East & West Magazine Spring 2018

Issue number 100 Spring 2018
FLANKER FIGHTER FORM GUIDE FLATTED FIFTH
FLUTTER

The East India
Club directory
The East India Club
16 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LH
Telephone: 020 7930 1000
Fax: 020 7321 0217
Email: secretary@eastindiaclub.co.uk
Web: www.eastindiaclub.co.uk
DINING ROOM
Breakfast
Monday to Friday
6.45am-10am
Saturday
7.15am-10am
Sunday
8am-10am
Lunch
Monday to Friday
12.30pm-2.30pm
Sunday (buffet)
12.30pm-2.30pm
(pianist until 4pm)
Saturday sandwich menu available
Dinner
Monday to Saturday
6.30pm-9.30pm
Sundays (light supper)
6.30pm-8.30pm
Table reservations should be made with the Front
Desk or the Dining Room and will only be held for
15 minutes after the booked time. Pre-theatre,
let the Dining Room know if you would like a quick
supper.
AMERICAN BAR
Monday to Friday
11.30am-11pm
Saturday
11.30am-3pm
& 5.30pm-11pm
Sunday
noon-4pm
& 6.30pm-10pm
Members resident at the club can obtain drinks from
the hall porter after the bar has closed.
EAST INDIA ROOM
Monday to Friday. Light food and wine menu. Use of
electronic devices on silent is permissible.
SMOKING ROOM & WATERLOO ROOM
Drinks and light menu from 9am to 10.30pm.
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 10pm.
BILLIARDS ROOM
Open to members from 9am to midnight.
Pass keys will not be issued after 11pm.
GYMNASIUM
Open to members from 6am to 10pm.
Suitable attire must be worn.
BEDROOM CHARGES (from 2018)
Includes early morning tea, English breakfast,
discretionary £5 per person per night contribution
to the staff fund, and VAT. All bedrooms are non
smoking.
Members & immediate family
Single ensuite £124 (£75*)
Single with small shower £103 (£64*)
Single without facilities £83 (£54*)
Double or twin room for single occupancy £168
Double or twin room for double occupancy £182
St James’s Suite £302
Reciprocal members & guests
Single ensuite £156 (£98*)
Single with small shower £137 (£87*)
Double or twin room for single occupancy £196
Double or twin room for double occupancy £215
St James’s Suite £335
* Special rate on Friday, Saturday, Sunday
and bank holidays
MEMBERSHIP CARDS
Members are required to carry their membership
cards at all times when visiting the club, and
present them on arrival. It is essential that they are
produced when signing for charges to accounts.
GIFT SUGGESTIONS FROM
THE SECRETARY’S OFFICE
Ties
Silk woven tie in club
colours. £20
Scarf
£17
Hatband
£15
Cufflinks
Enamelled cufflinks
with club crest,
chain or bar. £24.50
Blazers
£395 (navy) £350 (sports)
Waistcoat
£160
Umbrellas
Short. £20
Long. £25
Bow ties
Tie your own and,
for emergencies,
clip on. £20
Napkin
hook
£40
Blazer buttons
Double breasted. £50
Single breasted. £35
Rugby ball
£25
Club shield
£35
Cut glass tumbler
Engraved with club
crest. £30
The East India Club
– A History
by Charlie Jacoby.
An up-to-date look at the
characters who have made
up the East India Club. £10
The Gentlemen’s
Clubs of London
New edition of
Anthony Lejeune’s
classic. £28
Decanter
£85
Notelets
£3.75
Polo shirt
In red or black,
L, XL, XXL. £28
Mug
£14
Golf tees
Tin of 50 ‘personalised’
East India golf tees. £7.75
Compact
mirror
£22
V-neck jumper
Lambswool in
burgundy, L, XL,
XXL. £55
Chocolate mint
creams £8
Golf balls
Titleist golf balls. Bearing
club crest. £29 per dozen
View from the
garden
Print of the club
exterior. £65
Post and packing for non-breakables from
£3. Breakable items are for collection
from the club instead of posting.
CLUB WINE:
See page 17 for details
Club diary
April 2018
18 Young members’ dinner
25 Wellington Barracks visit
26 St George’s day dinner
May
7 Bank holiday
9 AGM
18 Evening of jazz
21 Wine Tour of Bordeaux
28 Bank holiday
June
9 RAF Ball
July
1 Cricket match vs Chobham
13 Jazz barbecue
17 Wine tasting
August
27 Bank holiday
September
19 Library lecture and dinner
21 Evening of jazz
24 Lord Mayor’s luncheon
21 Grouse dinner
Sunday lunch
On most Sundays, a sumptuous
lunch buffet is provided to the
accompaniment of a pianist.
Bank holidays
Bars and catering are closed over
bank holidays from after breakfast
on Sunday throughout Monday.
Accommodation and continental
breakfast are provided.
East & West
Editor: Charlie Jacoby
07850 195353 cj@charliejacoby.com
Designer: Chris Haddon
07792 515056 info@chrishaddon.co.uk
Sub-editor: Lucy Sloan
Photography: Phil McCarthy. To download or
order photography, login to the members’
area of EastIndiaClub.com and select event
photography
Printed by: Colour 3 (ColourCubed.co.uk)
Published on behalf of The East India Club by
Charlie Jacoby, c/o The East India Club
www.charliejacoby.com
Cover photo: the Front Hall
Sport was a rollercoaster throughout autumn, winter and
spring. Showing a more reliable pattern, club events included
Christmas festivities, popular dinners with a Scottish and
English theme, and a general feeling of oasis in St James’s.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
2017 concluded with a busy club
programme, on consecutive nights in
December, including the tri clubs party
and carol concert, featuring the impressive
Gentlemen of Hampton Court. These events
were well supported and a good number of
members demonstrated serious festive cheer
and stamina in attending both in the run-up to
our Christmas closure. We reopened in January
with the traditional staff party, where staff and
their partners celebrate, and your committee
act as barmen for the evening as a mark of
appreciation for their efforts. On that note I
am pleased to report that members have once
again been generous in their donations to the
staff fund which maintained the higher levels
seen in 2016. I would also like to congratulate
Tim Wilks who has recently completed 30
years’ employment with the club.
The chairman speaking at the members’ and
daughters’ dinner
Club plans for 2018 include a continuation
of the room refurbishment programme as
12 rooms on the first and second floors are
due to be upgraded.
Phase one is already
well underway and the
second floor should be
completed by the end of March.
We are also planning to refresh
the website, in particular
to provide a more interactive approach
allowing members additional functionality
and improving member communications. I
can however confirm that the East & West
magazine will continue to be published three
times a year.
The calendar for the first quarter has
already produced memorable events. The
dinner for fathers and daughters was an
After the disappointment
of losing the Ashes, there
was extra anticipation for
the Six Nations
excellent evening with businesswoman and
television personality Dr Margaret Mountford
providing sound career advice for the next
generation as well as recalling the lighter
moments of working with Lord Sugar on The
Apprentice. Another speaker of merit, Dr
David Purdie, once again supplied the cultural
side of the Burns’ Night supper. I congratulate
Andy MacDonald who has taken on the role
of organiser for this celebration of all things
Scottish. He has a tough act to follow but
received the president’s seal of approval after
another successful night.
The UK has been hit by many beasts from
the East. According to our recent library
lecture, this could refer to Vladimir Putin. Club
member Franz Sedelmayer presented his
autobiographical book Welcome to Putingrad
which recounted his business experiences
in St Petersburg as Russia, under Presidents
Yeltsin and then Putin, descended into a
kleptocracy with state-sponsored organised
crime. This was topical coming shortly after
the popular McMafia TV drama. Only a few
weeks later, the events in Salisbury provided a
more chilling reminder that this country is not
insulated from the actions of the Russians. It
was 10 years ago that former KGB operative
Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London
and by eerie coincidence his widow Marina
was a guest at the club for Franz’s lecture.
After the disappointment of losing the Ashes
over the winter, as much for the performance
as the result, there was extra anticipation for
the 2018 Six Nations championship. It was
a rollercoaster tournament with all home
nations capable of winning on any particular
day. Ireland was deserved victor of the grand
slam. In the club, the rugby lunches, organised
by Matt Ebsworth, continue
to be a draw.
