SOSL
I won't argue about whether or not 'rare, but not unheard of' is the same as 'virtually unheard of' it matters not frankly.
The point I am trying to make is this...
The name of the club is wrong, I think we all pretty much agree on that and that is what is upsettijng people on this forum. The club must change in order to retain it's RAF heritage, and I think we all agree on that. And the club MUST find new ways of raising membership, thus raising income and revenue and thus securing its future, and that is widley agreed also. Selling some meorablia wont save it.
So why then, when its accepted that the club can have wedding receptions there, when it can have conferences there, and when pretty much 'all and sundry' can be invited and are very often accepted, why-oh-why can we not open it up to other ranks of the RAF? I find it all quite bizarre frankly.
I know that someone will come along and say 'well, thats not what it was intended for' and they would be correct. But it was never intended for the hosting of lots of things either, and the club is turning a blind eye to that. I do genuingly think that this would be a very quick and simple solution to the problem of 'Military/service membership' and encourage more and more current OR servicemen to visit.
As for it not being sad for me, of course I would be sad. Just because I don't frequent the place doesn't mean that I am happy for our heritage to be diminished at all. On the contrary, I it's even more important that in these days of austerity, we keep hold of what little we have!