Chapter 41
1992 - 2014
89th Entry Reunions
In 1991, Roger GULLIVER had the bright idea that the 89th Entry should hold a reunion and he planned it for 4th April 1992 at the Sywell Airport Motel, near Northampton. From the photograph taken, it seems that there were 27 attendees and this was the start of an annual event that has taken place ever since. I have been at most of them, all but three I believe, and it is fair to say that we have all enjoyed meeting up ever since and made some good friends along the way. I say this because many of us have become friends even though we did not know one another very well at Halton.
It has been quite difficult to work out a decent format for this chapter because I am in danger of just making a list of places, dates and organisers, which could be very boring for the reader. For this I apologise in advance but this seems to be the only way to proceed. There are some outstanding memories that may help to give some substance to the events.
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First Reunion at Sywell Motel, Northampton
Back Row L to R
Gerry KLIPPEL, Mike HOLT, Tom MUNCASTER, George WHITE, Bob THOMAS, ??, Pete FUNNEL, Dave SOWDEN, Mike SYMIS
Middle Row L to R
Herbie SUTHERLAND, Shug DALGLEISH, Stan BYCZKOWSKI, Taff PROCTOR, Alf FREESTONE, ??, John TURNER, Mike HOLLINGSWORTH, Steve CARR, Terry LUCKHURST.
Front Row: L to R
Alex HATHERALL, John BAIN, Geoff PILBEAM, Alfie TEBB, Roy SCOTT, Ken JEFFREY, Dick MUSTOE, Roger GULLIVER
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The first reunion was an all male affair, apart from Dag DALGLEISH, who brought his wife Virginia along, however a decision was taken to include partners for future events and so it has been ever since. In my opinion this has helped to keep the reunions going and the wives have made some very good friends along the way.
The second reunion, in 1993, also organised by Roger, was also at the Sywell Motel but I cannot remember much about that one except that Maria did attend. I am sure that she was not alone in feeling a little isolated because she knew no-one.
In 1994 the event was held at the Hopcroft Hotel, Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire, I did not attend as it had been organised in July and with the Guest House in full swing, it was not feasible. It was decided after this reunion that the summer was not the best time for reunions and that future events would be held in the winter months.
In 1995, organised by Gerry KLIPPEL, we had a grand time, in glorious weather, at Ripley in Yorkshire with a visit to Ripley Castle and a stay at The Boars Head. This would have been the first time that many people would have been served Yorkshire Pudding as a starter! As we were leaving on Sunday morning we met up with Dag and Virginia DALGLEISH and that was the start of a lasting friendship between Maria and Virginia.
With 1996 came a visit to the Royal Hotel, Winchester, organised by Ken COBURN. Apparently, although I cannot remember it, Gerry KLIPPEL insisted on buying champagne at some unearthly hour of the morning. On Sunday morning some of us congregated at Ken & Marlene’s house for coffee, cakes and a chat before dispersing in all directions. Maria and I had made the mistake of booking for Saturday and Sunday nights instead of Friday and Saturday, nevertheless we had the chance on Sunday to have a good look around Winchester.
The Isle of Wight was the venue for 1997, organised by John GORMAN. The weather was fine and bright and we had plenty of time on Saturday to get around the island before the main event in the evening. There was an interesting interlude in the dancing in which John WAINWRIGHT, Mick MEPHAM, Shug DALGLEISH, Mike HUGHES, Alex HATHERALL, Sue WAINWRIGHT, Margaret GORMAN, Sue MEPHAM and Marlene COBURN performed their version of ‘Saturday Night Fever’. These days, that performance would have ended up on YouTube the next morning. Fortunately only some still photos exist as a memory.
We missed the reunion to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of our arrival at Halton. Organised by Peter AYEE, this was held on Sunday 24th May 1998 at The Bellhouse Hotel, Beaconsfield.
Steve PERROTT organised the 1999 reunion at the Moat House Hotel, Cambridge and very well he did, especially when considering that his wife, Glen, had a very serious operation only two weeks before. Fortunately she came through and has been to many reunions since.
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2000 - Banbury
Maria & John TURNER
Virginia & Dag DALGLEISH
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2000 saw us gathered together in a rather damp Mike and Maureen HUGHES’ organised event at Banbury. Nevertheless a good time was had by all. We only stayed one night because we had been staying with Dag and Virginia in Wales and travelled with them. We then spent further time with them after we got back to their home.
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2001 - Halton House
Maria TURNER & Sue MEPHAM
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In 2001, and once again organised by Peter AYEE, we met at the Holiday Inn near Aston Clinton, Aylesbury and after a very pleasant evening, we assembled at Halton House for a tour before gathering at St. George’s Church for the dedication of our Entry window and a boy’s photograph at the Apprentice Tribute.
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2001 - RAF Halton
Apprentice Tribute
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2002 saw us testing the water in Buxton, Derbyshire. It didn’t taste very good to me but we had a very pleasant evening anyway. Organised by John WAINWRIGHT, the theme was 60th birthday as most of us had either passed, or were about to pass, this milestone. Tom and Sandra MUNCASTER kindly provided a birthday cake, which included the Entry Badge. We found out here that none of us was very good at making paper gliders that flew for any distance. Pete MOSELEY won. He must have cheated!!
