Today thirteen intrepid trenchermen and one trencherwoman met at The George at Molash to partake of their fare and to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of that august institution The East Kent O Gauge Group. As only to be expected drinks were quickly ordered while we awaited the arrival of the usual latecomers (they know who they are). Once we were all safely gathered in and free from worry (if nothing else) the menu was studied and our orders taken.
Roger’s excellent history of the Group was passed around and the longer serving members amongst us recounted tales of the various EKOGG personalities and characters from times past. One past Chairman I understand used to control proceedings with a whistle hung around his neck. So, food for thought there, I think. Interestingly looking at the photo of fledgling EKOGG members in Peter Hingley’s garden in 1986 everybody was wearing a tie. At that time as Roger told us nearly everybody’s interest was in steam locomotion and not in the wide range of diesel and electric trains that we see on our circuit at Badlesmere today. Clearly standards have dropped since 1986 in one regard at least. Once the food arrived, we had to wait a while but that was only to be expected as it was freshly cooked and not just warmed up, we all tucked into it with alacrity. As we ate the conversation changed to compliments about the meal before reverting to all things model railways. Such was the admiration of the food that at least one of us tried to scrape every last morsel off of his plate before relinquishing it but I won’t embarrass John by mentioning his name. The George really did us proud with excellent food and service and perhaps we should have an anniversary meal there more often. The only downside was the hard wooden seats which for someone with my lack of padding were a bit of an issue. Nonetheless numsky bumsky aside it was a very enjoyable afternoon and while by 3.30pm one or two had drifted away most people looked as if they were going to chew over matters EKOGG for some time yet. Chris
