Page 43 - QARANC Vol 17 No 1 2019

Scottish Branch
Chair: Colonel (Retd) Karen Irvine Secretary: Sheila Jones
It has been a time of change in the Scottish Branch with a new committee voted in at our AGM in October 2018. After a marathon run in office, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Laura Murray and her committee bravely handed over the baton, and having completed between 15 – 25 years on the committee they will be a hard act to follow, so a huge thank you for all your hard work and for all your advice as we have taken over the reins.
It has been a very busy time since the AGM as the new committee tried to get to grips with Branch business, not least trying to change the signatories for the bank account to allow us to access the funds!
Sheila has been busy creating our Branch Facebook page as well as our dedicated Branch email address, but by far the biggest job has been working with Sue and Alison in RHQ on the membership reconciliation exercise, a very time consuming, but essential task for all concerned. We have welcomed some new members to the Branch, Warrant Officer 1 (Retd)
Jonny Halligan and Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Lynn Adam, both having recently retired from regular service. Major (Retd) Fiona Grist and Major (Retd) Una Smith (V) have transferred from HQ Roll. Debbie Webb and Kate Longden have also joined the Branch, Kate from the Reserves and Debbie from both the Reserves and Regulars.
Our congratulations go to Colonel (Retd) Madge Brown who celebrated her 100th birthday in October. In the midst of all her celebrations, Colonel Madge was able to make time for a visit and once our Chair had fought her way through all the flowers, they had a thoroughly enjoyable morning catching up over tea and scones.
Despite the short notice 20 Branch members managed to attend the hastily arranged Christmas “Do” at Mackintosh at the Willow in Glasgow. We all enjoyed our private tour of this magnificent building after which we settled down to enjoy a festive afternoon tea in the Salon de Luxe.
Scottish Branch covers a huge geographical area and as we compile our forecast of events, we
Agnes Climie TFNS named on the WW1 Roll of Honour, Newlands South Parish Church, Glasgow
are determined to hold events in various locations across the country, the first of which will be our Corps Day Celebrations in Perth on Friday 15 March 2019. Our Summer Event is being held in June at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which is listed as having significant aspects of Scottish heritage. The Prince of Wales heads the charitable trust which is responsible for managing the estate.
2019 promises to be a busy year for the Branch and will certainly keep the committee on its toes.
THE GAZETTE QARANC
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BRANCH NEWS
Northern Ireland Steam and Jazz 2018
It has become a regular annual occurrence for the NI Branch to attend the Railway Preservation Society’s Steam and Jazz evening each June. As such, a successful summer outing was held in June 2018 on a beautiful summer evening when 18 Association members and friends went on a vintage steam train excursion with a jazz band on board. During the evening the train stopped at three stations where the band alighted each time, and played a wide range of jazz music for 45 minutes before moving on to the next station. Passengers were free to dance on the platform if they wished, which they did most enthusiastically, before returning to their carriages. Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Joan Thompson was almost unrecognisable in her 1920s flapper dress complete with wig! Events officer Nuala Green had decorated the allocated tables with vintage tablecloths and flowers adorned with the QARANC colours. Members and their guests enjoyed their picnic supper and chosen beverages as the countryside whizzed past on the way to the next station, and more music and dancing!
weary passengers headed home, after a very enjoyable evening, and it is planned to repeat the event next year.
Major (Retd) Nuala Green Chair Northern Ireland Branch
The evening ended just before midnight in Belfast as the
More dancing to the Jazz Band at Whitehead