XI
T
he New Conservative
and Unionist Club stood opposite the Park gates in Wood Green. A solid self-confident red-brick building, erected for the use of solid self-confident red-faced men. It was the only public place where the iron masters might meet to talk over their trade to a background of billiard-balls and a glass of whisky.
I had been a member of the club since my young days when my father had become concerned about my adherence to my trade, and had forced me to join, not for political reasons, for he had always been a staunch Radical, but for the purpose of relaxation. At first I had gone there regularly, almost religiously, sometimes to play chess with another young man in a similar position to myself and sometimes to read the illustrated journals which were kept in the comf
