April 2nd 2012
Next club meeting Monday 14th May 2012
Meetings are held
at the
NOTICES
Message from the Chairman: Nomination for the Club
Committee
In a short while we
will be holding the June AGM where officers for the committee are elected.
I am therefore
calling for nominations to serve on the committee. Will any member willing to come on the
committee please see the chairman at the May meeting or call 01276 65663.
Being on the
committee is not particularly onerous and we have reduced committee meetings to
2 or 3 a year, since much is now accomplished by e-mail.
Remember somebody
has to make arrangements for the monthly club meetings, even if all else is
dumped; so no committee = no club. Your choice ! !
April Meeting
Our April talk was on the subject of Refreshing Change
and given by Gerry Buddle. Gerry began his talk be suggesting that mankind had
three basic needs – air, food and water. Air is free (for the moment!), food
needs to be hunted or provided by government/institution, and water is
somewhere between the two.
Water is a base drink – however if you add to it
(either a stimulant or flavour – or both) you suddenly have a saleable item.
And if it can be bought, you’ll need something to buy it with – which is where
our tokens come in!
Knowledge of alcoholic intoxication has been part of
history since stone-aged man ate some old grapes and felt ‘pleasant’. By the 1st
Century AD, wine had been introduced into the UK – however fermentations of
barley, honey and apples (ale, mead and cider) were already being drunk in
reasonable quantities. In 1371, Dover Castle was reported to quaff in the
region of 7 gallons of wine per person per
week! This level of drinking did not appreciably decrease until the late 19th
Century.
As such, when we look at 17th
Century tokens, between 5 and 20% of city tokens are tavern tokens! Examples
include the below:
A
common reverse design was the Three Tuns – this is
the emblem of the Worshipful Company of Brewers.
In
the late 1600’s both tea and coffee became popular in England – however coffee
houses quickly became Gentlemen’s Clubs! An example of a tea token would be
Garraway’s of Croydon ‘Halfpenney payable at Garraways Croydon/ The Best Tea in Croydon 1797 – the reverse
of this token showing a stylised teapot! The Great
Turk Coffee House in Exchange Alley had a token inscribed “Coffee, Tobacco,
Sherbet, Tea and Chocolat Retail’d
in Exchange Alley” – a nice shop to visit I would suggest!
Another
interesting token that we were shown was advertising for Prof Andres Alpine
Choir “Matrimonial Society – No Tippler Need Apply” – clearly a stalwart member
of the Temperance Movement!
Finally,
we were shown a dual-purpose token – advertising and selecting the buyer of the
next round! It is a copper token of Webbers Old Lager, Ohio with a bulldog and
raised boss on the obverse and a large arrow on the reverse – spin the token, whomsoever the arrow lands on buys the drinks! I am pleased
to say that this token is now safely residing in my wallet and has been used
effectively on several occasions!
Skittles Evening – 28th April
Our
annual Skittles evening took place on Saturday 28th April. The usual
pre-drinks and food were had, and our standard three games played. Results as
below:
1st
game (3 round high score) - Girls beat boys 147-130 in a low scoring game, with
Henry emerging as the overall winner
2nd
game (must fell one or more skittles) - Winner was Jean grandson Charlie
3rd
game (must fell only one skittle) - Winner was Paul
4th
game (2 round high score) winner – Winner was Sue, a friend of Peter
Future
Events
Past Events
·
10
years ago – “Unofficial Countermarks
on English Coins” – Gavin Scott
·
30
years ago – “Twelve Gods of Mount Olympus” – Peter Clayton
Club
Secretary