Our return from the Summer break started with a visit to The Charterhouse. Following the visit earlier this year, of HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh who had also visited this magnificent set of historic buildings, which over time have served as a monastery, school and today a museum. In October, members of the London Ladies Club were invited to the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Chelsea, where they met botanical artist Rosie Sanders, who discussed the techniques and inspirations in her latest works over a glass of wine. Always innovative and painting to a hugely magnified scale, her dramatic watercolours challenge the boundaries and perceptions of contemporary botanical art.
Hosted by Annoushka Ducas MBE and Design Director Liz Olver, we were invited to an exclusive behind the scenes evening. Inspired by her extensive travels and fuelled by a collector’s passion for the exotic and unique, Annoushka’s eponymous jewellery collection is the culmination of a lifetime’s obsession with the timeless romance and sensual magic of jewels. In 1990, she and her husband entrepreneur, John Ayton started Links of London which they sold in 2006. Her loyal supporters include HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, Rihanna and Gwyneth Paltrow to name a few.
As always our programme of Tuesday Talks at the Army & Navy Club, was varied, exciting and interesting. Pamela Tinker, who practises the art of therapeutic aromatherapy gave an interactive and illustrated talk, about the therapeutic uses of lavender in Aromatherapy and Phytotherapy. Pamela holds her clinics at the award-winning Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa near Sloane Square. Dr D O’Flynn a London based GP who has a special interest in fasting and its role in health and illness spoke about the science behind fasting. In October, we welcomed Lynne Sanders, founder of bespoke British beauty brand Cosmetics à la Carte, and senior make-up artist, Laura Shepherd. Their talk focused on natural beauty and how to achieve ‘barely-there’ make-up, the Ladies left with a fabulous goody bag of samples to try at home. Martin Lutyens, Sir Edwin’s Great Nephew and Chairman of The Lutyens Trust UK, spoke about the evolution of the great architect’s work and how his style matured and evolved, culminating in the building, over almost 20 years, of New Delhi. In November, His Honour Judge John Anderson who served as a Circuit Judge, spoke on Criminal Trials in the Crown Court – how they work, procedures, evidence, examination and cross examination of witnesses and sentencing. The programme of Talks conclude with Nick Gray is a writer, producer and director who has worked in television for over 40 years and the original deviser and producer of the hospital series Jimmy’s. His programmes, made for the BBC, ITV, Channels Four and Five, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, have won many international awards including BAFTA and International EMMY nominations. His book, Escape from Tibet, is based on the true story of two brothers' journey from Tibet in the mid-1990s and was first made into an acclaimed documentary. A riveting tale of courage, adventure, and triumph. A foreword to the book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and an introduction provide historical context.
For our Musical Soiree in November, we had secured the expertise of Mark Austin, a British opera conductor with a reputation for brilliant musicianship and insightful programming who led an engaging evening of music, ideas and entertainment, held in the impressive Lloyd George Room at the National Liberal Club. With a talent and passion for communicating with audiences. Mark explored how to listen to music and opera with greater understanding and enjoyment, illustrated at the piano and with excerpts performed by baritone Ed Ballard. The evening featured some of the greatest songs and arias by Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Massenet and Verdi amongst others and was a huge success.
The London Ladies Club Autumn programme concluded with our annual Christmas lunch, held at the Army & Navy Club in Pall Mall. We were thrilled to welcome as our guest of Honour, The Rt Hon. Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP who is Member of Parliament for North East Somerset. He has held a number of posts on Select and Scrutiny committees and also runs his own company specialising in investment management for institutional clients. As with all our events this past Autumn, our Christmas lunch was very well attended and we are extremely grateful to our members for their continued support and enthusiasm.