The Second
HMS Manchester Association
The Buzz - (Part 3) continued....
Steve "Paddy" Derwin - Wife refused to sign his leave chit!
Paul "Nobby" Clark - On holiday in sunny Spain for his 55th birthday.
Where is George Hubbard our exotic holidays correspondent?, I hear you all murmur!! Obviously somewhere hot and sunny!!!
As is our practice, once again there was a robust gathering of the membership inside and outside of the Ship Anson on a warm and sunny afternoon and evening the night before. A good time was had by all, including the landlord!
Dave , Daz, Taff, Fletch, Jan and Dave
Bobby, George, Angry, Andy, Ken, Jack, Keyz with Ian and Lorcan sitting
Jack, George, Keyz, Ronnie, Lorcan, Ken and Raffers
Taff and Wendy and Andrea and Eddie
Gerry, Stevie, Ian, Angry and Bobby
We also took time to make a presentation to the Ship Anson of a Defibrillator to replace the one written off in a recent fire.
Stevie, Ian and Landord of Ship Anson
And so, we move on to the actual Re-union itself. We had to make some changes to our normal routine, there was no free beer from Irvings Brewery - the only concession we were unable to negotiate (corkage was £240 a barrel) and we were unable to have access to the actual venue, due to other activities, until an hour before first arrivals were due, so setting up was rather rushed! However, with much valued assistance from Brian Logan and the hotel staff, all preparations were completed on time.
Among those soon gathering around the bar were Roy and Sonya Anderson - Roy wasn't too busy this year!, George Annable, Dave Arthur, Nick and Gillian Athawes with Katherine Green. David Banks, Buzz Bee and his brother in law, Darren Spence, together with recently married, Karla and Bobby Charlton, Nobby Clarke and Karen Thompson and soon to be Las Vegas bound Pete Burnett and Julie Salenius.
Fletch, Dave M, Dave A, Jan, Dave P and Daz
It's quite a large bar area, so there was also room for Shep Colley, Taff and Wendy Coombs, Ginge Crook, Dan Daly, Neil D'Arcy, Andy and Wendy Dunning, Steve Fletcher, and after a most amusing and spectacular arrival, Sue and Connie Francis (who for some reason is reined in by the singular word "Alan"!)
