32. Books and Readers of Literary St
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The London Appreciation Society Blue Book January – June 2017 Number 145 1 The London Appreciation Society (Founded in 1932 by the late Dr. H.L. Bryant Peers) BM London Appreciation Society, London WC1N 3XX www.las.org.uk * The Society is a secular, non-political and non-profit seeking organisation for adults interested in the past, present and future of London * President: The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Norwich, CVO Vice-Presidents Rabbi Lionel Blue, OBE Colonel George Cauchi, CBE Roger Cline Valerie Colin-Russ The Ven. Peter Delaney Gerald R. Charles Dickens Anthea Gray Committee Chairman: Christopher Claxton Stevens Deputy Chairman: John Mann Secretary: John Mann Registrar: Clive Page Treasurer: John Tritton Assistant Treasurer: Mary Moore Minutes Secretary: Yvonne Pines Shelagh Blackham MBE Don Buchanan Marion Carr Arthur Fordham Patricia Howard Anne Oxenham MBE Officers Membership Secretary: Christine Bevan Consultant: Anthea Gray Honorary Life Members John Barrett Roger Cline Valerie Colin-Russ Anthea Gray Daphne Hart 2 Programme Team Shelagh Blackham Arthur Fordham James Nadarajah Marion Carr Anthea Gray Tour Leaders John Ackroyd Julie Crouch John Mann Jacqueline Anda Paul Dye Mary Moore Rosemary Bolingbroke Pat Howard (Co-ordinator) Chris Redfern Ronald Chave Reg Kemp Alexander Stenhouse Christopher Claxton Stevens Mike Lever John Tritton Roger Cline Rhoda Lewis Contacts Please email or write to the Officer concerned and if you write please enclose a stamped address envelope if you need a reply. Please do not telephone except in emergency, and in normal office hours, if possible, i.e. between 9am and 6pm weekdays. Printing Services or non-receipt of Blue Book:- Colin Watson, 22 Leonard Avenue, Morden, SM4 6DW email: [email protected] Non-receipt of booking confirmation forms:- Dr Clive Page, 1 Durler Gardens, Luton LU1 3TA email: [email protected] To Cancel an Asterisked Event:- Les Spicer, 18 Grosvenor Gardens, Upminster, RM14 1DJ Telephone: 01708 229 029 * Brief messages only, between 9am and 6pm weekdays * To join ‘Phoneswap’ scheme:- (for non-Asterisked events) Brian Woollatt, 1 Aberdare Close, West Wickham, BR4 9LP email: [email protected] General Enquiries & Information:- Don Buchanan: John Tritton: email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Membership enquiries or change of address:- Christine Bevan, 52 Greenwich Park Street, Greenwich, London SE10 9LT email: [email protected] Suggestions for future events:- The Secretary at: BM London Appreciation Society, London WC1N 3XX email: [email protected] Travel Information:- National Rail: Telephone 03457 484950 (www.nationalrail.co.uk) Transport for London: Telephone 0343 222 1234 (www.tfl.gov.uk) 3 Important Notices Injury to Person / Loss of Property The Society and its officers cannot be held responsible for death or injury to members, or loss or damage to property at any time and however caused. Cancellation of Event Every possible effort will be made to adhere to the programme as advertised, but neither the Society nor its officers can be held responsible for alterations or cancellations. Events will not be cancelled because of transport strikes. If for this or any other reason the venue cannot have us, the Society will cancel the event and hope to include it at a future date. In this case members will be credited in full but the appropriate amount, giving details, must be claimed on the next booking form. Data Protection Act The membership list is held on computer for use within the Society only. Members who object to this should advise the Membership Secretary (see page 2). Subscriptions The subscription of £10 for a calendar year must be paid by 31st December 2016, using the Renewal Form enclosed with this Blue Book, to continue your membership whether or not you are booking events. With regret this will be strictly enforced in view of the waiting list. Blue Book The Blue Book is published twice a year to cover the periods January to June and September to December. Dietary Requirements If you have special dietary requirements please notify if booking an event which includes a meal. Asterisked Events These are where numbers are severely restricted, not flexible or where full payment is required in advance. If you are accepted for one of these it is essential that you telephone Mr Spicer (see Page 2) as soon as you realise you will be unable to attend. He will then try to fill your place from those members refused. Brief messages only please, between 9am and 6pm weekdays only. The replacement member should send the appropriate cheque, made out to the London Appreciation Society, to Les Spicer and not to the Tour Leader but must tell the leader whom they are replacing. Phoneswap If you would like to join a reciprocal arrangement for telephoning re non- asterisked events should you be unable to attend, please send your telephone number and email address and enclose a sae to Brian Woollatt to receive a list of names and numbers with which to swap (see Page 2). Members of the Society who have computers and printers can join the “Phoneswap” by sending Brian a request by email. Phoneswap members can also request up- to-date lists by email or by sending an SAE to Brian. 