The meeting on Tuesday 10th July passed in the customary polished, or even well oiled, manner. There were fewer members than usual, so it was comparatively easy to catch the eye of Michael the barman. There was room to move round and talk to the other real enthusiasts, and even chairs for most of the élite to sit on.

The furniture at the far end had been changed in some mysterious way,
probably not to suit us, but the presence there of a large elegant table was convenient for the annual general meeting. This was opened when our Chairman had decided it was 6.30 and he was into his second pint. He announced that the committee were either standing for re-election or retiring in rotation (a kind of progressive minuet?) and inviting re-election. The committee were re-elected without a dissenting voice.  Well, Helen Murphy did murmur something about Mr Rochester already having a wife, but the committee were re-elected nevertheless.

The chairman lifted up the annual accounts. There were (he said, and no one challenged him) fifty pages of them, but with effortless ease he disposed ofthem in the twinkling of an eye.  There was indeed applause when he announced that the surplus for the year was over £2,000, and those propping up the bar suggested noisily that this called for a celebration.

Our Chairman prefers (like many members) to live in the age of wireless telegraphy. He introduced John Fletcher as the Webmaster, to report on the website. This was an error which was quickly corrected. Chris Reece is of course the Webmaster; John is only the committee member concerned.  He told those present what the website had, which if you are reading this you are already aware of, and that in April this year the website Quiz had its second birthday. In particular tribute came from all quarters to the chief writers, Murray Hedgcock and Robert Bruce, for their sardonic joviality, and the Chairman quoted Robert's comment on the July Tour, the Wodehouse Walk:

"London was  all chaos and confusion that morning, not all of it coming from our Chairman."

John also held up samples of the Alex Graham cartoon notelets, which were available for sale in bundles of 12 for £5, with the cartoon on the front. You may have seen the cartoon in the June Wooster Sauce, p. 11.  If not, here it is:

After this action-packed AGM which took all of 13 minutes, there was a pause. Then Geoff Hales gave of his best.  He is an actor, a formidable brain, and an unthreatening, cuddly person. I suppose his great height, which makes one look up to him, causes his stoop, which shows his vulnerability. Or is it his moustache which causes the stoop?

He chose and read extracts from Wodehouse's non-fiction, sewing them together to make a  magnificent new work. Now part of a preface, then an extract from "Performing Flea", then comments on his working methods. We had Wodehouse illustrating the difference between Shakespeare's "Exit pursued by a bear" passage from The Winter's Tale, and the same story treated as a dialogue between Bertie and Jeeves. And many other delights.

There was still talking, drinking and notelet-buying time after he had finished. Later began the "good-byes" which were the cue chiefly for regrouping and new bursts of conversation. Those who did eventually leave the Club were as happy as ever, not least your correspondent

GRUNTLED