Next, we host the young
members’ dinner and,
after that, the St George’s
Day dinner, a key date in
the diary is guaranteed to
boost English morale. Looking further ahead
we will be staging a club ball on Saturday 9
June and the ever popular Jazz barbeque in July.
In addition we have the debentures available
for Lords and the Ascot box for the Royal
meeting. Let us hope for a glorious summer
and I urge you to sign up for these events and
take advantage of the club’s social activities.
Duncan Steele-Bodger, chairman
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
2 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
3

NEWS
NEWS
The club’s sporting programme takes place all year round, with
enthusiasm for all kinds of minor sports, and the big spectator
sports of cricket and rugby well served by our debentures.
GOLFERS’ FULL SEASON
by Ben Hurworth
Captain’s Day, our last golfing event
of the year at Worplesdon had Alan
Botterill (38 pts) ahead of Ian Holmes
(32) with club chairman Duncan Steele-
Bodger third (31). John Luke was nearest the
pin and Adam Stevens achieved the longest
drive. John Braithwaite defeated James Bell
in the final of the Millennium Cup.
Our day at the Ascot races utilising the
club box was fun and will be repeated this
year. Chris Salmon and Leigh Evans, certainly
frightened the bookmakers, selecting the
winning horse in each of the first five races.
In November we resurrected and hosted
the annual dinner with Royal Blackheath GC.
Christmas lunch at the club allowed us
to reminisce on the season past and look
forward to the next – good food, wine,
carols and joke telling being the traditional
ingredients.
Chris Salmon and Leigh Evans at Ascot. There are
still dates for all members to book the club’s box at
Ascot. Please contact the secretary
Our new year commenced with two formal
dinners, one at the club with the Bar Golfing
Society, the other hosted by our friends at
the Caledonian Club. Mike Lewis was the
after dinner speaker at the EPICS annual
dinner in March.
Our golfing meetings this year are at our
old favourites, St George’s Hill, Woking, New
Zealand and Worplesdon. In addition we
have matches against Farmers’ Club, Reform
Club, Oriental Club, Caledonian Club, Royal
Blackheath, Wrotham Heath, The Bar and a
new fixture against Huntercombe.
The tour this September will be revisiting
Perth and will be hosted by the Royal Perth
Golfing Society.
We welcome new members, young and
mature and of all abilities; our programme is
posted on the club notice board and detailed
on our section of the club website.
If you wish to become an EPIC then add your
name to the list on the notice board or contact
the captain at benhurworth@yahoo.co.uk
Celebration as RAF hits its century
It’s the year to reach in and find your
inner Biggles. This year not only
celebrates 100 years of the RAF but
also 75 years since the Dambusters’ Raid. To
mark the anniversary, the club is holding a
ball to honour all the men and women who
shaped the RAF over the past 100 years.
Ian Holmes, Alan Botterill and Duncan Steele-
Bodger at Worplesdon
The evening will include a Champagne
reception, dinner with wine and port, music
from the 1940s by eight-piece band Down
for the Count. Dress code is period dress or
black tie. Tickets are £120 and guests are
limited to three per member. Please contact
the secretary or book via the booking slip.
Sports shorts
Polo
Good sticks
by Harman Gill
The polo section goes from
strength to strength in terms of
numbers on the mailing list (now
standing at 210) and I would like to take
this opportunity to thank members for
their continued support. We had some
great days out last year.
The 2017 season took us on two trips
to Guards’ Polo Club and one private event
at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
to watch their cadets play other military
sides. We aim to do four events this year:
meet at the club late morning, drive up in
a minibus, spectate the polo with fellow
members and their guests, enjoy drinks in
spectacular polo venues and return late
afternoon to the club.
Rowing
Mileage
makes
champions
by Rory Hunt and Ron Collins
As we approach the peak of the
English Social Season that is
Henley Royal Regatta, and
the time approaches to dust off the old
boating blazer, it also means that the
club’s rowing section is sorting out its
social plans, which will include tables in
the Leander members’ marquee for lunch
during Henley week. We are also looking
to invite a senior rowing guest or two
to join our party. Meanwhile, the spring
brings with it two events, the first being
the end of the head season and big races.
The club entered an eight into the Head
of the River Race on Sunday 11 March.
Other members watched from Auriol
Kensington, which also hosted members
and guests for the Boat Race in what
turned out to be a triumphant year for
Cambridge. Not since 1997 had the Light
Blues beaten their age-old rivals in all
four of the men’s and women’s Blues and
reserve races.
High rollers
The club’s casino evening flouts every
moral uttering on gambling you may
have heard in the past few months.
The reasons is that, despite the genuinely
happy faces of J7s and their guests who
were winning, the money they were using
is not real. The emotion is real enough, and
a superb evening in the Smoking Room
to the accompaniment of a band saw the
creation of plenty of new James Bonds and
Vesper Lynds.
There were winners...
Snooker
Baize brilliance
by Hassan Zamir
Presided over by the everenthusiastic
Alan Kurtz, the draw
for the London clubs’ competition
gave us a bye in the first round this year. Last
year, we lost in the semi-final to tournament
winner Brooks’s.
We played the St James’s Cup vs the RAC
away in October. The teams field six players
each. Luke Gibson and Dave Creamer made
their debut appearances for the club. At the
break for dinner, we trailed 4-2, needing to
win all the doubles frames to retain the cup.
Steady performances from Jack Swindon and
Luke Gibson left the match hanging on the
final frame.
Riddled with misses and flukes, Dave Creamer
took a long black over the top corner for
the match. The RAC will be determined to
get their revenge.
Oxford & Cambridge played their first
friendly match against us on our tables. We
played confidently throughout and, with the
welcome return of stalwart Bradley Stanton,
we were 7-2 winners, despite the high break
of the evening of 29 from O&C captain David
Bolton.
Look out for the new interclub individual
tournament at the start of the summer.
Interested? email eastindiasnooker@
outlook.com
There were big winners...
...and there were losers
A spectacular night at the tables
Eastindiaman
Photo found pinned to the noticeboard. The
club reminds members of the dress code
while in the club. What members look like
outside the club is, of course, up to them.
More shorts
Straight shots
Shooting members (left-right): Dr Peter Lilius,
Henry Armstrong, Steve Revell, William Downie
and Jim Lyon
Members of the club shooting
section gathered in South
Devon in early December
for a challenging day of high swirling
pheasants in the South Hams, writes
William Downie. This is the sixth year in
succession that members have enjoyed a
day’s game shooting at Gara Barton and
the excellent hospitality provided by the
owners, John and Sue Potter. The club
team is now regarded as family and always
receives the heartiest welcome. The
trip to Devon no longer just includes the
game shooting. Culinary evenings are now
an integral part of the weekends to be
enjoyed by all those attending. Organised
for this season was a visit to a local Italian
restaurant on the Friday for a wine tasting
and supper followed by a steak dinner at
a local hostelry on the Saturday at which
members were allowed to open their own
wine for a private tasting. For the 2018/19
season a pheasant day and a snipe day
in North Devon are being organised
alongside some interesting culinary
evening events.
Battlefield tour
Club members are due to set off on a
battlefield tour of Anzio and Monte
Cassino on 13 April (after East &
West goes to press). Led by Major General
Sir Sebastian Roberts, it includes visits
to Monte Cassino abbey, cemetery, the
battlefield of Anzio and some time in Rome.
Backgammon
With a couple of matches left to
play, the club is lying seventh
in the London clubs’ league,
equal with Home House and ahead of the
Groucho and the Chelsea Arts Club. Go to
LondonBackgammonLeague.com
4 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
5

SUMMER SPORTS
The club’s yacht squadron commodore commends the Arrow
Trophy to members, an inter-schools series of races in the
Solent in which he took part in 2017. And the man who
organises it all is booked to speak to members.
SACRED COWES
Richard Sainsbury, chairman of
the Arrow Trophy management
committee, is due to speak at the
club yacht squadron’s annual fitting out
supper on 12 April (after East & West goes
to press).
