Page 128 - Mercian Eagle 2012

Angus Pritchard-Gordon (R) receives his farewell gift from the President of Southern Region
We then sat for our supper. The menu is traditional – Cheshire Hot Pot followed by Cheese and Biscuits. Following the meal three Toasts were proposed. The Loyal Toast ‘The Queen’ was proposed by Colonel Scott who read a message from Her Majesty;
‘Our Colonel in Chief’ was proposed by Major John Holden who read a message from the Colonel in Chief. ‘The Regiment’ was proposed by Brigadier John Donnelly who then updated us on the activities of the Mercian Regiment and we briefed us on the current roles of all four Battalions.
Members travel great distances to join us from the Southern, Walsall, Kirkham, Stoke and the outlying Cheshire Branches. Gentlemen your support is greatly appreciated.
We are very grateful to Brigadier John Donnelly for his support and keen interest in our reunion. Not many people would drive
a round trip of over 500 miles to be with us on our special day. We are also very grateful for the support we receive from Major Eddie Pickering and CRA Chairman, Peter Gresty.
As mentioned previously we are delighted that this year we had 170 members sitting down to supper. Numbers were slightly down on the previous two years but that
is to be expected. Members of the “Old
and Bold” are growing older. What was noteworthy and very much appreciated was the fact that 12 of the CRA branches were on parade.
not many people would drive a round trip of over 500 miles to be with us on our special day.
7th Battalion. This event is a reunion in its truest sense – only people who have worn the cap badge are eligible to attend whether it be Cheshire, Mercian Volunteers or The Mercian Regiment.
Bollington Brass Band has been associated with this Reunion for many years and they make a major contribution to the event. Members were summoned from the bars by the “Cookhouse Call” and when they have assembled at their tables the “Lest We Forget” ceremony commenced. Peter Gresty gave the command ‘March on the Standard’ and the County Standard was marched
on smartly by Derek Sykes. Our Presiding Officer, Colonel Edward Scott laid a wreath on the 7th Battalion’s War Memorial and turned a page of the Book of Remembrance in memory of our Great War Colleagues, Percy Cooke turned a page in memory of our 1939/45 colleagues. Brigadier John Donnelly turned a page in remembrance of our post 1945 colleagues and this year WO2 Danny Johnson, 4th Battalion Mortar Platoon (who had recently returned from Afghanistan) turned a page to remember those who died in recent conflicts.
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RHQ The Mercian Regiment (Chester Office)
An article for The Mercian Eagle was called for, so I sat and thought about what we have done in this small outpost on the North Western Frontier of the Regimental Empire. It became obvious, the more I mused, that there is no such thing as a typical day and so I thought that I would render an account of what went on in the background leading up to one of the big days in the Cheshire Regiment Association’s calendar:
CHESTER RACES REUNION – GETTING MY DEFENCE IN
by Maj (Ret’d) Eddie Pickering
Race Day. What a fantastic turnout! It was good to see so many members of the Regimental Family enjoy the day in Chester. In what turned out to be the wettest drought I have ever seen, the weather was kind to us as well, with just a couple of showers and they didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits (or beer for that matter).
Having been told by the
Racecourse Company that we would be
breaking the Licensing Act by selling alcohol on the Racecourse, but we could give it away, we had to find a way around the problem, because although the thought
of free drinks is quite pleasing, the CRA simply couldn’t afford it. We came up with “Beer Tokens” in exchange for donations to the CRA. Dealing with a completely new situation but with the memory of having run the tent in the 1990s with 3 CHESHIRE, I
set about studying Crystal Balls, Chicken Bones, had a consultation with Mystic Meg and ordered 150% of our estimated need for beer tokens. We were dismayed to have sold them all in the week before the event and with people still ordering them, we had to get more. The supplier could only get them to us on Tuesday of Race week, which meant of course that we had to rethink our strategy of not selling them on Race Day. A
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