On 10th May we held our 24th AGM at Coleshill Village Hall.
There was an excellent turnout of 38 members.
Chairman Gwyndaf John opened proceedings at 6:30 welcoming several members who have not been with us for a while and several new members. He then moved on to the formal part of the evening, going through apologies for absence, approval of last year’s minutes and running through all the events that we have held during 2023/4.
Membership stands at 113 plus 4 honorary members
Lloyd Jones gave us his report as Treasurer saying that the Society actually had a surplus of £475 over the year, with a bank balance of £4419.96. Lloyd explained that we have kept membership at £10 per year and that the Committee tries to make each event break even.
Gwyndaf revealed that our Minutes Secretary, Colin Picton, is standing down to spend more time with his grandchildren, and thanked Colin for his years of work as secretary and as our previous chairman.
Our committee is now short staffed and we really need at least one more volunteer to help with the planning and organisation. The position is not very arduous, and only involves about 6 meetings per year held in one of the committee members’ homes.
The existing committee was then unanimously voted in for another year’s term.
Under ‘Any Other Business’ the possibility of another trip to Wales was raised. We can not hope to rival the trips that Jonathan Peglar planned in previous years, but could use a commercial company to arrange a trip for us if there is sufficient support.
There was a broad approval for this idea.
At 7:00 the chairman closed the formal part of the evening and Ann Tennant appeared to serve everyone supper.
It is always a wonder that Ann can do so much on her own. There was an excellent choice of a chicken or a beef main course and a wide variety of deserts.
After the meal, our speaker took the floor.
Our own Treasurer, Lloyd Jones, had been persuaded to talk to us about his time in the police force, more particularly, in Special Branch.
Lloyd started his career in Gwent Constabulary, moving to Panda cars and then to CID.
The chief constable of Gwent was quite adventurous for the time, and as well as introducing the panda cars, also took up the offer to create a Special Branch within Gwent. It was quite a coincidence that the Chief Constable’s daughter is one of our newest members – Gail Baldwin!
Lloyd volunteered for this embryo Special Branch with tasks such as providing VIP security and monitoring shipping.
Lloyd was trained both by the Metropolitan Police in London and by the SAS in Herefordshire.
After 6 or 7 years he was moved from Gwent to the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, which was a far larger organisation.
Lloyd described the Force’s organisation and the different squads within the force, covering Head of State protection, Irish Terrorism, Extremist organisations, Naturalisation issues, Rest of World threats and Surveillance.
He described how surveillance is very discreet and involves very large teams following suspects, who, under normal circumstances, would never know that they were being followed. However, this can be difficult if the team has to travel to small locations.
Lloyd described some of the duties of personnel in the protection squad. This included planning the VIPs travel, liaising with local security staff, checking exits, seating arrangement and billing etc. It also meant that the security team ate in the best restaurants and travelled first class with their charges. Often the VIPs had quite a close relationship with those they were protecting. Lloyd recalled that Margaret Thatcher objected to her Special Branch operatives being changed and would sometimes offer to make them tea!
The UK security staff were discreet as opposed to US security which tended to make themselves obvious.
UK staff used to use Walther PPK pistols, but changed to bulkier Smith & Wesson revolvers after an incident when the automatic pistol jammed. Lloyd described the care and maintenance of the weapons and the firing practise that they undertook.
When Lloyd worked at Special Branch it was just before computers were widely used and in those days all record keeping and research was carried out by hand with Desk Officers and civilian staff.
Not so long afterwards the Flying Squad, Art & Antiques Squad and Special Branch were all brigaded within ‘Specialist Operations’ and the National Crime Agency assumed some of these roles.
We all found Lloyd’s talk fascinating and Gwyndaf led a vote of thanks for such an interesting and informative talk.
First we visited the new church which was built in Victorian times (1867), to house the growing population of the village. Unusually for a Victorian church, it was built in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style rather than gothic. The church bell was taken from the old church and is said to date from about 1290.
Trish then took us on a path leading behind the new church to a much smaller building. This dated back to about 1220, built by the Cistercian monks at Missenden Abbey on a site of an older wooden church. One of the first things that we noticed were the old sun dials on the exterior wall. These were Mass Clocks, for telling the time for mass.
Inside there were traces of the medieval wall Doom painting showing the weighing of souls and another depicting St
Christopher.
figures of St Mary and St John. Below that, the main window depicts three puritans including John Hampden in the centre and Oliver Cromwell to his left. This window was originally meant to be for the church in Little Hampden, but was rejected as it contained the figure of Cromwell.