The Arrow Trophy is a sailing competition
between independent schools, raced as
an annual weekend regatta, in one-design
yachts crewed by former pupils. Pictures
on this page were taken by the club’s own
commodore, Jim Miller, who last year crewed
the Carthusian boat, with a spectacular
Afterguard, helmed by a former skipper
of Great Britain, with a Flying Dutchman
world champion on Trim, a current Royal
Southampton YC double-hander champion
at Tactician and a former commodore of
RORC at Crew Boss.
The event takes place on the challenging
waters of the Solent, aboard Sunsail’s fleet
of F40 yachts. The yachts are collected
from Port Solent (Portsmouth) on Friday,
and sailed, or motored, over to Cowes Yacht
Haven. The organising authority is the Royal
London Yacht Club and the race format is
short fleet racing on Saturday, finishing up in
Cowes late afternoon, followed by the Arrow
Trophy dinner at Cowes Yacht Haven.
The top four teams from the fleet races
then go into a series of match races on
Sunday to determine the overall winner
of the Arrow Trophy, whilst the remaining
Mikado, possibly the oldest yacht racing in the UK,
here raced by Lord Briggs of Westbourne with the
Chichester Cruiser Racing Club, approaching the
Carthusian boat 4024 for a close sail past under
full sail between races one and two, during the
2017 Arrow Trophy
Looking back at about 230 degrees to the
windward mark, Egypt Point behind
competitors fleet race to determine the
winner of the Charterhouse Bowl. In total,
there are five trophies to be won.
Most crews choose to sleep on board the
yachts, but there are rooms available at the
various Cowes yacht clubs and B&Bs and
links are supplied on the race schedule page.
Sunsail’s F40 fleet has been developed
from the Beneteau First 40. Whilst Sunsail
say these can be operated by an experienced
crew of eight, we require a minimum of nine
An Old Carthusian steers his boat to another
second out of 24 in race two of the 2017 trophy
Boats tucked up in Squadron Haven
crew (maximum of 12) and are allowing up to
three declared ‘ringers’ who are not former
pupils of the school they are sailing for.
The spinnaker is 128 square metres of sail
(dip pole system) and needs firm handling!
Onboard sleeping accomodation is eight. For
more, visit ArrowTrophy.org.uk
Advance warning: the annual laying up
supper will be held this year on Friday 9
November 2018.
Cricket
Sports tourers
by Ed Case
The cricket section is going
from strength to strength
after celebrating its ten-year
anniversary with a fantastic dinner with
Clive Lloyd last October. The section is
now gearing up for another busy season
with ten plus fixtures already confirmed
and several more, including a tour, in the
pipeline.
Socials and net sessions (which are
also very sociable) at both Lords and the
Oval have been planned for between now
and the start of the season in May. Due
to the number of games that we have,
we are always looking for people to join
the section and make their debut for the
club, regardless of cricketing ability. If you
are interested in getting involved in any
capacity, please email eastindiacricket@
gmail.com
Cricket 2018 calendar
11 April, 7-9pm, nets (training), Lords
19 April, 7-9pm, nets (training), Oval
26 April, 7-9pm, nets (training), Oval
20 May, match, opposition TBC,
location Greenwich
3 June, match, vs Rascals CC ,
Ticehurst, East Sussex
10 June, match, vs Carlton Club,
Greenwich Park
13 June, match, vs RAC, Battersea Park
16 June, match, vs Errantes CC,
Greenwich Park
24 June, match, vs Oriental Club,
St Dunstans College, London
1 July, match, vs Chobham CC
21 July, match, vs Chelsea Arts Club,
Harrow School
28 July, match, vs Matfield Green CC,
Surrey
5 August, match, vs Crown Taverners CC,
Surrey
25 August, match, vs Blindley Heath CC,
Surrey
9 September, match, vs Old Paulines CC,
Thames Ditton
The club’s side in Malta
In the second of the club’s members’ and daughters’ dinners, businesswoman and TV celebrity
Dr Margaret Mountford gave the after-dinner speech. She gave both generations career advice
and touched on some of the funnier moments working with Lord Sugar on The Apprentice.
MEMBERS’ & DAUGHTERS’ DINNER
Drinks in the Smoking Room followed
by dinner gave both members and
their daughters a full evening’s
entertainment. Best known for her role in
television’s The Apprentice, Dr Mountford is
a successful businesswoman as well. After
working as a lawyer with Herbert Smith,
she took on roles as non-executive director
at Amstrad and Georgica. She also chairs
the board of governors of St Marylebone,
an inner-London Church of England
comprehensive school.
Gordon and Fiona Kenneth
Richard Wheeler and Joanna Hook
Michael and Phoebe Blythin
Dr Margaret Mountford
Daniel Cartwright and Niamh Cartwright
Mark and Isabel Fisher
Chris and Victoria Payne
Finding the funny in a cheese-topped bunny
by Mark Leach, chef de cuisine
Recently a diner at the club
commented that the menu is
wrong and that Welsh rarebit is
misspelt as Welsh rabbit. This is not a
typing error. Most establishments which
serve it describe it as rarebit, but it was
originally known as rabbit. The East India
Club is not, and never will be, like ‘most’
establishments.
There is no evidence that the Welsh
actually originated Welsh rabbit although
they have long had the reputation for
having a passion for it. A 14th century text
tells the tale that the Welsh were being
troublesome in heaven. St Peter went
outside the pearly gates and shouted
‘caws pobi’, Welsh for toasted cheese,
whereupon the Welsh rushed out and the
gates shut behind them. Andrew Boorde
in his Fyrst Boke of the Introduction
of Knowledge of 1542 wrote: ‘I am a
Welshman, I do love cause boby (sic) -
good roasted cheese’.
During the 17th and 18th centuries,
‘Welsh’ (to the English) meant inferior or
a substitute. A ‘Welsh pearl’ was a poor
quality or false pearl and to use a Welsh
comb was to pull your fingers through
your hair. Welsh rabbit is another joke:
they can’t afford rabbit meat to feed their
families.
The first literary record of Welsh rabbit
comes in John Byron’s Literary Remains
of 1725: ‘I did not eat of cold beef, but of
Welsh rabbit and stewed cheese’. It was
another 60 years before Francis Grose
recorded the name Welsh ‘rarebit’ in his A
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
So who is right? We turn to Fowler. In
his 1926 edition of The Dictionary of
Modern English Usage, grammarian HW
Fowler states strongly: ‘Welsh Rabbit
is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is
stupid and wrong’. Perhaps it is more
about the joke. According to the American
satirist Ambrose Bierce, in his 1911 Devil’s
Dictionary: ‘Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in
the speech of the humorless, who point
out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may
be solemnly explained that the comestible
known as toad in the hole is really not a
toad, and that ris de veau a la financiere is
not the smile of a calf prepared after the
recipe of a she-banker”. To that, I would
add mock turtle soup, Bombay duck and,
thankfully, spotted dick. For me, it will
always be Welsh rabbit, and long may the
rabbit be rampant.
FATHERS & DAUGHTERS
6 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
7

LIBRARY LECTURES
The remarkable racing journalist, radio and television presenter
Brough Scott came to the club, as did former doctor and now
comedian Adam Kay, both with their new books in hand, and
both to deliver superb library lectures
CHURCHILL ON HORSES
Y
ou may not know how important
horses were to that great
Englishman Winston Churchill.
Brough Scott’s book Churchill at the Gallop:
Winston’s Life in the Saddle reveals how
they were his escape in childhood, his
challenge in youth, his transport in war,
his triumph in sport and his diversion in old
age. In an evening lecture in the Smoking
Room, followed by dinner and a questionand-answer
session with the author, Brough
Scott followed in Churchill’s hoofprints from
galloping his pony around the grounds of
in Leicestershire and breeding racehorses
near his home in Kent, with a short interlude
out of the saddle winning a war.
