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.
Date | Where | Host | Themes | |
1st | 15 Mar 1992 | Royal Festival Hall, London | Personal favourites | |
2nd | 11 Oct 1992 | Royal Festival Hall, London | Columbus corkscrews to celebrate 500 years | |
3rd | 14 Mar 1993 | Woburn | Christopher Sykes | Compound Levers,Boxed corkscrews, Worst corkscrews in the world |
4th | 3 Oct 1993 | Royal Festival Hall, London | Double levers, Left handed worms, Miniatures | |
5th | 20 Mar 1994 | Luton | Frank Ellis | British registered designs |
6th | 23 Oct 1994 | Lee, Greenwich | John Compton | Modern corkscrews, Worm variations |
7th | 2 Apr 1995 | Wellington, Telford | Geoff Kenward | Henshalls for the bicentenary |
8th | 8 Oct 1995 | Monxton, Andover | Peter Coldicott | Lund Levers and the like |
9th | 21 Apr 1996 | Great Bookham, Leatherhead | John Burton | Champagne related items |
10th | 15 Sep 1996 | Hunstanton | Mike Meakin | Named bows, Lund items for the bicentenary (1796) |
11th | 20 Apr 1997 | Loughborough | Antonio Lopez | Registered figurals, Iberian corkscrews |
12th | 7 Sep 1997 | Holcot, Northampton | John Nash | American Patents |
13th | 29 Mar 1998 | Alsager, Stoke | Alan Thomason | Thomasons, Champagne taps, Smyth & Mackay’s 1898 patent |
14th | 18 Oct 1998 | Hackney, London | Fletcher Wallis | First and favourites |
15th | 18 Mar 1999 | Luton | Frank Ellis | Registered corkscrews re-visited |
16th | 24 Oct 1999 | Great Bookham, Leatherhead | John Burton | Champagne related items |
17th | 16 Apr 2000 | Weybridge, Surrey | John Belcher | Twisted wire to celebrate Clough’s machine’s patent |
18th | 1 April 2001 | Faringdon Oxfordshire | John & Carole Davis | Spring assisted corkscrews |
19th | 30 Sept 2001 | Eastbourne | Jim & Liz Edgar | Pockets, pegs and picnics |
20th | 28 April 2002 | Blackcroft Honiley, Warwickshire | Tim Underwood | Codd Openers |
21st | 29 Sept 2002 | Lee, South London |
John & Christine Compton | Thomasons for the bi-centenary |
22nd | 27 April 2003 | Gillingham Dorset | Pat & Giles Harbottle | Things with springs |
23rd | 2003 | Bradenham, Norfolk | Dominic & Helen Byrne | Not recorded |
24th | Not recorded | Luton, Bedfordshire | Frank & Barbara Ellis | Not recorded |
25th | Not recorded | Bromham, Bedfordshire | Norman & Margaret Wright | French corkscrews |
26th | 22 June 2008 | Hunstanton, Norfolk | Mike & Anne Meakin | Advertising corkscrews |
27th | 21 Oct 2009 | Woburn, Bedfordshire | Christopher & Margaret Sykes | Bow corkscrews |
28th | 13 June 2010 | Langton Green, Kent | Jim & Liz Edgar | Best corkscrew Buys |
29th | 17 October 2010 | Warwick, Warwickshire | Tim Underwood and Dawn Ashford | Free choice |
30th | 13 March 2011 | Faringdon, Oxfordshire | John and Carole Davis | Your special corkscrews |
Language
The “official” language of the ABCDE is English
Recent Comments