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