I must confess I
wasn’t clear whether tonight’s gala dinner was to be held in England, or
whether we would actually go through the tunnel to France whilst dining.
Obviously I made sure I had our passports with us just in case. As we set off I
put the co-ordinates we had been given into the Sat Nav, and off we went. St
Pancras is the main Eurostar terminal, but I thought it more likely that we
would join it at Ebbsfleet International station. Ebbsfleet International is a
grand sounding place, but I don’t think there is much to it apart from the
station and a massive car park. It does, however have one great attraction, in
that it is just off the M25 Motorway, and therefore easy to get to, traffic
permitting.
St Pancras Station
We headed southbound on the M25 as expected, but I was a bit
surprised when we turned off towards Croydon. I was quite sure the Eurostar
doesn’t stop at Croydon, at least not since its early days when it left from
Waterloo station and limped embarrassingly slowly through South London on its
way to the tunnel. Perhaps there was to be a coach in Croydon to take us to the
train. The directions actually took us to the rather smart Selsdon Park Hotel, where I noticed a couple
of coaches waiting outside, so I was convinced we would be transferring to one
of them.
Selsdon Park Hotel
It was only when we got out of the car and were welcomed
enthusiastically by the lovely Barbara Harker, President of Croydon Rotary Club
that I realised I had been misinformed, or at least I hadn’t been given all the
information. We weren’t going to be travelling on the Eurostar train at all!
Eurostar, I was informed, is a name adopted by seven Rotary clubs from across
Europe who meet up every year for a weekend of fun and fellowship. The
countries represented are Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and of course the UK, represented by
Croydon.
View across the golf course from the Hotel terrace
Each year one of the Clubs arranges a weekend for the other
six clubs, and this year it was the turn of Croydon to play host to the
others. A full programme of outings and
events had been planned for the weekend, culminating in tonight’s gala Dinner.
The DG claimed to know all about this already, so was it just me who had got it
wrong? I doubt it. No-one is going to
admit to such a mistake so there were probably a number of people at the event
who had thought they were going on a train ride, but were too embarrassed to
admit it.
A dazzling array of drinks
The Selsdon Park Hotel is a beautiful, and big, hotel.
Besides tonight’s dinner, at which over 100 people were present, there was a
wedding reception going on elsewhere in the hotel, and another function as
well. It is to the Hotel’s credit that we were unaware of the other functions
going on that night, and were well looked after by their staff. It is a huge
Victorian building, on a site with a history dating back to the 13th
Century. Some of the internal décor is quite breathtaking.
Impressive ceiling in Reception
As we mingled on the terrace with drinks in hand, I met some
of the international guests. Altogether 88 visitors had attended from 5 of the
countries in this group (the French club couldn’t attend this year) and the
coaches I had seen outside had brought them to the Hotel. Clearly I would have
to be on my mettle tonight, with all the different languages being spoken
around me. Helpfully, people wore name
badges with their country of origin, so I knew what language to switch to.
Being multilingual, I was able to move from person to person and say a few
words in their own language. To be fair,
It was the same few words every time, and I quickly discovered that whilst I
can speak some Italian, Spanish, French and German, you need a follow-up
comment to ‘Hello, how are you’.
The terrace gets crowded
Eventually, it was time to take our seats, and naturally I
found myself on the top table, with a charming Swiss woman to my left (from the
French speaking part of Switzerland) who couldn’t speak any English. I
therefore had plenty of opportunity to practice my French. I started with an
observation that there must be many mountains in Switzerland. She agreed. The conversation petered out at that point,
as I couldn’t think of anything else to say to her that I could express in French.
So I attempted the tried and tested technique of speaking to her in English,
but very slowly and with added gesticulations. This worked a little better, but
help was soon at hand in the shape of another Swiss woman on her other side,
who spoke English well and translated for us. A lively conversation ensued.
Switzerland
Before dinner was served, we had entertainment, in the form
of a group of bell ringers. I don’t mean the kind of huge church bells you hear
on Sundays, but hand held bells, each individually tuned to produce different
notes. They were from All Saints Church in Sanderstead, and called themselves
The Two O’ Clock Bells, as that was the time of day they had practice every
Monday. Led by Sandra Winter, they started with a medley of British folk songs
and finished with the theme from the Eurovision song contest (very appropriate
as the contest was actually on tonight) and the European national anthem. I
thought they were excellent. People sang along to tunes they recognised, and
several of our European friends actually stood for the European anthem.
The Two O'Clock Bells perform
I had pre-ordered a smoked
salmon starter, followed by roast pork and crème brulee. As usual I had completely forgotten what I had
ordered, but fortunately I found that my menu choices had been printed on my
name card at the table. What a clever idea, which saves all the confusion that
can occur when menu choices are given weeks in advance. During the meal I chatted to the dining
companion on my right, who turned out to be a man who was born in England, but
moved to Spain with his family when he was a teenager, and never went back. He
runs a building business in Spain, and I expect he does very well from Spain’s
large ex-pat community who I’m sure would appreciate dealing with someone they
can hold a conversation with in English.
Creme brulee
After dinner, inevitably, there were speeches. The President
of every club spoke in his or her own language, and we were all given English
translations. The speeches were mercifully short (limited to about two minutes
each) and it was clear that our visitors were enjoying their weekend immensely.
Yesterday our visitors were taken to Hampton Court and had a boat trip on the
Thames. Today they had been on a visit
to Denbies vineyard in Dorking for a tour and to sample some English wine. I
have heard it said that in view of global warming, Denbies now has a similar
climate to the Champagne region of France, and the same chalky soil, so the
future’s looking bright for English wine.
Denbies Wine Estate
After speeches, it was time for the exchange of gifts, which
is customary at these events. I‘m not
sure if everyone had a gift for everyone else, it could just have been that the
President of each visiting club gave a present to the host club President. The Swiss club, demonstrating a sense of
humour, presented Barbara Harker with a cuckoo clock. I wasn’t clear about who gets to take the
gifts home, or whether they are used as raffle or auction prizes at their next
event. Even the DG received a gift from
the Italian contingent, in the form of a large coffee table book, full of
beautiful photographs of their part of Italy.
The DG gets a gift
As we left the Hotel, waving to our new Swiss friends boarding the coach taking them back to their
accommodation I reflected on the event we had just attended. Like so many
things I have been to during my year of office, I had no idea this Eurostar
group existed. What a marvellous way to foster International understanding and
friendship. I thoroughly enjoyed mixing with people of different nationalities
and practising my linguistic skills, and I’m sure they will never forget the
day they met the Consort to the District Governor.
The DG with Barbara Harker and (I think) the Swiss club President
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