We missed the reunion in 2003 at St. Albans but I cannot remember why, however we managed to get up to Chester in 2004 and it was a very good reunion at the Queen Hotel organised by Frank HARE, who appears elsewhere in these memoirs. Our abiding memory of this reunion was in my inability to find the hotel even though we had been given instructions. We got so lost that I even resorted to asking people for directions; that didn’t work because everyone I asked was a visitor. At one stage I drove all the way down the main street even though it was a ‘traffic free’ zone. The after dinner entertainment included a ‘Race Meeting’. I don’t remember winning anything but that is not unusual for me.
Back to Yorkshire in 2005, Gerry KLIPPEL and Alex HATHERALL organised our get together in the Holiday Inn in York. We only stayed one night because we had the offer of an overnight stay with some friends of ours who we first met when they stayed as guests with us at Redcap. My personal highlight of the weekend was a visit to the Railway Museum in York where ‘Mallard’ is on display. I just wish that I could have got a decent photograph of it. After the dinner, Gerry approached me and said that as soon as the disco started, I had to be first on the dance floor. Rather unwillingly I dragged Maria up to dance and Gerry promptly presented me with an RAF Halton Memorial photograph. This was actually to be given to Pop who Gerry had met previously. It was a lovely thought even if it was somewhat embarrassing.
Our only trip to Scotland came in 2006 when we travelled to Perth for a very good do organised by John BOYACK and Peter BOLTON. This was the first time I had used a Satnav, which failed just as we were driving into Perth when we needed it most. During and after the Dinner we had a very good magician to entertain us and after that an unusual game had been organised. This involved trying to get a £1 coin as close as possible to a bottle of whisky. Bill BUTLIN won and promptly donated his winnings to the North West Air Ambulance but kept the whisky. Very sensible. There was also a raffle that raised £88 for the Entry Fund.
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2007 - Rutland Water
St. Matthew’s Church
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Al FREESTONE organised the reunion in 2007 at the Ramada Hotel, Peterborough. Aside from the dinner and dancing, Maria has memories of shopping for cushions with Sue MEPHAM and struggling out with them to meet Mick and I who had decided that shopping wasn’t for us. In addition Maria and I visited Rutland Water to have a look at the sunken church.
On the 13th May 2008, on the 50th Anniversary of our induction into the RAF, Pete MOSELEY organised a special event at the National Memorial Arboretum, near Lichfield, Staffordshire Fifteen members and their partners went along to celebrate their anniversary and, perhaps more importantly, to remember all those who are commemorated at the Arboretum. Unfortunately we were unable to attend.
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2008 - Hever Castle
Maria TURNER & Sue MEPHAM
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Mick & Sue MEPHAM organised the 2008 reunion at the Ramada Hotel, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells. Sue was instrumental in us getting a very nice room indeed. We managed to pay a visit to Hever Castle on a glorious day and I took a photograph of Sue and Maria with an interesting background! It was a splendid weekend in a very busy hotel and a good time was had by all.
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2009 - Rufford Old Hall
Maria TURNER, Sue & Mick MEPHAM
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By the seaside at the Royal Clifton Hotel, Southport, Lancashire was the venue for our get together in 2009 organised by Bill and Alison BUTLIN. During the day, Maria and I together with Sue and Mick MEPHAM took time out to visit Rufford Old Hall, home of the Hesketh family for 500 years and where the Great Hall was the stage for a young William Shakespeare. For the dinner, Maria and Alison managed to turn up wearing the same top so spent the evening as far away from one another as possible.
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2010 - Porth Veor Manor Hotel
Johnny COWLING with Gerry and his
daughter Suzanne KLIPPEL
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It was our turn in 2010 and we booked the Porth Veor Manor Hotel, which turned out to be a really good venue despite being on three floors with no lift and no ground floor rooms. On the Thursday before our Reunion Dinner we had a gathering at our house which, we believe, went down very well despite one couple not finding us. For after dinner entertainment, I hired Johnny COWLING, who kept us in stitches with his Cornish stories, and dancing to his Elvis Presley songbook. Glen PERROTT became ill on the evening of the dinner, unfortunately causing them both to miss the festivities.
Another visit to Cambridge came along in 2011 once again organised by Steve PERROTT, who was struggling with a leg injury at the time. He and Glen really have had some bad luck at reunion time. Maria and I took a trip around Cambridge on an open top bus, including a stop for lunch at a Garden Centre. We had a really good time in the evening with an excellent magician for our entertainment.
Dag DALGLEISH did the honours in 2012 using the Marriot Hotel in the centre of Cardiff as the base for the reunion. The Marriot is uncomfortably close to the shops as far as I am concerned but Maria seemed to enjoy it. We also had a walk, on a beautiful day, around the outside of the Millenium Stadium. Gerry KLIPPEL was at this reunion although he was very poorly at the time and it turned out to be his last as he died on 23rd December 2013 after a prolonged fight against cancer. He will be sadly missed because he was one of the stalwarts of the reunions.
A second visit to the Isle of Wight once again organised by John and Margaret GORMAN at The Lakeside Hotel was the successful venue for the reunion of 2013. The entertainment was in the form of a Casino night, which went down very well, some people taking it very seriously and others trying to get rid of their money as quickly as possible so that they could concentrate on drinking and talking. This turned out to be the last reunion attended by Mick MEPHAM. He was struggling during this reunion and he needed to be pushed around Osborne House in a wheelchair. Mick died on 19th March 2014.
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