Brough Scott and his book, Churchill at the Gallop
Parts and
labour
A
dam Kay first specialised in
obstetrics and gynaecology – or
‘parts and labour’ as he calls it. He is
now a commentator on the state of the NHS
generally and doctoring in particular. The
British like to face adversity with humour,
and Adam deals with one of the country’s
most adverse subjects in fabulously dry
style. In This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries
Adam Kay in full flow
It is billed as ‘the incredible story of the only man to collect money from Vladimir Putin’, and it
happened to a member. Franz Sedelmayer has catalogued his dealings with modern Russia in a
new book, Welcome to Putingrad. He came to the club to tell his story to members and guests,
including human rights activist Marina Litvinenko .
HOW TO DEAL WITH VLAD THE IMPROPER
Franz Sedelmayer’s story – as told in
the club at the library lecture – starts
in Russia in the 1990s, where he set
about building a successful police supply
and training company. One of his biggest
supporters was St Petersburg’s young
deputy mayor, a former KGB lieutenant
colonel named Vladimir Putin. The two
bonded. For Putin, Franz created and trained
the KGB’s first western-style SWAT team.
in 2006. She says of Franz’s book, “Many
people have been wronged by the Kremlin.
Few dared to fight back. Franz Sedelmayer
did — and won!”
Franz says there is a Russian saying
attributed to Putin that defines the
current situation in Russia succinctly: “For
my enemies, the law, for my friends,
everything.”
He adds, “I shake my head
in disbelief and wish for the
Volodya [Vladimir] I knew
in St Petersburg.
Unfortunately
for me – and
the rest of the
world as well –
that particular
Volodya is as
dead as Boris Nemtsov or Sacha Litvinenko.
He’s been replaced by an evil meme, a
greedy zombie, a caricature of the manly
man: Putin the Great bareback on a horse,
Putin the Brave in scuba gear, Putin the
Deadly on the shooting range, Putin the
Athlete playing ice hockey with the national
team, Putin the Ninja in the
dojo, tossing opponents
left and right.“
LIBRARY LECTURE
A packed Smoking Room listens to the author
An elderly Winston Churchill out riding
Blenheim Palace, to topping the riding class
whilst army training at Sandhurst, taking
part in a famous cavalry charge in Sudan
– some say the British army’s last cavalry
charge – playing polo in India, hunting foxes
A message from the Pigeon Loft
by Alan Taylor
Sitting in our garden in the middle of
the square (having first borrowed
the key from our front desk), the
pigeon lofter recalled with particular
pleasure walking into the hills of southern
Spain about a mile from the coast. He had
just left the top of one of the hills and
was beginning the return stretch when he
took a break, and leaned against the wall
of a derelict farm.
A number of goats came over the brow
of the hill. All of a sudden he found himself
confronted by 70 of them, with two dogs
in charge of the herd in the middle of
them. They all stood – ‘nor breath’, as the
The Duke of Westminster, Coco Chanel and Winston
boarhunting in France
poet has it, ‘nor motion’ – looking at him.
With no imminent arrival of a herdsman,
the pigeon lofter was completely on his
own. It will not surprise anyone to hear
that he took immediate action. Looking
at the dogs he patted his leg and said:
“Aren’t you coming to say ‘hello’?”. At once
the first dog came up, stood in front of
him and lowered its head to receive a
gentle pat. Then the pigeon lofter pointed
down the track and said, “Off you go,”
and away it dashed, followed by half of
the goat herd. The rest remained with
the second dog which was waiting to
be called forward for its pat. Then it was
their turn to be off. At that moment the
herdsman appeared, all smiles and ready
Library committee chairman St John Brown
of a Junior Doctor, he shows hospital
doctors, and in particular himself, as poorly
paid, undervalued and grossly neglected
professionals who are unfailingly willing to
give up their own time for free to do battle
with the health of the nation. And still he
makes it funny.
to exchange a few words before catching
up with the herd.
Before returning to the clubhouse,
the pigeon lofter thought with pleasure
how easy it is to establish contact with
club members, too, even with those he
has never met before.This is particularly
effortless at the club table. On arrival,
young and old introduce themselves and
the conversation stays general for a while
until two or three hit on a topic which
particularly interests them. But beware.
It can take hold of you. Not long ago
this pigeon lofter and another member
maintained a conversation of nearly three
hours. Is that a record? Probably not. It
would not be wise for the pigeon lofter
to impart this to those dogs in charge of
the goat herd in Spain. It might discourage
them from having another meeting.
Franz Sedelmayer signed copies of his book
Maybe, by Russian standards, Franz
was too successful. In 1996, his Russian
company was expropriated by President
Boris Yeltsin. Putin, ambitious, political, and
ruthless, let it happen. And because he did,
he landed his first Moscow post.
Franz sought arbitration and won – but
Russia refused to pay damages. Undeterred,
Franz waged a 20-year campaign against
the Kremlin and its current president, his
former friend. He foreclosed on Russian
state property in western Europe. Incredibly,
Franz is the only individual ever to collect
money from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Among guests at the lecture was author
and human rights activist Marina Litvinenko,
widow of former Russian Federal Security
Service officer Alexander Litvinenko, who
was poisoned by the Russians in London
Dinner and questions-and-answers took place in
the East India Room
8 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
9

RUGBY
RUGBY
It is 10 years since Jonathan Taylor organised a team for the
Heineken 10s tournament followed by the club rugby’s first XV
match against Chiswick. This season, matches include Merlins,
London Japanese and Sherborne Pilgrims.
CLUB COMPETES HARD
Despite the sapping mud and cold
for both sides a surprisingly fastmoving
match against the Merlins
took place in February. Although a defeat
for the club, skills and endeavour where on
show in this heavy-going fixture.
A gallery of pictures are in event
photography in the members are of the
club’s website.
The season concludes with a match
against Hampstead.
Players, including section chairman James
Hornigold (right)
Keenly contested line-outs
Simon Horner touches down for the club
JPR’s lunch
The rugby lunches take place in the
days before England’s Six Nations
matches. Organised by Matthew
Ebsworth, they included a memorable lunch
before the Wales game with speaker JPR
Williams. Held as a question-and-answer
session with first Matthew, then members
and guests asking the questions, John
Williams charmed the audience with his
honest and straightforward replies.
The match the following day at
Twickenham saw England beat Wales
12-6, but the day before – even with some
admission that it might go that way – there
was fire in the Welsh who attended.
JPR next to his picture in the Rugby Room
Jacob Bray bulldozes over
Muddy but unbowed: the club side that played Merlins
Drinks in the Clive Room before lunch
Hugh Orton runs hard at the opposition
Neil Wharton refereed in difficult conditions
Matthew Ebsworth (left) talks to John
Forward rucking to set up the backs
Simon Bright majestically hoofs the ball
The club side and the London Japanese team They won 42-35. We scored one more try but less conversions
The Dining Room was full for lunch
10 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
11

EVENTS
You cannot beat Burns for pure expression of English, and so
here is his description of what Burns Night has become:
‘Some hae meat and canna eat, and some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit.’
HIGHLAND HEARTS
The Scottish made their presence felt
for the club’s annual Burns Night
celebration. Members and guests
gathered in the Smoking Room for drinks,
and then went downstairs to the Dining
Room for Scottish fare led by the great
chieftain o’ the puddin’-race, the haggis.
Organised by Andy Macdonald and attended
by Micky and Muff Steele-Bodger, whose
idea it originally was, the evening included
poems, speeches and a lecture about the
life of Robbie Burns, delivered by Dr David
Purdie. And as for Micky? ‘Gie him strong
drink until he wink...’
Katie Dowding replies for the lassies
The arrival of the haggis
Keith Wallace addresses the haggis – sort of
The club’s musical life swells and fills the clubhouse. It reached
St James’s Church over Christmas with the tri clubs’ carol
service. Back at the clubhouse are the evenings of jazz.
SPIRITUAL JAZZ
Spike Wells is no ordinary musician. A
recording by Dizzy Gillespie sparked
his interest in jazz. He took up the
drums in his early teens and later had lessons
with former Miles Davis drummer Philly Joe
Jones. He read Greats at Oxford, where he
met former club chairman Iain Wolsey, and
qualified as a solicitor. After practising law
for 22 years, he developed a strong sense of
vocation that led him to become a deacon in
the Church of England when he was 49 and
a year later to take early retirement from the
bank and become a stipendiary curate at St
Peter’s Church, Brighton. He now works as
both a priest and a musician, and brought his
choice of musicians to the club in February.
