Copyright © Costa Blanca 41 Club 2018
Costa Blanca 41 Club
A club
of
wealth
and substance?
‘In May and June we had a BBQ and Cheese & Wine respectively at Albert & Betty White’s and Cliff and Lynn Crabtree’s. Under Ralph’s tuition, Joe had become a past master at making money from these events, and with the past profits we have been able to purchase our own crockery and cutlery so that future hosts will not have to borrow from neighbours.
July found us in the front seating rows of the Denia Carnival. Denis, who purchased the tickets, found that they were for the wrong date.’ Going back to the office he was told that the Carnival organisers had printed the wrong date, but as everyone knew about it, there was no need for a reprint. This is so Spanish. ‘In August, Ralph organised a beach party in Denia, with fairy lights strung out on poles, and a chicken spit-
Telephone waiting times are now down to 5 years according to the experience of Paul Henk, and 4 years according to Derrick Teale. ‘We now only have 3 resident members not connected.
Many of you will know the quaint way of house and street numbering in Spain outside of the village, which is to designate an area’. For example, Tony’s is MG CA short for Montgo Carresquettes. The numbers are
allocated as they are built, resulting in his number 267 being recorded as being between 118 and 84, ‘which if nothing else causes many fights in the cars of people trying to find their rented villas’.
At the start of the New Year, the club recorded the largest number of unpaid subs, still only 1,000 pts pa. The club was contacted by 2 members of an Edinburgh 41 Club living in Santa Pola which gave thought to a possible new Costa club south of Alicante. VC Alex persuaded ‘a number of us to climb the Montgo. 16 members and wives assembled full of enthusiasm, some looking quite professional in long socks and climbing boots, on the shorter, steeper route’.
‘We motored to the foot of the 3,000´ mountain that we gaze upon every day with the promise “one day we’ll climb it when we’re fitter”. The top was shrouded with mist. The going got steeper and about half the group returned to base camp. At last through the mist we saw the cross, sat down with relief to eat our well deserved refreshments, and have our photographs taken to prove that we’d made it’.
Subscriptions from overseas members rolled in, and at the AGM Alex became chairman for 1992/3, Joe Barnfield VC, with Paddy as Secretary and David Noakes as Treasurer’. Denis Vincent, the originator of these newsletters
of these newsletters, sent a Press Release to the Hinge, stating ‘the visitors have come and gone leaving us spaces to park our cars outside the bank, market and bodega, in order of choice. We now have some 35 associate members from the UK, Holland and Germany and 22 resident members. Our social events are largely outside, BBQs, dancing under the trees, cave trips and the like’.
‘Our exciting news is that our chairman, Alex Morrison, has joined the 45ft sloop ‘Guia IV’ which with 138 other yachts is to set sail for the new world to retrace the historic voyage of Christopher Columbus 500 years ago’.
The Marbella Restaurant became the Steak House, apparently completely unnoticed by Tony. VC Joe, whilst commending the social meetings, said that the club was neglecting the main part of the club’s activities. ‘We were not having speakers at normal monthly meetings, no banners were being put around and generally nothing was being done to make visiting 41ers and tablers feel at home. Nor were we looking after our absentees
who could be lying prostrate in sickness for all we knew. Following a general murmur of assent, the secretary was charged with sending out birthday cards to show that he still loved us!’
…To be continued…
...to be continued...
...to be continued...
...to be continued...
Note
This is the fifth of a series of articles on the history and development of the Costa Blanca 41 Club. It is being compiled from a large number of newsletters recovered from files held by Tony Ogden, who played a major part in the development of the Club and later in the development of the group of clubs now known as the ‘Iberian Cluster’. All the text above in italics is directly quoted from newsletters published at the time.
Ted Homewood/Bob Oxley Ted Homewood/Bob Oxley
Ted Homewood
Chairman 2005-
Bob Oxley
Chairman 2011-
