Courtesy of a fellow R19 member, on Sunday 10th August, we’ll be guests of one of the finest Thameside private-members clubs, just up from Henley Bridge.
No need to be smuggled in through the kitchens in a laundry basket here. Up to 80 of us will be given exclusive access to the Pavilion at the Phyllis Court Club. We’ll have this riverside building all to ourselves along with a sumptuous buffet, bar and attentive staff.
We can even park our cars literally ‘on their lawn’, so long as those with a manual handbrake can forgo the temptation of a Scandi flick. The grounds are beautifully kept and provide ample space to walk-off your third helping of pudding, should you wish to stretch your legs (as well as squeeze back into your carbon bucket seats).
For those of a more leisurely bent, the Pavilion boasts an excellent balcony where you can sip your post-prandial digestive, gongoozling the river-bourne traffic. Let’s hope the weather holds.
Whilst ‘Phyllis’ might remind you of a great aunt the name actually derives – they say – from the Old English of fyllis or fillets, the word for a red rose way back when Chaucer was knee-high. Since the 1300s there’s been a manor house or building here continuously. You see: R19 does history, too !
So, whilst it’s a private members’ club with roots going back to the founder, Roy Finlay, in 1906, it’s not outmoded or stuffy. Admittedly, if you’re planning to rock up in your favourite AC/DC tee-shirt, baggy shorts and a pair of Dunlop Green Flashes you last wore creosoting the garden fence, please think again: a nice, comfy combo of chinos, shirt and shoes ought to do it.
Plus, should you feel the urge to make a weekend of it, you can avail yourself of member’s rates for an overnight stay on the Sunday night (they’re full on the Saturday) and the entire club will be your oyster. [Note: some of its latest facilities are truly impressive].
The price for all this lovely riverside goodness is £49.00 per head which, considering the quality of food, venue and service, is rather reasonable in this post-Covid era. Booze, as ever, is extra but don’t expect to pay much more than standard restaurant prices for a bottle of house white or red.
We can arrive from 10am and everyone needs to be parked up by midday. Coffee/tea will be available in the morning and lunch will be served from 12.30pm. We expect to finish mid-afternoon.
This quite possibly might be one of our 2025 highlights, so don’t delay about booking your place.
Henley-on-Thames RG9 2HT, www.phylliscourt.co.uk