“Welcome to this, the sixteenth Annual General Meeting of the Club. Earlier today, the Board of Directors(sometimes called the Committee) met for their 177th meeting. Time really does fly. I was introduced to the Clubin 1995, only shortly after its incorporation as a Limited Liability Company. Siân Parkin our excellent Manager andSharon Harris our Company Secretary and Accountant had only been in position for a couple of years.“I felt then that the Club had something special about it, our treasured ambience perhaps? I believe that thisremains so and that while we do have to make modifications and improvements to the facilities and the way the

NOVEMBER 2011

Autumn scene in Russell Square

Steve Macklin, Club Chairman, gave the following address to the Annual General Meeting on 20 September:

the business of the Club is run to keeppace in an ever changing world, we havealways tried to ensure that the vision ofthose who set up the Company remains.“The Report of the Directors and theAccounts set out the relevant financialdata for the fourteen months ended 31stMarch 2011 and if you wish to ask anyquestions about them or if you have anyother matters you would like to raise,please do so in the question and answersession following the formal business ofthe meeting.“One member has raised a particularlyinteresting question: whether wecalculate occupancy rates and to whatextent we make use of them. Occupancy rates are calculated as a by-product of our computerised bookingsystem. They tell us how busy we are for any given period, how busy individual types of rooms are andconsequently they inform us where we need to take action; such as providing more en-suite rooms, single roomswith bathrooms or whatever. Single rooms and particularly those with private facilities are the most popular. Ouroverall annual occupancy rates for 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11 were 76%, 76%, and 80% respectively. Thehighest recorded occupancy rate was in July 2010 at just over 95% and the lowest in the last three years, justunder 50% in December 2010. We invariably have three months in the year when occupancy is low: Decemberand January when we close for the Christmas period and August when most of the local academic institutions areclosed. Similarly there is often a drop off in occupancy during the Easter holiday.“We noted in the Report of the Directors that there had been a reappraisal of the Management structure earlier inthe year. We are confident that these changes will improve our service to our customers and the feedback we getcertainly indicates that very few who visit the Club leave with any dissatisfaction. I often read the comments in theVisitors Book which talk of the ambience of the Club, the friendly staff and how much people enjoy staying. This isalmost entirely due to the way Siân and her team provide the service and we hope that the modest changes wehave made will increase your level of satisfaction.“I regret that we have still not agreed the level of the rent payable to the Bedford Estates for the second half of ourlease from 25th March this year. One should not read anything too serious into this; the process always seems totake a long time, but I am hopeful of a reasonable outcome.“With all good wishes,Stephen Macklin”

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Elections to the BoardThe Annual General Meeting re-elected Ruth Serner to the Board of Directors and appointed two new Directors,Howard McBrien and James Slater. Ruth is a retired lecturer and an active member of Winchmore Hill Quaker Meeting.Howard has been a practising solicitor for over 40 years. James comes from long career in public finance. The otherDirectors all continue without the need for re-election in this year.

Ethical PurchasingAt its annual conference earlier this autumn, the Board (the Committee) took stock of all its current policies including its policy onethical purchasing. The principle of ethical purchasing is reflected in the part of the Mission Statement that commits the Club –“To comply with all statutory requirements relating to equality, health & safety, environmental and employment matters, and tofollow good practice in these areas and in the ethical purchasing of goods and services”.In practice, we have already gone over to free range ingredients for cooked breakfasts and to Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar.Extending the scope of ethical purchasing may sometimes be constrained by the need to continue running the Club aseconomically as possible, but the Board will be pleased to receive and discuss any ideas for further changes. Anyone who wouldlike to offer a suggestion should please write to the Club Secretary at the Club address or send an e-mail toclubsecretary@pennclub.co.uk.Coffee with Committee membersBoard members extend an open invitation to Club members to join them informally for coffee in the Dining Room at 11.30am-12.30pm on the day of each future Board meeting, beginning on Tuesday 15 November. The next dates after November will be 13December (the day of the Christmas party), 17 January, 21 February and 20 March.Club EventsAnn Lett’s programme of outside events on 22-24 November is now fully subscribed. There is space for a few more people at thePenn Club Dinner in the evening of 23 November; please contact the Club if you are interested in attending. The Christmas party,which is free to all members and requires no booking, will be held at 6.30-9.30pm on 13 December. The list of events in 2012 willbe advertised to members in January.Communicating with the ClubThe e-mail address for any comment or question about anything in The Penn Pal, including future events, is:clubsecretary@pennclub.co.uk. Enquires about existing or future room reservations should continue to be sent to:office@pennclub.co.uk. We have chosen not to advertise any person-specific e-mail addresses in the interest of simplicity. Don’tbe put off by the thought of sending an e-mail to an un-named recipient because we will always forward your e-mail to theappropriate person, whether it is Steve Macklin (Chairman), Ken Robbie (Club Secretary and Penn Pal editor), Siân Parkin(Manager), Amaya Antúnez (Office Manager) or Ann Lett (for outside Events).Members are also welcome to write by letter to any of us at the Club address or contact us by telephone on the main telephonenumber.Meetings for Worship – John Toye writes:One of the Club's aims is "to foster a spirit of fellowship in accordance with its Quaker ethos". There are many ways to do this. Amongthem is the holding of meetings for worship in the Cadbury Room. So far, such meetings have been held only occasionally, on theinitiative of individual members. My wife Janet and I did so on two occasions in September, and I am pleased to say that a few othermembers and guests chose to join us. The Committee is now considering introducing a regular monthly meeting for worshipbetween 9.30 and 10pm in the Cadbury Room. It would be open to all those at the Club, whether in Quaker membership or not,who would like to participate. Please send any comments or suggestions about this idea to me, via the Club Secretary Ken Robbie.

