December turned out to be a busy month for us with 4 social activities to report on.

On 1 December many Club members attended the Michael Bublé tribute act and festive lunch as guests of the hotel. We enjoyed good food, good company and great entertainment which resulted in many of us showing our dancing skills!

On 6 December a number of members attended the invitation festive lunch hosted by the Probus Club of Folkestone and District.  This took place at the Burlington Hotel in Folkestone. There was a great festive atmosphere and after lunch we sang carols.

Four members ventured out for the Wine Evening on 7 December and despite the low attendance we enjoyed a good chat with our vino. 

Our regular lunch meeting took place on 21 December and this was well attended by members. Again we enjoyed good food and good company. After lunch we had musical entertainment supplied by Richard Baulch and members enthusiastically participated in musical games and singing the parts they were allocated in the 12 Day's of Christmas!  A great time was had by all. 

Another Wine Evening took place on Wednesday 2 November.  These evenings have now become a regular feature of the Club's activities. 

We met for lunch on 16 November when our speaker was Veronica King who entertained us all with her interesting and amusing tales of her work as a private investigator. 

On the evening of 5 October we met again at Henry's for another Wine Evening.

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place on 19 October.  Following the formal business of the AGM members participated in a feedback session and gave the Committee helpful views on all aspects of the Club's activities.

On the evening of 7 September another regular Wine Evening at Henry's took place. 

Our regular lunch meeting at the Imperial Hotel took place on 21 September.  After lunch Helen Kendall-Tobias gave an excellent talk on Pearls and Princesses.  The talk covered a variety of aspects of pearls and pearl jewellery including care and storage, how to wear with different necklines and of course Princesses and how they’ve worn pearls. The combination of a little history, anecdotes and practical information had the audience (who were themselves wearing their own pearls) entralled. 

We met again at Henry's for another Wine Evening on 6 July.  This time it was warm enough for us to sit outside in the Courtyard garden.

On 20 July our speaker was Elizabeth Villaneuva (Ely) from Crisis UK.  Ely gave us a very informative talk about the vital work of the charity which offers support, advice and courses for homeless people. The charity also campaigns for the changes needed to end homelessness for good.  

On Sunday 31 July seven members attended a trip to Bluewater with Crosskeys.  An enjoyable time was had by all with a diverse range of purchases including luxury cashmere garments, a frying pan and some first aid plasters!

On the evening of 1 June another regular Wine Evening at Henry's took place. 

On 7 June a number of members attended the Burlington Hotel in Folkestone on the invitation of the Folkestone and District Probus Club. Following a delightful lunch Doug Bannister, Chief Executive of Dover Harbour Board gave an extremely interesting talk on the Port of Dover. 

Our regular lunch meeting at the Imperial Hotel took place on 15 June.  After lunch Mandy Matcham gave an informative talk on the benefits of aromatherapy.  As well as learning about many essential oils and their uses and benefits we had the opportunity to sample a number of them.

Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 May saw an unprecedented amount of social activity for the Club! On 4 May we were delighted to accept an invitation from the Inner Wheel of Folkestone to attend their 90th Anniversary Interclub Lunch at  Lympne Castle.  This gave the opportunity for a stroll round the beautiful castle and grounds before a delightful buffet lunch including dessert, coffee and birthday cake. Wilf Lower spoke on "Lost Empires - the last days of Music Hall and Variety."  Our members who attended received a warm welcome and had a most enjoyable and interesting time. On the evening of 4 May another regular Wine Evening at Henry's took place. 

On 5 May our regular coffee morning took place with a handful of members as this was the day of another outing for the Club. The Crosskeys trip to Leonardslee was well attended by members who gave unanimous positive feedback about the day. The outing involved a trip to Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens situated in Lower Beeding, Horsham.  The garden was alive with a riot of colour including magnolias, camellias, and many hundreds of rhododendrons including several rare species.  Deep in the valley, this array of colour was reflected within the lakes, creating breath-taking views. The visit also included cream tea at Mannings Heath Golf & Wine Estate. 

