The Hottest Ticket in Town

“It was one of the hottest tickets in town – straight in the diary, always a sell-out,” recalls Neil Durden-Smith, trawling a memory bank seriously impressive for his 87 years. “And it was always held on the first Monday in November. It just seemed like a date when everybody was free, and not too near Christmas.”  

Durden-Smith’s claim is no idle boast. A remarkable 1,200 guests, be they drawn from high society or the cream of the sporting and entertainment worlds, flocked to Mayfair’s Grosvenor House Hotel for the Lord’s Taverners balls of the Swinging Sixties. And in 2020, the year we reached 70  not out, albeit with rather more muted fanfare than was anticipated at the outset, dusting the cobwebs from our archives has highlighted some fascinating staging posts in our richly storied history.  

Now thought to be the oldest-surviving Taverner after the passing of his pal Nicholas Parsons (96) this January – “we used to laugh and chat about our longevity – there aren’t many of us left now!” – the then 30-year-old Durden-Smith’s first star-studded ball was back in 1963, the 13th vintage. Then a guest, he was a member 12 months later, also the year he tied the knot with Judith Chalmers, another Tavs stalwart still going strong.

Monday 4 November 1963 found the world very much in motion. Just three weeks later it would collectively mourn the assassination of US President Kennedy. ‘Beatlemania’ was just around the corner – in fact, the Fab Four were seventh on the bill at their fabled Royal Variety Performance across London that night. Prince Philip, of course, was with us – as he remains today – as founding patron and Twelfth Man. 

Among the lengthy list of well-wishers and sponsors in a lavish ball programme topped with a fancy deep-blue velveteen cover, were Bri-Nylon (‘for today’s most luxurious and glamorous fashions’), Decca (promoting their new SRG707 – ‘a superb new stereo-in-one unit’) and The Tatler (‘for her a weekly source of inspired and lively information on the world around her’) as well as ubiquitous cigarette branding and some gloriously quaint, hand-drawn ads. 

On that memorable night – the Pathé News footage is worth a look – the guests were basketball aces the Harlem Globetrotters. Undisputed champions of America since 1950, with just one defeat during the whole of 1962, they were about to meet their match. For, as was by now tradition at these events, the sporting guests were put to the sword by the Taverners, much to the amusement of the crowd. “It was an absolute riot,” says Durden-Smith of our ‘Greatest Team of Sporting Rogues’ as the programme dubbed them. “And we would always win, whatever the score. Let’s just say there was a lot of, well, let’s not call it cheating, but under-the-radar stuff.”  

By this, he is referring to the cunning introduction of a net ‘manipulator’ that ensured the Globetrotters were unable to shoot any more hoops. 

Durden-Smith pegs the Globetrotters’ visit as a stand-out among a host of remarkable events staged at the balls, which were held until the early 1990s. These included cricket to open with in 1951 (naturally) as well as ‘dry-land rowing’, sailing, motor racing, polo (with Prince Philip competing), and even a mini-Olympics in 1955, although the dubious disciplines of ‘stretching the neck’ and the ‘reverse run’ have yet to be adopted by the International Olympic Committee.  

“That one, my first ball, was probably the pick, though – perhaps because it was so different from everything else,” says Durden-Smith. “We didn’t really know that much about basketball here then. And they really entered into the spirit and fun of it all – they were very good losers.  

“I remember Prince Philip, wearing a white waiter’s jacket, served the Globetrotters Champagne while pouring out cups of tea for the Taverners (a cunning half-time ruse to affect the result). What was also amazing was their waiving of all their expenses and fees – they literally flew over on the Sunday, did the event on the Monday night and went back on the Tuesday. Unbelievable.” 

The victorious Taverners team that evening featured comedians Sid James and future president Harry Secombe, actors Peter Dyneley and Michael Denison, entertainer Roy Castle, radio and television announcer Peter Haigh, and football commentator Kenneth ‘they think it’s all over’ Wolstenholme.  

No doubt the Globetrotters had thought it was all over at 20-0. Harry Secombe’s part in the Tavs’ victory was all the more eye-catching considering that firstly he was just 5ft 8in, and playing a team whose average height was around 6ft 3, and had also hotfooted it straight across the capital (in Dickensian costume, replete with bald wig) from playing the lead in Pickwick at the Saville Theatre (now the Odeon Covent Garden). It was fully in keeping with the spirit of the venture – nights on which lasting friendships were made – Durden-Smith fondly recalls meeting the late Nigel Seale, erstwhile head of the actors’ directory Spotlight, for the first time at 1963’s ball – the pair remained friends until the latter’s passing in May last year. 

The guest of 56 years ago also went on to serve as chairman himself – with Eric Morecambe and Harry Secombe as his respective presidents in 1980 and 1981. “We had so much fun, the three of us,” he says. “And these balls, they were such unique events – nobody was doing anything else like this at the time. Staging all these things on the floor of Grosvenor House? It was unheard of. And the press loved it – seeing all these celebrities of all kinds making such fools of themselves, but for charity.” 

Given that many were performers by trade meant they didn’t need a huge amount of encouragement, especially after the odd tipple. Durden-Smith remembers comedian Tommy Trinder’s ‘traditional interruption to the proceedings’ as something to behold. “They lined up to do these things – and of course, everyone wanted to get the biggest laugh,” he says . “All those great actors like Jack Hawkins… they loved it – I’m sure I remember him at the all-in wrestling ball in 1964. That was a really good one, too. I’m sure we picked up Mick McManus from that – he turned out to be a great Taverner.”  

Back then, the National Playing Fields Association, now rebranded as Fields in Trust, were our sole beneficiaries, with close on £100,000 since our inception raised for 1,322 projects. In 1963’s ball programme, our membership stood at a modest 535. That has since swelled to 4,000-plus today: 4,126 to be exact – cricket fans always love a good stat. 

Still an active member, the spirit of the Taverners which appealed to Neil Durden-Smith then remains intact close on 60 years later. There’s a line in the programme that stands out. It reads: “The Taverners are the expression of a belief that through fellowship and good humour and the shared willingness to give, rather than to get, cricket, and all that it stands for, will benefit from the Lord’s Taverners existence.” 

At the heart of it all was – and is – the thought of making a difference. “Though they were glitzy and glamorous affairs to a degree, the balls were always very civilised,” he says, fondly remembering small-hours finishes that would find guests still chatting at their tables up to an hour after ‘carriages’ at 2am. “People were asked to snitch on anyone who left before the end – and there was a fantastic Tombola, which had a committee running it in itself.” The list of prizes for that is as long as your arm. 

“I remember them so vividly, because they were so brilliant. Absolutely hilarious – you knew you were going to have a really good laugh, a good dance with your chums to some of the best bands of the day – and raising money for a great cause.” The world – especially this year – may seem a different place. There are some reassuring constants, though: you can always rely on the Lord’s Taverners for a good time. 

Steve Morgan