Recent Events 2009
Good
day
Tynwald Day
I work at Greenlight Television in the Isle of Man and we are again
filming at Tynwald Day this year. It's hoped this year's feed will be
shown live over the internet via the BBC website, although these plans
have not yet been confirmed.
As an interesting take on the day, we would like to receive video
recordings of members of the various Manx associations around the
world. This could be members saying hello to people in the Isle of Man,
a recording of a previous get-together - alternatively, we're open to
ideas! We thought it would be good to get a flavour of how the Manx
National Day is celebrated further afield.
Obviously, we don't expect anyone to have broadcast quality recordings.
The day is getting ever nearer so we would appreciate it if you could
send any tapes or files asap!
Thanks and best wishes,
Kate Skinner
Greenlight Television
T +44 1624 611601
F +44 1624 611602
kate.skinner@greenlight.tv
YOUNG MANXIES** ADDITIONAL EVENT **
TYNWALD DAY COOISH 5 JULY 2009 - LUNCH IN
GRANGE PARK, ENFIELD
Marguerite and Douglas
Barr-Hamilton have very kindly invited
us to their house on Sunday 5 July at 1pm.
Meeting instructions:
12 noon at Kings Cross Station under the departure/arrival boards in the main
concourse to get the train to Grange Park.
There will be kippers and please bring food to share. If coming by car:
132 Bush Hill,
Winchmore Hill, London. N21 2BS - telephone 0208 360 8001
New members very
welcome!
Tynwald Day 2009
Our
first experience of Tynwald did not disappoint. We arrived early in St Johns, parked easily and found our seats
in the Grandstand. The big screen was
in clear view and we listened to various dignitaries explaining the history and
heritage of the occasion. Suddenly, we
were delighted to see Stewart, our President, being interviewed by Manx Radio –
proudly and capably representing us – The London Manx Society. What a great day - the pageantry, the pride
and the privilege to feel a part of this great Manx tradition! The sun shone on us the whole day. Before returning to our hotel in Douglas, we
wandered up to St Johns Mill, past a variety of live music events, to see the
Flower Festival display centred round the newly restored mill wheel.
Stewart walking back
to St Johns church following the Tynwald Hill ceremony.
Sam and Mary Weller
From: Robin
Morley
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 12:23 PM
To: VoirreyKneen@aol.com and
bepkneen@kneen.com
Subject: Tynwald Day live video stream
Dear Members
I saw your London Manx Society
website and thought you might be interested in this stream we're running on
Monday:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2009/07/02/tynwaldlive_feature.shtml
The stream will be available to view
worldwide.
Please feel free to pass on to
anyone else who might be interested - and don't hesitate to contact me if you've
any questions about it.
Kind regards
Robin Morley
BBC webteam
LMS ANNUAL LUNCH - MAY 2009
The LMS annual lunch took place at our usual venue on 18 May 2009 when we
welcomed the Librarian/Archivist from the Manx Museum, Mr Roger Sims, as our
Guest of Honour. After an excellent
lunch of pate with onion marmalade, poached fillet of salmon, followed by lemon
tart, we sang the Manx National Anthem and settled to listen to Maron
Honeybourne’s highly amusing and well thought out toast to “Land of our
Birth”. Long standing and well loved
member Maron has not been well recently, but she had us all rocking with
laughter as she regaled us with stories ranging from Manxmen in the Gold Rush,
a long lost aunt who had eloped to Canada and something about inflated goats on
a camomile lawn! She said that Manx
people are hardworking, deep thinking, self effacing, resilient, kind and brave,
and we all have an invisible chord that links Manx exiles to their Island.
Re-elected President, Stuart Christian, then welcomed our guests, Roger
and partner Maureen. This was the
second occasion that he had been invited to address the Society and members
looked forward to hearing more about the Island’s written heritage. Stuart then gave a special welcome to
Dorothy Garbutt, and said how much we shall miss Paul, who was a remarkable man
in every way and whom we all regarded as the Father of London Manx.
There were floral presentations for Maisie Sell and Veen Hill, who
celebrated their birthdays that week, and a welcome extended to Margaret’s
husband, Norman Robertson, and Peter Bridson from Wirral Manx, and his son
Ralph.