On 17 November we were pleased to welcome Melanie Gibson-Barton as our speaker. Melanie’s ‘The Life of Eva Braun – Victim or Contriver?’ presented the story of the woman who devoted her life to Hitler.  The material of the talk was sensitively delivered to convey the life story of the seventeen year old girl who met the forty year old Adolf Hitler in a shop during the years leading to his rise to power as Chancellor of Germany.   Melanie’s interest in Eva began on seeing Eva alongside Hitler on ‘The World at War’ television programme in 1973 and the talk included many of the photographs from her extensive collection compiled since then.   The presentation included the rivals for Hitler’s attention and discussed the role of women in Germany in the 1930s.  The talk presented an alternative dimension to Hitler illustrated using the words of those of his inner circle to chillingly suggest an ordinary man who was capable of monstrous actions.  The audience were asked to consider while they heard Eva’s life story whether she was a victim or a contriver as the story of her life unfolded.   Melanie reassured the audience that the material of the talk would be sensitively presented in order to appeal to a wide audience.   The thought-provoking talk resulted in much discussion between our members. 

Our Annual General Meeting  (AGM) took place on 20 October.    After the formalities of the AGM we had a sale of jewellery, scarves and handbags donated by members to raise funds. 

On 15 September  we were delighted to welcome Phil Heading, Chairman of  the Hythe District Photographic Club, who showed us wonderful photographs with amusing stories of wildlife adventures during his time in South Africa. 

We have continued our coffee mornings at Henry's whenever possible since 2020 taking into account Covid 19 lockdown restrictions. The courtyard garden has been a perfect place for us to meet and observe social distancing rules.  Members have appreciated being able to socialise and catch up with each others' news during these difficult times.

On Thursday 30 July we  were delighted to resume our coffee mornings.  The venue was changed to Henry's Wine Bar and Chocolate Cafe at 152-154 Hythe High Street as the large spacious courtyard enabled us to observe social distancing rules.  Those attending were delighted to resume social contact with other members.  Some members have stayed beyond coffee and enjoyed lunch at Henry's too giving the opportunity to chat and catch up.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lunch meetings and coffee mornings were cancelled from March 2020.  The Committee is regularly reviewing the situation in the light of government legislation regarding social distancing and lunch and coffee morning facilities available for us.

On 19 February Dr Gehad Homsey talked to us about Mercy Ships.  

On 10 January we were invited to a "Frugal Lunch" by Folkestone Inner Wheel comprising homemade soups and crumbles. This took place at St John's Church Hall in Folkestone with proceeds going to the charity FoodStop.

On 15 January Wilf Lower gave an extremely entertaining talk on Behind the Scenes of Television's Golden Years. 

Our Christmas lunch on 18 December was most enjoyable and the festive layout of the venue was extremely impressive.  We were well entertained by Mel Rees who gave us an amusing talk on "My Family and Other Setbacks."

Thank you to members for their generous gifts of raffle prizes. 

On 20 November Delia Taylor gave us an extremely interesting talk on the Roaring 20s. We relived the decade of the four F’s – Fashion, Flappers, Film and Fun. It was interesting to learn how the younger generation wanted to forget about past traditions of behaviour and instead wanted to ‘Live for the Moment’ following World War I. We saw how The Bright Young Things went too far and made themselves unpopular with the general population.  We also enjoyed the video clips with music of the era. 

On 18 September we were delighted to welcome back Commander Colin Tozer who gave us another excellent talk "Choppy Passage Part 2."

On 27 September a number of members attended the Coffee Morning run by Folkestone Inner Wheel at the Burlington Hotel in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

On 17 July Dr Stephen Summerfield gave us an excellent talk on behalf of the Shorncliffe Trust.  He spoke about the defence of Kent and also gave information on the Shorncliffe Trust, a charity dedicated to preserving the heritage of the Shorncliffe Garrison.

On Sunday 28 July we ran a Boot Fair Stall on Hythe Green to raise funds for Folkestone and Hythe Samaritans.  Despite a cloudy and overcast start we had a very successful day with lots of laughs along the way.  A big THANK YOU to all those who donated goods, helped on the stall or visited us to give support.  

On 4 June a number of members attended the invitation lunch from the Probus Club of Folkestone and District at the Burlington Hotel.  An enjoyable lunch was followed by a talk by Noel Varley on a Cowboy in Venezuela.

