Get-together with eight members of the U.K. Malvern Hills 41 Club and their partners

Starting with the Club’s 20th Anniversary Charter Dinner in July 2004, the Club has pursued a very active Social Programme to which further reference is made below. The Anniversary Charter Dinner was held at one of Perth’s top restaurants on the Swan River – the Matilda Bay Restaurant. Our Chairman Mike Lines, with his VIP contacts, was successful in persuading Sir William Heseltine,GCB plus a few more gongs, to be our Guest Speaker. Sir William, who is Australian, was at one time, during a distinguished career, HM the Queen’s personal Private Secretary, and he gave a very interesting and informative talk, largely focused on one of his great grandfather’s life in mid 19th century Western Australia. It was an evening of nostalgia and recollection of past memories that were brought to life by the presence of all previous Chairmen of the Club – an achievement in itself – since the Club’s formation in 1983.

Readers of previous articles from this Club will know we have a monthly dinner/business meeting at a central venue in Perth. These are supplemented by numerous other activities a selection of which follows:

• Within weeks of our Anniversary Dinner, we enjoyed a very pleasant Casserole evening at the home of one of members.
• This was very soon followed by our Annual Mini-Golf Tournament with a Sausage sizzle afterwards at the home of a member who lives nearby.
• Another ‘at home’ in September, this time a social evening including a fish & chips supper.
• Before the end of 2004 we were also able to slot in such activities as a mid-week visit to the Channel Nine TV Studios.
• What has now become an Annual Cycle Ride along part of the scenic Swan River, with a welcome stop at an appropriate hostelry on route for lunch.
• We have also paid several further visits to the Matilda Bay Restaurant where we enjoyed their Sunday buffet breakfasts.
• A visit to a picturesque local winery that hosts an annual Dixieland/ Traditional Jazz concert.
• A mid-week tour of the Swan Brewery where we were able to sample some of the Brewery’s beverages.
• An enjoyable Quiz/Pizza night again at the home of one of our members.
• A talk at one of our Ladies Night dinners on the construction of a railway from the City to suburbs and towns to the south.
• A picnic at a popular river reserve.
• A mid-week tour of the largest Grain exporting terminal in the Southern hemisphere.

Before I close this dispatch there is no doubt that the highlight of the year since the Anniversary Dinner was the extremely successful get-together with eight members of the U.K. Malvern Hills 41 Club and their partners at the beginning of April. Twenty-eight members and partners of the two clubs met at another very popular restaurant, again close to the River Swan, where we all enjoyed a pleasant, talkative lunch in perfect weather. As may be expected the post-prandial fellowship that evolved, including an exchange of Club banners, carried on well into the afternoon and it was with considerable reluctance that we parted to go our separate ways. See photograph. As Ray Jones of the Malvern Hills Club said in a recent e-mail “...it was an excellent way to continue fellowship with like minded members of our world wide club”.

With Ray’s sentiments to the fore, I cannot think of a better way to end this letter apart from saying that a warm welcome awaits other members from, not only GB&I, but elsewhere in the world who may be coming to Perth on holiday or to settle.

Alan Fitt Hon. Social Secretary
kfitt@bigpond.net.au