Forest's 30th anniversary reception
Friday, June 26, 2009 
Ranald Macdonald, MD of Boisdale plc, proposes a toast to Forest at our 30th anniversary reception on Monday night. One hundred and fifty guests attended the event at Boisdale of Belgravia in London. Among the guests was actress Lorraine Chase who starred in Emmerdale and the famous Campari "Luton airport" ads when she worked as a model.
Other guests included my Forest colleague Neil Rafferty (co-founder of the Daily Mash); Rob Lyons, deputy editor of Spiked!; Eamonn Butler and Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute; Trevor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio; Shane Frith and Mark Littlewood from Progressive Vision; Mark Wallace and Tim Aker from the Taxpayers Alliance; Simon Richards, director of The Freedom Association; bloggers Chris Mounsey (Devil's Kitchen) and Dick Puddlecote; and my old friend Harry Phibbs, now Cllr Phibbs (Hammersmith & Fulham).
Apart from Ranald, other speakers were journalist James Leavey, author of the Forest guides to Smoking in London (1997) and Scotland (1998), and writer Christopher Snowdon who also signed copies of his new book Velvet Guide Glove, Iron Fist: A History of Antismoking.
You can view photographs of the event HERE. You can download any of the low-resolution images for your own use. If you would like hi-res images or prints contact Dan Donovan at dan@battenburg.biz.
If you attended the event it would be good to have your comments. I spoke briefly to Dave Atherton but I may have missed other readers of this blog. Apologies, it was a busy evening!
PS. Thanks to Simon Chase of Hunters & Frankau, the cigar importers, for the present of 30 (geddit?) Cuban cigars. Now, where's my lighter?
Update: I should have added that guests also included Ian Parker-Josepth, leader of the Libertarian Party, and Tim Evans, president of the Libertarian Alliance. So many libertarians! Oh, and Tim brought his wife - Dr Helen Evans, director of Nurses For Reform.
Reader Comments (19)
I'm sorry that I missed it, Simon, but I understand that a good time was had.
Great photos and it would be interesting to put names to faces. Think I recognise no. 68 and I'll let her know she's global!!
Velvet Guide, Iron Fist ? Could you please correct the title ;-)
What a night! Had a great time, thanks, although I'm a bit hazy about who I met. The Ginger Beer cocktails were dangerous.
Thanks to Forest for welcoming me, and I'm looking forward to reading the book this weekend.
Great photos Dan. Really superb.
Like Simon, I'm sorry if I couldn't spend as much time with people as I would have liked to. The night really flew by.
Simon,
A wonderful evening all round, so very nice to put faces to names in such a congenial venue.
Will concur with Stuart in saying those Ginger Beer cocktails were lethal, but most enjoyable.
I agree 100% with all the other comments. I had, as usual, a wonderful time. Dan is a great photographer, and I must admit he did persevere to get a decent picture of me, he said I wave my arms about and move around too much, but he did it in the end, although I had to look at the photos three times before I actually recognised myself, lighting a cigar in the dark.
A big Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event.
Great evening Simon as always!
So many interesting people to meet.
All those evening organize by you are “a Breeze of fresh air in my days” even if we are all smoker or smoker-friendly without being sarcastic.
It was a pleasure to see again Dan The best photographer, Chris Snowdon; what a book! Ranald, Simon Chase,…… and of course YOU.
Actually, I'd like to echo Joyce - could they be labeled? I know so many of you by name but not by face!
Uuh - how did you dole out the Cubans? Or did only 30 want them?
Bugger, I wish we from the North of England could make it to these FOREST bashes, they are becoming legendary. Will look at the pics later and see if I can recognise Dick Puddlecote and one or two others. Hope you had a really good book launch Chris.
Lorraine Chase eh, who'd have thunk it.
Lorraine told me that she is a non-smoker but totally against bans that deny choice.
What a breath of fresh air seeing so many people having a fun night out in a pub/bar and smoking.
Well done :-)
Twas a great evening. It fair whistled along in deep conversation with one sensible and engaging attendee after another.
Highlight of the night? Finding out that the North Pole had been designated as a 'no smoking area'.
Only a part of my arm is in the pictures (quite like it that way tbh) ;-)
Congratulations from Germany where smoking is still allowed in many bars.
This will change after Lisbon is ratified,and if anyone protests....
then the EU will send the 5,000 strong EUROPEAN GENDARMERIE FORCE (EGF) !
It will be "first and foremost at the disposal of the EU" and deployed across Europe for "crisis management operations" ( i.e. demonstrations and riots ).
The officers come from Rumania,Italy,Spain,France,Portugal & Holland with Turkish « observers ». All wear a badge with a grey flaming grenade on a sword with a blue background.
Google their website.
Coming to a street near you after Lisbon .
Good luck to all of us who still believe in freedom and democracy !
So many people keep saying that they know the faces but cannot put names to all of them. I would like to propose that we organise a sort of "Friends of Forest" reunion dinner at Boisdale. It wouldn't of course be free, like Simon's events, we would have to pay for ourselves, but it could be a nice way to meet, introduce ourselves to each other, talk over what is happening, and have a great night out in the process. I do hope of course that Simon will also take advantage and join us.
I would suggest a Monday or Tuesday, late September. Anyone interested you can email me at pjthurgood@aol.com
Peter what a great idea, I am up for it and will email you.
I am forgetting my manners. Can I make a public thank you to Simon for another outstanding evening. Well organised and great guests in an outstanding venue, Boisdale. Thanks to Ranald for his indulgences as I go at least weekly.
If Forest's events were as good as the law we would all be puffing away inside.
PS to all Taking Liberties readers it is written in tablets of stone that I am at Boisdale's on Fridays, often in the company of people in the pro choice community. I am always up in the smoking terrace and most of the staff know me. I am there from, 4.00pm ish to err, 1.00 am.
If you want to do things formally you can email me daveatherton20@hotmail.com
I probably should have stated the obvious that there was at least one other Nurse at the Forest do - and very good do it was!
I used to have a job testing fags but all the new laws have left me unemployed...
Please tell me has there been any actual headway made by you group. the ban came into effect in Crete on 1st July while I was there to the outrage of the greeks. why is the goverment being allowed to take away our basic liberal rights. When will it end???