or twin bedded – so members must book in pairs. If you are funds, until we have ascertained that there is sufficient inter- a single but would like to join us, then please indicate this on est amongst the members. Please feel free to invite non- the expression of interest form and we shall try to find a suit- Members to join you as your guest or guests. able person with whom you may share the accommodation. We expect that every member will wish to stay in the The cost for the weekend will be £451 per person, inclu- Noël Coward Suite and so that treat will be decided by ballot sive of VAT, based on two people sharing a suite or room. to ensure fairness. All your expression of interest forms will This amount covers secure parking at -on-Sea, Sea be placed in a hat (silk topper, of course) and the winner of tractor or Land Rover journeys to and fro, accommodation as the weekend in The Noël Coward Suite, will be announced. outlined above, for two nights, full English breakfast on Sat- We should like to extend a warm welcome to our mem- urday and Sunday mornings, a la carte dinners on Friday and bers from outside of the UK. Saturday evenings and all activities. Finally, realising that many of our members are very tal- EVENTS It does not include any lunches or any drinks. As the ented, we should like to arrange a little “in house” entertain- hotel brochure states:- ment during the weekend. Please indicate on the expression “Our guests have always come to escape noise, publicity, of interest form whether you would like to contribute some weekday lives, pollution, crowds and the pressure to be any- sketch/extract/song or dance and, if so, the kind of thing you one other than themselves”. have in mind. Please be aware that this event will only happen if 48 of For further information, please see Home Chat, February our members (and guests), or 24 couples, return the expres- 2002, page 9 and Home Chat October 2004, pages 2 and 3 sion of interest form enclosed with this copy of Home Chat. and also the Hotel website at www.burghis- To secure the entire hotel for our exclusive use, thereby turn- land.com PLEASE express your interest by returning the ing it into our own Coward House Party, we shall need to pay form enclosed with this copy of Home Chat and do join us a deposit and we are unable to commit the Society’s limited for a ‘Marvellous Party’. Barbara Longford (e-mails to [email protected])

Burgh Island, off the south coast, is one of the most romantic and surprising places you can visit. Linked to the mainland by a tidal beach, in summer the sands are clean and golden warm, in winter they become silvery and misty under the low sun. When the tide is high you are carried to the island over the waves in the unique Sea Tractor – a contraption worthy of Bateman and resembling a giant humidor on wheels. In 2004, “Sea Tractor III” was relaunched, after complete overhaul of its not-so-subtle hydraulic system and a rebuild of its box-like passenger carriage, based on photographs from the ‘60s. Burgh Island is most closely linked with the roaring twenties and the sophisticated thirties: staff would never gossip about contemporary guests but are happy to rattle off the historic guest list, which includes royalty, showbiz and industrial types: Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson, , Noel Coward, Gertie Lawrence, Amy Johnson, Nancy Cunard, Jessie Matthews, George Formby, R J Mitchell, Churchill and Eisenhower. You can absorb all of this history and more as you sit in the Palm Court at its new Peacock Bar, where Gary “McBar” dispenses gossip with the cocktails. Most of the rooms and suites are named after our pre-war visitors and with portraits in the relevant room, you can put faces to the names. Guests from the ‘30s have been researched and, where a local connection could be made, they lent their names to the new suites: Amy Johnson was the first, having passed through en route to opening Airport in 1932. She was fol- lowed, over the next two years by: Malcolm Campbell, who reputedly raced cars on the beach; W O Bentley, who came to retreat; Gertie Lawrence, who stayed with her best friend Noel Coward and inspired some of his most beautiful songs; Jessie Matthews, who later retired locally and was well known for her pink gins and taste in purple clothing; R J Mitchell, who sought inspiration for his Spitfire in the flight of the seagulls here; “Fruity” Metcalfe, who went anywhere that Ed- ward and Wallis would go and Oscar Deutsche (the brains behind the ODEON cinema chain) who made long and loud calls from the only ‘phone in the hotel, at reception. Indeed, Christie wrote two of her most well-known books: “Evil Under The Sun” and “” in The Beach House. In 2007, Burgh Island unveils The Beach House as surely the sexiest hotel room in Britain: a sophisticated, decked, apartment overhanging the sea on the Eastern tip of the Island. You cannot get closer to the sea, its romance and its rhythms. From a 14-room hotel, Burgh Island grew to its present full compliment of 24 rooms, many of them suites and all with sea views. There is an older, more vernacular history to the island. It was used by ancient Celts to party with the Byzantine Marvellous Party traders who brought wine and oil to the island, in exchange for tin. There is suggestion that Burgh Island is the elusive site of King Arthur’s summer court and current archeological excavations confirm a dark ages settlement on the island. 