Report of the Rochester Pickwick Club year ended Sep 2026

September The AGM was held and the yearly report was presented, also the officers

were appointed for the forthcoming year and nothing untoward was forthcoming.

However, the RPC event for September unfortunately had to be cancelled.

October There was a gentleman’s costumed dinner held at the Three Crutches. A

convivial meeting was enjoyed by all 6 members. The food was good, price was excellent

and mine host supplied the Port! Following the meeting Grummer stayed behind and took

part in a video session (in costume) aimed at the forthcoming Halloween night to be held

the following week. Apparently it involved him “walking across the room and

disappearing through the wall”. Reminds me of a Dickens novel!!

A week later, saw 17 members (should have been 20) meet at the Spa Valley railway,

Royal Tunbridge Wells for a trip on the steam pulled Pullman to Eridge via Groombridge. A

very pleasant journey, complete with a meal of fish & chips, wine and laughter. The only

downside was that David, Carmita and daughter should have been with us, however the

heavy rainfall overnight had unfortunately flooded their house so they were unable to

attend. After the trip we retired to a nearby hostelry (Smith & Wesson) where warm drinks

(and more wine) became the order of the day. Another excellent day out organised by

Grummer.

November Early November saw the Club in costume for a management meeting at the

Three Crutches. While at the tail end of November the RPC joined at the Three Crutches

to switch on the Christmas Tree lights. With the weather being inclement we decided to

eat first and listen to the pianist. A sumptuous 3 course meal meal was provided by Rob

(the host of said pub) with the cost being £10!! The weather had not let up so it was

decided that we would sing inside the pub, accompanied by the keyboard player with all

the other pub goers joining in….all in all another great night.

December The 6th & 7th December saw the yearly Dickensian festival. RPC had a table

at the Festival Ball and this year the numbers were up which helped tremendously with

the atmosphere. Lots of new (and young) faces joining the old and dancing started as

soon as the band struck up. Even Brian donned his dancing pumps and got on the floor

with Sylvia for a dance or two. We were also joined by our friends from the USA (Stephen

& Kim) Stephen being a prospective member.

On the the Saturday the weather was cold but dry and we started with Mr Pickwick

speaking with the compere on the Boley Hill stage about the origins of the Club to the

assembled throng (and very eloquent he was too). This was followed by 15 minutes of

carol singing with us all on stage. Once finished we had to high tail it to La Providence

where we did another 15 minute choral singing and photo opportunity. Pickwick

explained that we were not a choir but were performing “Wassailing”, an old English

tradition. Once finished we dived into a nearby hostelry to recover and get ready for

the afternoon parade and then entertained the crowd outside La Providence

once more and a little later at Eastgate House for another 15 minutes. Luckily the weather

was kind to us, a little cold but no rain! Katy organised the evening meal at “Jaggers, we

were there last year and again it was good, however this year our numbers had grown

and space was limited to a degree where three of our number had to reside in the annex,

not good.

On a positive note it was with great pleasure to induct Angus MacGuiness as an

associate member into the club as Benjamin Allen (he has brought the average age of

members down considerably). Katy has been asked if she locate an alternative venue

which could accommodate all of us for next year. Sunday proved a little different in

weather, light rain ensued all day. The pattern of performances followed the previous days

although we did manage to seek some shelter from the elements. More importantly

though, while we were performing in the dry our audiences still remained high even

with them having to stand in the rain! Ray and Pickwick did well in encouraging young

people to ring bells and shake tambourines during our performances. All appeared to

enjoy the participation….even Howard who struggled with the timing on the “Little

Drummer Boy”…good fun!

The after festival dinner followed straight after the evening parade with 26 attending, also

included was the Mayor of Medway, Trevor Clark. At the end of the evening the Mayor

commented that it had been a long time since he had enjoyed such a delightful 6

courses, excellent entertainment also with such a wonderful bunch of people. I could not

agree more! The entertainment organised by Mr Pickwick was superb and they had us all

singing along with great gusto. Also during the evening membership certificates were

handed to Stephen Michael (Lieutenant Tappleton) and Francesca Doe (Arabella Allen).

Our numbers are growing. Thanks must go to Mae and her staff for the meal, David for

providing the menus, Katy and Sylvia for dressing the tables and Brian for overseeing

them and keeping them in hand!

January We had a very slow start to 2026 as there were no meetings or events this

month

February Saw our first committee meeting of the New Year, a lively affair with the

years events all planned and agreed

March Our first event of the year was a visit to Fort Amherst in Chatham. Our party

of ten, which included our wives met up in glorious sunshine at the Fort (the best day so

far this year). The girl that guided us around was vey knowledgeable and informative and

gave us an in depth tour of the tunnels. All of our party managed the tour with great

aplomb, even managing the steep stairs at one point. The hour and a half visit was then

followed by afternoon tea in their cafe and what a feast that was. We had one cake

stand each (which could have served two) along with as much tea and coffee you could

drink. We bade farewell to each other while clutching “doggy bags” containing the

remaining sandwiches and cakes for later!! We all agreed a very grand day indeed plus

the sun was still shining as we left!!

