The second reunion was at the Silver Sands Hotel, Blackpool - 21st/22nd/23rd
September 2001.
Attendees were Terry and Christine, Muzy and Ann, Alec and Sandra, Thomo and
Marilyn, Colin and Barbra, Nipper and June and George and Jutta, John and
Natalie, Dave and Lorraine, Phil and Bridget,
Stevie and Keith.
For photos taken at the event see 2nd Reunion Photos.
HAMELN,
65B ‘A’ COMPANY REUNION 5 JUNE – 9 JUNE 2003
1.
That was the week-end that was:
by George and Jutta
For photos taken at the event see
3rd Reunion Photos.
It all started with Dave Jarvis saying “Why don’t we do it in
Germany” and then the so ‘n’ so didn’t even turn up (I know the
reason, Dave, and do understand)
Jutta and I started looking for Hotels that were willing to take on a
load of mad Brits, not an easy task for a mad Brit I can assure you, but we
eventually found the Hotel “Zur Post” right in the middle of town. This
turned out to be ideal, although for some passers-by maybe a little noisy.
This was all in November 2001.
The first to arrive in the 5th June was Phil Williams, but
sadly without Bridget who couldn’t make it for various reasons. Phil made his own way from the airport to
the hotel , only to be dragged away minutes later for some tea and, yes, an 80
km trip back to the airport to welcome Muzzy with Ann, Thommo with Mel, Steve
with Helen and of course our initiator Terry with Christine. After a bottle of
bubbly they were put on the train to Hameln with the luggage put in the car.
Such was the speed of the train and my car, that I was able to drop off the
luggage at the hotel and then collect them from the station, albeit with Steve
and Terry in the boot.
The evening was pleasantly spent chatting quietly and sipping mineral
water, as you may well imagine.
Next morning a couple of us were obviously suffering from jet lag, as
there were a few bleary eyes at the breakfast-table. An amble about the town,
which apparently was much bigger than Steve had expected - “I thought it
would be more like a village”, to the Island Pub, situated on an island in
the middle of the river Weser, soon had everyone sorted and ready for the
afternoon’s adventure “mountaineering” as some have professed, but for
others it was a nice walk if fairly steep, to the top of the Klüt-hill,
overlooking Hameln, bridging-camp, Upnor Hard, Wouldham and the two barracks.
Here coffee and cake or lunch – solid and liquid – was enjoyed by all. We
took the bus back to town.
19.00 h saw us meeting for pre-dinner drinks at the hotel-bar waiting for
news of the arrival of Colin, Barbara, Stevie (Tony) and Shirley “the
knickers” Stevens (more about that later). They eventually did arrive at
about 22.00 h after we had eaten well and drank even better.
After feeding the new arrivals we all retired to “Kitzinger” to watch
and listen to Otto asleep at the bar and of course to pals relating stories of
adventures long past. Lights out came very late.
Saturday’s reveille came far to early for most of us, but
nearly-English-speaking Frau Hermine Meyer, our guide for the tour of Hameln,
was booked for 10.00 h. She informed us that she “vas ofters going to ze
wisiting of England, ne”. The tip she received after the tour was that she
should perhaps learn some English. On questioning the participants afterwards,
not one date or name could be remembered, but it was still good fun. A couple
of the team then went off to the weekly market. Terry arrived back at the
Island-pub professing that the “Angebots” at the market were not selling very
well at all, but there were a lot of stall-keepers selling them. To explain
this you should know that Terry thought “Angebots” were asparagus, which are
very much in season at this time of year, but “Angebots” are in fact just
offers for anything that is on offer. As the lunch we were having was taking a
little longer than expected and the fact that there were time-table changes at
short notice, the boat-trip on the River Weser, planned for the afternoon, had
to be postponed until the following day on account that we missed it.