Roger said that it was an honour and a pleasure to be invited back to
talk to the Society, and how the professional care devoted to the National
archives and antiquarian books is essential for our understanding of how our
forbears lived and worked in times past.
Having been variously described as an arsonist, an alchemist or an
artist, people have a confused image of what an archivist does even tough the
importance of keeping archives was acknowledged in Ancient Greece and
Rome. On the Island, the Library
contains priceless original manuscripts, records, photographs, maps and printed
sources relating to the Manx nation and thousands of requests are made by the
general public for access and research each year. Church Records from the Isle of Man, provide a huge source of
material for research, and frequently reveal a few shocking “skeletons” that
the researcher might feel it more tactful to abandon the exercise!
Not confined to records and documents, Roger is concerned with all
aspects of heritage, and this included the restoration of the Old House of Keys
in Castletown, re-creating some of the great debates of the day. On 24 March, there was an overwhelming
calamity when the cesspool burst and emptied the chamber!
The poor had a tough life on the Island in early days and in 1523, a boy
was thrown into the sea at Derbyhaven for stealing one of the Abbot’s sheep,
and Margaret Quayle and her son were burned alive for theft. The right for a trial by Jury was not
granted till 1737 (500 years after it became law in England) and in 1790 school
pupils signed a petition to be granted some holiday! It was a steep and stoney path for ordinary people, and whilst
much has changed for the better, Roger is convinced that the worst aspects of
history are repeated, and rather depressingly, that the nature of mankind does
not change in the long run.
To conclude, Roger said that his visit to London Manx was one of his
final duties before he retires, and he quoted some words of wisdom and
reflection on life from a tea towel (which I happen to have, and will one day
will repeat in full). Stuart expressed
the Society’s appreciation and thanks, and presented Roger with a handsome set
of crystal wine glasses. The raffle was
then drawn, the main prize being tickets for a car and two passengers,
generously donated by the IoM Steam Packet Company. Also a selection of other gifts and Manx memorabilia, largely
thanks to past president Chris Price, who works hard on our behalf.
It was a most enjoyable occasion and as usual ended with an enthusiastic
rendition of Ellan Vannin.
Mavis Bell
TRIP TO ST MARTINS IN
THE FIELDS - MARCH 2009
From
Greenwich to Cambridge and various pubs and clubrooms, London Manx Society have
held their AGM in many venues over the years but nothing can excel this year’s location
for sheer splendour and beauty, starting with a tour round the recently
refurbished St Martins in the Fields, and later the Dome Room at No 1,Cornhill.
I
can only attempt to include a fraction of the information imparted by our guide
Mr Ralph Smith, head verger of St Martins, but with his enthusiasm and
encyclopaedic knowledge, we certainly got our money’s worth! The whole site has been transformed by a
£34,000,000 makeover and we were dazzled by the gold and white interior,
restored to it original Georgian splendour.
Starting with the name, back in 597 the monks chose to set up their
community on what was probably already a religious site, and support themselves
from the fields that surrounded it at that time. St Martin lived in 4th century Hungary, where he started the
concept of monastic living. A lifelong
pacifist, St Martin’s Day is celebrated (significantly) on 11 November, and he
was the first Saint not to have died a martyr.
Martin once tore his cloak in half to give to a beggar and St Martins
like to think that they still supply a metaphysical cloak to all the
needy. Over 100 people help in the
outreach scheme, which began when a vicar named Dick Sheppard adopted an “ever
open door” policy after the 1st World War.
Religious broadcasting began at St Martins, and they are proud to have
been at the forefront of many different movements, like shelter, Amnesty
International and the Peace Movement, to name a few.
But
our guide stressed that when George I wanted to rebuild at the beginning of the
eighteenth century (there have been 4 buildings on the site) it was for a
society church for the Royals and the aristocracy, even though all the
parishioners had to pay five shillings annually towards the £34,000 cost of
rebuilding. Anxious to avoid Baroque,
or anything that might be regarded as Roman Catholic in style, James Gibb the
architect (himself a catholic) kept gilding to a minimum, near to the alter,
and hired Italian plasterers to decorate the ceiling, pillars and corbels. There were no screens, just one large space
for worshippers to hear and see well, and plain glass windows gave a great
feeling of light and space. (All the
Victorian glass has been removed). There
was a noticeable use of the oval shape throughout, above the alter the ceiling
panels and the font, with it’s railings to keep out the dogs!