April In early April we were to have our first costumed management committee

meeting at the venue of The Three Crutches, in the BOZ bar. Six members attended and

were treated to a fine three course meal, and all for the handsome price of £20! Our

thanks go to Rob, our host for the evening. Our other members were all absent due to

sickness, however we managed to put this to one side and had a really cheerful time.

Howard did a reading, we sang and enjoyed a very pleasant evening together although It

was with some sadness that Rob advised us that this would be his last meeting with us.

He has chosen to leave the Three Crutches for pastures anew which, as yet are unknown.

He thanked us for our support over the last few years, wished us well and introduced us

to the new leaseholders, a really young couple (at least compared to us) who will be

taking over the lease for 5 years. They have plenty of ideas on how to promote / change

the venue to increase foot fall, time will tell. We availed them of the events that we had

helped Rob out with in the past and their feeling was that that would continue, again we

shall see. Charles will liaise with the about future dates.

May The scheduled event for the Spa Valley railway was cancelled at very short

notice, however the following week, on the May bank holiday (24th) 8 members and wives

attended a “Victorian” Market place in Faversham. The weather was excellent, and the

Green Room even better. Could this be on our events list for next year?

June On the 3rd June 12 members attended (in costume) a play at the Criterion

Theatre in Bluetown. It was a delight to have Lesley with us as she was still in recovery,

Lesley thank you. The show we had come to see was a sell out with 105 people

attending, it was Gerald Dickens performing his one man adaptation of Great

Expectations. The Dickens Society also attended in costume which gave the old theatre

an ”authentic” feel for the performance. We all tucked into fish and chips prior to the

performance and we were delighted by Gerald’s undoubted acting skills. He put so much

passion into the various parts he played it is no wonder he looked drained when he had

finished, He did however manage to take time out to speak with us as we left the theatre.

A great show and a jolly good time was had by all.

A couple of days later saw us all gathered together again saw us at the Faux Dickens

festival day…there was a great turnout of the Pickwickian’s alongside other groups

Dickens Society, Propers, Steam Punks. The weather was not kind this year. We had

about 2 hours of walking the High Street. The public were very complimentary as it was

an unexpected special. The weather then changed and it poured hard, so like good

Pickwicians we all adjourned to a hostelry, the hostelry being Jaggers. Unfortunately the

bad weather continued to a point where the procession did not take place and we rolled

out of Jaggers in time to walk to the Italian restaurant ‘Amoure”, which had been

organised by Katy. 12 of us ate and drank to our hearts content, even singing the “Loyal

Toast” much to the enjoyment the other tables around! There was plenty of room for us

and could be a venue for this years festival evening meal. Well done Katy.

On the 9th June we had our Committee meeting at the Conservative Club Gillingham. A

new member was proposed Ronald Ball .

July In mid July we met with our ladies for the annual Sunday lunch at the

Leather Bottle, Cobham 9 members and their ladies attended. As the weather was

favourable we were seated outside albeit on several tables. This did however lend itself to

a “safari” lunch as the gentlemen moved round a table after each course. Some good

singing occurred much to the other families enjoying the sunshine.

Also in July we received the sad news that Tony Setter (Mayor of Ipswich) had passed, he

will be sorely missed.

August This month saw the funeral of Tony, a very sad occasion for us all. It was well

attended and a very good showing of the members of the RPC. I never realised just what

a varied and interesting life Tony had enjoyed.

The following evening we had our costumed meeting at the Three Crutches which

coincided with the eclipse. The cost was £30 and was supplied by the new leaseholders,

there were 5 attendees and we were able to have a good old chat, several songs and of

course a reading, given by Howard, which related well to Tony or should I say to the

Mayor of Ipswich.

Later in August, on a very warm afternoon the members along with their wives (16

in total) gathered at the Chairman’s house for afternoon tea. Start time was a shade earlier

than last year so it was decided to enjoy a hearty Bar-B-Q instead of afternoon tea by

way of a change. The weather was good, side shows of “putting”, “quoits”, “shoot the

ducks”, and “Jenga” were available although socialising and conversation took

precedence. During the afternoon a duo comprising of Miguel and myself sang hits from

the 70’s for around 45 minutes and was well received. The set ended with Tony’s favourite

song “You are my sunshine” with all joining in. The gathered throng responded with

singing through the proposed next years summer programme of songs supplied by Tony

(Pickwick) brilliant singing as was Debbie's rendition of “My old Man”. Another great day

of song, fun and laughter and thank you for all who attended. Also a final big thank you

must go to Katy, who not only tended the bar, she also washed and dried up all the

plates, cutlery etc. she never stopped and that was despite her having her dress on inside

out!! Too much Prosecco I hear you cry!!

So, here endeth yet another year of the RPC, some good times and also some not good

times, however life does go on and we look forward to the coming year and look forward

to welcoming new members as well as new events