THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON
Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934
ANNUAL DINNER
Saturday 19th January 2013
The Society's sixtieth Annual Dinner will be held in the Members' Dining Room at the
House of Commons, London, on Saturday 19th January 2013, at 6.30 for 7.30 pm. The
title assigned to this year's function is THE STRANGER’S ROOM REPAST. We are
much indebted to our sponsor, Bob Neill, who is sponsoring the dinner for the first time,
in his capacity as a sitting Member of Parliament, a requirement for all functions held in
this unique venue. Bob is the Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Local Government
and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Bromley and Chislehurst in June 2006,
following a successful career as a barrister specialising in criminal law. We look forward
to welcoming both him and all or most of our Honorary Members, as well as members of
the Society from all over the world.
For our 2013 Annual Dinner the Society is delighted to welcome novelist, critic and
broadcaster Kim Newman as our Guest of Honour. He was born in Brixton, the family
later moving to Aller, a village in Somerset where his parents set up Aller Pottery. He
read English at the University of Sussex, graduating in 1980. He became interested in
monsters, movies, literature and comics at school and worked on theatre and with various
music or comedy groups, acting with the Bridgwater Youth Theatre. After university, he
moved to London, and a number of his plays and musicals were staged at the Bridgwater
Arts Centre in the early 1980s, including My One Little Murder Can’t Do Any Harm,
which introduced the characters of Edwin Winthrop and Catriona Kaye, who still appear
in his fiction.
He began working regularly as a film critic in 1982, writing for City Limits, the London
listings magazine, and Venue, the Bristol equivalent, among others. A year later Proteus
Books took up his Nightmare Movies on the basis of an outline and a sample chapter. He
sold his first short story, ‘Dreamers’, to Interzone. He began broadcasting in the mid1980s, reviewing films, books and plays on Radio 4’s Kaleidoscope. He worked in
television from 1986, briefly as a film reviewer on ITV’s Night Network, and then on
Channel 4’s breakfast show, The Channel 4 Daily. He has written documentaries and
appeared on many documentaries, arts and entertainment programmes, including a number
of ‘100 Best’ programmes. He works regularly for Empire and Sight & Sound and
contributes audio commentaries and liner notes to DVDs.
Kim has won a number of awards, among them the 1989 Bram Stoker Award (presented
by the Horror Writers of America) for “Best Non Fiction 1989″ for Horror: 100 Best
Books and the Children of the Night Award (presented by the Dracula Society) for “Best
Novel 1992″, the 1994 Fiction Award of the Lord Ruthven Assembly, the 1994
International Horror Critics’ Guild Award for Best Novel and the 1999 French Prix Ozone
for Foreign Fantastic Novel, all for Anno Dracula.
Perhaps most intriguing for us is his series The Man from the Diogenes Club (2006), The
Secret Files of the Diogenes Club (2007), and Mysteries of the Diogenes Club (2010).
These feature agents of the Diogenes Club, which, in Newman's stories, is a cover for a
top-secret establishment of the British government, described as "an institution that quietly
existed to cope with matters beyond the purview of regular police and intelligence
services". A version of the Diogenes Club also appears in the Anno Dracula series,
complete with alternative version of one of the characters. The Diogenes Club series,
conversely, sometimes includes alternative versions of characters who first appeared in the
Anno Dracula series. Perhaps Kim Newman will explain all.
The menu for the Dinner is as follows:Smoked Haddock and leek cake
with chowder dressing and smoked bacon
Roasted rump of English lamb and leek compote
braised rosemary potato, celeriac cream and morel red wine sauce
Pear and raspberry crumble
served with vanilla custard
Coffee and Petit Fours
Most members will know that the seating capacity of the Members' Dining Room is
limited to 170 and that this means it is only possible for them to invite one guest each. If
the Dinner is oversubscribed a ballot will be held immediately after the closing date for
applications, which is Saturday 1st December. Security at the House of Commons is
necessarily strict, and admission will be by formal invitation only: for this reason we need
to know the full name of your guest if you are bringing one. Successful applicants will
receive personalised invitation cards which will have to be produced to the police on the
night in order to gain entrance to the building, and as these will perforce be despatched
during the Christmas postal rush please do not worry unduly if yours does not arrive until
after the holiday. If you expect to be away at that time please give an address to which
mail should be sent to ensure safe receipt.
Fish or vegetarian alternatives will be available if ordered in advance, and special dietary
requirements can also be catered for provided sufficient notice is given. Space is provided
on the application form for you to state your requirements.
