Page 129 - Mercian Eagle 2012

WORD FROM THE BRANCHES
Birkenhead Branch
by Peter Jackson
Autumn was a very busy time for the Branch, the week after the Mons Day Parade Service and Lunch, we held a social evening at RBL Port Sunlight, where we were entertained by comedian Denny Waters and the resident band. At the end of September, we stood with civic leaders, Merseyside Police, Officers from HMS Astute and relatives of our local servicemen lost in Afghanistan, at the dedication ceremony for the new War Memorial in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead.
Chester Branch
by John Fairbanks
Four times a year a small group of men and women assemble in the Regimental Club
to help despatch copies of the Newsletter to thousands of ex Cheshires living all over the world. I find it strange that although we send out copies of our Regimental Journal to literally hundreds of CRA life members, these old comrades seldom, if ever, appear at any of our functions. If just a few of these absentees were to attend now and again, it could make quite a difference to our future.
The Branch festive functions were very successful. We had a well-attended and
Ian Robinson (late of Der Staffordshire Regiment), it was a very enjoyable evening. Our next event was the Golden Jubilee Dinner which took place at Fox Barracks, at which RSM Tony Blackshaw and his wife Sarah were guests of honour. We wish him and them all the best for a successful and safe time in Afghanistan.
Ellesmere Port Branch
by Gordon Kipps
Our Branch meetings are still well attended with an average of 25 members every month. Many of us took part in the Mons Parade, with our WW2 veteran George Ford proudly bringing up the rear on his electric scooter. In early October we held
a Branch social evening, thanks to our ladies group and to Tiny Davies and family for the buffet, it was greatly enjoyed by all. On Remembrance Sunday, the parade and service were well attended as usual by all our veterans, and the people of the town showed their support by turning out in their droves too.
No fewer than 48 members, friends and supporters sat down to enjoy our Branch Christmas Dinner. Thanks to Tom Simkins and his music equipment we were kept well entertained and our resident MC Harry Goodenough kept things moving with his music quiz and other diversions. June was busy, firstly taking part in Ellesmere Port’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, with a “carnival” type parade through town, ending up on Whitby Park for a host of events and displays. Then in the middle
of the month we travelled to Blackpool for our annual day out and we rounded off the month taking a prominent part in the town’s Armed Forces Week events.
The War Memorial
in Port Sunlight is
one of the finest in Britain and has been thoroughly restored by the Port Sunlight Village Trust. The Branch
The War Memorial in Port Sunlight is one of the finest in Britain and has been thoroughly restored by the Port Sunlight Village Trust.
enjoyable Christmas Sunday lunch and
a week later a very successful Grand
Draw. With aid of Eddie Pickering and his all-star Trio we managed to ‘sing’ a few well known carols. After a very quiet period, things livened
was represented at a
re-dedication of the
memorial which took
place 11th November.
Two days later the Port
Sunlight memorial was the focal point for Remembrance Sunday. Branch members joined the RBL, other Veterans and the local MERCIAN ACF detachment for wreath- laying, followed by a service at Christ Church.
up somewhat on 11th May when the annual invasion and occupation of Chester Castle took place. From far and wide hordes of serving and ex-soldiers descended upon
us in search of drink, food, and a supply
of the mysterious beer tokens. They soon discovered that due to the wonderful weather the race course had been closed, so the tokens did not see the light of day. But for Alan Jones plan A remained in force. That is to say Iggy’s team of barmen toiled non-stop for hours in order to moisten the dry throats of the ex-race-goers. In June, we held an event to rival the Munich Beer Fest with an Oompah Band led by Kapellmeister
Members travel great distances to join us from Southern England, Walsall, Kirkham, Stoke and the outlying Cheshire Branches. We are grateful to Brigadier John Donnelly for his support and keen interest in our reunion. We are also very grateful for the support we receive from Major Eddie Pickering and CRA Chairman, Peter Gresty.
decision taken because we knew that we could not cope with long queues of people when each transaction was taking at least 1 minute (think about it – 300 people at 1 minute equals a 5 hour
for Friday and eventually, the word spread. The next problem came when our caterer had to withdraw and we would not be able to provide food to the hungry hordes, the
supplies to us. For those who like to count such things, we sold 176 gallons of beer in just over 6 hours, it is estimated that there were 400 people present at its fullest and at least 250 at any one time and I had serious worries about capacity as the Fire Certificate for the Club only allows 100 people!
A great effort all round and thanks must go to Tags Ltd for getting the extra beer tokens to us at such short notice over
a Bank Holiday, to RHQ staff Sue and Tracey who coped cheerfully with the extra workload along with Marion, to Alan and Gary, the Club staff, Linda who was at the wholesalers at 0700hrs getting everything she needed and the members of the CRA Club Darts Team, who volunteered to
run the bar. Thanks too, to B Company
4 MERCIAN who were all set to run the Regimental Tent, the loss of the tent was a great inconvenience to them.
queue if only 1 person is selling, a 1 hour queue if 5 are selling). All in all we had nearly £12000 of tokens in circulation. Then came the bombshell...
Word came from the Racecourse that due to waterlogged conditions, the “Open Course”
Word came from the racecourse that due to waterlogged conditions, the “Open course” was closed and they regretted not being able to provide space for the tent.
problem was solved
at 2300hrs the night before, with Linda Jones finally relenting and volunteering to do a barbecue. Then there was the beer tokens – what to do about them? Policy was made on the hoof and with fingers crossed, we set about making it work.
Of course, with people arriving early at The Castle and remaining there all
was closed and they
regretted not being able
to provide space for
the tent. For the first
time ever, I was glad about the existence of Facebook, this started to get the message out in time for people to rethink their plans
day, we ran out of beer quite quickly, unfortunately there was just not the time available for our wholesaler to get additional
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