Southwell Charter

 I’m discovering that many Rotary Club Charters have their own characteristics and traditions.   Once such tradition occurs at the Southwell Club Charter which is held in the historic Saracen’s Head Public House, Southwell.   This is famed for being the place where King Charles I spent his last night as a free man in May 1646, before surrounding the next day during the English Civil War.


The Execution Warrant for King Charles I



 

Roast Beef always features on the Southwell menu I was told.  The Beef is also brought out and carved in front of the Charter attendees.  I happened to have been seated next to David Steel, a retired Butcher and Past President of Southwell, who also did the honours of carving the meat.  I did ask that he give me a generous portion!

 

 

The sweet was Bramley Apple Crumble.  The Bramley Cooking Apple is almost exclusively a British variety, but the most important cooking apple in the UK.  The first ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ tree was grown in Southwell after a young girl called Mary Ann Brailsford planted apple pips in 1809.  The cottage in whose grounds the tree grew was sold to the local butcher, Matthew Bramley in 1846.  Henry Merryweather asked Bramley if he could take cuttings from the tree and start to sell the apples in 1856.  Matthew Bramley was in agreement but only if the apples bore his name.  The first Bramley Apple Tree still stands in Southwell today and is considered a treasure of the town.

The speaker was Peter Cook, Headmaster of the Wellow School and former Rugby Union star.  Peter spoke about the impact of fate and luck in both his sporting and academic careers, and his message was one of encouraging everyone (including his students) to strive to achieve the best they could.