The charge for the evening will be £68.00/US$136.00 per head, inclusive of everything
except drinks which must be paid for individually on the night. Copies of the House of
Commons wine and bar lists will be sent to all successful applicants so that they can order
in advance: we have found that this gives everyone more time to mingle with friends in the
bar beforehand - although you will be able to place an order on the night if you prefer.
The Dinner is a formal occasion and it is customary for gentlemen to wear dinner jackets
(black tie) and for ladies to wear evening dress (short or long) but this is not obligatory.
Visitors from overseas in particular may not wish to bring dress clothes for one evening
only, and we should like to assure them that dark lounge suits and cocktail frocks are
equally suitable.
Smoking is not permitted in any rooms, including the pre-prandial bar and the Dining
Room itself.
POST ANNUAL DINNER FUNCTION
A CENTRE PAGE SPREAD!
The Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s Morning After will be held at The Centre Page,
29-33 Knightrider Street London EC4V 5BH on Sunday 20th January, from 11.30
am, where we have sole use of the downstairs room for our informal function.
Knightrider Street is on the right as you walk down Peter's Hill from St Paul's towards the
Millennium Bridge; the pub is on the corner. The original building of 1665 was The Horn
Coffee House in Doctors Commons, 10 Godliman Street, off Carter Lane on the south side
of St Paul’s Churchyard. The Horn Tavern, as the late 18th century pub was known, is
best known as being mentioned in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers - Mr Pickwick
sent his friends to the tavern to fetch a bottle of wine for his supper, he being incarcerated
in the Fleet Prison at the time. It was fairly recently restored and renamed The Centre
Page. (While Holmes did visit Doctors’ Commons in “The Speckled Band”, it was sadly
to Somerset House that he went, the building housing it here having been demolished in
1867). It is hoped that some entertainment will be provided.
Drinks will be available on a cash basis and lunch will be served at 1.00 p.m. There will
be a choice of Traditional Roast Beef, Salmon & Pancetta (or we trust Salmon without
Pancetta) or, Mediterranean Veg Risotto followed by either Profiteroles & Cream, Apple
Pie & Cream or Custard or Cheese & Biscuits; after lunch Tea or Coffee are included in
the price. The cost will be £16 / $32 per head. Choices must be notified in advance. An
application form is appended and you may include the appropriate payment on your
Dinner cheque if you wish.
Members planning to spend the day in the area might like to know that there is a sung
Eucharist at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 11.30am on Sunday mornings and Evensong at
3.15pm. The Tate Modern (open until 6pm) and The Globe Theatre Exhibition (open until
5pm) are a short walk away on the south side of the Thames.
2013 DATES FOR THE DIARY
22nd March
May
June
September
October
November
London Transport Museum
AGM and London Weekend
Cricket match
Weekend Trip
Richard Lancelyn Green Lecture
Film Evening
THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON
Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934
To:
Miss Catherine Cooke,
15, Copperfield Court, 146, Worple Road, Wimbledon, London, SW20 8QA.
“THE STRANGER’S ROOM REPAST”
I/We should like to attend the Society's Annual Dinner at the House of Commons on
Saturday 19th January 2013 with …… guests (limited to one per member) and enclose the
appropriate remittance of £68.00/US$136.00 per head, payable to The Sherlock Holmes
Society of London.
I/We should like to order …… vegetarian or fish meals (please delete or specify as
applicable).
I/We have a special dietary requirement as follows ………………………………………..
NAME(S) OF MEMBERS …………………………………………………………………
NAME(S) OF GUESTS …………………………………………………………………...
ADDRESS TO WHICH INVITATION CARDS SHOULD BE SENT:
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
TELEPHONE NUMBER OR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY:
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Please print or write clearly - especially if giving an e-mail as these can so easily be
mis-read and one mistake is fatal!
POST-ANNUAL DINNER FUNCTION
I/We should like to come to the "Morning After" get-together on Sunday 20th January, and
to bring …… guests (no limit) and enclose the appropriate remittance of £16 / $32 per
head, payable to The Sherlock Holmes Society of London.
I/We should like to order …… Roast Beef ….. Salmon & Pancetta….. / without
Pancetta….. Mediterranean Veg Risotto….. followed by ….. Profiteroles……Apple Pie
….. Cheese & Biscuits
(please specify number of each)
NAME(S) OF MEMBER(S) ……………………………………………………………….
NAME(S) OF GUEST(S) ………………………………………………………………….
c.cooke@dsl.pipex.com