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 office@pennclub.co.uk 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