In the evening everyone embarked on the wrong no. 5 bus,
paying for the ticket and then immediately debussing and re-embarking onto the
right no. 5 bus enroute for the Bananenweg-barbeque-bash. One cow, three pigs,
a lamb, a cwt. of potatoes, five crates of beer, half a dozen bottles of wine,
half a bottle of Barcadi and 24 Feiglinge later, while the blokes were having
a quiet chinwag together, the girls broke into very loud song, dance and
slight exhibitionism (this is where Shirley showed all and sundry what nice
knickers Marks & Sparks do at very reasonable prices, knee-length they were,
very dishy). At one point it was pointed out to Muzzy that Ann’s voice had a
distinct likeness to that of a goat, he replied, “yes it does a bit, doesn’t
it” with a smile. Not to be outdone the blokes tried out a few rugby and
engineer-songs, but quite honestly we didn’t stand a chance. At around
midnight, when asked if it might be possible to turn the volume down slightly,
it was decided by all present, that in fact, no, it would not be
possible, so taxis were ordered, in fact one taxi came back three times, so
they must have behaved alright, and the whole bunch went merrily back to the
hotel, with a final remark by Steve High, who, having realized that most of
the bottles of beer he had opened had been emptied by Colin “I’m probably
not as pissed as I thought I was, but Helen’s probably more pissed than she
thinks she is” – what a classic.
Sunday morning most of us missed church parade but managed to make it to
the main square in time to see the re-enactment of the Pied-piper by some of
the town-folk and children. And then, yes you guessed right, back to the
Island-pub for a drop of lunch and utter confusion with a bratwurst and chips
too many.
We caught the boat in time in the afternoon and took the trip up river
past Wouldham bridging site and Ohr-ferry crossing point, which many knew from
experience. This was followed by most with an intense study of the inside of
their eyelids apart from Thommo who professed to have had a bit of a tickle
that afternoon.
In the evening it was back to pig-eating in the Yugoslavian Balkan-Grill
and believe it or not, the odd beer was being supped as well. I think it worth
a mention here, that Stevie (Tony) Stevens was the only one to actually finish
his meal and almost everyone else’s as well, he must have hollow legs.
Julishkas (Yugoslavian liquor) finished off the evening very nicely.
The glass-factory, built into the old town-wall and tower was the final
highlight, to a fantastic week-end, the weather was unbelievable and already
everyone is looking forward to the video and of course the next reunion being
held in September 2004 in Kent, hosted by Colin and Tony. While at the
glass-factory, without being noticed by either Jutta or myself, a beautiful
vase and candle-holder were acquired and presented to us as a thank you, so
thanks to all of you who contributed to the present but most of all to an
unforgettable week-end, where the years just seemed to disappear from the
faces to be replaced by the lads of 65B A Coy.
The hugs and tears (sentimental lot really, aren’t we) at the station
said everything.
See you all (!!!!!!) next year.
George (Stubby) and Jutta
2.
An account of the 3rd reunion: by Phil Williams.
For photos taken at the event see
3rd Reunion Photos.
Thursday
5th June
-Arriving
at Hotel Zur Post
I arrived at Hanover Airport, caught a train for an hour’s journey to Hameln,
then a taxi to ‘Hotel zur Post’. Having booked in, unpacked and showered,
I phoned Schloss Stubbington and advised Jutta I had arrived. I then went for
a short walk-about. I wanted a haircut, which was the only thing I had
overlooked in my preparation for the trip.
I went to the hairdressers, less than 200 yds from the Hotel. After
frightening the hairdresser with my German, it appeared she understood and
gave me an up and over with a number 2. I
then had a short walk around the shops enjoying the sun before returning to
the Hotel to find George queuing at the ice-cream shop next door. As pre
arranged George took me off to Schloss Stubbington for some dinner. Having
greeted Jutta, George introduced me to the latest addition to the Stubbington
family, ‘the Presidents Trophy’. George’s latest Golf Trophy!
It was a cracking trophy. I then sat down to a classic German meal –es
hat sehr gut geschmeckt, vielen Dank Jutta! Then I got a feel for the weekend
ahead when George asked me if I wanted a beer with the meal. Yes please George
a small beer would do nicely. A
half litre bottle of beer was placed in my hand. Das bier schmeckt auch gut!
