Lunch and Royal Hospital Chelsea Visit

On a scorching Thursday 9th July a brave group of fourteen Gemini and Apollo 19 members gathered together in Sloane Square for a sociable lunch at Cote and then walked the short distance to Royal Hospital Chelsea. Sensible ones had bought hats, the rest of us tried to keep in the shade. 

Sergeant Ted Fell (Artillery and Intelligence) met us in his splendid "Scarlet", but we were relieved that he took it off after the jolly group photo. He explained how Louis XIV's Hôtel National des Invalides inspired Charles II while in exile to look after army veterans on his return to England. The site is vast, 66 acres, and there can be up to 301 residents with different levels of care and assistance. Wren was commissioned in 1682, and later Soane made alterations and added arches.

Ted kindly ensured we sat in the shade as we were guided round the courtyards, Chapel and Great Hall. In one courtyard we admired the gleaming golden statue of Charles II as a Roman Emperor, and the view to the River.  We peered into a simple compact historic bedroom, and noticed the wooden peg for the splendid scarlet jacket and black hat, a soldier's box and a shoe box outside the 6' square room (or 1.8 m sq). 

We found out where the sailors' expression "fill up your boots" came from (vast leather "Black Jacks" beer tankards for daily use, since Thames water was not safe to drink) and learnt about the annual grand parade and party that occurs around 29 May to mark Charles' II's birthday. 

Several of us were jealous of the traditional puddings on offer every day in the communal dining room, and some of the Past Masters were intrigued by the rules for qualifying to live in the Royal Hospital - ex army, British, of state pensionable age and "unencumbered by a spouse". 

Not connected to this rule or to the puddings, Ted showed us the Book of Remembrance displaying the ages of residents - a high proportion of them have lived happily beyond 100 ...

From its beginning, the place has offered "Succour for those broken by age or war", and it was sobering to see a list of recent battles displayed on the Great Hall  walls, showing that such a refuge and community is still needed.  There is a good Audio Visual sequence next to the shop which shows how the site has been changed, bombed, rebuilt and expanded over 340 years since 1685,  and the beautiful Chapel is open to the public for services. 

Despite the heat, we all enjoyed the whole event, so thanks go to Ted for his skilled guiding and to Susie and Julia for organising the event. 

Ruth Briant