Page 126 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

22nd Golf Society by Bill Jones
With record numbers of 32, the Golf Society of the 22nd’s September meet at Pryors Hayes was threatened with awful weather. However The Almighty had a few quick words with the duty angel and everything on the weather front was under control. It goes to show the regiment still has clout in high places! It was a great day with the course in
good condition and a
starter of bacon baps
and coffee helped
us on our way. First
out were, for the first
time, two ladies, Mrs
Sally Kane and Mrs
Robin French who went out with Brigadier Percival and Major Bill Jones.
Some really good golf was played
and the winner, Chris Whitehead came home with a 41 and George Szwejkowski who had not played for four years, got
a nearest the pin! It was good to see so many old faces. Brigadier Prosser played
after his illness, Mike Trevor Barnston was with us, and finished with a very respectable 34. Capt and Mrs French travelled from Australia and went on to prove what good golfers they have in southern climes!
Capt John Bigland, the secretary of 22nd Golf, laid on a really successful and
Roy Connor, who had always supported the Golf Society over the years.
John Bigland presented the various prizes, with the outright winner for the
day with 33 points being Joe Murphy, an extremely good score on a very difficult course. Second was Paul Murphy from 1 Mercian, with a 31. He won on a back nine play off from Chris Whitehead. Nearest
the pin wins were Darren Crump and Mike Simpson and the longest drive was Chris Whitehead, who just managed to creep past Frank Barham. As ever the “after golf” brought the whole playing members together having the odd half-pint and no doubt fighting a few old campaigns again.
Everyone enjoyed the next meeting on the long, tricky course at Sutton Hall on 17th May. The winner was “Tiny” Lawson with 35 points. Second was Joe Murphy with 32. This was after having his handicap dropped by 2 following his Prestbury win. Frank Barham and Mike Coker also got 32.
It goes to show the regiment still has clout in high places!
enjoyable day and a very strong response came from all present for all the work done by John with help from Sue Weston at RHQ.
At Prestbury on beautiful day. With a
14th April, it was a
lovely course and an excellent turn out and the 22nd flag flying high, what more could one ask for? We were delighted to have two representatives from 1 Mercian (Cheshire) with us for the day and they really did enjoy themselves. On a sad note we had a minute’s silence for Major
124
Fundraising in Cheshire by Eddie Pickering
The events in Afghanistan and Iraq has seen a tremendous surge in the support given to our troops by the general public. Over the last year, in Cheshire alone, we have seen some quite extraordinary and imaginative events used to raise funds for the Mercian Regiment Benevolence Charity (MRBC) too.
The ball started rolling last Autumn
when Pte Unsworth of 1MERCIAN ran a marathon from Warrington to Chester and Brigadier John Donnelly, Deputy Colonel (Cheshire), decided to run it with him. They were joined at various points on the run
by sporting celebrities, at least 1 TV star and Lt Col Andy Hadfield, CO 1 MERCIAN. Even the Canon of Chester Cathedral, Chris Humphries, made it after dashing straight from his Sunday service to throw his trainers on and take part.
Brigadier John Thomson who is Honorary Colonel of 4 MERCIAN and also a local businessman, persuaded the Chester Business Club that the MRBC should
be one of the beneficiaries of its 2011 Sponsored Walk. Brigadier John, his wife Alison, Major Mike Huntriss, ex WO2 ‘Rusty’ Cooney and his granddaughter Jodie joined your scribe on a gruelling test of stamina and determination on a 6 mile course through The Duke of Westminster’s estate and along the River Dee on a late Spring morning. As with all the best endurance events, there were a number of feeding stations en route; after the first after a half mile it was Mars Bars, a mile later orange juice, the half way point was almost a picnic with bacon rolls, tea and coffee on offer. The sustenance gained enabled us to make the finish where we were presented with our certificates and a large Gin and Tonic!
On the strength of my experience at The Duke of Westminster’s estate, I was
appointed as the RHQ Sponsored Walk guru and asked to assist the mother of Pte Tom Sephton (one of our 1 MERCIAN soldiers killed in action on Op HERRICK 12) to organise a walk in memory of her son. A route through the Sankey Valley Park in Warrington was chosen and the Park Rangers were a great help in advising us on the best paths to follow to enjoy the summer evening stroll. On the chosen day, your scribe set out and marked the route and then joined the 120 people (including a dozen of Tom’s mates from 1 MERCIAN) to walk it again. Those who know me well will recall that I spent most of my 44 years in uniform avoiding
was the Congleton Half Marathon which took place at the beginning of October and attracted runners from all over the region, again a significant sum of money was donated to the MRBC.
Chester Crown Court, which is next
door to RHQ Chester, is the “home” court of His Honour Judge Elgan Edwards, the Recorder of Chester. His Honour organised, in co-operation with Chester Racecourse Company, a “Heroes Ball” where local worthies were invited to part with huge sums to buy a ticket for a dinner dance, with profits shared among a number of service welfare charities. Over 400 people
excessive physical
exercise and will be
amazed that I made it
around. humbling
attended what turned out to be the social event of the season and the MRBC benefited
to the sum of just over £36000.
Elsewhere in the
County, Caroline
Horton, the sister of CSgt Martyn Horton, also killed in action on Op HERRICK 12, braved the elements to do a much longer sponsored walk along the Wirral Way and the family of Pte Alex Isaac who died in the same incident at CSgt Horton organised a Rock Concert in their home community of Eastham. Their efforts are simply humbling.
The people of Congleton continue to do marvellous things for the Regiment with
two major events of note. The first was
a 24 hour game of rugby organised by Congleton RFC. This was a Guinness World record attempt which kicked off early on a Friday evening and continued for some 24 hours and 35 minutes to beat a previous World Record set by two teams of ladies
in the US! This game raised £7000 for the Mercian Regiment Benevolent Fund - a superb effort all round. The second event
One of the most original ideas was a sponsored
‘zummabthon,’ again organised by the extended Regimental family, and this time in Stockport. Once again a wonderful effort by the 70+ ladies who took part raised a hugely impressive £5000, with the enforced participation of 1 MERICAN RST causing much amusement.
There were many other events all raising much needed funds for our Regimental Charity which we must not forget, looks after the needs of soldiers, serving and retired, from both The Mercian Regiment and antecedent Regiments. Fundraising is something we can all take part in and, as I found out this summer, can be quite fun too. What we need to do now is build on these efforts and find even more imaginative ways of raising money, any ideas? Let your friendly Assistant Regimental Secretaries know...
Their efforts are simply
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