September 8th 2010
ABCDE Meeting @ Jim's
Wowzer! What a great weekend of a corkscrew fix. Fabulous ABCDE meeting hosted by Jim & Liz Edgar.
All started lunchtime on Saturday when Webby arrived at my place & we hit the road to Crowborough via a few
antique arcades. Always a giggle with Webby. As per normal the antique shops were proving a tough nut to
crack with limited corkscrews on offer, so we found other ways to amuse ourselves. I can report a find though,
going splits on a nicely marked Wolverson Tangent lever with date stamp for £24. Woop!
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Captain Webby salutes outside a secret
antique arcade location
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Wow! Spicey or what. Looking hot
mate!
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We are not amused
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Soz Webby, wasn't me, it was the beans
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Aww, look Webby, a lovely fluffy
teddy bear
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£24. We'll take it!
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We arrived at Jim's around 6:30, met by two solid monstrous drive gates with a security system. Had to get out
of the car to press the intercom button to announce our arrival. The doors slowly opened to reveal a splendid
stately home with a drive big enough to fit every one of Jim's Ferrari collection. OMG! Jim has truly gone from
just plain posh to Lord Henshall of the corkscrew district. We received a typically beautifully warm welcome from
Liz, Jim & now grown up kids William & Rachel as well as Rachel's boyfriend Lazar. A quick drink & we were
soon given a guided tour of their wonderful home.
At the previous ABCDE meeting that Jim & Liz hosted back in 2010, I had the joy of spending the night in the
magical Webby camper van, this time we managed the inner sanctum, yes, a bedroom in the Edgar stately
home. JACKPOT! Feathered quilt, Goose down pillows, Harrods toiletries, bath robes, Jasmine scented
candles (my favourite) & even matching his & hers, I mean his & his towels awaited, initialed S. W. & P. B. but
also embroidered with a Henshall corkscrew. Classy! As you would expect from such classy people. Thanks!
Master en suite next time please ;) Oh & by the way Liz, the Neroli Portofilo in the Harrods toiletries bag smelt
so much nicer than Webby's Gorilla aftershave. So sweet of you.
Around 7:30 Tim Underwood & girlfriend Claire arrived & before too long we were tucking into a very tasty
Indian take-away & drinking large amounts of good beer & wine. We had a good laugh & no doubt were rather
silly. Hostess with the mostess, Liz was very keen for us to play a board game called Dingbats, um sure. I
reckon Liz was rather disappointed with her chosen team mates, Webby & me, as we finished last. Silly girl, she
surely should of worked out there were better options. Lol. Kids won, pretty easily actually with the Jim, Tim,
nice but dim team coming in second. Tim hit the sack surprising early & once the red was finally polished off
Webby & I went off too.
Day two started with a throbbing headache, likely a combination of having a cold, drinking too much the night
before & being kept up by the mighty Webby snore. What a snore! I soon wandered down to breakfast, freshly
ground frothy coffee, toast & a musical chat with Lazar, a talented composer & musician.
In no time we were checking out Jim's corkscrews & pulling out a few of our own. The corkscrew I picked up a
couple of weeks back on ebay turned out to be marked twice "Underwood" & can be found in the 18th century
book, a super rare piece. Couldn't let that one go to Fotodeal, when we have an Underwood of our own in the
group. Just needed to work out a fair price that worked for us both. By the end of the day we did. Great!
Jim had sorted out a £1, £2, £5 & an assorted price box. Just my type of boxes. I found £80 worth of cheap
goodies. Still get a buzz going through boxes like that - rightly so I reckon.
Before long the corkscrew collectors were arriving. A right friendly bunch the Brits. Come along next time if you
can. As people arrived we were serenaded by a wonderful repertoire on piano by Lazar.
Soon cracking corkscrews were being shown. Webby went a bit pale when Mike Meakin pulled a Read's
Coaxer out of his jacket pocket. Some other great pieces were passed around too. Webby brought along a
fabulous Serpent Thomason, I brought a Russell single lever & Peter Davidson showed off an unusual pocket
folder to name just a few. Vultures were seen circling when Barbara opened a couple of boxes for sale.
Many deals were done. Host Jim, picked up four great Henshall types, included an early Robert Jones
example, a stunner with an archimedian worm & one with a hinged foil cutter. Bit of a free for all getting to the
boxes first, so here's a tip, it's all about the big hand scoop. The moment a box is opened go in with your hand
spread wide, scoop & scoop big. Bash away other scooping hands with upstrokes & sideways shunts, when
you've scooped big, close the hand around your prize & shout a battle cry "Aarrrrrrghh!" & go out. Never fear
the helix pierce, drawing blood from yourself or a scooping opponent is a sign of the perfect scoop & other
collectors will cheer your endeavours. Scoop practice at home is highly recommended, in fact we had a scoop
off at the meet. Jim managed to scoop 3 Thomasons, 4 Henhsalls & a pot metal horse corkscrew from a
cardboard box marked Ellis, in one hand, in an incredible 0:12 seconds. Freakingly amazing!
At the last meet Webby & myself lost a thriller of a table tennis game to Jim & Will. I was looking forward to the
rematch. Webby was in no fit state to practice, being in a Zombie state of wanting the Read's Coaxer, so I had
a couple of games with the sporty Fletcher Wallis. Alas, rain later in the day meant we didn't get the rematch.
Another time.
Lunch was soon served, a really tasty lunch. Beef, Chicken, Salmon, Prawns, naughty but nice buttery
potatoes, a variety of salads & fruit flan, fresh fruits, meringues & cream for puds. Thanks Liz, wonderful :p
yum. Thanks to all Liz's helpers too.
Post lunch & back to the corkscrews with more show & tell & further buying & selling. I bought a Van Geison
from Wally who had brought along a number of really good pieces. Talking of Wally, he was soon busy going
through Jim's various bargain boxes. Sssshhhhhh, don't tell Wal that I'd bought all the good gear before
everyone arrived. ;)
It was great to catch up with the Brit pack. The day flew by & soon we were saying our good byes. All had a
great time. One to remember. Sincere thanks for a great meeting to hosts, Jim, Liz & family.
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This way to the ABCDE meet
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Coaxer prostate examination
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Lovely ladies
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Elbows out - here come the corkscrews! Scooping time!
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Mes amis
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Borrett 4 Wallis 0
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Lunch is served
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Tasty, Richard's bag of screws, Webby & the Coaxer - MIke keeping a close eye, Wal & the bargain boxes.
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