We
went into the Royal box which enable them to see and be seen by the
congregation, although the sliding windows - now restored - had to be removed
after George II slammed them down in a fit of pique! We examined the fine plasterwork in the gallery, where the
aristocracy looked down on the “lower classes”, and we learnt the origin of the
staying “going to the wall”, where the weakest were advised to stand - an
expression we have heard regularly of late!
We were interested to learn that Cherubs always look dimpled and plumb
because to be fat meant wealth in Georgian times!
Moving
onto the impressive new area, 2 new floors have been created beneath ground
level, making use of ancient burial vaults and the old market place above. The Restaurant remains in the Crypt but now
there is a smart new shop, kitchens, 3 committee rooms, a handsome light well
and space for the large Chinese contingent who were doing their Tai Chi as we
passed. The famous Academy of St
Martins in the Fields now have dressing rooms and rehearsal space for their
concerts and there is a new hostel for the homeless plus offices for the
administration.
It
has been a vast project, funded in part by the Lottery Fund, generous corporate
and private donations (many from Hong Kong) and small individual
contributions. Mr Smith was pleased
that they only had to raise another £1m, and concluded that whilst St Martins
had been started by Royalty, it now very much serves the community.
Thanking
him for the excellent tour, Sam Weller reminded us that 114 years ago, London
Manx had held its first meetings in St Martins, so had a special significance
to the Society. We left remembering the
words of the Archbishop of Canterbury when he opened the new complex on 28
April 2008 that long may St Martins continue its mission “for common good in
service to humanity, and to the greater glory of God”.
Mavis Bell
AGM AT NUMBER ONE
CORNHILL 2PM 9 MARCH 2009
Leaving
St Martins for a bus ride to Cornhill, we all tend to go into school trip
mentality but the ride past the Royal Courts of Justice, Fleet Street, St
Paul’s and Mansion House to Cornhill, was most enjoyable. The building was erected in 1905 by Royal
Insurance for their subsidiary company “Liverpool and Globe”. Pevsner praised the building and said that
the Dome on the west corner accents its position at the junction of all the
major roads in the area. (Thanks to
Nicholas Watson for researching this information on our behalf) The Manx Government rent committee rooms
and, thanks to enquiries from Rose, the Treasury kindly agreed to allow us to
use the room for our AGM.
We
ascended to the 5th floor and entered the beautiful circular Dome Room, which
has apparently been used for a James Bond film! There we met the other members of the Society including Preston
and Charles, Mary and Brian Kneen our newsletter editors, and past secretary Wendy
Kneen. Rose greeted us all and
expressed our gratitude to the Manx Government for enabling us to hold our AGM
in such luxurious surroundings!
Apologies were read out from past president Chris Price, and Maron, whom
we all wished well and signed a card brought by Maisie for her speedy
recovery.
Sam
Weller gave his Treasurer’s report stating that we are in fairly good cash
strength, although costs are increasing for the organist at the Mhelliah room
hire and overheads for the production of our newsletter. Recalling a year full of enjoyable events
Rose mentioned Guests of Honour Jack and Pat Corrin who remembered a young Sam
Weller with his violin - but was glad to say that he doesn’t do too much
fiddling nowadays! The Cooish at Sidcup
had raised £280 for the marvellous raffle, organised by Chris Price, and at
Tynwald Day in Beckenham at Brian and Sheila Corrin’s, our customary kippers
had been enhanced by strawberries and ice cream cornets. People still talk about the wonderful spread
put on by President Stuart Christian in August, plus the trip he organised to
the Jeffrye Museum and Charter House, which was a rare privilege. At the Mhelliah, Graham Knowles entertained
us with the lighter side of being Bishop, and Dean of St Paul’s and the year ended
with some members joining the Young Manx for a pre-Christmas drink.
A
very sad event during the year was the death of Paul Garbutt, whom we all
thought of as father of London Manx, for he has been such a valued and faithful
member of the Society over the years.
