Vintage picnic brings us together

On Sunday 3rd July a modest, but at the same time momentous, event took place, an "Edwardian Picnic" in the grounds of Kenwood House in Hampstead, north London—taking advantage of the fact that current Covid rules allow outside gatherings of up to 30 people. It was significant in that it was the first event from the newly-minted "Society of Salome", the brainchild of Olga Piotrowna and Jonny Haart, but it felt momentous primarily because it was the first of such physical get-togethers, certainly that I had attended, since the previous summer. The dress code was more specific than a typical NSC gathering—1890 to 1899—and the side was most definitely not let down by any in attendance. There wasn't much more of an agenda than turn up, find a spot (shrewdly under a tree, given the regular threats of rain), eat an elegant picnic repast (and hats off to Tom Carradine for bringing a cake stand and bone china) and allow astonished passers by to take photographs of us. At 2pm a group broke away to have a look round the actual house before returning to rejoin the well-fed langour. Around 7pm we packed up the picnic engines and trundled away—a posse went on to the Spaniards Inn but I had to begin the long trek back to Greenwich. Many thanks to Olga and Jonny for organising the event. You can see many pictures of the event on the NSC Flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/sheridanclub/albums/72157719549016270.