After
the meal we all set off to Hanover to greet Steve, Helen, Mike, Ann, Terry,
Christine, Tommo and Mel, flying in together from Manchester. George went well
prepared with two bottles of iced bubbly and paper cups. On arrival all
received the Stubbington treatment of welcome hugs and cups of Champaign. All
greetings over we made our way somewhat merrily to the Hotel in Hameln.
An evening out enjoying the Town
After
booking in and freshening-up we met later at the Hotel bar. Steve was usually
the first at the bar a skill he must have learnt in Singapore and later honed
in the bars of Dusseldorf and Wigan. If Steve was the first then George was
not far behind and always the perfect host ordering the beers up. After a few
‘Grosser beers’ we headed out on the town to a café near to the Museum.
We enjoyed sitting under parasols enjoying a lovely warm evening chatting and
people watching. We ordered different drink, some beer, some coffee; a few
tried the spaghetti ice cream recommended by George. We were joined outside
the café by a large party of youths from a football tournament. They were
playfully noisy and gave appreciative claps to the passing girls. Later we
moved off to find something to eat. We managed to find a kebab place that also
did burger and currie-wurst. I was able to sit this one out having eaten at
Schloss Stubbington, I was still well stuffed. The evening ended with the gang
drinking grosser beers in a bar nicknamed, ‘Ottos’. I never met Otto but I
believe it was the name of a guy fast asleep at the bar when we arrived-it
seems we had a long conversation with him! Needless to say the evening was
full of chat reminicing about experiences and times past. We got through a
large amount of grosser beers endearing ourselves to the owner of the bar -
although seemed to have upset the barmaid over a mistake when ordering some
shandies. George took the confrontation in his stride - “just stick them on
the table they’ll get drunk”! We ended up leaving Ottos at 2am well oiled
and ready for a good night’s kip.
Friday 6th
June –A meal at Café Klute with views
across Hameln
At the Hotel we breakfasted together – breakfast was the only meal
we had at the Hotel. Its worth a mention as it consisted of: fresh different
breads, choices of meats, cheese, orange or peach juice, coffee or tea,
yoghurt or fresh fruit, and boiled eggs. After breakfast we all met up with
George and Jutta. I remember it was 10.05am, as I had to put an extra 50 cents
in the parking meter for the Stubbs Mobile left outside the Hotel the night
before. We decided to go our different ways walking around the town but later
meeting up at the Island pub. For those not familiar with Hameln, The River
Weser surrounds the island! The island Pub provided shelter from the sun with
parasols and a cure from the previous nights revelries-with hair of the
dog-grosser beers. There was another distraction – waitress’s in leather
hosen, amazing how we guys were warming to the German culture. After the
Island café we headed for a café on a hill called Klute overlooking the
town. A lot of the journey was by bus, then a short walk up the hill. The
short walk was just 1 mile. After the climb the estimates from various members
of the group ranged from 1 mile to 25 miles –some were overheard to call
Klut a mountain. Mountaineering apart we were all pleasantly pleased with the
café which served up good grub and also provided a glorious view across the
town and beyond. After the lunch an 'expat' of pay corps lineage took group
photos of us all together. Then we headed back to the hotel and much to
everyone’s delight, were able to get the bus from the top of the hill to the
town centre.
A meal at ‘Kitzingers’and waiting for the party driving from Dover
That evening we were expecting to meet up with Colin, Barbara, Stevie and
Shirley. We had arranged to meet in the Hotel Bar at 6.30pm, when hopefully we
could welcome the group with a few drinks before moving off for a pre-booked
meal. As it turned out the party had been delayed. Colin and Barbara’s
daughter had made them Grandparent; (Yes Colin is now a Granddad!). This event
somewhat unplanned delayed their departure from England. Colin was determined
to get to the Reunion and although setting off late managed to make up some
time on the Autobahns arriving in Hameln about 11pm. Apparently Stevie and
Shirley, not the best of back seat drivers sat nervously all the way. Stevie
had mousy hair when they set off. By the time they got to Hameln it was white!
