London Lunch 2022 The RAF Club

A splendid new venue of The RAF Club in Piccadilly provided a magnificent new setting for The Fellowship’s London Lunch

Before lunch Fellowship Chairman Peter Leake presented a cheque to Ellen Plummer at BEN for £5,500 representing the Fellowship’s fundraising efforts during the past year.

Fellows were given a warm welcome by Chairman Peter Leake who said how nice it was to all be back together after an absence of two years because of the pandemic and he hoped everyone approved of the new venue at The RAF Club. He went on to provide an outline of the Fellowship activities over the past year as well as telling Fellows about a some of the exciting events to come during 2023.

Guest speaker Guy Loveridge, past chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers and well-known author entertained Fellows and their guests with an outstanding after lunch speech. He explained that from a very early age he had an interest in cars and when his father acquired an Austin 7 he insisted Guy stripped it down and rebuilt it before he could use it. When he finished his father told him to do it again just so that he didn’t forget anything!

He then went on to share many stories of his service as a pilot in the RAF including his time flying with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, he drew the thought-provoking analogy that at 21 years old flying a spitfire he was older than many pilots who flew that iconic aircraft in action during WW2.

He then told some wonderful stories of his involvement with historic motorsport and his experiences competing in the Mille Miglia, Classic Le Mans, his recent experience taking part in the London – Brighton Veteran Car Run and driving a Connaught in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. It was a fascinating trip through memory lane for Fellows who were undoubtedly impressed, if not a little envious, of Guy’s remarkable life.

The day concluded with the traditional Heads & Tails conducted as usual by the Fellowship President Peter Lewis-Jones. A closely run contest saw Jan Ball emerge as the winner and she was presented with a bottle of champagne. A total amount of £555 was raised for BEN from the Heads & Tails.

The RAF Club provided an ideal venue for Fellows to reminisce over a glass or two of wine and judging by the comments on social media the new location and the day was a great success.