The Spike Wells trio underway
Tri club carols
As a prelude to the winter party, the
club joins the other two clubs in
St James’s Square for a joint carol
service at St James’s Piccadilly. Members
and guests from the East India, the Rag and
the In & Out feel how much they are part of
th St James’s parish community, thanks to
the church’s remarkable vicar, the Rev Lucy
Winkett, well-known to listeners of BBC
Radio 4’s Today programme.
Our Christopher Wren-designed church is
a centre of worship throughout the year, and
also has a world-class reputation for classical
music concerts, which also take place all year
round, too. Among musical treats in May
are Brahms’ Symphony No 4 in E minor and
music by the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir.
For more, visit SJP.org.uk
CHRISTMAS
Three clubs come together in their parish church
Members and guests in the Smoking Room
Spike talks us through the tunes
The protagonists
Fishing
We learn how Holy Willy meets Cutty Sark
thanks to Donald McPherson
Club carol
concert
Members and guests filled the church
Casting
competition
Some but not much fishing was had in
the winter months. Among activities,
the section went grayling fishing at
Wherwell. Highlight of the season was the
annual dinner and casting competition. After
an excellent supper, in company with the
Lawyers’ Fishing Club, and after listening to
angling poetry by Alasdair Shaikh, members
and guests went to the East India Room
for the annual casting competition, where
fixtures and fittings take the place of eddies
and swirls.
Now summer is upon us, we are looking
forward to a series of reservoir days and the
section’s rented water on the Loddon.
Members and guests in the East India Room
The casting competition commences
Carl Statham
Joint winners Stephen Beverley (left) and
Jonathan Stevens from the Lawyers’ Fishing Club
In a break with tradition, the club fielded
professional singers for its annual carol
concert, rather than an invited schools
choir. The Gentlemen of Hampton Court
produced a glorious collection of carols both
for them selves to sing and for members and
guests to join in.
Members and guests enjoyed drinks, dinner...
The Gentlemen of Hampton Court led the singing
...and carols
The chairman gives a reading
Caricaturist at the party in the club afterwards
12 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
13

MEMBER PROFILE
In September 2017, Andrew Farquharson set out from the East India Club to the Islamabad
Club in Pakistan. Nothing unusual in that, except he decided to travel there in his Land Rover
Defender via the ’stans and China. Pour that man a drink.
TOOLING OVER THE KHUNJERAB PASS
Andrew Farquharson visited the
Islamabad Club in 2009 and thought
at the time what a good idea it
would be to arrive there from the UK in his
own vehicle. After planning and research
regarding visas and vehicle permissions, the
vehicle was primed and the adventure set.
He chose a route through Europe to
Slovenia, then the Balkans into Bulgaria.
The Land Rover took him across the north of
Turkey to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,
through the Dagestan part of Russia, around
the north of the Caspian Sea and all the
’stans before climbing into China.
One of the high spots was crossing
the highest border post in the world, the
Khunjerab Pass into Pakistan. At more than
5,000 metres, it also has the highest ATM in
the world. Timing was important. The entry
from China into Pakistan was determined by
the snowfall in the Karakoram mountains.
“There had been snow in early October,”
says Andrew, “and when
“
Twenty-two
countries, two
months, 8,500
miles and
worth every
moment
we approached around the
23rd of the month, quite
a lot more had fallen. This
is a major trading route for
China and they keep it open
as long as possible but still
it means the route will be
closed from around the end of
October to early April. After the oppression
we witnessed in China the welcome in
Pakistan was quite
overwhelming and the first thing they offer
you at the customs and immigration is a cup
of tea.”
The drive down the KKH (Karakoram
highway) was spectacular – “albeit a little
scary with the overwhelming number of
black Taliban flags north of Gilgit,” he says.
“After a night in this town we were escorted
by four different armed policemen who rode
inside my Land Rover until they felt we were
out of the danger zone.”
Then to Islamabad and Lahore. It was 22
countries, two months and around 8,500
miles – “and worth every moment”.
The Islamabad Club is well positioned
at the top end of the main Murree Road
to Rawalpindi, and has a golf course and
riding academy alongside it. These have
pleasant walking tracks through them.
There are various dining options including
the pool café and a dining area at the golf
club, together with a casual and smart dress
restaurant in the main clubhouse.
“The only thing it misses is a
licensed bar as cups of tea and fruit
juice do not quite have the same
effect after a long day trudging
round the city,” says Andrew. “This
means it doesn’t have the same
feel as the bar at the East India.
The club does however have quite
a family feel to it, and it is quite nice seeing
younger people escaping from the dust of
the city.”
The club’s relationship with wine matures and refines with
events to mark our long association with the club claret,
Château Reynier, and tastings for port and white wine.
FORTY YEARS OF REYNIER
by David Cartwright
M
arc and Agnes Lurton came to the
club to celebrate our 40th year
buying Château Reynier. Their 40
hectares (100 acres) of rolling countryside
in the Entre-Deux-Mers region, southeast
of Bordeaux, close to the picturesque
village of Grezillac, is centred around a
chateau that dates back to the 15th century
and was, we understand, a staging post
for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de
Compostela in Spain. Marc told the story of
his internationally famous family (which own
such names as La Louviere, Brane Cantenac,
Dufort Vivens), how his grandfather sold his
half of Château Margaux to buy Clos Fourtet
which eventually led to providing each of his
sons with their own chateau. Marc’s father,
Dominique, was given Château Reynier,
Andre Château Bonnet and Lucien Château
Bran Cantenac.
John Owen, wine committee chairman 40
years’ ago, was already familiar with Château
Reynier wines through his wine company
Fields. After identifying, selecting, tasting
and discussing a number of wines the club
selected it and, through Marc and his father,
the relationship was formed.
Since that time, I firmly believe (and
members obviosly agree - as we consume
some 10,000 bottles of club claret each
year) that the quality of Marc’s wine has not
only been maintained, but has improved.
In addition, the club has benefitted
through the most advantageous price
that Marc gives us, particularly when one
considers that Marc is willing then to store
it for us (fully insured) and free of charge,
currently for some five years, as club
members like our club claret to have some
age and maturity.
Marc’s wine is bred to accompany food
and for this reason, along with the value
for money it provides, it is so popular in the
dining room. Marc tries to keep the alcohol
content to a sensible 12.5%.
He does all this, despite the vagaries of
winemaking. Particularly difficult years were
2013 (hail stones) and 2017 (frost).
In 1997 John and fellow wine committee
member Robin Beckwith proposed and
seconded Marc to membership of the club.
Marc says that since that day he has been
proud to be a member of the club. “I feel at
home when I am staying there and everyone
is nice to me,” he says.
David Cartwright introduces Marc Lurton of
Château Reynier to members and guests
Marc and his remarkable bottle
White wine
tasting
The club head sommelier Eric
Lagré held a white wine tasting
in the Clive Room in January
specifically for young members and
guests. Next tasting is Andalusian wine
on 17 July. Please contact the secretary,
fill in the booking slip or go online to
book your space.
Eric in full flow
Rainbow of styles
by Eric Lagré, head sommelier
Having invited prominent figures
from the port industry to talk
us through their wines over the
previous two years, namely winemaker
David Guimaraens of the Fladgate
Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft
and Wiese & Krohn), Johnny Symington
then joint president of Symington Family
Estates (Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s,
Warre’s and many more brands), I would
have thought that members had had
enough of port, but the event became
fully booked instantly.
Ernest Cockburn used to say that ‘the
first duty of Port is to be red’, but white
port is produced in a variety of styles
ranging from extra-dry to very sweet (or
lágrima). If standard white port proves
rather banal on its own, it is refreshingly
first class when served as a portonic.
