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        Kier Fellowship News
  The magazine for the Loughton & Witham area Fellowship Trust | Issue 23 | Summer ‘19

GOOD NEWS                      AREA GOLF DAY                   BARMY ARMY IN SRI LANKA
PAGE 10                        PAGE 11                         PAGES 12-14

                                                  A warm welcome from your committee

                                                               www.fellowship.kier.co.uk
                                                                                         1
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Fellowship News Issue 23 | Contents                                                                                                                                            Editor’s notes | Introduction

                                                                                                   Editor’s notes
   Contents                                                                                        Welcome to the 2019 summer edition of The Fellowship Newsletter.
                                                                                                   What a wonderful, hot, sunny and sporty summer we are having. I hope
                                                                                                   you will find time to break away from whatever you are doing to enjoy
    3        • Editor’s notes                                                                      reading this newsletter. In addition to the usual articles covering our
                                                                      Welcome to the 23rd                                                                                            07746 463902
                                                                                                   events since the last publication there is an excellent commentary on a      jimbo52.mc@hotmail.co.uk
    4        • Lunch with Speaker, Mulberry House                     issue of The Fellowship
                                                                                                   canal journey that will be of particular interest to all you engineers. For
             • Mountbatton Festival of Music,                         News magazine.               cricket fans there is a fascinating and detailed report from the Barmy Army Test Match Tour of Sri
    5
                Royal Albert Hall                                     Without your interest and    Lanka (from our man on the inside). And I have introduced a ‘Good News’ feature celebrating some
                                                                      support this magazine        of the happy events of our members.
    6        • Spring Buffet, Mulberry House
                                                                      cannot exist. As much        This newsletter is issued slightly later than usual as the last article included is the Summer Lunch at
    7        • Company news                                           feedback as possible is      Mulberry House which was a late substitute for the cancelled Summer Garden Party at Tempsford
    8/9      • Great Canal Journey                                    always welcomed and          Hall that normally comprises our final summer event. There is more information on the Garden Party
                                                                      can be directed to your      cancellation on page 7.
    10       • Good news                                              editor, Jim McCluskey. All   Unfortunately, two of our other planned events: the Boat Trip and Brewery Tour (25 July) and
    11       • Area Golf Day                                          feedback will be taken       Chelmsford Racing (29 August) have had to be cancelled due to administration issues beyond
                                                                      into consideration when      our control. On each occasion we were informed that our original enquires had not been recorded
    12-14 • Barmy Army in Sri Lanka                                   designing the next issue     and when it came time to finalise the bookings there was no availability. It is the intention of the
                                                                      of the Fellowship News.      committee to include both of these events in the programme for next year
    15       • Deceased members
                                                                      Andrea Lorraine Designs      In the meantime, let’s all continue to enjoy this amazing
    16       • Summer Lunch, Mulberry House and contacts                                           summer wherever you are and I look forward to seeing
                                                                                                   you at the Spit Roast Dinner at Blakes Golf Course on

   Events 2019/20
                                                                                                   17 September.

                                                                                                                                                                           13
                                                                                                   Happy holidays.
                                                                                                   Jim McCluskey

    Date                                   Event                                      Cost         Cover picture: Buddha at Peraliya - the
    Friday 23 August 2019                  National Golf Day                          £45.00 pp    Tsunami Memorial , Sri Lanka
    Tuesday 17 September 2019              Spit Roast at Blakes Golf Club             £16.00 pp
    Wednesday 20 November 2019 Thursford Spectacular
    December 2019                          Christmas Lunch, Little Channels
                                                                                      £45.00 pp
                                                                                      £23.00 pp
                                                                                                                                                                       January ‘20
    Thursday 20 February 2019              Lunch with a speaker, Mulberry House       £23.00 pp
                                           Royal Opera House, Backstage Tour                                                                                       Features for the next edition of
    March 2020                                                                        £35.00 pp
                                           and lunch                                                                                                               the Fellowship News!
    Thursday 23 April 2019                 Spring Lunch, Mulberry House                                                                                            Please send all features to Jim
    Letters will be issued as usual to all who have expressed an interest in any of the
                                                                                                                                                                   McCluskey by no later than the
    these events.
                                                                                                                                                                   above date. Many thanks!

2 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                         Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019 3
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Events | Lunch with Speaker, Mulberry House                                                                                                             Mountbatten Festival of Music Review | Events

   Lunch with Speaker,                                                                                     Mountbatten Festival
   Mulberry House                                                                          6               of Music Review      16
                                                                                      February ‘19                                                                                             March ‘19

                                                                                                        FORTY MEMBERS ATTENDED THE FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

