Day 91 - High flying lunch and an evening of carols

Amazing day! If you've been following the blog closely, you will have come across the occasional guest blog by Lady Jane Tanqueray of Alton Towers. Lady Jane has forced us to up our social game while we're here, and Phil in particular was up to the challenge.

The RAF Club as seen from Green Park.
Source: www.rafclub.org.uk

Phil was invited to be the guest speaker at the December meeting of the Lunchtime Comment Club. Formed in 1919, the club is believed to be the oldest surviving luncheon club in London. Previous recent speakers have included the author Frederick Forsyth, the Late Lord Mayor Sir Robert Finch, Norman Lamont (Baron Lamont of Lerwick, former Chancellor of the Exchequer), Nigel Farage (UKIP), author and politician Jeffrey Archer (Baron Archer of Weston Super Mare)...well, you get the idea. So, quite an honour to be asked. Of course I got to go along as the arm candy (obviously).

Today's lunch was held at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Club in London, a beautiful building on Piccadilly across from Green Park. This private Club for serving and former serving officers of the RAF and Allied Air Forces formally opened in 1922. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Club's Patron.

Our host, Alan Green, who is a Director of the Lunchtime Comments Club (and also our landlord), greeted us at the entrance to the RAF Club before leading us down a long corridor lined with aviation paintings. We couldn't help but wish our son Alex were with us, although he would still be there admiring the art!

Left: Beautiful stained glass window on the stairwell. Right: a sampling of the many aviation paintings that line the walls of the RAF club. Source: www.rafclub.org.uk

The Churchill Bar. Source: www.rafclub.org.uk

We entered the Churchill Bar where members of the club were gathering to greet each other over a pre-lunch drink. The club members were wonderfully welcoming. We were asked to wait for the members to be seated for lunch before we left the bar, and this gave me the chance to admire the stunning portraits around the room. Pride of place belongs to Sir Winston Churchill, of course. After the First World War, Churchill was made Secretary of State for Air. He was made an Honorary Air Commodore and is said to have worn his RAF uniform with pride.

The RAF Ballroom. Source: www.rafclub.org.uk

Lunch was in the Club's lovely, bright ballroom, and consisted of Smoked Trout and Egg Terrine, Pheasant, and Fig and Date Pudding...a lovely Christmas themed menu complete with Christmas crackers on the table. Homemade mini stollen and mince meat pies accompanied coffee after. I had a lovely chat with the gentleman next to me, Robert, who with his wife runs a small estate in the Cotswolds which he opens for weddings and on which he raises National Hunt horses. We've come close to the estate on one of our walks in the area.

During coffee, Phil gave his speech. His topic was one Canadian's view of Brexit, with him taking a pro-Brexit stance. This turned out to be not as controversial as one might expect, with many audience members telling him afterward that they agreed with his take on things...and those who didn't agree being extremely polite in their thanks for his agreeing to speak. ;-) He took questions about Trump and North Korea, which he answered with great decorum. All bias aside, Phil did an amazing job (no notes) and I was so proud to be able to be there with him.

After lunch, we joined Alan, his wife Caroline and several other lunch attendees for a drink in The Running Horse Tavern, a very traditional "pub" located in the lower level of the RAF Club. It was a really lovely day, in great company.

But it wasn't over yet.

Phil and I took a walk around the area, discovering the Shepherd Market in the streets behind the RAF Club. The market area was developed in 1735-46 by Edward Shepherd, and is made up of a small square and piazza, with several small side street running off of it. It is lined with boutiques, restaurants, and pubs, and is part of the Mayfair area of London. In the 1680, James II established a 15-day fair that took place on the site that is now the Market...thus the name Mayfair. As the area gentrified, the fair was replaced by grand houses and the market developed. However, the area was also made infamous for several sad incidents. In 1974, at 9 Curzon Place, Cass Elliot (Mama Cass) of The Mamas and Papas died. And in 1983, Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, died of an overdose at 12 Curzon Place. In the 1980s, it was in this area that the aforementioned politician and author Jeffrey Archer met the prostitute Monica Coghlan, an encounter that eventually led to his imprisonment.

From here, we walked up past Oxford St. to St. Christopher's Place. Now an area of restaurants and shops, the area was a slum in the 18th Century and early 19th Century. It was redeveloped in the 1870s for social housing, and it's Lamb & Flag pub became meeting spot for anarchists.

We met Lord and Lady Tanqueray for dinner, along with some of Lady Jane's work colleagues. After dinner we all made our way to St. Marylebone Parish Church for a Christmas service. Many famous people are associated with this church. Robert Browning married Elizabeth Barrett here, and Lord Byron and Lord Nelson's daughter Horatia were baptised here. Charles Dickens lived right near by, so he may have sat in the same pew I did at some point.

The Christmas Service was being held in honour of the Blind Veterans UK charity. It was a magical event, and did a fine job of getting me in the mood for the season. It was an evening of community singing of Christmas carols, a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by actor Brian Blessed, who is known for his booming voice (you may recognize him or his voice from any one of a host of films, TV shows, children's show, theatre productions and other works). If you are a fan of the British soap EastEnders, you might have recognized the actress June Brown who gave a poetry reading. We were also entertained by The North London Military Wives Choir and two children's choirs from Wetherby Preparatory School, which is the school Prince William and Prince Harry attended (the children still wear the same uniforms).

As we left the church, the Cadets of Wilson School Combined Cadet Force (CCF) thanked us and offered trays of minced pies. A lovely ending to a fabulous evening.

We walked back down to Oxford St. with Lady Jane's charming colleague Claire, and then walked a bit more to enjoy the Christmas lights on Oxford and Regents Streets, before heading back by subway to our hotel in Stratford.

Truly, a day packed with memories.

Selfridges decorated for the holidays.
Photo by Angela Smith.

The Regent St. angels.
Photo by Angela Smith.