It is a revival in mixology that led TFP’s
managing director Adrian Bridge to
launch Croft Pink, the first ever rosé
port, back in 2008. Then in 2016, Cruz
Porto cemented their dominance of the
French market thanks to their ‘Cruz Fresco’
campaign, which invited consumers to
enjoy standard red port on ice with a slice
of orange. All the attendees tried those
wines politely, patiently waiting to move
on to more substantial styles.
As the middle classes regained buying
power after the war, they cried out for
a wine between the fiery port found in
pubs and the fine vintage ports slowly
matured in gentlemen’s clubs. Cockburn’s
answer was to launch its Special Reserve
in 1969. Thanks to the funniest of TV
campaigns (check it on YouTube) the
wine established itself as the single
best-selling brand on the market. In 1970,
Alistair Robertson of Taylor’s introduced
a filtered version of late-bottled vintage
port, close in style to vintage port. I served
the 2007 Dow’s to demonstrate how
youthful the colour of a young vintage
port looked in comparison. It was a
sacrilege to pop the cork so prematurely,
yet the chocolate-sauce quality of
the wine was delightful regardless. In
contrast, the outstanding 1992 Taylor’s,
which now graces our wine list, has
developed into a complex offering akin to
liquid fruitcake.
Many members still find the concept
of ‘classic vintage declaration” rather
mysterious. Every question on that
subject will, I hope, be answered by David
Guimaraens in the autumn. Stay tuned.
WINE
14 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
15

STAFF PROFILE
With 30 years of service at the club to his name, assistant secretary Tim Wilks is well placed
to discuss what has changed not just at the East India but across clubland. He says that the
word which defines clubland and the relationship between staff and members is ‘respect’.
A WORD FROM THE SECRETARY
by Alex Bray
SECRETARY
STAFF PROFILE
Tim Wilks
Over the last 30 years, much has
changed in London’s clubs: not
just what they offer, but the
expectation of what they should offer. Tim
observes that clubland is much busier than
when he started at the East India Club in
1987. “Standards of dining have improved
across all the clubs, and bedrooms are now
up to hotel standard,” he says.
Clubs still have the edge over hotels,
because of the relationship between
staff and members in a club, which is only
available in the most expensive hotels. ”It’s
because of the length of service we have
here,” says Tim. “The hotels have a higher
turnover of staff. Because of that, some
of them maintain a complicated indexing
system to help them keep track of and
recognise guests.”
Tim says, however, clubs are in danger
of judging themselves and what they do
against hotels. “If you do that, then you
become like a hotel,” he says. “If you try to
beat them, you join them.”
For Tim, the word that sums up the
relationship between a club’s staff and its
Tim receives his long service award from the committee
members is ‘respect’. If clubland could be said
to have an inner nobility, it is down to this. And
Tim worries that respect can easily slip away.
Among other changes to clubland in
the last 30 years are computers, internet,
email and the ease of communication. “It’s
instantaneous,” he says, and he is secretly
grateful for the move to computers. “My
handwrting is pretty terrible,” he says. “20
years ago, when we wrote out letters in
longhand and typists typed them up, only
Joan could read my writing. She could read it
even when I couldn’t read it.”
“
Clubland is business,
standards of dining have
improved across all clubs
and bedrooms are now
up to hotel standard
”
Tim believes that technology helps the
relationship between staff and members.
“All the departments in the club have more
interaction with members because they can
exchange emails,” he says. ”But I do think
one downside is that we use emails when a
phone call would cover many more points.”
Much of Tim’s job today is communication
as he manages the bedroom refurbishment.
When electricians want to switch off the
lights, Tim achieves agreement from the
other departments when to do it. Among his
bigger jobs, he managed the nine-month new
kitchen build. When the club put in a new
boiler house, it took five months,”not helped
by Westminster Council’s planners’ views on
the final colouring of the flue,” he says.
Tim married his wife Therasa in 2001 and
they live at Ashurst in the New Forest.
Membership
remained
at optimum
at the year end.
The annual renewal
window has closed
and the committee
requires the front
hall staff to be even more diligent in asking
members to show their membership card on
arrival. One helpful suggestion is a different
colour card each year to help the staff in
this important duty, or the possible option
for a card which facilitates swipe-in and use
of services when in the club. As we explore
these ideas please feel free to offer your
thoughts.
For members who, for whatever reason,
want to give up membership: you are
encouraged to send in a formal resignation
rather than simply let your membership run
out. The club likes to keep abreast of the
reasons for the ebb and flow of members.
The refurbishment of six-and-a-half
second-floor bedrooms in the middle of
the building is almost complete. It will be
followed by the refurbishment of six firstfloor
rooms in midsummer.
There are other repair and maintenance
projects on the cards for the year, all of
which are managed according to our fiveyear
rolling plan for refurbishment. This
enables the relevant committees to see
what is coming, and to guide commitments.
The big staff announcement is that at
the end of March our reliable and capable
breakfast chef Genevevo ‘Bibo’ Ratio (see
East & West, August 2012) will retire having
completed just shy of 20 years’ service.
Bibo was recruited to the club’s kitchen
by chef Mark Leach and has been a great
success. He was 70 years-old in January. He
says he is looking forward to spending more
time with his family, having a few lie-ins and
perhaps the occasional breakfast cooked for
him. We wish Bibo a very happy retirement
and thank him for his dedication to his work
and the club.
Another notable milestone is Tim Wilks,
assistant secretary club services, who in
December clocked up 30 years’ service.
Having started here when Mr M Steele-
Bodger was chairman, Tim passes 30 years
with Mr D Steele-Bodger as chairman.
ORDER THESE WINES FROM OUR WINE
MERCHANT FOR HOME DELIVERY
Wine per case of 12 bottles
Club Champagne / £155 for 6
Club white / £144
Club white Burgundy / £174
Club red (de Ciffre) / £144
Club claret / £139
All prices include VAT
Looking ahead we aim to celebrate the
100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force
with a costume ball in June and, to be
announced, a talk and dinner in September.
Any members with RAF memorabilia we
could use that they could let me borrow
please be in touch.
In the background we have been working
on preparing the club to comply with
the General Data Protection Regulations
coming into force from May 2018. As with
all businesses, we are required to have
understood how we manage personal data
and to update policy relevant to members
and staff. In addition, an update to the club’s
website is underway, with members of the
main committee having helped with the
brief.
At the very beginning of the year the staff
party took place, with thanks to the staff
panel who made the arrangements and
to those committee members who kindly
gave up their time to serve behind the bar
and to add to the occasion. Members in the
West End in January would have also been
aware of the Lumiere light festival and the
impressive installation in St James’s Square.
East India Club Wine Order Form
Please order on-line or by phone.
Davy’s Wine Merchants,
161-165 Greenwich High Road,
Greenwich, London, SE10 8JA
Tel: 020 8858 6011
Fax: 020 8853 3331
Email: sales@davy.co.uk
Website: www.davywine.co.uk/eic
ORDER THESE WINES
FROM THE ACCOUNTS
OFFICE FOR PAYMENT
AND COLLECTION
FROM THE CLUB
Wines and spirits per case of 12 bottles
Club claret £127
Club white £132
Club red (de Ciffre) £132
Club white Burgundy £162
Club Champagne (per case of 6) £149
Club Cognac VSOP per 70cl bottle £43.50
Wine
gift box
Three East
India Club
wines in a
presentation
box –
club claret,
club white
and
club white
Burgundy.
£43
Not chargeable to account. Card with handling
fee, cash or cheque.
16 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
17

OBITUARIES
MARTIN BREWER
A
former deputy chairman, doyen of
EPICS and livewire of the American
bar, Martin Brewer has died aged 88.
Born in Maidenhead in 1929 he was
originally a member of the Public Schools
Club, having attended Bradfield from 1943
to 1947. Then came national service in the
Royal Air Force, after which he went on to
join the RAFVR, where he took up flying.
A seaplane rating led to flying at Leeon-Solent
and in the Bahamas. It also led
to Martin’s part-ownership of a slightly odd
seaplane. He and a number of others formed
a syndicate known as the Seaplane Club,
which was part of the Tiger Club founded by
Norman Jones.
