We had a great turnout for our AGM on Friday 9th May. There must have been 55 people attending.
People started arriving at 6pm, greeting old friends as well as welcoming new members. It was good to see some of the long-time members again too, like Verlie Heal, Bob Ford and Hugh Griffith.
Colin and Diane Thomas greeted people as they came in with a glass of fizz or juice.
Chairman Gwyndaf John opened proceedings by welcoming everyone and saying that we had apologies from another 17. He said that as this was a special occasion, marking the 25th anniversary of the Society the celebration would be free and we would look back over the first 25 years since the Society’s creation. As he spoke, there was a slide show on the screen behind him showing photographs of our events over the 25 years – approximately 1,000 photographs!
In his Chairman’s Report, Gwyndaf described many of our activities over the past 12 months, including our walk around Windsor, where we had been recorded on YouTube watching as the Welsh Guards marched past.
Membership was reported to be approximately 115 (to be confirmed when final subscriptions were received). Gwyndaf welcomed new members Teifion and Barbara Jones, Russell and Veronica Fowler and Huw Meredith (Eirwen’s son).
Lloyd Jones then gave his treasurer’s report, indicating that the Society’s finances were in good shape, even after financing the evening’s food and drink!
Gwyndaf then reported that two new committee members have been seconded – Mike Owen as Minutes Secretary and Colin Thomas, who will initially assist with the Golf Day.
All the committee members were willing to stand again, and were duly unanimously re-elected.
Before closing Gwyndaf said that the committee intended to add an ‘In Case of Emergency’ contact to our membership details, and during the year members would be asked to nominate a suitable contact.
Sue Jones then proposed a vote of thanks to past and present committee members.
The formal part of the meeting then ended and we replenished our glasses while Ann Tennant provided us with an excellent evening meal with a choice of chicken or salmon.
The slide show of photographs continued during and after the meal as Gwyndaf opened the review of 25 years of the society’s history.
Ann Evans described how she came up with the idea and the first meeting in 2000 – a barbeque hosted by Gwyn and Jean Owen.
Gwyndaf then read out short reports from Ralph Broomby and Gwyn Owen, who were amongst our first chairmen, neither of whom could attend as they were on holiday in the Mediterranean.
Bob Ford then spoke about his time as chairman, and the 2004 trip to visit the Norwegian Welsh Society.
David Powell recounted his time in the society, featuring an eventful trip to the Magic Circle, and his chairmanship during Covid, when we all had to learn how to use Zoom and we had the Archbishop of Canterbury addressing us on the small screen.
Finally, Gwyndaf thanked all the people who had helped make the society such a success, including those who had lent us their living rooms and gardens for Christmas drinks and summer lunches, our caterers (especially Ann Tennant), as well as 
the organisers who had arranged outings, golf days and trips and all our committee members (giving special thanks to Jonathan Pegler and Maldwyn Pugh).
After a successful and enjoyable evening we turned off the projector, cleared the tables and chairs, and went home by 10pm.
We all met at The Queen’s Head in Little Marlow at 10:00 for a 10:30 start. There were about 18 of us in all. We ordered our lunches before setting off.
We started off by heading off to the parish church of St John the Baptist.
Norman times, was constructed from materials from the convent, one of the oldest parts is the font.
We were able to spot swans, great crested grebes, tufted ducks, and various geese (greylag, bean or was it pink footed?).
As we went, Gwyndaf pointed out features of the flood plain, including the alder trees that grew along the river. Alders love moist or boggy ground, and Gwyndaf showed us the unusual female catkins, which look just like very small pine cones. It is the only deciduous tree which produces a cone.
We gathered at 6:30 to be greeted with a glass of fizz or a soft drink, and this gave us the chance to catch up with old friends and to talk of anything except rugby.
This year we were particularly pleased to be joined by Bob Ford (who was chairman when I first joined in 2010) and Jayne Pegler as well as Peter & Pat Chapman, who had travelled from their home in Brecon to be with us. It was also good to see Ernest Morris back with us after his accident.
As usual with Gerrards Cross Golf Club, the food was very good, with the most popular choices being Beetroot and Orange Gravadlax and Lamb Tagine followed by Merlot poached Pears with Blackcurrant Sorbet.
After the meal, Gwyndaf introduced our speaker for the evening, Sarah Green, the MP for Chesham and Amersham.
Sarah was born and grew up in Corwen, Clwyd and speaks Welsh fluently.
John Breese then took to the piano and played the National Anthem, followed by a number of old favourites and everyone joined in using the song sheets provided.
The evening finished about 10:30pm, another successful St David’s Day celebration.
Colin Picton had created the quiz and was acting as question-master, assisted by his glamourous assistant Kate, though she introduced herself as ‘Samantha’ (after the fictional assistant on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue).
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.
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.
