13th April saw 40 members of Invicta gather for the Annual General Meeting 2012, at the Community Centre in Kings Hill, West Malling.

The business part of the meeting has been reported in 'Invicta Minutes' It was followed by an excellent lunch and a total of £125 was the amount realised from the raffle and bar sales which will be donated to our usual charity, the Kent Air Ambulance Service..

14th March saw 31 members of Invicta congregate for a private tour of Chiddingstone Castle, and the treasures housed in its collections.

In all honesty, the building is more of a “castle” than a castle – meaning that the building itself wouldn’t be many peoples’ vision of a real castle. It began its existence as a medieval manor house and it was not until the early 18th century that plans were drawn up to convert it to a Carolean mansion in the style of a medieval castle. Even so building to the original plan was never completed, and not until well into the 19th century was further work carried out, to a different design, but it still remained incomplete. The estate subsequently declined further as it passed through a succession of owners and uses until it was acquired for only £6000 by Denys Eyre Bower, an eccentric bank clerk.

It is Bower’s legacy that provides the castle with its principal attraction today. For he was an enthusiastic and informed collector and the consequence is that there is now no less than four small but excellent collections of artefacts, beautifully presented. The four themes of the collections reflect four distinct studies in which Bower was passionately interested. These are

• The Buddhist collection
• The Egyptian collection
• The Japanese collection, and
• The Stuart/Jacobite collection

Three of these interests are linked in a curious way. An obsession with Japanese culture led to Bower becoming a Buddhist, and in turn this triggered the personal belief that he was a reincarnation of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

A delightful light lunch was served which topped off an altogether fascinating day.

For more information go to Chiddingstone Castle

On the 7th March members of the Fellowship enjoyed a fascinating and most informative guided tour of the London Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark.The museum contains a wealth of information and exhibits depicting the history of fire fighting from the Great Fire of London in 1666 to the present day. In 1833 ten independent insurance companies founded the London Fire Engine Establishment under the leadership of James Braidwood who subsequently lost his life in the Tooley Street fire of 1861.

Captain Eyre Massey Shaw took charge following Braidwood's death and is credited with introducing numerous improvements to the service that eventually became known as the London Fire Brigade. The museum is housed in the former residence of Massey Shaw and is adjacent to the Brigade's training centre.

Sadly government cut-backs are threatening the future of the museum as the site has valuable development potential. It was scheduled to close in April but very recently has been given a reprieve until June. It is hoped a new location will be found to house the historical collection.

For more information go to London Fire Brigade Museum

Members of Invicta, spouses and other guests totalling 57 in all gathered at Edwards Bar and Brasserie, Sevenoaks Weald for an excellent Xmas lunch. Choices from an adequately long Xmas menu had been ordered some weeks earlier and thus service was very good after seats were taken promptly at 1pm. After the meal Laurie and Barry conducted a raffle that raised over £50 for the Kent Air Ambulance Service. Chairman Barry Summerfield thanked both Laurie and Maggie Thompson for their splendid organisation of the occasion, and the staff of Edwards for the fine food and service.