That
night we moved onto ‘Kitzingers Restaurant’ for our evening meal unaware
of the drama. We had a lovely meal at the restaurant and more to drink. We
then headed back to Ottos Bar via the Hotel to check if there was any word of
their whereabouts. No word, so off to Ottos for more drinking and reminiscing.
Terry supported by Mike has an unlimited number of yarns that kept the chat
vibrant. Eventually George left the party to meet Colin at the hotel. He was
away quite some time. But as it turned out had taken them all for a meal at
‘Kitzingers’. When he eventually returned and explained the reason for the
delay you can imagine the excitement, sharing in their celebration and meeting
up again after 2 years. Also Stevie introducing Shirley who some of us
hadn’t met before. The evening ended with us all moving outside to continue
drinking, before calling it a night about 2am and returning to the hotel a
short distance away.
Saturday 7th June – Our guided Tour of Hameln
Everyone met in the Hotel Bar at 0930am. We then went for some refreshment at
one of the cafés near to the town museum. Refreshed we went on to meet our
guide for our official tour of the town. The tour lasted 90 minutes and our
guide spoke reasonable English and informed us she had friends in Stoke on
Trent and loved to spend holidays in North Wales. The tour was interesting
with our guide imparting knowledge of the town, its buildings and historical
past. All round the town are bronzes and sculptures some involving water - it
was enlightening for these to be pointed out with an explanation of their
meaning. Our guide’s knowledge of Hameln's history complemented George’s
knowledge of Hameln's bars and restaurants!
After
the tour we headed off to board a boat for a trip up the Weser. Terry was
drooling at the mouth at the prospect of seeing some of the bridging sites
he’d worked on during his sapper days in Germany. Unfortunately we arrived
just in time to see the boat disappearing into the distance. The boat had left
earlier than that advertised. Just goes to show that not all German services
run on time! Missing the boat turned out to be to our advantage as it gave
more time to visit the shops and get those all-important presents for loved
ones at home- fags and booze. All the shops would be closed on the Sunday and
on the Monday as it was the Whit Bank Holiday. After shopping it was back to
the Hotel to get a bit of sleep and freshen up ready for the barbeque at
Schloss Stubbington.
The
Barbecue
We met at 1730 then made our way to the ‘Kastanienwal’ bus stop. After a
little confusion finding the right bus we got on our way. It was only a short
distance and luckily Mike spotting the on board signal and someone else
spotting George at our stop, we managed to get off at the right place. George
chaperoned us to Schloss Stubbington where we were further welcomed by Jutta
and shown to a superbly laid out table. We all found places around the table
whilst George disappeared off; you’ve guessed, to get the booze. Soon
everyone was settled into chatting and joking. George’s son arrived with
girlfriend and was soon into cooking the bratwirsts and steaks on the barbe.
Jutta brought out the salad and sauces and everyone got stuck into the
business of eating. Most cleared off two lots of pasta salad and bratwirst and
were feeling quite pleased at the achievement. What we didn’t know was that
Sebastian was just beginning to barbeque the steaks. So encouraged by George
we entered round two and consumed more salad and two steaks each. We were all
stuffed and merry with drink when George began to dispense a further round of
barbecue steak. George reluctantly took the hint that everyone had eaten his
or her fill. One of the photographs shows George brandishing the steak,
someone shouted to send it to Mick in Australia. Weird, if you look closely at
the steak it has the shape of the Australian continent. Some sort of omen! To
mark the end of the eating George broke out some small bottles of schnapps,
which we all ceremoniously drank down together. Shirley drunk her schnapps
only after lots of encouragement from everyone. There were five bottles left
over. Colin worked out that every fourth person round the table should drink
the spare bottles. He managed to include Shirley in the count. Like a sport
she complied and had us all in stitches in her own special way of downing it.
During the meal the venue and timing for the next re-union was discussed. Look
out for an announcement on the web site!
After
the schnapps the Barbe moved into party mode with the ladies retiring from the
table to leave us men to discuss the more serious things in life. Such as
Stevie’s dislike of cheese and Mike’s security arrangements for his shop.
