A Brief history of the Society

Without much ado, the Salt Hill Society was founded at the Three Tuns Inn, Salt Hill, Slough, one Tuesday in April 1783.

Since that day, members have convened every year - with the exception only of two World Wars. The society can claim to be older than Republican France - and almost as old as the United States of America. To further place things into context: Mozart was just 27 years old; Napoleon, Wordsworth and Wellington were mere teenagers; London had just 900,000 inhabitants and the cost of the society’s first dinner, which included food and wine for 40 members, totalled £5.

The society can also claim to have royal ties. Salt Hill, from which the club takes its name, was the place where Eton boys waylaid travellers to collect 'salt money' - an annual ancient ceremony known as 'Montem', which traces its roots all the way back to the 1400s. As a patron of Eton College, King George III was an enthusiastic supporter of the Montem ceremony, although an excess of unruly behaviour brought the tradition into disrepute and it was abandoned in 1844.

Originally functioning as a personal service to its members - the very first words on the first page of the first minute book read “for protection of persons and property from thieves, vagabonds and footpads.” - the society had support of many local gentry.

Despite this, the Society has served the local community for more than seven generations. Although the earliest members will have greatly relished the fellowship as a means of renewing acquaintanceships, which poor communications may have otherwise rendered lost, it is perhaps even more important in today’s world, where time is increasingly precious and hard to come by.

Rules

The Society has been running since 1783. It retained some interesting, if somewhat arcane, rules, such as:-

"THAT the Money so raised shall form a Fund, to be applied and disposed of towards paying the several REWARDS hereinafter mentioned; and defraying all such reasonable Costs, Charges, and Expenses… in advertising, taking, and prosecuting such Person or Persons as shall be (or be strongly suspected to have been) guilty of the Crimes hereinafter specified."

The various rewards that were available also make interesting reading e.g.

A copy of the complete rules from 1908, showing the membership of the time, can be seen here:

Committee

Ian Anderson (Treasurer)
Philip Astles (Secretary)
The Lord Burnham (President)
Jo Davis
William Emmett
John Frost
Andrew Hillier
Robert Lidstone (Chairman of the Committee)
Nigel Pausey
Colin Rayner
Mark Thomas

Honorary Life Members
John Barker
Clive Lidstone MBE

The committee are always looking for members to join them. If this is of interest, please contact the Secretary Philip Astles.

Joining the Society

We are always pleased to welcome new members. There are no particular qualification required, other than an interest in the local community. Membership entitles you to attend the AGM, book your own tickets for dinners and obtain them at a cheaper rate than non-members. If you would like to apply for membership of the Salt Hill Society, please download and complete the forms below and return them to the Secretary - Philip Astles. The annual subscription is £10. Please note that your application requires a Proposer and a Seconder. If you do not already know a member of the Salt Hill Society, please contact the Secretary – Philip Astles, who will be happy to help arrange a meeting for you with members of the Committee.

Our 'Next Merry Meeting'

The 241st annual dinner will be held on Thursday 6th March 2025 at the Delta Hotel Heathrow (Marriott Hotel), Ditton Road, Langley, SL3 8PT (Junction 5 of M4). At 6:45 for 7:15pm. Bookings may be made online below.

Speakers

Stuart Hutchings

Inspector Stuart Hutchings heads up the Rural Crimes Taskforce for Thames Valley Police. His team therefore performs the role for which the Salt Hill Society was formed 241 years ago! Since taking up the position in 2021, he has been instrumental in leading efforts to address rural crime, and his team have been recognised for proactively tackling this area of increasingly organised crime, culminating in them winning an award as the national ‘Best Rural Crime Team’. On a personal level, Stuart was honoured with the 'National Rural Crime Enforcer of the Year' award, in 2023.

Eddie Tang

Eddie Tang is a partner at IBB LAW LLP, one of west London’s leading law firms. He has been qualified for over 2 decades and is recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories as a leading individual in London, Thames Valley and the Southeast. He is regularly instructed on complex and serious crime matters such as murders, firearms, drugs and people trafficking. He’s still a nice guy….

Joe Wells

Joe Wells is a neurodivergent writer, comedian and podcaster. His writing career began when his first book. 'Touch and Go Joe' - about his experiences of OCD. was published. Since then he has made a name for himself as a stand-up comic, writer and speaker. He has supported Frankie Boyle, Alexei Sayle and Stephen K Amos and in 2020 one of clips went viral with over 4.5 million views across Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

Contact Us

SECRETARY:
Philip Astles
392 Edinburgh Avenue
Slough SL1 4UF
T: 01753 532541
E: PAstles@kiddrapinet.co.uk