What it is that we do
We meet three times each year in person for a convivial dinner, a light hearted and sometimes in-depth discussion on all things Holmes and Conan Doyle. We then leave, fully content and gladdened for an evening spent in the good company of like-minded persons, having renewed friendships of old, and perhaps started others anew. These get togethers are on the second Saturday in January, April and August and generally in central London (a private room at Champagne Charlies, a Davy's wine Bar in Charing Cross, being a particular favourite).
Our gatherings benefit from having have both an informal aspect and a more structured element to them. Once underway the next agenda item may find us reviewing a recent adaptation, film or book or looking at a specific item of interesting memorabilia brought along by one of our members. At each meeting, there is also a talk given by one of the members on an item of mutual interest. These are well thought through, properly prepared, last around 20 minutes and go down extremely well with the members and guests alike. Recent topics have included:
- Arthur Conan Doyle, the mason and the man
- Cards and their value within the ACD canon
Obviously there are a few other areas of administration that we have to cover that you would expect from any organised club or society, but that is all handled efficiently by our Chairman, Secretary, Minister of Works and Treasurer. Dull titles these may be, but it is not the name that we address each other by!
Address me how?...
If you become a member then you will be addressed by the name of the character you choose! This can be from any person who features in the canon of Conan Doyle. If it has already been taken, then sorry, you should have joined earlier. Until that point, you remain a 'Baker Street Irregular'. On the meeting when your acceptance is voted on, you will be asked to explain to the club, why you wished that character and what attributes you like about them. Obviously a few have already gone such as Holmes himself, Arthur Conan Doyle and Watson etc. and a few others - our police inspector who has surprisingly chosen Lestrade; Charles Augustus Milverton, Mycroft Holmes, Colonel Sebastian Moran ..... but there are 56 short stories, 4 novels, as well as all his non-Holmes based fiction to choose from.
A few further anomalies...
During our meetings, conversation and open discussion is encouraged. However, we need to retain a degree of sensibility so that the loudest voice isn't the only one heard. It is a club where everybody has an opinion after all. To help this along, we each bring along a pipe! The choice is entirely yours but it serves a number of purposes, none of which involve actually lighting it! First, it is extremely useful to point with and thereby add emphasis to any argument you may wish to put forward. Second, it can be gently rapped on the table if you wish to say something about the topic concerned. The Chairman, at an appropriate juncture, will then call on you for your comment or opinion, thereby allowing everyone to have an uninterrupted moment to say their piece. This is particularly relevant if someone is in the middle of giving a talk and others wish to add something of their own. Lastly, well we even have our own "Club Tobacco", a mild, aromatic, soft tobacco that has beautiful room notes that has been blended by one of our Dr Watson specially for us. If you don't partake, then no worries at all, if you do, then we get the opportunity to enjoy our pipes and contemplate the world of Holmes from time to time.
There is so much memorabilia about, that we often bring along specific items we own or have come across on our travels. These provide interesting discussion points with tangents heading all over the place once we get started. They may even be purchased or won in a raffle. From time to time, the club has an excursion to a museum or place of interest that has some relation to the club, the author or the characters.