TRUE FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTIES CLUB 



made to the Licensing Bench to keep the bar licence, 

 as distinct altogether from the club, as there was a nice 

 little bit of profit out of this bar, and, as I pointed out, if 

 the club did not succeed then it might have to be sold 

 and remade into an hotel. However, that came off 

 all right. 



The repairs were begun, and a certain amount of 

 new furniture purchased to furbish up some of the best 

 rooms, and especially to make the winter garden 

 attractive. It all went on steadily. At the Craven 

 Meeting it had not been converted into the club, but 

 then came the change. Everything w^as progressing, 

 and the place beginning to look beautiful, when the 

 death of King Edward came ; it was then good-bye to 

 the Second Spring Meeting and a terrible set-back. 



I must explain that, over a year before I heard any- 

 thing about the place. Lord Charles Ker had been 

 round to many well-known men, and had got their 

 sanction to go on a sort of honorary committee, and 

 these names were handed to me with pride, as signifying 

 that those were the people I had to put at the top of 

 the bill to show the public what sort of club we were 

 going to have. But there was soon to be disillusion- 

 ment about these names. Lord Lonsdale came to me 

 on the course and said that he must ask for his name 

 to be removed. He did not deny, of course, that he 

 had told Lord Charles that he would " do all he could," 

 but that had been such a long time before. At all 

 events, he had thought better of it, and did not wish to 

 associate himself with the club at all. At the same 

 time he said he very much doubted whether there was 

 any room for such a place. The jockeys and trainers 

 and others had the Subscription Rooms, and there was 

 accommodation in the Jockey Club, etc., for others. 

 I pointed out to Lord Lonsdale that we had enough 



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