Howard McBrien Ruth Serner James Slater

C L U B N O T E S

P E N N P A L N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 P A G E 3

U M B R E L L A SThe rain it raineth every dayUpon the just and unjust fella,But more upon the just becauseThe unjust hath the just's umbrella. Baron Bowen of Colwood (1835-94)

The place to go if you arrive at the Club without a brolly this autumn is James Smith & Sons, the famous umbrellashop in New Oxford Street. The firm wasfounded in 1830 in premises nearRegent Street, from where it moved toits current premises in 1857. It remainsa family-owned business and still makesumbrellas in the basement of the shop.Its finest umbrellas are beautifulobjects, delightful to carry and useagainst the rain, but the shop will sellyou a less expensive telescopic job ifthat’s all you need for your sojourn inLondon. The writer was impressed yearsago when a ferrule was replaced free ofcharge on an umbrella he hadn’t evenbought there; and returning morerecently to buy a folding umbrella,he was grateful to be offered advice on how best to fold the little contraption. This is our kind of shop!The umbrella in the following story by Dylan Thomas would not have come from James Smith & Sons.From ‘The Followers’

‘Why don’t you open your brolly’, I said.‘It won’t open. You try.’We both tried, and the umbrella suddenly bellied out, the spokes tore through the soaking cover; the wind

danced its taters; it wrangled above us in the wind like a ruined, mathematical bird. We tried to tug it down: anunseen, new spoke sprang through its ragged ribs. Leslie dragged it behind him, along the pavement, as though hehad shot it.

A girl called Dulcie, scurrying to the Itch-pit, sniggered ‘Hallo’, and we stopped her.‘A rather terrible thing has happened,’ I said to her. She was so silly that, even when she was fifteen, we

had told her to eat soap to make her straw hair crinkle, and Les took a piece from the bathroom and she did.‘I know,’ she said, you broke your gamp.‘No, you’re wrong there,’ Leslie said. ‘It isn’t our umbrella at all. It fell off the roof. You feel,’ he said. ‘You

can feel it fell off the roof.’ She took the umbrella gingerly by its handle.‘There’s someone up there throwing umbrellas down,’ I said. ‘It may be serious.’‘She began to titter and then grew silent and anxious as Leslie said: ‘You never know. It might be walking-

sticks next.’‘Or sewing-machines,’ I said.‘You wait here, Dulce, and we’ll investigate,’ Leslie said.We hurried on down the street, turned a blowing corner and then ran.Outside Rabiotti’s café, Leslie said: ‘It isn’t fair on Dulcie’. We never mentioned it again.

(Published in ‘Dylan Thomas Miscellany One: Poems, Stories, Broadcasts’, Orion, 1963; reproduced withpermission.)We will be happy to lend you an umbrella for the walk to New Oxford Street, and will be pleased to see the two withwhich you return.

Editor: Kenneth Robbie The Penn Club 21-23 Bedford Place London WC1B 5JJ Tel 020 7636 4718clubsecretary@pennclub.co.uk www.pennclub.co.uk

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The recently refurbished plaque at the entrance tothe Bedford Hotel in Southampton Row

E X H I B I T I O N SW I T H I N A S T R I D E

The British LibraryRoyal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination

11 November 2011 – 13 March 2012Mary Queen of Scots

Until 15 January 2012Arthur Conan Doyle: the Unknown Novel

Until 27 November 2011www.bl.ukThe British MuseumGrayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

Until 19 February 2012Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam

26 January – 15 April 2012www.britishmuseum.org

C H R I S T M A S P A R T Y

P E N N P A L Q U I ZAn existential dilemmaMembers are offered a different kind of quiz this time!The pairs of definitions lead to two words, one havingone more letter than the other. The extra letters are ananagram of a well-known literary quotation.Flying mammal / VesselAlcoholic drink / seaman’s rankTherefore / Disease of ryeWager / Source of sugarRay of sunshine / River fishMale offspring / Without delayTitle of a Catholic dignitary / FateFemale deer / Show excessive loveCoal mine / Liquid measureCelestial orb / Stupefy with a blowGoods offered at a reduced price / Heraldic blackFall / SagSmall drink / Nocturnal vision.Those who can divine the quotation should please sendtheir entries to the Club Secretary, or by e-mail toclubsecretary@pennclub.co.uk. The winner of the firstwinning entry drawn on 1 December will receive a booktoken. Thanks as always to the Quizmaster, John Ward.Congratulations to Jonathan Hopson of London, winnerof the August Quiz. The clues were correctly re-orderedin the following sequence:1 (b) and all alone2 (i) Castor & Pollux3 (k) troika4 (d) suits5 (t) military headquarters6 (f) Henry VIII’s7 (m) the windows of York

Minster / Sussexcoastline

8 o) middle C to C forexample

9 (r) Dorothy Sayers’sbells

10 (g) Moses and…11 (p) Armistice

12 (s) a reformeddisreputable bunch ofsoldiers

13 (e) an extra bun just tomake sure

14 (q) a stone15 (h) Louis le Bien Aimé16 (n) an age of female

sweetness17 (j) the 7th prime number18 (c) reaching one’s

majority19 (l) half an Orwell novel20 (a) no need for glasses

The Club’s Christmas party will be held onTuesday 13 December from 6.30 to 9.30pm. Wewill enjoy some wine or juice, delicious canapés

and a festive quiz.It is free to members, and there is no need to

book in advance. Members maybring a guest if they also bring a bottle.