The 9th Annual Reunion - Thoresby Hall

Sadly on the the 28th May we lost another of our entry, Gil Ridley was not only a stalwart of the reunions but also the founder and Patron of our website 49th2sqn. During his service career he was promoted to the rank of Flt Sgt and was awarded the British Empire Medal. He will be greatly missed by all of who knew him.

Those attending this years reunion were: Dave Beaumont; Bob Cuss; Mike Dewes; John Evans; Keith Fraser; Alan Gray; Trevor Harvey; Rob Izatt; Malcolm Jones; Norrie Lowson; Alistair McCrindle; Jim McComisky; Brian Ogilvie; Geoff Plaxton; Bob Rock; Stuart Simpson; Mike Stephens; John Thompson; Richard Wardrobe; Des Wilson; Frank Wilson; and Peter Wood.  We also welcomed Grace Harvey; Christine Plaxton; Eileen Thompson; Linda Wilson; and Ann Marie Torrie. Unfortunately Geoff Parsons could not attend due to personal circumstances on the day.

With the weather being kind to us this year many of the group took the opportunity to participate in the various activities available at this Warners hotel which included: Archery, Golf, Bowls, Frisbee Circuit, Darts, Snooker and swimming.

Trevor Harvey won the Robin Hood archery tournament with an amazing one shot arrow shot out, Dave Beaumont and Frank Wilson still cannot believe where their arrows ended up (see photos). In the bar afterwards Bob Cuss explained how he would have won if he had had Trevor’s bow, wore his lucky socks and the instructress had not put him off.

On the bowling rink Alan Gray went from - he’s in the gully again to producing the winning shots for his team on the last end of the tournament. If I am honest a number of us had problems working out which side had the bias, consequently there were some derisive comments from Alistair McCrindles team on rink 2 as our bowls frequently joined theirs.

For the second year running Des Wilson “Somehow” managed a hole in one again on the putting green and then of course proceeded to make sure everyone knew about it in the bar afterwards.

After successfully organising the bowling tournament Brian Ogilvie moved confidently onto snooker and darts. Some 49ers brought their own darts with them this time in an effort to avoid last year’s marathon game when after 45 mins on double one it had to be settled nearest the bull. This year thankfully after only 20 minutes on yet again double one Frank Wilson ended everyone’s misery.

The snooker again proved very entertaining with a number of unbelievable misses followed by some incredible pots, but it was unanimously agreed that nothing compared with last years shot of the tour by Keith Fraser.

This year Warners were very accommodating In allowing us to put on our own entertainment in the main bar area curtesy of Keith Fraser. Needless to say his rendition of the Prince and the Flipper (video attached) ably assisted by Warner staff member Lisa, Eileen Thompson and Grace Harvey was a great success. His monologue of Fifty Shades of Alan Gray also brought great applause. We look forward to next years performance with great expectation.

After the reunion dinner Bob Rock and Dave Beaumont toasted the Queen and absent friends. Mike and Bob were thanked for their organising work and Richard for sourcing the 40th entry plaques (photo attached). The ladies were welcomed and and John & Eileen Thompson, Frank & Linda Wilson praised for their commitment to the reunions in travelling fro Ireland and Portugal respectively to attend.

Since we began holding our reunions at Thoresby Hall they have gone from strength to strength.  The facilities and activities on offer exactly suit our needs, you can relax in one of the great many lounge areas or be as active as you like. The menus are varied with something to suit all palettes. It will be a Warners hotel next year (Our Tenth Reunion)

A suggestion was made to research alternative Warners hotels with similar travelling distances was put forward, so when costs and dates can be obtained I will forward them to you. If you have visited a Warners hotel that you think we would like please let me know the name and location. Look forward to meeting up again in the first two weeks of May 2018.