The Inaugural Meeting


The inaugural meeting was at the Windmill Hall, Upminster, and it went very well. We were all presented with our badges. We could not enlist any more until we had our Charter, so went back to Rotary talks every week. The rules were strictly adhered to and, being attendance officer for many years, I was very strict and nothing counted bar meeting at our Club and other Clubs. Many members at that time had 100 per cent attendance record. When we did get our Charter, we quickly enrolled other members and a lot of them travelled, people like Harry Chandler, for instance. The Club grew very quickly once we had the Charter. The Charter was actually granted in February 1946 and by then our number had increased. Charter night itself was in March. And that is the next thing I will talk about.


Charter Night - 1946


Charter Night was on 25th March 1946 at the Elizabeth Hall in London. It was a great night. It was a white tail event; we had many speeches, but the meal itself was pretty austere: soup, poultry, vegetables in season and Charlotte Russe. That was not a very exciting menu for those days. We were all given yet another badge, and we went to receive it from the RIBI President. There was no other entertainment. I enjoyed myself.


Down to Business


Now we were fully fledged, we could get down to Rotary business. From now on John Challis took the chair. He lived in Ayrton Lodge, a big old house in Station Lane, Hornchurch. It was eventually bought by my partner who set up a surgery there. John was terribly good to Jean and me. It was a treat to go there. When we went to dinner he had every course perfect with the correct wine. He was also very high in Masonry. He was a very good President for all that. He eventually retired and went to Southend, where he died. Our Rotary meetings at that time went on for hours at night and in the end we had to make a rule for no more business after 11pm, because every committee was busy discussing what they could do.


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