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Mercury Spring 2003 |
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QUIZ NIGHT IN THE BULLER BARRACKS FAMILIES CENTRE Thursday 15 May Start at 8pm. Please arrive between 7.30 and 7.45 pm With great pleasure, we announce our Ninth Annual Quiz Night, an event that has become one of the most popular in our calendar. This year, it will be held in the Buller Barracks Families Centre.
There will be five rounds of questions with a buffet supper served at the halfway mark. An inclusive charge of £5 per head, payable on the night, will cover the cost of buffet, quiz prizes and a strip of raffle tickets. Additional raffle tickets will be on sale. Drinks will be on sale at NAAFI prices Please send Annex ‘A’ of the hardcopy Spring newsletter, with your cheque to Peter Sharpe by 6th May. Or Click here to make your booking DRESS REHEARSAL FOR TROOPING THE COLOUR Saturday 7 June This event (The Colonel’s Review) was notified in our Autumn 2002 edition, when invitations to attend were requested by the end of January. About 30 members have applied. Peter Sharpe will be sending tickets to applicants during the month of May. “THE SPIRIT OF BROOKLANDS”: A GUIDED TOUR OF THE MOTOR SPORT AND AIRCRAFT MUSEUM Brooklands Road, Weybridge Sunday 20 July Start 10.30 am Please arrive by 10.15 am Spend a few hours soaking up the atmosphere and legends of Brooklands, the birthplace of British Motor Sport and Aviation. The Museum occupies 30 acres of the original 1907 racing circuit. It features the most historic and steepest section of the old banked track and the 1-in-4 Test Hill. Many of the original buildings have been restored, including the Edwardian Clubhouse, where the atmosphere of those heady days is recalled. The original Motoring Village, with its 1920’s Shell and BP Petrol Pagodas includes Malcolm Campbell’s workshop, now displaying historic racing cars and motor cycles. It portrays the men and machines that established world records at Brooklands and elsewhere in cars developed and tested on the circuit. This includes John Cobb’s Napier Railton, which broke the land-speed record here in 1933. The Museum also has a collection of 30 aircraft, representing 80 years of aviation history at Brooklands, from AV Roe’s first flight to the design and production of Concorde. The unique collection of Vickers and Hawker aircraft includes the restored Wellington bomber illustrated, and now displayed in the original Vickers Wellington dispersal hanger.
The guided tour will start at 10.30 am from the Sunbeam Tea-room in the Club House and will last approximately 2 hours. After the tour, visitors will be able to obtain a light lunch in the Tea-room and continue touring the Museum in the afternoon if they wish to do so. We have been able to obtain the concession rate of £5 per head for the whole day, including guided tour. Please send Annex ‘B’ of the hardcopy Spring newsletter, with your cheque to Peter Sharpe by 20th June. Or Click here to make your booking SOVEREIGN’S PARADE DRESS REHEARSAL AT RMA, SANDHURST Wednesday 6 August Seated by 10.45 am We and our neighbouring branches are again invited to watch this highly impressive and well-attended event, the Commandant’s Rehearsal for the Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Military Academy. Please aim to arrive at the Staff College Gate by 10.30 am, as seats must be occupied by 10.45 am. Facilities will be made available at the Cricket Pavilion for lunch, so please bring picnic and light refreshments with you. As the RMA authorities require a contribution for use of their facilities, £1 per head will be payable with your replies. Dress: Lounge suit. Aldershot Branch members please send Annex ‘C’ of the hardcopy Spring newsletter, with your cheque to Peter Sharpe by 20th June. Or Click here to make your booking
BAND CONCERT AT KNELLER HALL, TWICKENHAM Wednesday 6 August Grounds open: 6.30 pm Seating by 7.50 pm Concert 8 to 9.30 pm For the last three years a group from the Branch has enjoyed this ever-popular military band concert evening at Kneller Hall. As for last year, we have gone for the final concert of the season, which is considered to be the highlight occasion. We have again succeeded in getting a limited number of tickets for Branch members and their guests and, by booking early, we have obtained seats much nearer the front. This again happens to be the same day as the RMA event earlier in the day, so why not make it a bumper day out, with an evening picnic following your lunch-time one! Kneller Hall is a short drive up the M3 towards London and easy to find, once in the vicinity of Twickenham Rugby Stadium. Cars may be parked in the grounds. We suggest that you bring food and drink, folding chairs etc and join other Branch members in the car park to enjoy a social picnic before the performance. On the theory that thunder never strikes twice on the same occasion, we look forward to a glorious evening this year! The cost per head is £7 and, as there may be a heavy demand for tickets, you are advised to get your bids in without delay. If we are over-subscribed, allocation will be strictly on a first come first served basis. Please send Annex ‘D’ of the hardcopy Spring newsletter, with your cheque to Peter Sharpe by 20th June. Or Click here to make your booking Tickets and written directions will be sent to you. Any unsuccessful applicants will be notified and their cheques returned. …And for your diaries, details in our next edition: Friday 26 September Branch Dinner Night Sunday 2 November Autumn Lunch at Army Golf Club December date to be notified Christmas Lunch The RHQ Newsletter was published in January this year and includes details for the Corps Dinner and Annual Officers’ Luncheon. Tuesday 13 May Corps Dinner in London Sat/Sun 28/29 June Royal Signals Association Annual Reunion, Blandford Sunday 29 June Annual Officers’ Luncheon, Blandford Members should note that the Officers’ Luncheon is not part of the Association Annual Reunion, so you need to book separately. The outline programme for the Royal Signals Association Reunion is: Saturday 28 June 1030 hrs Princess Royal Parade on Hawke Square 1200 hrs All Ranks Lunch in Regimental Restaurant 1500 hrs Arena Programme including: Corps Band White Helmets Motor Cycle Display Team Corps Pipes & Drums ) Branch Standard Bearers Competition Corps Parachute Display Team Corps TA Band Musical Finale & Retreat 1800 hrs Entertainment & Buffet in Sgts’ Mess & Semaphore Arms