Suddenly the ladies were bursting into song and George was recruiting myself
and Stevie, to harmonise. At first we lads were a little slow to respond to
the ladies revelries but eventually singing ......'and the hairs on her dickie
dido etc etc'! The ladies stuck to 70s songs and some up to date pop stuff.
Ann and Helen would have made good redcoats being so enthusiastic and
encouraging everyone to join in. Mick gave a solo to which all joined in with
the chorus. Eventually all returned to the main table and George brought out
another pack of schnapps. Again everyone drunk them back together. What with
the schnapps and copious quantities of beer everyone was in a happy state. We
went on till the early hour of the morning chatting. All good things have to
come to an end and it was about 1.30am when George called for the taxis to
take us back to the Hotel.
Sunday 8th
June-Enjoying
Hameln and the Pied Piper Play
I arrived down at breakfast about 0930am. Everyone apart from Colin and
Barbara were busily eating breakfast. Considering the night before everyone
was chatty and vibrant. Then Colin arrived face beaming followed by Barbara
with that “Ill never drink again” look on her face. Barbara sat herself
down sheepishly with Colin calling “anything I can get for you my love”!
“Not just yet” came the reply. Colin got together his breakfast ordering
his usual boiled egg. Barbara hadn’t drunk a lot the night before but we
think the schnapps had taken its toll! Anyway with a few more of “anything I
can get you my love”, Barbara was coaxed into having some breakfast and
managed to get some of her usual cheerfulness back.
We
all met outside the Hotel at 1030am ready to move onto the café outside the
Museum for cake and coffee before having a wander round the town. It was a
glorious hot sunny day, Tommo and Mel disappeared off and returned with a
straw hat each. Tommo was well chuffed with his and everyone agreed he had the
look of a Texan millionaire. Most of us gathered in the square outside the
Church and listened to a Church Service out in the open. After the Service we
watched the arrival of a wedding party at the Wedding House close by, all this
with hundreds of folk milling about and children playing in the sculptured
water fountains. After buying a coke at a stall I wandered down one of the
main streets to be confronted by this funny looking guy dressed a bit like a
clown and playing a flute. I’d stumbled upon the Pied Piper procession. I
followed the procession meeting up with the rest of the gang back in the
square. We were then entertained with a presentation of the Pied Piper Play.
We all knew the play from our days at school –a long time ago! This of
course was a unique experience to see the play performed in the very town by
the Townsfolk of Hameln also on a beautiful sunny day. Oh yeah, and it was
free!
After
the play we made our way to the Island Pub. Standing around in the sun had
taken its toll and we were all in need of some refreshments and of course
there were the waitresses in leather hosen! At the Pub we made up a large
table shaded from the sun under some trees. George got everyone’s order for
drinks –this time he managed to outdo himself and came back with the biggest
beer tankards you could imagine. These went down a bomb with those drinking
beer getting photographs to record the event. We had something to eat –most
choosing curried bratwursts. When everyone had eaten, and after a little
surprise rain shower, we made our way to the boat trip, which we’d missed
previously.
The
boat trip on the River Weser
This time we arrived in good time and were treated to a pleasant trip on the
River Weser. The commentary from the master of the boat although informative
was not as detailed as Terry’s and Tommo's on the numerous bridging sites
and stories of ‘losing Sappers to watery graves in the ferocious waters’!
“What are those kids doing swimming and frolicking in the water” exclaimed
Terry “it’s much too dangerous”. Something twigged in my mind, and I was
transported back 38 years to another tall story telling session. ‘The trees
that followed a certain Apprentice down Beachley Road to ‘A’ Wing lines,
had it been a bad dream? But what about the mudded streaks found along the
road the next day’! To be fair
to Terry we ‘were’ later informed that 30 years ago the waters of the
River Weser were indeed fast and treacherous!
It
was relaxing on the boat and again George did the honours taking everyone’s
order for a nice cool beer.