We then walked through the woods, which were carpeted with wild garlic and their aroma filled the air. Some of our walkers took the opportunity to gather leaves as they can make a very good pesto. Luckily, it had not been raining recently so the path was not very muddy.
As The Lee is quite high up, there are no streams and the village used to rely on a pond for its water. In 1897, in the year of Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, a well was dug to provide clean water. This was quite a task, as the well is 365 feet deep, 4 foot six inches wide, and the workers had to rely on candles for their light and a blacksmith’s bellows to provide ventilation. It was commissioned by Sir Arthur Liberty and built by Liberty’s craftsmen.
Martin Sheen was wonderful as Nye, appearing in all the scenes dressed in his hospital pyjamas and seemingly bewildered as each scene unfolded before him in random order, as a schoolboy with a stutter, then his fights with Winston Churchill, his open marriage relationship with Jennie Lee and the death of his father (a Welsh miner). Finally he remembers his creation of the National Health Service against very high odds, only winning against the doctor’s opposition by promising them to make them the highest paid professionals in the country (“Filling their mouths with gold”).
The staging was quite clever, the green curtains reminding one of those in a hospital and also acting as the green seats of the House of Commons, whilst hospital beds were transformed into lobby entrances during the parliamentary scenes.
We found our coach at 5:15 and our driver fought his way through the rush hour traffic to get us back to Gerrards Cross by about 6:30 – well behind those who had travelled by train!
All 50 guests were greeted with a glass of bubbly or soft drink – as appropriate. The lounge provided an excellent space to catch up with old friends and indeed some guests from the principality – Whitland to be precise. I was delighted to meet with the brother of one of my classmates at Narberth Grammar School. Our mutual aquaintances were numerous; a joyful start to the evening.
As usual Gerrards Cross Club did us proud with a very good 3 course meal; the leek and potato soup was so good I thought my mum must have had a hand in it. There were also many compliments directed at the sewin ( sea trout) – main course as well as the suitable lamb dish. The staff looked after us well and added to the friendly ambience of the evening.
Chairman Gwyndaf John opened proceedings and handed over to Kate Picton to give an update on Jonathan Pegler’s progress in hospital. We all wished him a speedy recovery
Colin’s quiz had a definite Welsh theme with rounds on…… Welsh Celebs, Welsh Geography and Welsh History.
The final scores were:
This year Ann Evans hosted the event at her house, The Tuft, in Chesham Bois. This was the original location for Christmas Drinks in the earlier years, until the Society became too large.
many of our favourite carols.
It was a very joyful occasion, and our thanks go to Ann for hosting the event again, Ann Tennant for the lovely canapes and to Kay for organising the event.
Going through from Turl street through the porter’s lodge we entered the Front Quadrangle, the oldest parts of the college are here and date back to the 16th century.
Bishop Morgan’s translation of the bible into Welsh (around 1588). The oldest book dates from 1467, a version of De vita Christiana by Saint Augustine, but many of the oldest books are now held in the Bodleian Library. The library contains benches at which the books can be read – they are called ’15 minute’ benches as the design has intentionally made them so uncomfortable that scholars could only bear them for 15 minutes at a time.
rooms, student accommodation and a ‘digital hub’. The view from the top of the building is wonderful, and we stopped for a group picture.
We all met up at Christ Church Cathedral for 3pm, where we were met by our guides Anne and Steve Handsley. Christ Church is unique in that it is the college chapel and also the cathedral for the city of Oxford, and as such one of the smallest cathedrals in England. This means that the Dean of the church is also the head of the college.
Before the college was built, it was the site of the church of St Frideswide’s Priory. In 1532, Cardinal Wolsey chose the church for his proposed new college – Cardinal College, but Wolsey soon fell out of favour with the king, Henry VIII for failing to secure him a divorce, and eventually the project was taken over by Henry in1532, renaming it Christ Church (Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis).
Christ Church is famous for its stained glass windows, including the Becket Window from the 14th century, the Jonah Window by Abraham Van Linge in the 17th Century, the St Michael Window by Clayton and Bell in the 19th century, and the famous pre-Raphaelite Frideswide Window by Edward Burne-Jones, also from the 19th century.
Ladies nearest the pin: Jane Morris
Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce & veg followed by lemon tart with mixed berry compote and whipped cream