Sunday 29 June 0900 hrs Museum Open 1030 hrs Drumhead service on Hawke Square 1145 hrs March Past on Hawke Square 1200 hrs Dispersal. Lunch is available in the Regimental Restaurant provided it is pre-booked, for those not attending the Officers’ Luncheon. Full administrative details may be obtained by contactingbefore 6 June Jane Knight, 4 Grassy Lane, Maidenhead, SL6 6AU, with SAE. SOUTHAMPTON BRANCH ANNUAL LUNCHEON Sunday 27 April at Chandlers Ford. Applications to attend should be sent to email address to follow. READING BRANCH TRIP ON THE WATERCRESS LINE Sunday 31 August The train departs 12 noon Alresford to Alton. A limited number of tickets are available for our Branch members. The cost, including luncheon on the train, is £26.50 per head. Applications should be sent with deposit of £6.50 by 31 May and balance of £20 by 5 July to: Alan Foot, email address to follow. READING BRANCH DINNER Saturday 11 October For further information, contact Alan Foot as above. Lunch at the Army School of Catering, 29 November 2002 After a false start the previous year, we were fortunate to be able to enjoy an early Christmas lunch at Omer Barracks at the end of November. 32 branch members availed themselves of the opportunity and they were joined by senior ranks of 261 Signal Squadon. The meal was served by trainee mess stewards at the end of the first week of their three course. By common acclaim they all did extremely well. We are most grateful to Ian Ronald for arranging this event for us. We would very much like to repeat the experience later this year, but that may depend on current events on the world scene. Social Evening, Wednesday 5 February 2003 The Branch programme for 2003 got off to a flying start in February with a Social Evening, this being our first meeting in Buller Barracks. For this we have to thank RSM Kevin Smith with the full support of the Officer Commanding 261 Signal Squadron, Major Matt Fensom. The evening provided the ideal opportunity for retired and serving members of the Corps to get together. In addition to 261 Squadron members, there was strong representation from 251 Signal Squadron, led by their OC, Major Wally Drain. To start the evening, we had a talk from Bernard Redshaw, the Editor of The Wire. He gave a clear and most interesting talk about the measures he is taking to improve the image and content of our Corp magazine and this led to a lively discussion, raising some valuable points. We are grateful to Bernard for taking the time and trouble to travel from Blandford to join us on that occasion. The assembled company were then able to pit their brains and mechanical skills against each other in a series of novel games organised by Staff Sergeant Basnett, to whom we are extremely grateful. Some of these are illustrated elsewhere in this Newsletter. Although at times it looked as though battle casualties might result, in the end only pride had in some cases been injured. Jimmy Ward and his team upheld the traditions of the retired members by picking up the booby prize! A Tour Through the Foothills of the Pyrenees, Thursday 13 March 2003 The March meeting was once again held in the Sergeants Mess of Buller Barracks. Some 25 members and friends assembled for an illustrated talk on the countryside and wild flowers of the Pyrenees. This was given by Joan Tubbs who is both an expert photographer and highly knowledgeable on flora and fauna. The audience was treated to a stunning photographic tour of the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and then able to relax over drinks and a buffet supper. The Royal Signals Association – A Plan for Change Members will recall that in April 2002, the Chairman of the RSA, Maj Gen Tony Boyle held a seminar to seek initial views on the future direction of the Association in a changing world. We sent two representatives, Neville Lyons and RSM Eric Udell who jointly reported back to members at the end of the Branch AGM in 2002. Further views of branches are now being sought by General Tony on proposals for the future, set out in a paper entitled “A Plan for Change”, which reflects the points raised at the seminar. We therefore need your individual comments and ideas so that a co-ordinated view can be put forward from Aldershot Branch. Annex ‘E’ contains a brief summary of the key points made in the paper. Members may if they wish read the full text of the paper on our branch website. Anyone without access to the internet may obtain a copy by contacting Noel Moss. All members are asked to complete the Questionnaire at Annex ‘E’ of the hardcopy Spring newsletter and return it to Peter Sharpe by 25 April 2003. We are indebted to Brighton Branch who devised the format of Annex ‘E’. Our annual Welfare Appeal for the Royal Signals Association resulted in a record total from our branch members of £389. We have been asked by RHQ to pass on their very grateful thanks to all contributors for this excellent figure. |
