Probably the smallest but very valuable meeting of The British Beard Club took place at The William Harwicke Pub in Bognor Regis on the evening of Wednesday 3rd March, when we met up with John and his wife Cheryl. In their spare time, supported by Cheryl, John is a member of a troop of keen re-enactors of American Civil War battles, and of course he looks the part!

He and his wife have an extensive and detailed knowledge of the battle histories of the men who fought and the Generals who commanded, and John entertained us with stories of bearded General "Stonewall" Jackson in the Battles of the Bull Run, and John's US visit to renact them.

At the last minute several of the expected bearded potential members were unable to be at this meeting, but we plan to hold another meeting on a weekend at a different Bognor Regis venue, which we hope will be better attended.

Essex Thatch of The British Beard Club, The Essex Beardsmen arranged our first meeting of 2010 on Saturday 27th February at The Queens Head, Chelmsford. 23 Members and friends enjoyed drinks, conversation and lunch, and three new members were recruited. Essex Beardsman Charlie reports on the meeting, including the opening, sharing and tasting of a bottle of ludicrously priced and ludicrously strong ale that one member had saved for the occasion.

Unfortunately, not many of the other expected members of The British Beard Club were able to attend the Handlebar Club's Post-Christmas Lunch at the Victory Services Club in London on Sunday 10th January, but I was glad to see Guy from Bishops Stortford, accompanied by bearded colleague Will, whom he'd brought along to see what goes on at such events.

The roast beef course was good and after the meal there was a watercolour auction which made £100 for the Childrens' Liver Disease Foundation, some speeches and a lot of photo-taking.

Afterwards most of the lunch guests repaired to the nearby Windsor Castle, the "home" pub in Crawford Place, London of The Handlebar Club, run by jovial and generous Michael Tierney, who is more than likely to want to photograph you for his extensive gallery of facial foliage on display all over the walls and ceiling of the Pub. Both Guy and Will are about to become exhibits there, and you can find me on the left just over the window!

I do hope this gathering or one like it can become an annual event for The British Beard Club, and maybe for Christmas 2010, we can invite The Handlebar Club to join US!

Outstandingly bearded TBBC Member and Mountain Bike Guide Ed Oxley is undaunted by the snowy weather, and shows us wonderful action shots of his Mountain Bike ride through Ragley Woods in West Yorkshire. Don't miss the shot and the soundtrack at 1:24 in! You can find out more about Ed's Great Rock mountain bike skills courses by clicking on the link.

Snow Ride in Ragley Woods from Ed Oxley on Vimeo.

The Essex Beardsmen host our seventh meeting, which was also the first regional meeting of The British Beard Club, in the fine city of Norwich, Norfolk. Read The Essex Beardsmen's report on the day's events.

When our TBBC member Douglas, a teacher at a school in Inverness, Scotland, asked his class what they wanted to do for the Charity Children In Need, they all said, "Shave your beard!", but dedicated beardsman that he is, Douglas flatly refused. So the children asked him to dye it blue, but he didn't really fancy a "blue-rinse beard" for weeks afterwards, so then they said, "How about Carrot Orange?", and that he agreed.

Douglas set the class a threshold of £300 of donations before he'd actually do it, and within 48 hours the children had passed that target! Chris Crook, a gents hairdresser in Inverness agreed to dye the beard for free, and soon a total in excess of £500 was raised, of which £300 will go to Children In Need, and the remainder will be shared between a Cancer charity and a very poor school in Malawi with which their school has links.

Douglas has been a good sport and we congratulate him and his class on their achievement.

Flying the flag for The British Beard Club, the Essex Beardsmen Charlie, Frazer and Henry visit the Charity Darts Match at Thatcher's Arms, Great Warley, Essex between The Handlebar Club and Pipe Club of London on 17th October 2009, and try out ale from The Brentwood Brewing Company and recruit some new members. Read Charlie's report online.

A good mix of bearded gentlemen members, their ladies, friends and one little one, and several members of The Handlebar (Moustache) Club, met in Lewes, East Sussex to join in the Annual celebration of "Rolling Out The Old" at Harveys Brewery, and do what members of The British Beard Club do best, chatting and drinking beer. The Brighton Morris Men and several other Sides danced and played to celebrate the return of Harveys seasonal Old Ale, which is only brewed from October to April. Read the report online.

This T-Shirt encapsulates many of the experiences of the inocuously but generously full-bearded, and you can own one too by ordering online from RedMolotov.com. David is modelling this good-quality 100% cotton shirt, with its particularly appropriate design printed in white on British Racing Green. You'll find it catalogued on the RedMolotov Web site in the section just below "Religion T-shirts", and costs £15.98 including VAT and Delivery. Other shirt colours are available.

We have to thank recently-joined member Andrew from Leeds, W. Yorks, for giving us the supplier information. You can see him also wearing this shirt design in our Members Gallery.

Member Marc Van der Veken makes his Beard Competition debut representing The British Beard Club on September 19 2009 in Gründau-Lieblos, Germany. This International Beard and Moustache competition was organised by Bartclub Gründau-Steinau. Marc gives us his first-hand account of his first-time entry to a beard competition. Marc's wife Griet recorded his participation in this event for us on camera, so look out for her pictures of a contestant in another competition category with a to-the-floor length beard who must be one of the longest-bearded living gentlemen!

The British Beard Club recently challenged The Eggheads team in a closely-fought bid to dislodge them from their proverbial wall. Did our team of buttered bearded soldiers beat those hard-boiled eggsperts, or were we left pointed end up and past our shell-by date with scrambled brains? You'll have to wait rather more than 4 minutes for the answer by watching out for the show on BBC2 Television!

The second August TBBC meeting was on August 9th when some members of The British Beard Club met in Kent at Broadstairs Folk Week at The Prince Albert in the High Street. You can read the full illustrated report online.

August has been a busy time so far for some Club members, with two possible TBBC meetings to attend, and a third event about which you will hear shortly. On August 8th The (Great) British Beard Club met at The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London. Several new members were recruited, and unusual beers were sampled. You can read the full illustrated report online.

The third bi-monthly meeting of The British Beard Club took place at The George Inn, Borough High Street, London on 21st June 2009. It was a great success, and was the most-attended meeting so far. Read the illustrated report. The next World Beard and Moustache Championships is on May 14th, 2011 in Trondheim, Norway, so you have still have time to grow a competition-quality beard! Join The British Beard Club and we'll help and advise your beard growth progress.

FRAZER COPPIN
a founder member of
The British Beard Club
takes 2nd place in Partial Beard - Musketeer
at WBMC 2009
(Picture by Dan Sederowsky)