles we learned on January 21st on our Let's Do Lunch escapade to the Royal Automobile Club on London's prestigious Pall Mall. Our group of 15 was given a delightfully informative tour of the Club's premises.

We had a glimpse of men swimming in the wonderful indoor pool (the jewel in the crown of the RAC), were swept past the Turkish baths and squash courts, and admired the many elegant rooms available for hire for special events and meetings, including the yellow Drawing Room, which was formerly known as the Ladies Salon. We ended the tour posing beside a lovely vintage car.

After our tour, we enjoyed a looooong and leisurely lunch in the beautiful Brooklands Bar and Restaurant. The majority of us chose the fish and chips dish - absolutely delicious!

We would like to thank our member, Svetlana, for hosting us at the RAC and allowing us non-members of glimpse into the glamour and history of the Club.

Submitted by CWC Vice-President, Patty Bell

Meet Fitflop entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore

***News just in*** We have some fabulous door and raffle prizes to give away at this event - including a voucher for a pair of Fitflop sandals from the new 2010 range!!

Click here for details

Please help us to spread the word about this event as ticket and raffle proceeds go to support our charity, the Maple Leaf Trust.

IT with Te@: Introduction to blogs

Five blogging novices gathered at Barbara's today for the first IT with Te@ event, hoping to gather some tips (and courage) so they might start a blog themselves or simply to gain a greater understanding on what makes blogs so special.

Barbara talked about some of the standard features and characteristics of blogs, showed some great examples, and took everyone through the main steps in 'blogging'. Barbara has set a challenge to everyone attending to add a comment to this entry.

A second 'introduction to blogs' event will run in February and there are still spaces remaining!

Christmas Bridge Party

The Christmas bridge party was a roaring success this past December 16th - as can be seen by the pictures below. £145 was raised from table money for the Maple Leaf Trust, and a special Christmas tombola raised an additional £155!

Emma Forbes (who organises the monthly bridge game along with Sheelagh Whittaker and Diana von Halle), extends a special thank you to all the bridge players for taking part, to Monica Sharp and Carol Leighton for running the tombola, and to those who very kindly donated items for the tombola.

You can join us for a few hands of bridge and an afternoon of friendship each month at the High Commission on the following dates: Wednesdays, January 13th, February 17th and March 24th. For security reasons, you need to register your attendance in advance. Details can be found in your CWC bulletin and e-newsletters.