THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON

Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934

A CAPITAL RETURN!

The London Mini-Festival Weekend

Thursday 25th to Monday 29th May 2017

The Society is continuing its tradition of putting on a weekend of Sherlockian events in London. All members and their guests are cordially invited – we hope you will find something of interest. As always, we have done our best to keep costs to a minimum. Inevitably London, like all capital cities, is expensive. It is, however, where Holmes and Watson lived and worked and there is, therefore, absolutely nowhere like it!

Applications for the various events must be received by Wednesday 10th May at the latest, together with the appropriate remittance, where applicable. This deadline is dictated by several of the venues we are using – late applications cannot be guaranteed places. All prices quoted are per person. We regret the numbers for some events are limited and will be on a first come, first served basis, so please apply early. Where a meal is specified, a vegetarian or fish alternative can be provided, provided they are ordered in advance. All prices are inclusive of room hire, service and VAT. All drinks are on a cash basis and must be paid for individually at the time. Dress at Society functions is usually smart-casual. In particular at the events at London clubs, gentlemen are asked to wear jackets and ties – trainers are definitely not allowed. This is a common requirement in London clubs and we have to abide by it.

PROGRAMME

Thursday 25th May 2017 Afternoon

Tea at the House of Lords

We are delighted to invite members to a Traditional Afternoon Tea at The Attlee Roomin the House of Lords. We are most grateful to our sponsor The Lord Horam who is sponsoring our visit as a sitting Member of the House of Lords, a requirement for all functions held in this unique venue. Afternoon Tea will be served from 3.30pm onwards and will feature –

Indian Tea served with a selection of Cucumber,

Tomato, Egg & Cress and Poached Salmon with Mayonnaise sandwiches

followed by

Freshly Baked Scones with Jam and Cream

and a Selection of assorted Cakes and Pastries

Security at the House of Lords is necessarily strict, and admission will be by formal invitation only: for this reason we need to know the full name of your guest if you are bringing one. Successful applicants will receive personalized invitation cards which will have to be produced for the police on the afternoon in order to gain entrance to the building, along with photo id. If you expect to be away at that time please give an address to which mail should be sent to ensure safe receipt. The cost of the Tea is £32.00 / US$64.00

  • Meet at 3.00pm; Enter via Black Rod's Garden - details willbe on the Invitation cards; nearest tube Westminster.
  • Charge - £32.00/ US$64.00 per person.
  • Please enclose an SAE as tickets will be issued for this event
  • Please bring photo identification
  • Please note numbers are limited to 38

Friday 26th May 2017 Evening

Annual General Meeting

The Society’s AGM will be held at The National Liberal Club at 1, Whitehall Place, London, SW1, at 6.00 for 6.45pm. The National Liberal Club is located on the corner of Whitehall Place and the Victoria Embankment, not far from Embankment Underground Station, and also conveniently placed for Charing Cross main line station. It is usually possible to find a parking space in the vicinity at this time in the evening – although you may have to pay the congestion charge.

Members and their guests may opt to attend the meeting only at no charge, or to dine beforehand at a cost of £46.50 per head. This includes VAT and service but not drinks, which must be paid for on the day. For those who choose to dine, the meal will comprise Roast Loin of Porkwith Crackling and Apple Sauce followed by Classic Lemon Tart with Raspberry Coulis, Coffee and Mints. A vegetarian or fish alternative main course may be ordered in advance – please specify if you want this on the application form.

A cash bar will be open either in the Savage Club Room on the ground floor or in the Smoking Room on the first floor 6.00pm. After the meeting, members may use the National Liberal Club bar. Dinner will be served promptly at 6.45pm in the DavidLloydGeorgeRoom on the first floor and will be followed by the AGM, from around 8pm. We anticipate that the meeting will finish around 9.45pm, though many members stay on to chat.

After the formal business of the evening we present:-

“Might I ask you a question or two?”

Members and guests will be invited to form teams to take part in a quiz. In the style of pub quizzes, teams will compete against each other over five rounds of ten questions each, covering the nine books of the Canon and a few extra-canonical topics. Nick Utechin will ask the questions and attempt to keep order and to ensure fairness, Ashley Mayo will keep score – and there will be prizes for the winning team. This is your chance to prove whether you’re a Holmes, a Watson, or an Athelney Jones! (Listen out too for questions that depend on wordplay. They’ll make you think – and possibly groan – but they are just for fun, and they won’t count towards your score.)