All
through the week Tommo had been mysteriously disappearing off with binoculars
in hand. I’d noted this had been mainly in the vicinity of the island pub. I
had wondered if it was the leather hosen that he was trying to get a closer
look at! On the boat it became apparent, as there were no trees to disappear
behind that Tommo was a twitcher. Tommo became quite excited with the various
ducks, grebes and herons on display. He became so enthusiastic that Terry
joined him spotting birds, and almost forgot about the Bridging Sites. Back on
land every one made there own way back to the Hotel. It was agreed to meet
later in the Hotel bar for drinks before proceeding for a meal at the
Balkengrill organised by George and Jutta. Everyone disappeared to rest,
we’d already had a full day and all that sun and walking about the town had
taken its toll.
A
meal at the ‘Balkengrill’
We all met between 6.30pm and 7pm for a few drinks in the Hotel bar. We then
took a leisurely stroll to the Balkan Grill where a table had been reserved
for our party. The restaurant was very pleasant, we were waited upon
professionally and made to feel welcome. The food was plentiful and delicious.
George suggested that anyone feeling hungry should order a set meal for two.
Quite a few took up the challenge including George and Jutta but all failed to
clear their plates and even with Stevie helping out there was still food left
over. I had a single meal called ‘Ljubljana cutlet’, which was cutlet,
cooked with cheese in batter served up with french fries and salad. It was
delicious! Of course George as ever, kept the waiter busy on trips to the bar
for the ‘Grosser Beers’. Stevie was quite intrigued with one item of
garnish served up on everyone’s plate. It was an inch long vegetable looking
like a shrivelled green runnerbean. Most had pushed this to the edge of their
plate. But Stevies inquisitive
nature got the better of him. “What’s this?” George advised Stevie it
was a chilli pepper. “What do they taste like?” Everyone urged Stevie to
eat it. So he obliged. All seemed well, then gradually Stevie's eyes began to
pop, his face became beetroot coloured and sweat began pouring from his brow.
George feeling a bit responsible for Stevie's predicament took a bite from his
chilli pepper –obviously his wasn’t as potent, he beamed quite hot, but
showed no side effects. I decided to try one and bit off half my chilli
pepper. It went well at first, and then gradually I could feel myself
panicking as my throat started to fire up.
I might have got away with it, but the game was up when my glasses
began to steam up. They sure were some of the hottest chilli pepper’s on the
planet! The meal ended with the restaurant treating us all to another schnapps
-, which we all downed in one together.
After
the meal we headed off to ‘Otto’s’ but were disappointed to find it
closed. Eventually we found another bar with a cosy table so chatted and drank
a few hours away. It became apparent though that everyone was feeling the
fatigue of a long day. The beers were taking longer to drink. Jutta suggested
an early night, which everyone agreed, was a good idea.
Monday 9th
June – The Glass factory, thank you and goodbyes
We all had our final breakfast together as most of us were flying back to
England. I was the first to leave; my flight from Hanover to Heathrow was at
3pm, which meant getting the train in Hameln at 12.30pm. We arranged to meet
outside the Hotel at 11pm, which allowed time to visit the Glass Factory in
Hameln. We were all of a mind that we wanted to get George and Jutta a gift,
in appreciation for their hospitality. We knew without their hard work, the
reunion would not have been as successful. This like those previous had been a
cracker! So our visit to the Glass factory was opportune. The ladies together
with Terry in consultation with an unsuspecting Jutta chose an appropriate
gift, which was presented in a short ceremony outside the glass factory
–three cheers for George and Jutta!
We
made our way back to the Hotel in preparation for our farewells. We wanted a
photograph of the group and assembled outside the Hotel with the intention of
highjacking a passer-by to take it. A few victims approached but quickly
crossed to the other side of the street suspecting our intentions. In the end
I went into the Hotel and came out with the receptionist who happily agreed to
take our photograph. She was obviously used to the task and happily took
photographs using all the different cameras in our group. That’s what I call
customer service!
With
the photo session out of the way it was time to say my sad farewells. After
handshakes and hugs from everyone George ran me down to the Barnhof.
