Croydon Catenians Circle 60

The Christmas Gathering, the week before Christmas, was a wonderful family afternoon of fun with everyone taking part in one way or another.

Organised by Stephen and Mary Piper, the afternoon included carol singing, mulled wine, refreshments and some Christmas readings.

The afternoon nearly didn’t happen when everyone turned up at the church hall at St. Gertrudes      to find that the hall had been double booked and a children’s party was in full swing.

Alternative arrangements were quickly made to move the event to the church hall at St. Columba’s in Selsdon where the afternoon got off to a quick start.

Several members of Shirley Singers who are members of the Croydon Circle and their wives combined with others to form a choir for the afternoon.

A great start to the Christmas season with lots of Christmas jumpers on display.

A party of Croydon Catenians and wives attended the Annual London Christmas Carol Concert organised by the Alzheimer’s Society in December 2016.

They joined over 650 Alzheimer’s Society supporters at Southwark Cathedral for a special evening of musical performances from London’s leading chamber choir, Vasari Singers and their very own Croydon Singing for the Brain group.

The evening was hosted by TV presenter, Richard Madeley with festive readings from comedian Hugh Dennis, Judy Finnigan and Lesley Sharp. In addition, Society Ambassador, Lorraine Brown gave an inspirational speech about living with early onset dementia.

The concert was a huge success raising £26,000.

A group of 24 Croydon Brothers and wives enjoyed a historical walk based on the Fire of London on the 350th Anniversary of the great fire.

The walk was led by Ian Bevan, a qualified London guide who has led previous historic London walks for the Circle.

The walk started at the Monument and followed the route of the fire from where it started at the Kings Bakery in Pudding Lane.

The fire was fanned by strong east winds  and when it was finally extinguished only one fifth of London was left standing! Virtually all the civic buildings had been destroyed as well as 13,000 private dwellings, but amazingly only six people had died.

The walk finished near Tower Bridge with lunch at the ‘All Bar One’ pub.

On Sunday August 7^th members and their wives from Croydon Circle went to Littlehampton for what has now become a regular day out.

Starting with coffee at the Windmill we moved on with a walk to the lifeboat station and the Look & Sea Visitor Centre with the 360° viewing tower then downstairs for lunch in the Harbour Lights Café.

A leisurely stroll back down to the seafront was interrupted by ice creams on the sea wall.

The third annual Croydon Catenian kite festival rounded off the afternoon – lots of fun for all ages followed by tea and cakes before heading for home.