12 to 14 September 2008 The monks who lived on the island during the last millennium left behind The Pilchard Inn – an idyllic and tiny pub, which serves good beer and honest food. They also left tales of smugglers and wreckers, and a few ghosts, notably our Pilchard Poltergeist, Tom Crocker. Best of all, Burgh Island is beyond the reach of most mobile ‘phone reception, and there is certainly nothing as vulgar The Noël Trail and Samuel French as a TV in the rooms (although there is a thoroughly modern wide-screen TV in The Library). It is truly a great contempo- rary escape from the pressures of the 21st century and therefore perfect for special weekend or anniversary celebrations. Sunday 23rd June 2007 Burgh Island boasts more proposals of marriage per square inch than any other place in Britain. After a restoration program of over 5 years and more than £2,000,000 later, the renaissance of the hotel is complete. All of the bedrooms now boast the beautiful marble bathrooms that characterize Burgh Island; all of the public rooms have been fully renovated and properly capture the atmosphere of the ‘30s. Outside, the lawns have been landscaped to provide discrete areas where guests can sunbathe, sip Pimms, sit in solitary contemplation or read in peace. The more active swim in the famous mermaid Rock Pool, play tennis or take long costal walks followed by a session in the gym or spa. The works have ensured that the story of Burgh Island will continue well into the 21st century…. The Noël Trail ‘Marvellous Party’ and Samuel French a Noël Coward House Party at the Burgh Island Hotel

lease join us on Saturday 23rd June, 2007 at the THE DUKE OF YORK’S o join us next Autumn for a Society weekend at For this special Noël Coward Weekend, The Society has next Society event which will be a guided Lon- ‘London Calling’, Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, The Burgh Island Hotel, Bigbury-on-Sea, South provisionally reserved the entire hotel and all its facilities, don West End Theatre walk beginning with an ex- 1923 Devon, which will be available exclusively to members clusive ‘behind the scenes’ look at Samuel French ‘Easy Virtue’, Joyce Carey and Adrienne Allen, 1926 , and their guests. The accommodation consists of P London and French’s Theatre Books. Samuel D on Friday ‘Home Chat’, Marda Vanne, 1927 24 double or twin suites or rooms, all of which French, London have been publishing, selling and leasing ‘Waiting in the Wings’, Sybil Thorndike, Graham Payn, 12th, Saturday 13th have sea views and many of which have balconies. plays for performances since 1830. Today they have over Marie Lohr, 1960 and Sunday 14th, Sep- These include: The Noël Coward Suite, The Beach 2,000 playscripts available covering all elements of perform- ‘Private Lives’, Edward de Sousa, Rosemary Martin, 1963. tember 2008 in the House, Malcolm Campbell, Amy Johnson, ing theatre: from comedies to tragedies, sketches to full-scale ‘Hay Fever’, Celia Johnson, Michael Hordern, 1965 presence of our Spe- Josephine Baker, Jessie Matthews, “Fruity” Met- musicals. In addition, the bookshop stocks a comprehensive ‘Noël & Gertie’, Susan Hampshire, Edward Petherbridge, cial Guest of Honour calf, Chirgwin, Cunard, Mountbatten, Gertie range of playscripts and technical books on all aspects of the- and Vice President, 1991 Lawrence, Formby, Hope and Shrimp. atre. Miss Moira Lister. All rooms are of different size, fittings and fur- The event begins at 9.30 a.m. at Samuel French, 52 THE COMEDY Noël Coward nishings and each retains the proportions and pre- Fitzroy Street, London W1. (nearest tube stations: Warren ‘The Vortex’, Noël Coward and Lilian Braithwaite, 1924 booked into the hotel serves the integrity of this rare example of British Street and Great Portland Street) where our host will be NCS ‘Noël and Gertie, Patricia Hodge and Simon Cadell, 1989 for three days, but re- Art Deco style. Imagine the hotel as an ocean Committee member, Geoffrey Skinner, who has arranged for THE THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET mained for three liner, moored off the South Devon coast. two of his company Directors, who handle editorial and roy- weeks and between the wars everyone in high and fashion- The weekend begins on Friday 12th September, 2008, and alties, to talk to us. Amanda Smith will give a history of ‘Design for Living’, Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard and Rex Harrison, 1939 able society stayed here, including Lord Louis Mountbatten guests may arrive at French’s and Paul Taylor will discuss the royalties. Coffee and Edwina, Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, Sir Winston the hotel at any time and biscuits will be served, and we may browse or buy in the ‘Present Laughter’/’This Happy Breed’, Noël Coward and Judy Campbell, 1943 Churchill, Gertrude Lawrence. Agatha Christie loved the that day, but no later bookstore. The visit will end at approximately 11.a.m. Beach House and wrote two novels, ‘Evil Under the Sun’ and than 3.p.m. to allow Please bring your most comfortable walking shoes, be- ‘Present Laughter’, Noël Coward and Moira Lister, 1947 Shaw’s ‘The Apple Cart’, Noël Coward and Margaret ‘And Then There Were None’, whilst staying there. for the tides. This cause at 11 o’clock we shall set off on the Noël Trail, guided The hotel has been lovingly restored to its 1930’s glory must be one of the few by