The syndicate got hold of a Tiger Moth
and an Aronca, took the floats off the latter
and fixed them on the former. They flew
this hybrid at weekends from the naval air
station at Lee-on-Solent until eventually
corrosion set in and the poor beast just
disintegrated, fortunately while it was on
the ground.
For ten years back in the 1950s, Martin
was also active in the Vintage Sports Car
Club. During this time he owned and raced a
series of cars that turn grown men into boys,
gazing in open-mouthed wonder. He raced
an Amilcar, a grand prix Bugatti, an ERA and
a 4.5-litre Bentley which he inherited from
his godfather. The Bentley was also used in
MIKE SMITH
by Paul Rose, Rear Commodore Racing
It is with much sadness that I must report
to you the sudden and unexpected
death of my great friend and sailing
companion, Michael ‘Mike’ Smith, the vice
commodore of the East India yacht squadron.
He suffered a heart attack and passed
away while on a business trip to Kenya in
December 2017.
Mike was one of the founding members
of the squadron. His first claim to squadron
fame was to earn the title ‘chief engineer’ on
a weekend sail in the Solent on commodore
Jim Miller’s boat Eagle. The crew encountered
problems with the starboard winch so, while
moored up at Bucklers Hard, Mike, shadowed
by the ‘padre’ Lachlan Mulholland, dismantled
the winch, cleaned and greased it, repaired
its pawl springs and then reassembled it. It
has never given trouble since.
Mike was a remarkable individual. He grew
up in Cape Town and, in the 1970s, was
called up by the South African Government
Martin Brewer
the 1959 London to Paris air race, when it
was driven in the London to Biggin Hill leg.
The next leg was flown in a Percival Proctor
and the team completed the trip to the Arc
de Triomphe in two-and-a-half hours. They
also picked up the prize for the fastest time
for any entrant using entirely their own
equipment.
His flying included some hairier
moments, such as the occasion when the
undercarriage jammed as he was flying a
Mike Smith
to undergo his national service. He chose the
navy and became a lieutenant, serving out of
Simonstown, from where he enjoyed dinghy
sailing in False Bay. Mike went on to sail as
crew on no fewer than four transatlantic
races between Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.
I remember his story of how he found himself
with barely a toe-hold footing having to ‘trip’
the spinnaker in a heavy squall in the early
hours in total darkness somewhere in the
Miles Gemini at White Waltham. “I managed
to free one leg but not the other. I was
able to save the wing and the engine and
although there was a lot of dust, there
wasn’t any blood. However, the idiot
passenger I was carrying was sick all over
me, which I could have done without.”
On another occasion icing problems
in Ireland resulted in a crash landing on
Limerick Junction racecourse in a Piper
Comanche. The end result was that the
plane was so badly damaged he and the loss
adjuster finished up taking it to pieces and
bringing it back to England in a borrowed
horse box.
He was also a member of the Royal Aero
Club, whose members included John Blake
who, among his talents, had the knack of
drawing caricatures and penning poems
about people. Martin was among his victims,
with the following contribution:
Martin Brewer I’ll never malign,
He flies if the weather is fine,
But driving old cars
And propping up bars,
Is very much more in his line.
His other sporting activities included
cricket, tennis, golf, fishing, racing, game
and target shooting and soccer, which he
played for his old school up to 1959.
He suffered a fall which put him in a coma
and he passed away peacefully five days later.
South Atlantic, which he described as just
part of racing, in the same modest manner
as one might describe the cheese trolley
at dinner in the club. Mike, however, was a
stickler for roast beef and he would snort,
clear his throat and have a quiet word with
James or, later, Peter if he found out that
beef was not on the trolley on any Thursday.
Mike’s racing talent has passed into
squadron legend. He proved himself the
best helm in the squadron. His untimely
death is a great loss to the squadron and
of course to his wife Carol, his daughter
Julia and his son Matthew, himself a
member of the squadron, to whom our
deepest sympathies go.
Mike helms to victory in the Newman VC Trophy
New members
The club welcomes the following:
CRA Anderson Esq
TW Ashley Esq
AJ Barker Esq
C Bell Esq
JEH Borgstrom Esq
JG Brearley Esq
P Buck Esq
New J7 members
The club welcomes the following:
Abingdon School
EJ Adamson Esq
L Hampden Esq
Alleyn’s School
G Hartley Esq
Ampleforth College
J Gordon Esq
Barnard Castle School
DC Custance Esq
MJ Dalton Esq
DN Hall Esq
Bedford School
C Fang Esq
Bishop’s Stortford College
W Dawkins Esq
Blundell’s School
WM Scott Esq
Bradfield College
RDP Reed Esq
Brentwood School
CL Hall Esq
Bromsgrove School
A Cox Esq
Bryanston School
O Verdon Esq
Charterhouse
BW Jackson Esq
E Puckett Esq
Cheltenham College
L Shen Esq
City of London School
B Hodgkinson-Toay Esq
P Isaacs Esq
W Zhou Esq
Clifton College
A Polyakov Esq
SR Built Esq
D Campbell Esq
W Carlisle Esq
DF Cordeaux Esq
HB Cross Esq
A Derbie Esq
R Donaghy Esq
Culford School
AE Sanderson Esq
Dauntsey’s School
HE Kiff Esq
Downside School
C Day Esq
MS Li Esq
JR Ng Esq
AH St V O’Devlin Esq
PAM Poitrinal D’Hauterives Esq
CYI Tse Esq
Durham School
A Simsek Esq
Eton College
C Clark Esq
JWM Francis Esq
Felsted School
A Bloomfield Esq
Glenalmond College
O Cannon Esq
Haberdashers’ Aske’s
Boys’
ATJ Crabtree Esq
ME Desmond Esq
A Patel Esq
Haileybury
JOM Reed Esq
Hampton School
D Kirrane Esq
Harrow School
E Bergamo Andreis Esq
LP Bergamo Andreis Esq
ASA Calindi Esq
S Helly d’Angelin Esq
Hereford Cathedral School
JJL Moore Esq
J Edgar Esq
A Feicht Esq
PM Gale Esq
AP Goucher Esq
TCJ Hardman Esq
KC Holdt Esq
G Langton Esq
WC Lingfield Esq
A Lloyd Esq
TAS Long Esq
CP Lusted Esq
Kimbolton School
JMC Blane Esq
King’s College School,
Wimbledon
OD Kelliher Esq
SN Leavitt Esq
WC Leavitt Esq
AJ Oldroyd Esq
King’s School, Bruton
GSC Airey Esq
King’s School, Canterbury
NQ Nugee Esq
R Chan Esq
CJMO De Vitry D’Avaucourt Esq
King’s School, Chester
AP Czulowski Esq
King’s School, Worcester
B Bates Esq
Kingston Grammar School
MR Pugh Esq
Malvern College
HRF Catto Esq
Manchester Grammar
School
JD Pollard Esq
Merchiston Castle School
MS Mohsin Esq
Milton Abbey
G O’Kelly Esq
THM Simpson Esq
Monmouth School
L Devonald Esq
Oratory School
YW Thorne Esq
Oundle School
LZJ Lai Esq
Perse School
FW Follows Esq
M Thompson Esq
Sir Henry Lawrence: 160 years on
by Dr Kanchan McAllister
Three Lawrence brothers, General
Sir George St Patrick Lawrence
(1804-1884), Brigadier Sir Henry
Montgomery Lawrence (1806-1857) and
Lord John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence
(1811-1879), hailed from Derry and
were educated in Foyle College. They, in
turn, went on to the East India Company
Military Seminary in Addiscombe,
Surrey. All served with military and
administrative distinction in the Punjab.
Their father Lieutenant-Colonel
Alexander William Lawrence (1764-
1835), from Coleraine, also fought in India
and achieved distinction at the forlorn
hope during the Siege of Seringapatnam.
Sir Henry, the fifth of twelve
children, was born in Ceylon in 1806,
five years before his younger brother Lord
John Lawrence. This gentle compassionate
brother was the ‘educator’ and the one
who had four schools built in India for the
children of fallen British soldiers based there.
Achieving the rank of Brigadier-General,
Sir Henry became a British soldier and
statesman in India. He married his cousin
Honoria Marshall and they had four children.