4 Tickets At all events where tickets are involved, such as concerts, these will be given out on the day by the Tour Leader at the venue. Booking Arrangements Enclosed with the Blue Book are two booking forms and two envelopes which have been pre-printed with the Registrar’s address. The Blue Book delivered in November also comes with a membership renewal form. If you are booking events in the January to March period please send in the white booking form and the subscription form together with a single cheque covering the fees for events and your subscription. If you are booking events just send in the subscription form with your cheque, at latest by the end of the year. It is too labour-intensive to send out reminders, so if you forget to renew you may lose your membership for a time. Please do not post the green booking form until the Registrar has had time to deal with all the white forms. The booking form should be completed following the instructions on its reverse side. If you suggested an event or have any special reason for attending please say so. To claim a refund such as for a cancelled event please do so on the booking form, quoting the event number, the amount claimed, and a brief explanation. Bookings for guests may now be made for any event (except the AGM), but these will only be considered if the event still has places free after all bookings for members without guests have been accepted. Typically over 70% of events are full, those with places free are mostly the talks. Payment must be made by cheque made out to the London Appreciation Society (not just LAS). Leave the figures box empty and write a limit on the second line, as shown in the example on the reverse of the booking form. The ballot will include all forms received by the deadline. You make ask for your booking confirmation to be returned by email or post. For email please confirm you email address; for post you must enclose a stamped-addressed envelope. A C5 envelope will fit unfolded in the envelope supplied. Please bring the booking confirmation with you to events as this constitutes your ticket. Forms arriving after the deadline will be allocated places on those events which are not then full. About two weeks after the deadline the event lists are sent out making it more time-consuming to handle subsequent booking requests. Tickets are needed for some events such as concerts. If so the Tour Leader will hand them out on the day at the designated meeting place. Frequent absentees may be warned that their future booking success rate will be reduced. Membership Please notify the membership secretary of changes to email addresses via email, as misinterpretation of handwriting on the renewal form can lead to errors. 5 Refunds Asterisked Events: Refunds will only be given if it was possible to replace you or you cancelled at least 2 weeks prior to the event; a credit will be given by the Registrar at his discretion. This must be claimed on your next booking form, giving full details. Mr Spicer will not deal with refunds. Non-Asterisked Events: It is regretted that no refunds can be made for these events but you may arrange yourself for another member to take your place and adjust payment between you (See page 3, “Phoneswap”). Please do not contact Les Spicer or any committee member if you unable to attend. The Registrar overbooks these events sufficiently to allow for some non-attendance. Events Please give your name to the Tour Leader at each event on arrival. Be sure to bring your booking confirmation form with you as this now constitutes your ticket. Kindly do not turn up for an event without confirmation of your booking acceptance from the Registrar, otherwise you may be refused entry or asked to pay again whilst checks are made. Mobile phones and pagers must be switched off before all events. If possible please avoid arriving over-early for an event. There is usually somewhere nearby in which time can be spent if necessary. The lecture rooms will not be available until 15 minutes before the start of a lecture. Those with hearing or other difficulties are welcome to go a few minutes early in order to have a seat near the front. All events start on time unless the Tour Leader knows something very exceptional has occurred.