We are all looking forward to obtaining the booklet, prepared by Mary
Kneen, to commemorate his life.
Thanks
were given to all the dedicated volunteers who serve on the committee, and keep
the Society going. President Stuart
Christian will serve another year and the committee was re-elected, with
unanimous agreement that we continue to co-opt Sally Newson as Young Manx
representative.
Stuart,
who was unable to join us earlier because of a recent back injury, told us
about an incredible day he spent last year when on the Island during Tynwald
week. He attended the World Manx
Lunch, followed by the Cashin reunion with Christine and Terence, a garden
party and another World Manx evening event!
He and Rose also attended the unveiling of a plaque by Charles Guard at
Highgate Cemetery to Captain Peter Heyward, midshipman on HMS Bounty. A more recent venture was going onto
Facebook, to encourage some new members.
Thanking
all members for attending, the meeting concluded with tea and some very nice
biscuits which were much appreciated before we made our way home after a most
enjoyable day.
Mavis Bell
LONDON MANX SOCIETY
Minutes
of the Annual General Meeting held at No.1 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3ND on Monday 09/03/09.
Present Committee – Stewart
Christian, Sam Weller, Preston Glass, Mary and Brian Kneen,
Mavis Bell, Margaret Brady, Rose
Fowler.
Members - Chas. Keggen, Wendy
Kneen, Pauline Lyle-Smith, Margaret Robertson, Dave Bell,
Richard Comaish, Pat
Padgham, Mary Weller, Elizabeth and Nicolas Watson, Maisie Sell.
Apologies for absence
from Chris and Elizabeth Price, Maron
Honeybourne, Maurice and Maureen
Wigley. Colin Gill and Pam Fiddik.
1
Minutes of
previous AGM held on 01/03/08.
The
Minutes were ACCEPTED.
2
Financial
Report and Accounts. The Hon. Treasurer, Sam Weller, presented
the Society’s unaudited accounts for year ending 29th Feb.
2009. He reported that although there
had been some loss it was acceptable in his opinion. The Raffle income was very valuable. We have a policy of subsidising the Lunch and the Mhelliah to
encourage members to come to these meetings.
Our Unit Investments are down due to the Credit Crunch.
The accounts were approved subject to any late
amendments.
The meeting expressed their warm thanks to Sam Weller
for his work as Hon Treasurer.
3
Report by
Hon. Secretary. The secretary reported on the various
meetings we had had this year – the lunch, outings at Sidcup, Beckenham, and
Enfield. A day out at the Geoffrye
Museum and Charterhouse organised by Stewart.
The Mhelliah, and Sally Newson’s Christmas get together. She was pleased that some of the young
Manxies turned up.
The
meeting expressed thanks to Hon Secretary.
4
Election of
Society Officers and Committee.
5
Stewart
Christian was re-elected as President for the year. The following appointments
were proposed en bloc by Wendy Kneen and seconded by Maisie Sell: the re-appointment of Dr Edward Weller as
Hon. Treasurer, with authority to act on behalf of the Society in all financial
matters and to sign all financial documents on behalf of the Society, Mavis
Bell as Public Relations Officer, Preston Glass as Functions Secretary, Mary
Kneen as editor of the magazine, Brian Kneen as Web Master, Margaret Brady as
Pastoral secretary, Rose Fowler as
acting Secretary. Maron Honeybourne,
Pam Fiddik, Chris Price, and Colin Gill as Committee members. Sally Newson was
co-opted onto the committee.
As appropriate, these re-elections were approved.
5 President’s
Report. Stewart told us of his
plans for next year and also reported that a Memorial tablet had been put up
and paid for by Manx Heritage to Captain Peter Heywood of Mutiny of the Bounty
Fame in the Chapel at Highgate School. Two of us were invited to the
ceremony.
Stewart told us about the hectic time he had had in
the Isle of Man at the time of Tynwald and also reported that he would be there
again this year to represent us.
6 Any
other Business A suggestion was
made that perhaps we could have a less
formal meeting for the lunch, but this idea was not popular.
The
meeting closed at 2.50pm.
For web-page enquiries of these events
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To be updated after
September
19th August 2009
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