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As usual, our first event of 2026 was our popular
New Year Lunch, held at Croham Hurst Golf Club, Croydon, on Monday, 5th January,
which attracted over 70 diners
- For our final event of 2025, on Sunday 21st December, our Fellowship Secretary, Maggie, took us to a
Carol Concert in the Royal Albert Hall
- In October, Jackie Husain took us on her final walk of the year, from Selhurst to Norwood Junction to view the
"Blue Plaques" commemorating the social history of the area
- In September, our Fellowship Secretary, Maggie, took us to a Symphony Concert in the Royal Albert Hall,
celebrating the music of (the rock group) Queen
- On a warm and sunny August day, Event Organiser Jackie Husain took us to Canada Water for a peaceful walk
through the 1980s Surrey Quays development and along the line of the old river wall, with its reminders of
the historic docks and stories of the Mayflower. We popped into the Thames-side Angel Pub for a quick bite,
then continued through Southwark Park, back to Surrey Quays station.
- In July, Event Organiser Hilary Kearney took us on a private visit to London's Cinema Museum
near the Elephant & Castle, a former 19th century workhouse where Charlie Chaplin once lived as a child.
We enjoyed a guided tour of the unique collection of cinema memorabilia from the 1890s to the present day,
followed by tea/coffee and biscuits, then a short film show of archive material
- In June, Jackie Husain's Summer Walk took us to many well known Film Locations
starting from the London Bridge area, including busy Borough Market and historic Crossbones Graveyard,
the final resting place of many "Winchester Geese".
We admired the changing roofscape along the Thames as we made our way to Blackfriars Station
- In May, John and Sylvia Greengrass led us on a pleasant Woodland Walk, starting from
Addington Village, taking the road past The Forge towards Sparrows Den, and up through the woods.
We returned to Addington for lunch in The Cricketers.
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In April, Jackie Husain led a small but eager bunch of us around Central Croydon to take a closer
look at the (sometimes surprisingly beautiful) Street Art
adorning Croydon's ever-changing landscape, as it adapts to the 21st Century
- In March, 36 of us fought our respective ways through snow flurries and accumulative
roadworks to enjoy our first Pub Lunch of 2025 at The Horseshoe on Warlingham Green, and were
rewarded with a three-course feast
- In January, April, October and December, 2025, a small group of us got up early and met at the Toby Carvery
in South Croydon, making modest inroads into their generous "All You Can Eat" breakfast buffet.
The "breakfast yorkies" were generally agreed to be a "Good Idea" and we stayed on in the
bar, drinking coffee, until we were turfed out as staff prepared for lunchtime
- In November, 2024, Dave Newland led us on his last
Autumn Stroll, this time through Regent's Park
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In October 2024, Jackie Husain and her husband, Jeremy, took us back to
Crystal Palace Park,
to visit the upper levels and the Sphinxes where the old Crystal Palace once stood, followed by a walk
round the "Crystal Palace Triangle Blue Plaques Shops Trail"
- In August 2024, Jackie Husain led us on a walk to see the dinosaurs (and llamas) in
Crystal Palace Park
- In July 2024, event organiser Hilary Kearney arranged a private visit to the
Eel Pie Island Museum, where we learnt about
the historic significance of this island in the Thames, and its wild days back in the Swinging Sixties
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In June 2024, Judy Dumbrill took us back to the Natural History Museum to see winning entries in the
Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.
- In June 2024, Jackie Husain took us for a walk around South Norwood Lakes
- In 2024, Dave Newland led us on his final
Bluebell Walk, this time from Badger's Mount.
- Meanwhile, we continue with our regular programme of lunches and coffee mornings —
we hold seven lunches a year, which regularly attract about 30–35 attendees,
and two coffee (or breakfast) mornings a month for about 10–15
- Our biggest event of the year is always our popular
New Year Lunch at Croham Hurst Golf Club (really our Christmas
Lunch, but held in January as something to look forward to in the New Year)
which regularly attracts over 80 diners
- For the last few years, we have been trying out the All You Can Eat Breakfast at the
Toby Carvery in Croydon on various dates in January, April, October and December
- In March and September, we partake of a 3-course lunch at the popular Horseshoe pub
on Warlingham Green
- In April and November, we sit down to a Fish'n'Chips lunch at the award-winning
McDermotts restaurant in Forestdale
- In May and October, we enjoy an Italian lunch at Ponte Nuovo restaurant in Croydon
- On the second Tuesday of each month, we meet for coffee in the
Clocktower Café, part of the Croydon Town Hall complex
- Four times a year (in February, May, August and November) we have coffee in the
Seasons Restaurant at Knights Garden Centre, Chelsham
- Three times a year (in March, June and September) we travel to Badgers Mount near Sevenoaks,
for coffee in Novell's Restaurant at Polhill Garden Centre
- On the last Thursday in July, we hope for good weather when we meet for coffee in the National
Trust Café at Winston Churchill's home, Chartwell
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