July 2nd 2022 and all the hopes and fears start coming to fruition: will there be enough people to fill the Marquee – yes; have I remembered the petty cash, the tickets, the display items, the name badges…? The list goes on. If anything is forgotten, then wing it.
But, rest assured, it all went according to plan as you can see.
It was a pleasant day with a good turnout considering this was the holiday period and some of the regulars were missing. In spite of that we had arrivals from outside of the UK including literally, the other side of the world. Surprisingly there was a good attendance – over 100.
After all the initial set up, your Management Committee came together for the group photo
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| Your Management Committee (and guests): From Left to right:- Barry Powell, Christine Powell (Associate), Colin Page, Brian Izzard (Chairman), Val Cleare, Tim Wander (Guest Speaker), Judith Wander (Guest), David Frost (Hon. Treasurer), Dave Roscoe (President), Colin Fletcher (Secretary – in hiding), Mark Watson-Lee (Newsletter Editor), Gillian Drake, Claire Lucas (Raffle Organiser – very much in hiding), Chris Gardiner, Peter Turrall (Patron) and Eric Peachey (Vice-Chairman) |
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View of the Marquee (Bar to the left) |
The luncheon commenced with the Top Table being introduced by the MC Veteran David Frost.
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The Top Table. From Left to Right: |
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Brian, our illustrious Chairman, gave his welcoming speech, whilst the first course was being served to all tables barring the Top Table, which was served at the termination of the Chairman’s speech. |
Chairman's welcome speech |
Following the luncheon our Vice-Chairman Veteran Eric Peachey, proposed the Loyal Toast. This was followed by Veteran Valerie Cleare presenting news of and messages from absent Veterans.
Speeches
As always the speeches followed the usual formula. Our President for the year Veteran David Roscoe, proceeded to recount past experiences before introducing our Guest Speaker Tim Wander.
Tim Wander is no stranger to the Marconi Veterans, not only has he written numerous books on the history of Marconi and the Company, but also contributed to our newsletter and given numerous lectures and without referring to notes.
| Tim’s speech was no exception; taking as a topic the original cast of 2MT (Two Emma Toc) – he imagined an extra table at the Reunion and with the Writtle teamed seated at it. Tim then proceeded to give a short biography of each. It was certainly an original and entertaining speech. |
Tim Wander in full flow |
Raffle
The Speeches were followed by the excitement of the annual raffle, which along with the regular prizes also included, for the second year running, matching sets of table mats and coasters for 2022– the table mats were a larger version of the coasters.
| At this point it is worth noting that Veteran Claire Lucas has been running the raffle for many years now and I am certain you would join me in thanking her for her efforts over the years. As with last year Claire was assisted by Mark Watson-Lee, who called out the winning numbers |
Mark in full flow |
(To buy a set table of mats, please contact the Secretary for further details).
The Writtle Team
For Tim and Judith it was an opportunity to meet up with former colleagues and friends from the Software Engineering Department :-
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The Writtle Team as was : From Left to Right: Back Row - B. N. MaClarty, H. Kirke, R. T. B. Wynn, H.Russel |
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| Friends Reunited Dave Webber, Dave Roscoe (President 2022), Tony Knight, Rob Rodie, Judith Wander, Ron Moore, Tim Wander |
AGM
At the Annual General Meeting the Resolutions of receiving the Accounts, re-electing the Management Committee and re-electing the Independent Examiner were passed by the Veterans' present in the usual speedy manner. Thus ended the 2022 Reunion.
To view some more photographs of the reunion click here
Photos courtesy of Graham Chorley.