2008 Reunion accounts.
1. From Brian Goodwin.
The Eighth Reunion
(Random impressions from an attendee)
About three years ago I started thinking that it was getting
on for 50 yrs since I graduated from Halton and I wondered if
there was any kind of reunion being planned. I scratched around
on the Internet and sure enough there was an association which
seemed to be thriving.
Having had very little contact with any 76th members for well
over 40 years I was a little apprehensive about attending a large
gathering of relative strangers.
However I made the decision and my good lady and I attended the
2006 reunion, also at Lincoln. We were made very welcome and renewed
some old friendships and also began some new ones.
When it was decided to hold the eighth reunion again at Lincoln
I signed up for it without delay. Well at least I knew the way
and my wife said there was a fair chance I might remember at least
three or four names after only two years. As Lincoln appears to
be just north of the Sahara on our Scottish maps the decision
was made to travel on the Friday, giving the body and brain time
to regain some sort of equilibrium before the big dinner.
We duly set off early (eightish) on Friday morning with hopes
of arriving in the late afternoon, and due to the fairly quiet
motorways in the north east we made excellent time. So much so
that we decided to call in at R.A.F. Scampton where we had spent
three happy years back in the 1960s. My wife particularly wanted
to see our old married quarter which had been our first house
as opposed to furnished flats. I stopped at the guardroom and
was surprised to see a young Army lad on gate duty. He informed
me that the Mqs were now not part of the station and in fact many
of them had been sold off. We headed down to the other entrance
and after a little time there was our old house, No 6 Sussex Gardens.
“Gee, doesn't it look tiny “ said my wife, yes it brought
back some memories, and it was for sale too, but we were not tempted
to buy at this time. Onward the last few miles to the Lincoln
Hotel where as we were checking in we were met by our old pal
Jim Gandy and his welcoming team. Friday evening quickly passed
with a walk past our old flat in Drury Lane where we had stayed
prior to getting the MQ , having a meal in an excellent local
restaurant and much reminiscing with some of the chaps and wives.
Saturday morning arrived, chilly but bright so we decided to explore
the shops which meant going down the hill. We took the long easy
way down Lindum Road and spent a couple of pleasant hours wandering
around. When we decided to return to the hotel I decided to be
macho and walk up Steep Hill. My wife suggested we get the little
bus but I decided that as our Scottish bus passes are not valid
in England, we should walk. It was hard going but we made it and
asking around we didn’t find any others who did. After a
restful afternoon we came down for the pre dinner drink and chatted
away to more folks until we were called to march in to the meal.
According to Bob Wingrove the entrance to the dinner was a shambles
and next time he wants a rehearsal!!!. Anyway the meal was very
good, the company was good and John’s speech was rather like
the curate’s egg. (John please get some new jokes for next
time) . The usual raffle was held and certain tables seemed to
have lots of tickets of colours which did not want to be drawn,
so next time I understand that either there will be no white tickets
or perhaps table 2 will be excluded.
After dinner once again little groups gathered around the bar
and lounge and much reminiscing was carried out.
Next morning after breakfast all the lads attended the AGM , The
proceedings of which are covered elsewhere. We were then reminded
that Andrew Mackenzie was reading the lesson at the Cathedral
and a good support was requested. Unfortunately I could not attend
as we had made arrangements to meet some old friends with whom
we spent the day. I hope you were well supported Andrew and did
not get too much barracking. As we had a journey home of over
300 miles, we stayed overnight and finally left the hotel at nine
on Monday morning and had a pleasant run home. All in all a very
enjoyable experience which I can thoroughly recommend to any one
who has not yet attended a reunion. Don’t worry about not
having anything in common with people you haven’t seen in
years, remember what we do have in common is being members of
THE 76 ENTRY and that means a great deal.
Three names L to R, Petty, Underwood and Niblett, at the Lincoln Hotel.
2. From Richard Williams.
76th ENTRY, 8th Reunion.
We arrived at our 8th reunion on 25/10/08 to find that only a few yards from our Lincoln Hotel a Sausage Festival was taking place with street musicians and free access to the castle ramparts thrown in. Shops and cafes were busy and the Cathedral bells were ringing. What a welcome.
Some took the opportunity to see where they could get to, using their consessionary travel passes, the winners going all the way to Gainsborough. The Scots, however, were doomed to failure as apparently we do not allow them to use their bus passes on this side of the border.
After lunch, I took my place on a fascinating two hour tour of the Cathedral roof arranged by Geoff Honour. Our guide showed us how the history of the building is there to see in the stonework. He showed us how the builders had solved the problem of supporting the Chapter House roof on a single central column and said that architectural students spend hours working out which of the multitude of beams are redundant and could be safely removed without the whole structure collapsing, adding that the excercise seems to be the professional version of KerPlunk !
Back at the hotel, I drained some water from a radiator for a shave, picked up my early leaving chit and went down to dinner where our piper, Keith Arnott, 89th, marched us to our tables, the sound of his music transporting me back in time to that piper's paradise nestling in the hills; the car-park at the top of Glen Coe. Before we sat down, our CEO, Bob Wingrove said that we were an utter shambles and he had a good mind to make us do it all again !
To conserve funds, no band or after dinner speaker had been booked but our magazine editor, John Ritchie stood up and, in a cracker of an address soon had us groaning with laughter. The raffle which followed gave many the chance of some mental arithmetic as they tried to work out if the distribution of prizes bore any relationship to the ratio of pink to white tickets sold.
At sunday's bi-annual AGM the committee resigned en bloc
and was re-elected on a show of hands. The treasurer got away
with it once again and in AOB someone inquired into the conduct
of the previous night's raffle but the chair quickly closed the
meeting as Andrew Mackenzie was shortly due to read the lesson
at Mattins in the Cathedral. Our next reunion has yet to be
determined but all agreed that Lincoln had been an excellent location
and a vote of thanks to the organisers, John Ritchie, Jim Gandy,
Geoff Honour and Brian Petty was passed unanimously.
Richard Williams, 76th.