TBBC Meetings logo The Great^ British Beard Club
The Group Photo A bystander Spider Mike Carly David A nice young lady Rodger Andrew The back of someone's head Frazer Glyn A potential new member? Another bystander Charlie

EARLS COURT, London was the location of the fourth meeting of The British Beard Club on August 8th 2009, and considering many had apologised that they would be away on holiday on that date, we had a reasonable showing of about 10.

I travelled to Victoria with TBBC and Handlebar Club member Tom, arriving there with plenty of time to take the District Line tube to Earls Court - what should have been a ten minute journey. Then, having discovered that there was no District line in operation that day from Victoria, and after being marooned on a stalled escalator for several minutes, we decided to leg it across Green Park and get to Earls Court another way.

So we arrived half an hour late at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court Exhibition centre, and made our way to the agreed meeting place. The hall seemed about half full of good-natured beer enthusiasts, with a good sprinkling of facial foliage to be seen, and a crowd of familiar bearded faces greeted us at the seating area. We set up some publicity material on the table they'd purloined, and began to sample the beers.

Quite soon, some potential new members came to find out what we were about. Three young lads wearing false beards, which were being offered on a CAMRA stand to promote The Good Beard Guide by Greg Graham which appears to be a CAMRA publication currently unavailable, were given cards and posed for a photo.

Lee, Matt and Kane - I think!
Lee, Matt and Kane - I think!
Tom and David's pie-and-a-pint

After a visit to the stand of the Crusty Pie Company - take that how you will... for a steak and kidney (?) pie to go with our pints, Spider returned from his wanderings with a couple of potential new members Mike and Carly, pictured in the group at the top of the page and again below.

Wherever there's Beer... there are probably Beards
Wherever there's Beer... there are probably Beards

The Hall began to fill up after lunch, and a strange phenomenon started to occur. Whenever someone dropped a glass way over the other side of the hall, spontaneous cheers and whistling sprung up there, and was taken up in an amazing and almost deafening climactic acoustic Mexican Wave by revellers all round the rest of the Hall.

There was an overwhelming variety of beers and ciders to choose from - we were recommended to try a European Apple beer (not cider!), which was liked by those that tried it. I also chose an English Cider at random which seemed to me to need an "acquired taste", but then I'm not an expert... hic!

Frazer had just been given a new camera-phone to ease him kicking-and-screaming into the 21st century, and took the opportunity to try it out. The pictures below are his results, together with some of mine.

CharlieAndrewAndrew and GlynSpider and friendsRodger
Charlie and TomTom and RodgerSpider and FrazerCharlie and RodgerAndrew and Glyn
Click a thumbnail to enlarge or play as a SLIDESHOW

Photos on this page were taken by Frazer Coppin and myself. TBBC

Best Bearded Regards
 
David
Beard Art Copyright © J.O.D.Hood 2008 www.jodhood.com All text and photography Copyright © MMIX THE BRITISH BEARD CLUB
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