NCS members Ken Sephton and Graham Sawyer, both of Leighton, 1953 ‘Hay Fever’, Judi Dench and Peter Bowles, 2006 and glamour, using many original features and furniture, remaining places in whom have extensive knowledge of the history of the West which were fortunately put into storage during the hotel’s de- the world where dress- End theatre. As some of you will know, Ken was an active HER MAJESTY’S cline in the late twentieth century. Set on its own private is- ing for dinner is de member of the Gallery First Nighters, meeting Noël and other ‘Bitter Sweet’, Peggy Wood and George Metaxa, 1929 land, the hotel itself and its surroundings are exactly as Noël rigueur. We shall all stars on many occasions. Graham was for many years The- ‘Conversation Piece’, Noël Coward and Yvonne Printemps, would have found them. Even the old wrought iron staircase meet up for cocktails atre Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford- 1934 leading down to the Mermaid Pool remains and one feels as if in the Palm Court bar, upon-Avon. ‘Operette’, Peggy Wood, Griffith Jones and Fritzi Massary, Louise Brooks, in striped bathing dress, is about to pop up at 6.p.m. and dinner in The tour will encompass the following theatres: 1938 from it at any moment. The atmosphere is most unusual, as if the Ballroom will fol- one has stepped back in time. The 1930’s travel writer, S.P.B. low, followed by a THE PHOENIX We anticipate that the guided tour will end at approxi- Mais wrote, “one of the few places in the world where you Coward cabaret, or ‘Private Lives’, Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, 1930. mately 1.30 or 2.p.m. and for those who would like to have can have your cake and eat it. You get all the delights of dancing. ‘Tonight at 8.30’, Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, lunch, this will be at The Stockpot Restaurant in Panton being at sea without any of its discomforts.” We are delighted to 1936 Street, a good value restaurant, established1954, with a three The nearest point on the mainland is Bigbury-on-Sea, announce that Miss Moira Lister has graciously accepted the ‘Quadrille’, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, 1952 course set lunch costing £7.50, house wine £8.90 per bottle. from where you tele- Society’s invitation to talk to us about her work and friend- ‘Design for Living’, John Stride, Vanessa Redgrave and Please feel free to “drop out” if you wish to meet a friend, phone the hotel to an- ship with Noël Coward and she will also be reading from his Daniel Massey, 1973 shop or fit in a West End matinee. Half price tickets to most nounce your arrival. stories and poems. As members may know, Miss Lister ap- ‘Noël’s 70th Birthday Gala’, with the crème of theatrical per- shows are available on the day (cash and credit cards ac- Secure parking is peared with Noël Coward playing Joanna in ‘Present Laugh- sonalities, 1969 cepted) from the ticket booth in Leicester Square – very near available there, as re- ter’ at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in 1947. THE CAMBRIDGE to our lunch venue. quired. When the tide Other highlights during the weekend, will include a spe- Although Ken and Graham will be our guides, we should is out, you will be col- Noël’s musical ‘Ace of Clubs’ with Pat Kirkwood and Gra- cial Coward cabaret and dancing with the tuition of Richard very much welcome members with West End theatre knowl- lected by a member of ham Payn, 1950 Rose, the Committee’s dancing expert. edge to share this with us on the tour and it will be an excel- staff, in a Land Rover, Formal dinner too on the Saturday evening, will also be THE IVY lent opportunity for us to get to know one another. If you are to drive you over the followed by a cabaret, or dancing or perhaps both. One of Noël’s favourite restaurants. able to, please bring your memorabilia or photographs to sands. But if the tide Food at the hotel is locally sourced, Loddiswell goats’ THE AMBASSADORS share with us all. is in, then the mighty cheese, poultry from Crediton, grass fed, free range Aune This is our least expensive event to date at a cost of £2 per ‘Hay Fever’, Marie Tempest and Robert Andrews, 1925 sea tractor will trans- Valley beef and pork, Plym Valley venison, Kitley Estuary head to cover coffee and biscuits, payable on the day. How- ‘Fallen Angels’, the two Hermiones, Baddley and Gingold, port you across. In- oysters, shell fish from Kinsbridge and daily line-caught fresh ever, we should like to know how many members will be at- 1949 side the hotel, the fish from Brixham. tending and how many would like to have lunch (payable mood is one of exu- The weekend will conclude after breakfast on Sunday THE NOEL COWARD THEATRE individually on the day), so please would those who are inter- berant luxury. It shim- 14th September. However, members and their guests may (formerly The Albery) ested be kind enough to send me the completed booking form mers with fountains, stay at the hotel up until 4 p.m. when they must leave, to en- ‘I’ll Leave it to You’, Noël Coward and Kate Cutler, 1920 enclosed in this newsletter. mirrors, palms and sure safe journey to the mainland, should the weather prove ‘Hay Fever’, Maria Aitken and John Standing, 1992. Barbara Longford features lacquered tables, chrome statue lamps, stained glass inclement. and thick, tasselled curtains trailing the floor. All the rooms are for occupancy by two people – double