  • Meet at the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1 from 6pm onwards; nearest tube Embankment
  • Charge for those opting to dine beforehand: £46.50US$93.00
  • There is no charge for attending just the AGM and meeting

Saturday 27th May 2017 Daytime

It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London.

Then these are your, slightly amended, instructions and I beg that you will obey them to the letter. Don’t send for a hansom. Don’t dash through any arcades. But timing yourself to reach Gloucester Place by 3.15pm, you will find a routemaster bus waiting, close to the curb and into this you will step. The bus will have a “Sherlock Holmes Society” destination blind.

Join us on a 90 minute bus tour of those parts of Central London Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson knew so well. Dr Watson will provide a commentary as we progress.

The bus will be waiting outside the Allsop Arms pub, 137-143 Gloucester Place, LondonNW1 5AL, just north of Marylebone Road. Members may recall at the idea of refounding the Sherlock Holmes Society of London was first mooted in the Allsop Arms in its former location a few yards away in 1951. Gloucester Place is a few hundred yards west of but parallel to, Baker Street.

Please be prompt and gather at 3.15pm. The bus will depart at 3.30pm on the dot.

We will be dropped off back at Gloucester Place, subject to traffic conditions, at about 5pm.

NB. We are travelling on an iconic double decker routemaster bus. As a vintage vehicle it does not have current facilities e.g. neither easy access for the non-ambulant nor seat belts.

ThisBus.com have provided a special rate for the Society and we are able to offer you this adventure for £10.00 per head.

  • Meet at 3.15pm outside the Allsopp Arms pub in Gloucester Place NW1 5AL; nearest tube Baker Street, Edgware Road and Marylebone.
  • Charge -£10.00/US$20.00 per person
  • Please note numbers are limited to 1 double-decker bus load

Sunday 28th May 2017 Daytime

Art in the Blood - the Vernets at the Wallace Collection

Members have the opportunity to go on a guided tour at the Wallace Collection, which houses one of the world’s most famous collections of fine and decorative arts and owns a superb selection of French 18th and 19th century painting. Most importantly for Sherlockians, it holds an impressive number ofpaintings by the French artist Horace Vernet, who was, of course, the brother of Sherlock Holmes' grandmother. Mr. Andrew Shingleton, an enthusiast of the Wallace Collection for many years, will be our guide. The Vernet collection will be the main feature of Andrew's tour. Our member, Marcus Geisser, will occasionally inject some remarkable revelations of his recent comparative study "Holmes and Vernet - Travel in the blood".

Members are asked to be at the entrance of the Wallace Collection (inside ifit rains, outside if the sun shines) by 2.50 pm. The tour starts at 3.00 pm sharp and will last about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The price per person is £9.00. Please note that the tour canonly accommodate 25 persons.

  • Meet at The Wallace Collection (Hertford House, Manchester Square, Marylebone, London, W1U 3BN) at 2.50pm; nearest tube Bond Street
  • Charge -£9.00/US$18.00 per person
  • Please note numbers are limited to 25

Monday 29th May 2017 Daytime

Linley Sambourne House and Leighton House

The Society will be given guided tours to two most interesting Victorian properties in Kensington. Visiting these houses gives a wonderful and fascinating evocation of late Victorian London, the era of Holmes and Watson, so be ready step back in time to 1899.

We will meet at 10.45am for an 11.00 tour of 18 Stafford Terrace W8 7BH. Nearest underground station High Street Kensington.The house was the home of Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne, his wife Marion, their two children and their live-in servants. The house gives an insight into the personallives of the Sambourne family, and also provides a rare example of what was known as an 'Aesthetic interior' or 'House Beautiful' style. More details at

This tour will finish at 12.30pm. Between the tours there will be a one and a half hour lunch break so members can avail themselves of sustenance in one of the local Victorian era public houses suggested below or other dining options in Kensington High Street:

  • The Scarsdale Tavern
  • The Elephant and Castle

At 14.00 we will commence the second tour - of Leighton House, 12 Holland Park, London, W14 8LZ. Built between 1866 and 1895, it was the former home of the famous Victorian artist Lord Frederic Leighton. This house allowed Leighton to display his taste for the exotic,creating a rich interior in the Moorish style, the highlight being the Arab Hall. There are also many interesting Victorian paintings on display by Leighton and others. The tour will finish at approximately 15.30.

