A tale of the Soviets, secrets and sweets...
A FAMILY'S research into "the world's most powerful secret society" has thrown up fascinating details about a time when Buxton briefly became a focus for global leaders – exactly half a century after it happened.
The Bilderberg Group – a highly secretive and select band of politicians and businessmen – has met in top hotels each year around the world since 1954.
And from September 13 to 15 1958, it met in The Palace Hotel, Buxton – with the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as the most important guest.
Andrew Bingham, the Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for High Peak, knew his grandfather Russell, a chef at the hotel, had baked a giant cake for Khrushchev during the visit, and wanted to get a photograph from the Buxton Advertiser archives as a Christmas present for his dad, Tony.
But there was a problem: no photos existed.
And that wasn't surprising when dealing with what Punch magazine described in 1998 as "the world's most powerful secret society."
"It's just amazing that they came here," said Andrew, who found some details in the old Buxton Herald archives of the Buxton meeting, which had Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands as the chairman.
"It got very little Press because of security," said his dad Tony, who remembered his father saying that he had baked cakes in the shape of the Palace and the Crescent.
And the Soviet leader was so impressed that he offered Russell, who died in 1967, a job in Russia!
On the verge of giving up the search for photos, Tony rang his brother John in Leicestershire, who had inherited his father's chef's knives to see what he knew.
And there, in the bottom of the knife box, were these photos of the spread their father had laid out before the giants of the 1950s political arena.
"I couldn't believe it when I found it was 50 years ago next month," said Andrew – who's now got to look for another Christmas present for his dad...
* The Bilderberg Group was founded in 1954 to promote understanding between America and Europe, and was named after the hotel in Holland where the first meeting was held.
The list of people who have attended since reads like a who's who of international politics.
It is also known as the subject of "the world's oldest conspiracy theory" according to Wikipedia, with claims that it is an all-powerful cabal that really runs the world's political, financial and industrial systems.
* Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) was born to a peasant family and became an activist in the Russian Revolution.
He took over the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin, and although a moderniser in many ways, brutally crushed revolts such as the Hungarian Uprising.
He and American President John F Kennedy held the world's fate in their hands during the confrontation over the Cuban Missile Crisis which threatened a nuclear war in 1962.
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Weather for Buxton
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
