Reunions

We hold two reunions a year, in the spring and in the autumn. At the spring reunion we hold the AGM and a remembrance service. The autumn one is smaller and less formal but we always hold a remembrance service. There is always entertainment every night and a gala dinner on the Saturday night. There is a day trip on the Saturday to a local place of interest and usually an extra optional trip on the Sunday.

To give everyone a chance we move the reunions around the country and so far we have been to: Portsmouth, Chatham, Torquay, Llandudno, Scarborough and Blackpool. A return to the North of England is planned for the future and a reunion in Scotland is being considered.

Shirley Winn of Isle of Wight Tours is our social secretary and once our committee and AGM have decided on a venue Shirley organises it.

Next Reunions

The AGM voted for the autumn 2010 reunion to be held in Llandudno and details are listed below. The spring 2011 reunion to be held at the Royal Beach Hotel, Southsea on the weekend 20th to 23rd May. 

Reunion Llandudno Programme:

Friday 12th November: 1500 Check in, 1800 evening meal then socializing  and live evening entertainment

Saturday 13th November: After breakfast at 10.00 coaches depart for day trip at venue yet to be confirmed, 1830 drinks then at 19.00 Gala Dinner followed by live entertainment.

Sunday 14th November: After breakfast muster for remembrance parade organised by local coucil.  Service and salute at war memorial at 11.00. Coach trip in the afternoon. 1830 evening meal followed by live entertainment.

Monday 15thNovember: after breakfast disperse.

Reunion and other matters - a personal view by Brian Cox

Stafford – Tillington Hall Hotel (Best Weston)

In response to our request at the last AGM Shirley Winn had booked us into a Midlands venue for the spring 2010 reunion and AGM.  She also arranged for us to visit the National Memorial Arboretum on the Sunday of the weekend.  Not only that but at the request of many members she was able (at 24 hours notice) to obtain the use of an IOW Tours coach and arrange a visit to Shugborough Hall on the Saturday. You can’t keep a good woman down.

For those of us that like that sort of thing there was a Pub close by that suited our purpose and was populated with friendly staff and punters!  When we were there in our blazers many people wanted to shake our hands to show their appreciation for ex-servicemen!  The older members of our group were even the recipients of friendly kisses from some local wenches. No name no pack drill but they know who they are.

The Hotel was excellent and I thought the food in particular was very good.  The staff in our dining room did us proud, especially so for the Gala dinner.  The room and tables were colourfully decorated and entertainment laid on.  We had raffles on the Saturday and on Sunday which raised about £400 for our charity which once again was ‘Help for Heroes’.  There was a nice touch on Sunday evening when we presented the staff with the proceeds of the collection we had for their tip.

The highlight of the weekend was, of course, our trip to the National Memorial Arboretum.  Within the boundaries of the national forest the arboretum was conceived as a tribute to the wartime generations of the twentieth century.  The most prominent memorial is the Armed Forces Memorial (AFM) which has been constantly in the news lately as more names are added as a result of the action in Afghanistan.   The AFM was conceived to recognise all the people of the Armed and Merchant services who have given their lives since the Second World War.  Amongst many others there are names from Korea, the Falkland’s and Iraq.  I found the name of a pal of mine who died in the Falkland’s and was able to photograph it.  Most poignant of all is the enormous blank wall waiting to be carved with names from future conflicts.

There are acres of memorials and trees to explore.  The large field for the Navy is called the Naval Review and there are many ship memorials there.  We found Collingwood’s memorial plaque and tree and as you can imagine everyone had a memorial of their own that they wanted to find. 

The remembrance service in the chapel was a bit disappointing for us as it was a recorded service and we are used to having a chaplain to conduct our services.  I suppose that as they have a service every day at 11 o’clock you can’t expect a live service all the time.

To finish off we were treated to a lovely Sunday lunch in the private dining room.  It was the best trip I have ever been on and Shirley is to be congratulated for organising such an excellent and moving day out.

Please check out our website for lots of photos of the weekend, not just mine but lots from Vivienne Moore as well.