More details at

The cost per person will be £20 for a joint guided tour of both houses.

Depending on numbers booking we may split the party into two and adjust the order of the tours for one group.

  • Meet at 10.45am at 18 Stafford Terrace W8 7BH
  • Charge -£20.00/US$40.00 per person
  • Please note numbers are limited to 40
  • Lunch is not included

DIARY 2017-2018

DIARY 2017

18th June PG Wodehouse Society cricket match

22nd - 24th SeptemberWeekend - Norfolk

12th OctoberThe Richard Lancelyn Green Lecture

24th NovemberFilm Evening

DIARY 2018

6th January Annual Dinner

7th JanuaryThe Morning After

22nd MarchNational Liberal Club

MayLondon Weekend

12th OctoberThe Richard Lancelyn Green Lecture

NovemberFilm Evening

ELECTRONIC BOOKING

Members wishing to book electronically should e-mail a copy of the form above – or the details requested on it – to

Payment can be made using PayPal, in sterling for overseas members if preferred. Please do not send the payment to me, but to the Treasurer, as follows:

  • Log on to the PayPal Home Page (
  • Type in your email address (if not already there)
  • Type in your Password
  • Press ‘Log in’

You should now access a page showing your Personal Account Overview

Select the tab ‘Send Money’

Insert the following information –

  • To:
  • Type in the amount you want to pay and the currency
  • This is a purchase of:Goods (other)
  • Press ‘Continue’

Check the details are correct.

  • At the bottom of the page -
  • Email subject:Payment for [whatever]
  • Message:Payment from [your name]

When you are happy with the details, click ‘Send Money’ to complete the transaction.

Depending on your account you may be asked to insert the three digit code from the back of your credit card – a relatively new security measure introduced by PayPal.

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON

Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934

To:Miss Catherine Cooke,

15, Copperfield Court, 146, Worple Road,

Wimbledon,London, SW20 8QA.

A CAPITAL RETURN!

Please delete or specify as applicable / TOTAL

Thursday 25 May Tea at the House of Lords

I / We should like to attend the tea with ….. guests
Charge: £32.00 US$64.00 / £ / $
NAME(S) …………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
PLEASE ENCLOSE A STAMPED, ADDRESSED ENVELOPE
OR
ADDRESS FOR TICKETS …………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
Friday 26 MayAGM– and“Might I ask you a question or two?”
Dining:
I / We should like to attend the AGM and dine beforehand with …..
guests
I / We would like to order ….. fish / vegetarian meals (please delete or
specify as applicable)
I/We have a special dietary requirement asfollows
……………………………………………………..
Charge: £46.50 US$93.00 / £ / $
NAME(S)………………………………………………………………..
…………….…………………………………………………………......
AGM:
I / We should like to attend the AGM only with ….. guests
NAME(S)…………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………. / No charge
Saturday 27 May A Bus Tour of London
I / We should like to attend the tour with ….. guests
Charge: £10.00 US$20.00 / £ / $
NAME(S) ...... ………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………..

Sunday 28 May The Wallace Collection

I / We should like join the visit with ….. guests
Charge: £9.00/US$18.00 per person / £ / $

NAME(S)…………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………..
Monday 29 May Linley Sambourne House and Leighton House
I / We should like join the visit with ….. guests
Charge: £20.00/US$40.00 per person / £ / $
NAME(S)…………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..

TOTAL PAYMENT£ / $ ………..

I enclose the appropriate remittance payable to The Sherlock Holmes Society of London OR I will pay electronically

As numbers at some events are limited, please provide contact details, so we can let you know if your application for any event has been unsuccessful.

E-mail address, telephone number or postal address if not given above:

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Please print or write clearly - especially if giving an e-mail address as these can so easily be misread!