Unlike his brother Lord John Lawrence, Sir
Henry was often unpopular with authorities
due to his insistence that government
should pay attention to the welfare of the
Indian people.
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Sir
Henry earned praise for the prompt and
decisive handling of an insurrection of an
irregular native regiment near Lucknow.
However, he was wounded by an exploding
Dr JC Macartney
DP McInerney Esq
A Noel Esq
J Phillipou Esq
S Pitt Esq
P Pratelli Esq
EA Proffitt Esq
CD Rawstron Esq
KA Sandford Esq
GJ Sargent-Childs Esq
M Schlomski Esq
TG Sibbald Esq
Queen Elizabeth’s
Hospital
H Ahmed Esq
BA Trotman Esq
Radley College
RAD Eyre Esq
DM Kirchlechner Esq
S Lee Esq
C Rothbarth Esq
HJ Ryan Esq
TC Ryan Esq
JJB Sheppard Esq
P Suwannakarn Esq
Reigate Grammar School
M Baker Esq
Ridley College, Canada
JW Watson Esq
Sherborne, Qatar
WGW Niemeyer Esq
Shrewsbury International
School, Bangkok
V Ophaswongse Esq
Shrewsbury School
OJW Dixon Esq
JJB Robinson Esq
St Benedict’s School
S Lythgoe Esq
St Columba’s College, St
Albans
M Mullens Esq
J Butler-Caddle Esq
St Edward’s School,
Oxford
W Blackmore Esq
St Paul’s School
HA Johal Esq
R Patel Esq
St Peter’s School
WDC Andrews Esq
Dr A Sinha
JM Smith Esq
RE Tamraz Esq
CM Thorne Esq
G Thorpe Esq
Dr PA Tully
JO Turnbull Esq
RF Underwood Esq
M Van Horen Esq
J West-Sherring Esq
JCR Woods
Stewart’s Melville College
RJ Coyne Esq
Stowe School
J Dolder Esq
NA Smith Esq
Tonbridge School
NT Friend Esq
TB Green Esq
D Leroni Esq
Wellington College,
Berkshire
L Symonds Esq
West Buckland School
FL Dean Esq
Westminster School
CC Johal Esq
Winchester College
J Korossy Esq
M Meshkvichev Esq
SH Mossaheb Esq
MA Sribhibhadh Esq
P Uahwantanasakul Esq
MA Vitai Esq
Deceased
It is with regret we announce
the deaths of the following
members:
ML Brewer Esq
CC Garwood Esq
Comm AR Godfrey
DL Hanson Esq
JR Hinchliffe Esq
RGH Hinton Esq
AW Naisbitt Esq
ABC Philpott Esq
RH Richards Esq
CF Schuster Esq
AC Serjeant Esq
RC Speller Esq
T Thomas Esq
A Turner Esq
MM Smith Esq
The club’s portrait of Sir Henry Lawrence
shell on 2 July and died two days later.
Perhaps his most important and lasting
legacy will be the military asylums he set
up initially for the children and orphans
of British soldiers which bear his name to
this day.
This is an edited version of an article
Dr Kanchan McAllister wrote for the Foyle
school magazine.
NEW MEMBERS
18 EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
EAST & WEST – SPRING 2018
19

Reciprocal clubs
The East India welcomes members of
other clubs from all over the world,
who may use the club’s facilities as if
they were their own. A reciprocal
arrangement has been made for
members to visit these clubs when a
card of introduction, obtainable from
the club secretary, is required. These
clubs have all been chosen for their
suitability for our members but have
different facilities.
If you are going to visit any of them,
we suggest you telephone first and
find out about them. Let us have your
views on your visits and tell us if you
have found other clubs with whom we
should enter into reciprocal
arrangements or if one of these, in
your opinion, is no longer suitable.
AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town
Durban
Johannesburg
Pietermaritzburg
Polokwane
Port Elizabeth
KENYA
Nairobi
ZIMBABWE
Bulawayo
Harare
AUSTRALIA
Adelaide
Brisbane
Canberra
Hobart
Launceston
Melbourne
Newcastle
Perth
Sydney
Cape Town Club
Durban Club
Country Club of
Johannesburg
Rand Club
Victoria Country Club
Pietersburg Club
Port Elizabeth St George’s Club
Muthaiga Country Club
Bulawayo Club
] Country Club
Harare Club
Adelaide Club
Naval, Military and Air Force
Club of Adelaide
Public Schools’ Club
Queensland Club
Tattersall’s Club
Commonwealth Club
Tasmanian Club
Launceston Club
Athenaeum Club
Australian Club
Melbourne Club
Royal Automobile Club
Newcastle Club
] Western Australian Club
Weld Club
Australian Club
Union, University &
Schools’ Club
BERMUDA
Tucker’s Town
CANADA
Montreal
Saint John, NB
Toronto
Vancouver
Victoria, BC
EUROPE
Barcelona
Bilbao
Brussels
Dublin
Frankfurt
Gothenburg
The Hague
Hamburg
Luxembourg
Madrid
Oporto
Paris
Stockholm
HONG KONG
Hong Kong
INDIA
Calcutta
Mumbai
JAPAN
Tokyo
MIDDLE EAST
Bahrain
Dubai
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland
Christchurch
Dunedin
Napier
Wellington
Mid-Ocean Club
] James’s Club
University Club
] Union Club
National Club
University Club of Toronto
Albany Club
Terminal City Club
Vancouver Club
Union Club of
British Columbia
Círculo Ecuestre
Sociedad Bilbaina
] Cercle Royal Gaulois
Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club
Union International Club
] Royal Bachelors’ Club
] Nieuwe of Literaire Societeit
de Witte
] Anglo-German Club
] Cercle Munster
] Financiero Génova
] Real Sociedad Española
Club de Campo
Oporto Cricket & Lawn
Tennis Club
] Cercle de l’Union Interalliée
Travellers Club
] Sällskapet
] Hong Kong Club
] Hong Kong Cricket Club
Tollygunge Club
Royal Bombay Yacht Club
Golden Swan
Tokyo American Club
] British Club
Capital Club
Northern Club
Canterbury Club
Christchurch Club
Dunedin Club
Hawke’s Bay Club
Wellington Club
PAKISTAN
Karachi
Islamabad
SRI LANKA
Colombo
Nuwara Eliya
SINGAPORE
Singapore
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul
UK
Belfast
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Guernsey
Henley on Thames
Isle of Wight
Liverpool
London
Newcastle
upon Tyne
Perth
USA
Albany, NY
Berkeley, CA
Boston, MA
Bethesda, MD
Cincinnati, OH
Chicago, IL
Detroit, IL
Los Angeles, CA
Mountain Lake, FL
Osterville, MA
Minneapolis, MN
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
San Francisco, CA
St Louis, MO
Seattle, WA
Fort Worth, TX
Washington DC
Sind Club
Islamabad Club
Colombo Club
Hill Club
Tanglin Club
] Seoul Club
] Accommodation not available
]] Sports facilities not available
] Ulster Reform Club
New Club
Royal Scots Club
Western Club
] United Club
Phyllis Court Club
Royal London Yacht Club, Cowes
] Athenaeum Club
] City of London Club
] ]] Hurlingham Club
(membership card and
photo ID is essential )
Northern Counties Club
Royal Perth Golfing
Society & County and City Club
Fort Orange Club
Berkeley City Club
Algonquin Club
Harvard Club
Union Club
Kenwood Golf &
Country Club
Queen City Club
Standard Club
Union League Club
University Club of Chicago
Athletic Club
Riviera Country Club
Mountain Lake
Wianno Club
(open May-Nov)
Minneapolis Club
Princeton Club
Lotos Club
Metropolitan Club
Union League Club
Norfolk Yacht
& Country Club
Union League Club
] University Club
Marines’ Memorial Association
University Club
] Racquet Club
Rainier Club
Fort Worth Club
Army & Navy Club
Cosmos Club
University Club
Members are reminded that the production of a
current membership card and photo ID is essential
when visiting the Hurlingham Club. Our reciprocal clubs
usually require an introductory card which may be
obtained from the secretary’s office.