Having missed the first two editions of WitS, I was determined to make it to the next one, on March 14 this year in Chichester, West Sussex. So it was that I found myself, along with Jean Tillson, in Emsworth on the 13th. The Emsworth Museum had been opened specially for the gathering Wodehouseans, and what a treat it was! We and others greatly admired the new display devoted to Wodehouse and the ten years he lived in Emsworth.
From Emsworth it was a short drive to the Harbour Hotel in Chichester, arriving just in time to attend evensong at the cathedral. At the hotel, Jean and I found we were not the only Americans in attendance. TWS’s president, Bill Franklin, and membership secretary, Lynn Vesley-Gross, were among the attendees, along with Karen Shotting, Bob Rains, Andrea Jacobsen, and Elliott Milstein, the last of whom was one of the next day’s speakers. Canadian TWS member Sophie Delhaes was also there.
Saturday’s program was led off by Jonathan Causer, a retired lawyer who spoke on the subject “Fundamentally Unsound (Wodehouse and the Ten Commandments).” Laughs abounded as Jonathan led us through the philosophical and religious aspects of Bertie’s code of conduct and Jeeves’s influence on same. He was followed by Chris Makey, who, in “Wooster/Wodehouse Family Parallels,” explored the many links between the ancient families of Wodehouse and Wooster.
Elliott was the last speaker of the morning. Remember the list of Anatole dishes that Bertie comes up with as his reward for agreeing to go to prison, having taken the blame for Stiffy Byng’s theft of Constable Oates’s helmet? In “Pairing with Anatole,” Elliott very cleverly matched a different wine with each of Bertie’s desired dishes, and wowed the crowd with his estimate of just what that famous meal would have cost.
Following lunch, the noted bibliophile Nick Townend spoke on one of his favorite topics, “Wodehouse’s School Stories.” Probably no other scholar knows more about the school stories than Nick, and I’m delighted he will be reprising his talk in Garden City this November.
Next on the docket was Peter Nieuwenhuizen, the esteemed president of the Dutch Wodehouse Society and cofounder of TWS’s Dutch chapter, The Right Honorable Knights of Sir Philip Sidney. Sir Philip was very much part of Peter’s talk, “Heroism on the Wodehouse Battlefield,” as he showed how many of Wodehouse’s characters emulate that noble knight.
The third speaker of the afternoon was Wodehouse’s great-grandson Hal Cazalet. Hal presented a very moving tribute to “Plum, Bunny, and Snorky”—otherwise known as PGW, Ethel Wodehouse, and Leonora Wodehouse Cazalet. Slides featured rarely seen family photographs and reproductions of notes Plum wrote to Ethel, offset by several very amusing stories about the couple and their beloved Leonora. Happily, this talk will also be reprised in Garden City.
The day’s final speaker was Trevor Davies, chairman of the Trustees of the Emsworth Maritime and Historical Trust. He explained how the museum’s reconfigured display devoted to Wodehouse is set up as a nod to Lord Emsworth’s library, and he spoke of Wodehouse as being the “Gift That Keeps on Giving.” Following his talk, the attendees split into teams for a devious Wodehouse Quiz created by Paul Kent. I am delighted to report that the Wrykyn Wrecking Crew—Jean, Lynn, Bill, Nick, Vikas Sonak, and yours truly—won. ’Nuff said.
That evening we gathered one more time for a delicious dinner that proved a splendid end to an absolutely spiffing day. The weather had warmed up as well—springtime was truly in the air. Here’s to the next WitS in two years!
—Elin Woodger
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