Here are details of the Westerham Society and other important events for members in 2011:

Friday 14th January
Wine tasting evening
Wine Discoveries in Westerham 8pm.

We are delighted to offer a wine tasting evening at Westerham's latest wine shop, Wine Discoveries. In 2003, Jonny Gibson was disappointed with the wines on the high street and over priced produce from top chateaux, so he set off for France and started to bring home wines for friends and family in his car. Word soon spread about his ability to sniff out new finds and so Wine Discoveries was born in the spare room at
home with wine stored in an old barn. Successful tastings resulted in an increase from winemakers from 12 to 40, with very positive reviews from Jancis Robinson MW, Joanna Simon and Jonathan Ray amongst others.
With people buying from as far afield as the Isle of Skye and Cornwall, Jonny only works with independent winemakers who grow their own grapes and make their own wine in an environmentally friendly way. Jonny will lead us through an account of his great wines from small vineyards and bring the areas to life with stories and anecdotes along the way.

All guests will receive a welcome drink and have the chance to sample four white wines and four red wines. Any person purchasing more than 12 bottles of wine will receive a £10 discount.
Numbers are limited for this event so please book promptly. Tickets cost £12 per person.

Monday 24th January
Revised date of the the annual Sir Winston Churchill dinner
Chartwell.

Regrettably, the Churchill Dinner had to be cancelled due to the severe weather on the 30th November. We are delighted, however, that Chartwell and our guest speaker, Celia Sandys, have kindly agreed to re-schedule the event on Monday 24th January 2011. It is anticipated that almost everyone who booked for the original date will attend in January, however, there may be a few people who cannot, leaving some spaces available. If you have not already booked and would like to attend, please contact Jacs on 01959 561265 or djtaylorsmith@aol.com as soon as possible to check availability. Please refer to the October newsletter for full details about our exciting speaker.

Friday 11th February
"Jane Austen's Kentish Connections"
Lecture by Clare Graham
Westerham Hall, 8pm.

Lecturer Clare Graham will talk about Jane Austen's Kentish ancestors, the clothiers of Horsmonden, and the role of Jane's great-grandmother in rescuing the family fortunes. She will also look at the Austens in Sevenoaks and Tonbridge as well as the places Jane Austen is known to have visited in Kent and their importance in her novels.
Clare is a retired teacher and lecturer. She is a member of the national committee of the Jane Austen Society and was Secretary, until recently, of the Kent Branch of the JAS. She is currently researching the life of the early Austens in Kent.

Friday 11th March
“Still in no man’s land? The controversial life of Brigadier Frank Percy Crozier (1879 – 1937)”
Lecture by Michael Taylor
Westerham Hall, 8pm.
(Note: The Westerham Society AGM will be held at 7.30pm prior to this lecture)

Brigadier Frank Crozier was originally denied an army career for being too short and light, but he eventually obtained a commission following service with an “irregular” colonial force during the Boer War. He resigned under a cloud in 1909 but was later commissioned into the 9th Royal Irish Rifles, which he commanded with distinction on the Somme. Following further military service, he joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary before resigning in controversial circumstances in 1921 and being declared bankrupt. He then forged another career as a writer in the 1930’s, writing a series of controversial books mostly from his home in Westerham, before embracing the cause of peace and co-founding the Peace Pledge Union.  This is a potted summary of a fascinating life - come along to hear more!

Tuesday 5th April
Guided tour of Chevening House
2pm – 4.30pm.

We are delighted to offer members the rare opportunity of a guided visit to Chevening House. This visit is open to a maximum of 25 adult members and costs £16 per person. Refreshments will be provided at the end of the visit.

Chevening has a history dating back around 800 years, but the house as it is today is almost entirely the creation of seven generations of the Stanhope family, building on the original Lennard family’s house of around 1630. For 250 years the Stanhopes served their country as soldiers and statesmen and at Chevening as patrons of architecture and art. When the line ran out, the 7th Earl’s gift of Chevening to the nation ensured that the distinguished history of the family and the estate was preserved for future generations. The house has become the country residence of the Foreign Secretary and continues to play its part in the political life of the nation.
The Estate consists of some 3,000 acres stretching between Sevenoaks and Biggin Hill. The gardens include a lake, maze, parterre and a double hexagonal walled kitchen garden amounting in all to some 40 acres. Over 530 acres of mixed woodland surround the extensive park.

Sunday 24th April
St. George’s Day Breakfast at the George and Dragon
Cancelled!

With regret, the St. George’s Day Breakfast will not take place in 2011 as the timing for the event falls on Easter Sunday. We have investigated alternative dates on St. George’s Day itself as well as previous and following Saturdays and Sundays. However, there are factors for the Morris dancers and / or the venue that preclude these options. We will revive the event with gusto in 2012 but do make sure you celebrate the day with your St. George flag on the 23rd April!

Friday 13th May
"From Disaster into Triumph - two Battles of the Zulu War”
Lecture by Tim Tawney
Westerham Hall, 8pm.

This illustrated talk tells the story of the events and British machinations which led up to the Zulu War, and of the two main battles, Isandlwana, when most of a British invading force was wiped out, and Rorke's Drift, at which 11 VCs were won against a vastly superior Zulu army, both on the same day.

Friday 10th June

Note that the event scheduled for this date has been cancelled in order not to compete with a very special evening of entertainment at St. Mary’s Church organised by
St Mary’s Westerham Heritage Trust. Join John Williams &John Etheridge, two of the world’s greatest guitarists, for an evening of memorable music from their rich and varied repertoires.  

Monday 4th July
American Independence Day picnic
The Green Westerham
4.30pm onwards

Come and celebrate the 4th July in this friendly and enjoyable yearly fixture on Westerham Green. Bring your own picnic, accessories and friends and enjoy! Should the weather be inclement, we will retire to the John Frith Room in St. Mary’s Church a few steps away.

Friday 9th September
"Younghusband’s Imperial Adventures”
Lecture by Patrick French
Westerham Hall 8pm

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host the acclaimed author Patrick French for his lecture on Sir Francis Younghusband, as part of the Westerham Festival. Younghusband is best known for his involvement in the "Great Game" in Tibet. A soldier, spy,  geographer, explorer, political officer, functionary of the Indian government, writer, President of the Royal Geographical Society and other societies and a Westerham resident, in old age Younghusband became a spiritual writer and outlandish mystic. Most of all though, for French he was an explorer possessing an epic quality which mirrored the events of history of the time.

Patrick French is a writer and historian, born in 1966. His most recent book is “India: A Portrait (2011) – a political, economic and social study of a nation in flux”. He is also the author of “Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer” which won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize, “Liberty or Death: India’s Journey to Independence and Division”, which won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, “Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land” and “The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul” which won the US National Book Critics Circle Award and the Hawthornden Prize. He writes for The New Yorker, The Economist, The Financial Times and The New York Times and has lectured at venues including King’s College London, the Royal Society of Arts, the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, the Royal Geographical Society in London and Hong Kong, Chatham House and the London School of Economics.

Friday 14th October
"Honey bees - the big society?"
Lecture by John Williams
Westerham Hall 8pm

More details to follow when to hand.

Wednesday 30th November
The annual Sir Winston Churchill dinner
Chartwell.

Details are yet to be confirmed.

Saturday 10th December
Members’ Christmas Social

Details to be confirmed.

The Westerham Society Diary for 2011 (in brief).

Unless stated to the contrary, all meetings are free for members and £4 for guests and will be held at 7.30pm for 8pm in Westerham Hall, Quebec Avenue, Westerham. Visitors are most welcome.