It
had been a magical holiday. The hospitality had been first class, the choice
of Hotel excellent, the town of Hameln beautiful, and weather fantastic. But
most of all seeing old friends had been the real reason for the visit, and
this had indeed made this a very special occasion. Thanks everyone!
KENT,
65B ‘A’ COMPANY REUNION 3 September – 5 September 2004
Hotel for the reunion is the "Kings Head" 58, High St, Rochester, Kent. Tel;
01634831103, £65 per couple B&B. The 3,4,& 5th Sept. Booked in already are
Terry, Mussy, Tommo, Stubby, Geordie Fri & Stevey.
Friday
3rd September saw Thomo, Terry, Muzzy, Geordie and myself with
wives Mel, Christine, Ann, Susan and Jutta respectively arrive in
Rochester’s Kings Head Hotel at different times, with absolutely no plan of
what we should be doing when!
Geordie
and Susan had already arrived, and left again, leaving a message that they had
gone to Wetherspoons for a cheaper pint. I had made myself comfortable in the
hotel with a Guiness by the time Thomo arrived with Terry and Muzzy in his
people-carrier.
After
phoning Stevey Stevens we found out that he had no plan either but turned up
anyway only to find out later, that he had a hefty parking ticket. Colin’s
phone remained stubbornly engaged for a long time until Terry at last got
through to find out that Colin had an itinery which consisted of, I quote,
“Do what you f….. want”.
We
eventually all get together again in Wetherspoons for somewhat cheaper drinks
and excellent, reasonably priced food. Yours truly was entrusted with the
weekend-kitty, which has become a bit of a tradition.
After
a few very strong hints Colin decided that we would all be invited to a Barbie
(no, that is not one of the delights of Rochester’s
red-light-mile) at his house on the following evening. This left us with
Saturday to tour Chatham. We went to the RE- Museum, which really is well
worth
a visit, especially for ex-sappers, Fort Amhurst and memorial, Terry’s and
Muzzy’s quarters, that they lived in, in 1894 and the garage where Terry
kept his car in 19blonk. Very
Interesting.
But fun was had by all and more chatting was done than looking and the
barbeque in the evening was great too, compliments to Colin and Barbara. But
not a glimpse of Shirley’s knickers.
Sunday
was filled with a visit to the Museum of Kent Life, a meal at the Malta inn,
which, because it came late and cold and because of Colin’s tenacity with
the manager came very cheap in the end. We got a refund of more than we had
paid in the first place, which topped up the kitty nicely. The afternoon was
rounded off with a trip on the river in a licensed boat. On the whole we did a
lot of waiting for nobody: someone would go off to do something, everyone else
would start talking and not realise that we were all there and carry on
talking. We did an awful lot of that.
The
two quotes of the weekend are: “Waiting for nobody” and “t’internet”
(northerners look up things on t’internet).
An
excellent meal at an excellent Indian restaurant finished off the evening
beautifully.
Monday
morning saw me taking Geordie and Susan to the wrong station and tearful
farewells all round. On asking Geordie why he was so quiet on the first day
and hadn’t much to say his answer was that every time he saw one of us,
after 36 years, he just got all emotional.
It was
decided on Saturday evening that the next reunion should not have a home host,
because they miss out on some of it by having to go home as with Keith in
Blackpool, myself in Hameln und Colin and Stevey in Rochester, so the next do
is in the Manor House Hotel near Okehamptom in Devon (t’internet-adress:
www.manorhousehotel.co.uk)
from May 19th to 22nd 2006. This should give everyone a
chance to plan holidays and save up. Christine and Jutta are organising and
e-mails will be sent with info as soon as they are available. I hope Mike
Keeble will also keep all informed on our home-page in t’internet.
We
again had a really great, though quite disorganised time, and all who didn’t
come missed a really good do. Don’t miss the next one.
The Manor House Hotel,” Okehampton, Devon. The weekend of the19th, 20th
and 21st of May 2006.
The list who have paid and
ready to go are; Terry,
Muzzy, Tommo, Steve High, Stevey Stevens, Phil
Williams, Geordie and Stubby. Miles said he will try to be there and Al
Deadman, although working,
will try and visit.
