Association of British Corkscrew Devotees and Enthusiasts

The British Corkscrew Club

The idea to get the UK members of the CCCC together for a meeting was first spawned from a conversation between Frank Ellis and Fletcher Wallis around Christmas 1991. After very positive responses from Mike Meakin and Peter Coldicott the first meeting was set up in a public area in the Royal Festival Hall in London since it was central for us all, was fairly easy to get to and food was available. The meeting took place in March 1992 and was attended by members Peter Coldicott, John Compton, Frank Ellis, Mike Meakin, Christopher Sykes and Fletcher Wallis. Conclusions were that we should try and meet twice a year, that we should be a cohesive section within the CCCC and that we should try and gather UK orientated items to send to the Newsletter (later Quarterly Worme).

There is now a core group of regular ABCDE attendees and meetings now take place very informally at someone’s house. The loose format for the afternoon is a general chat, then a buffet lunch, followed by showing the theme corkscrews and finally buying and selling any spares. The traditional charge is a bottle of wine for the host.  In addition, small groups of members often arrange to meet at auctions or antique fairs.  If you are interested in attending Club meetings they will advise you on dates by email.  Please send your e-mail address to Mike Meakin.  Visitors from other Countries are welcome!

The following table records the dates and themes. Note that it became traditional to show Best Six corkscrews at the Autumn meeting.

Language

The “official” language of the ABCDE is English