On 26 June  we were pleased to welcome Jo and Maddie from Folkestone and Hythe Samaritans to give a talk on this year's "Chairman's Charity."

The talk was thoroughly enjoyed by members and our Chairman was delighted to make a cheque presentation for the work of this worthwhile charity.

May has been a busy month for the Club with 3 events to report on.

•  On 1 May a number of members attended the Inner Wheel Interclub Lunch at the Grand Hotel in Folkestone. We appreciate the invitation and the welcome we received from the Inner Wheel.
•  On 15 May our regular lunch meeting at the Hythe Imperial Hotel took place.  Chris Hare was our after lunch speaker whose topic was "Forty Years without a Proper Job."  Chris spoke about his career in the theatre working with some of the greatest names in comedy  and had us thoroughly entertained with his amusing and interesting anecdotes.
• On 17 May some members visited the Folkestone office of the Folkestone and Hythe Samaritans, this year's Chairman's Charity.  The visit was very informative and involved meeting some of the staff as well as a tour of the building.

On 17 April we were delighted to welcome 10 members of  the  Probus Club of Folkestone and District.

Our speaker was Lenny Clark who gave us a fascinating and informative talk on Canterbury City.  We  learnt a great deal about the history of this great City and thoroughly enjoyed the slide presentation.

On 20 March we were delighted to welcome Steve Richards from the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) as our after-lunch speaker.  Steve enlightened us on the history of the railway from its beginnings as the brainchild of Captain J. E. P. Howey - a millionaire racing driver and miniature railway enthusiast and Count Louis Zborowski - an eminent racing driver of his day.  Sadly the Count died prematurely in a motor accident but Captain Howey was undeterred and pursued his vision. The railway between Hythe and Romney was officially opened in 1927 and the following year the track was extended to Dungeness.  During World War II the army took over the railway and even today the results of the German bombings can be seen along the track.  In the 60’s, with the advent of “package holidays”, the number of visitors waned. But today the RH&DR is still one of the top attractions for our area and one of which we are proud.

On 20 February Betty Black gave us a fascinating insight into the start-up of Skyways at Lympne Airport, begun by an entrepreneur with an eye for detail - from the state of the art control tower to an actual “moving” baggage belt and even a bicycle to expedite communications between the ramp and the Captain once the aircraft was on the runway. These were the exciting early days of civil aviation affordable to most and long before electronic communications and mobile phones. 

Our Christmas lunch on 19 December was well attended and we were thoroughly entertained by Cheryl  who sung us a great repertoire of songs.  

We are grateful to members for their generous gifts of raffle prizes.

On 18 July we were given an excellent talk by Jack Deans on Fingerprints and Murder.   

We were fascinated by Jack's stories about his time with Scotland Yard and the part he played in solving major crimes including murders.  We also enjoyed Jack's unique presentational style which ensured that there was no "after lunch dozing!"

On 2 May a number of members were delighted to attend an Interclub lunch with the Inner Wheel of Folkestone at the Grand.  A delicious lunch was enjoyed and an interesting speaker talked about a school that she had set up in Gambia. 

On 16 May we were delighted to welcome Alison Ruyter from Kent Wildlife Trust to talk to us about “How Farm Animals can Create Wildlife.”  Alison spoke with great enthusiasm about her role as Area Warden for Medway and Mid-Kent Downs explaining how livestock itself plays its part in management of the habitat on the reserves.  Alison provided an excellent and informative slide presentation on this fascinating subject. 

On 18 April Melanie  Gibson-Barton gave an excellent talk on the Life and Times of Edith Cavell.  

We heard the story of a British heroine, born in Norfolk, who went on to pursue a nursing career in England and then in Belgium.  Sadly in 1915 she was charged with treason by the Germans and executed.

On 21 February Dean Caston gave us an extremely interesting history of The Royal Variety Performance from the first Royal Command performance in 1912 through to the current day. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the pictorial slide presentation and the nostalgic musical clips.

On 17 January our speaker was Commander Colin Tozer RN who engaged us all with his fascinating talk "A Choppy Passage in the Royal Navy." This included the previously untold story of how the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe was sunk.

We were pleased to learn that Commander Tozer has a repertoire of talks so watch the diary page!