                                                                                                                                      wide range of musical styles,
                                                                                                                                      including music from the big
                                                                                                                                      screen, superb solo items,
                                                                                                                                      as well as marches and
                                                                                                                                      overtures that proved a big
                                                                                                                                      hit with the audience.
                                                                                                        Having negotiated heavy       Towards the end of the
                                                                                                        traffic during our journey                                         who was the Honorary Music
                                                                                                                                      concert we all joined in             Advisor to the Royal Marines
                                                                                                        from Chigwell, we arrived     singing well known songs,
                                                                                                        to be entertained by the                                           for over 20 years. In 1980
                                                                                                                                      which from a full house              the festival was renamed in
                                                                                                        Massed Bands of Her           reverberated throughout
                                                                                                        Majesty’s Royal Marines                                            honour of Earl Mountbatten
                                                                                                                                      the auditorium of the Royal          of Burma, who was Life
                                       Our guest speaker, Gary Powell                                   performing to a full house    Albert Hall. It made you feel
                                                                                                        of enthusiastic audience.                                          Colonel Commandant of
                                                                                                                                      very proud to be British!            the Royal Marines until his
On 6 February we returned            During his career he               of some of London’s iconic      The concert displayed the     We were very fortunate at            untimely death in 1979.
to Mulberry House for our            developed a keen interest in       squares. We learned a little    outstanding versatility of    having exceptionally good
second annual lunch with             the architecture of London’s       of the origins of the London    some of the world’s finest    seats with uninterrupted
a speaker. Sixty-one                 Squares and combined this          Square but a lot about those    military musicians and they   views of the performance in
members, partners and                with his career experience         ‘good and evil’ who left        were given the ‘West End      the Rausing Circle.
guests enjoyed their choice          when writing his first book        their mark on them i.e. the     treatment’ with spectacular
of a two-course lunch                ‘Square London.’                   demise of Peter Pan, the last   lighting effects.             All the members commented
followed by tea or coffee.                                              person to be hanged for the                                   that they had thoroughly
                                     His talk was based upon this       murder of a police officer in                                 enjoyed the festival and
Afterwards we enjoyed a              book and entitled ‘A Coppers       Britain, a peer of the realm                                  thought it was an excellent
fascinating talk by our              Guide to the Dark Secrets          with a very dark secret and                                   event to attend.
guest speaker Gary Powell.           of London’s Squares.’                                                                                                                 The proceeds from the
                                                                        many more stories, including                                                                       festival will go to The Royal
Gary is a published author                                              anecdotes from his life as                                    The Mountbatten Festival
who joined the British               Gary told us about                                                                               of Music was originally              Marines Charity and to CLIC
                                     unsavoury residents and            a detective.                                                                                       Sargent, directly supporting
Transport Police in London                                                                              The festival sees the Royal   conceived to honour the
at the age of 18 and served          shocking incidents adding a                                                                      connection between the               our serving personnel,
                                                                                                        Marines showcase their
for 33 years until he retired.       colourful tone to the history      John Abbott                                                   Royal Marines Band Service           veterans and their families.
                                                                                                        incredible musicianship and
                                                                                                        pageantry and featured a      and Sir Malcolm Sargent              Chris Oats

4 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                        Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019 5
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Events | Spring Buffet, Mulberry House                                                                                                                                         Company news | Please note

    Spring Buffet, 4                                                                                    UNSOLICITED CALLS/COLD CALLS
                                                                                                        WARNING TO SHAREHOLDERS:

    Mulberry House
                                                                                                        BOILER ROOM SCAMS
                                                                                            April ‘19   We have been made aware that certain
                                                                                                        Kier Group plc shareholders have received
                                                                                                        unsolicited telephone calls from fraudulent
Our annual spring buffet was held on                                                                    companies offering to buy Kier Group plc
Thursday 4 April for the first time at a new                                                            shares at a substantial premium to the current
venue – Mulberry House Hotel, Ongar.                                                                    market price. These calls are usually from
                                                                                                        overseas companies targeting UK shareholders.

                                                                                                        These operations are commonly known as
                                                                                                        ‘BOILER ROOM SCAMS’ and the callers can be extremely
                                                                                                        persuasive and persistent.

                                                                                                        There are different types of scams in operation and shareholders are advised to be
                                                          Brian, Reg, Jack, Roy and Derek
                                                                                                        wary of any unsolicited advice.

                                                                                                        Further information can be found on the attached ScamSmart document from the
                                                                                                        FCA or by visiting the FCA website: https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart

Numbers were slightly down from last year

                                                                                                        Tempsford Garden
with 91 members and guests attending. All
agreed that it was a resounding success.
The venue and the buffet were very good
and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves

                                                                                                        Party... cancellation
with lots of conversation around the tables
and the usual teasing and banter.
                                                         We intend to go back to Mulberry House for
John Abbott gave a small speech outlining
                                                         the spring buffet next year.
our proposed events for 2019 and this was
followed by the drawing of the raffle.                   Geoff Brown                                    STATEMENT FROM GROUP...
                                                                                                        “2018/2019 has been a year of significant change and challenge for Kier. In recognition
                                                                                                        of the challenge that the business faces, a review of the Group is underway, announced by
                                                                                                        Andrew Davies, the new Kier CEO who joined in April. This review will focus on three areas:
                                                                                                        simplifying the group, net debt reduction and cash.

                                                                                                        Consequently the group is focusing on all areas of its cost base and this is resulting in head
                                                                                                        count and budget reductions. In recognition of this, this review covers all discretionary
                                                                                                        budget spend. Consequently, the budget for the Kier Fellowship Garden Party event has
                                                                                                        been reviewed and the decision has been taken by management to cancel the event.”
Paul, Rob, Bob, Christine, Lynn, John, Chris and Alan     Ladies who lunch

6 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                          Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019 7
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Feature | Great Canal Journey                                                                                                                                                Great Canal Journey | Feature

Great Canal Journey
                                                                                                     time but unfortunately it        1,000,000 tons of goods               counterweights removed
                                                                                                     proved unreliable. The main      recorded until the Second             and left adjacent to the lift
                                                                                                     problem was that hydraulic       World War when traffic                at the Visitors Centre.
                                                                                                     oil had not been discovered      declined significantly.
                                                                                                     and so the fluid in the                                                The Anderton Boat Lift is
THE ANDERTON BOAT LIFT                                                                               hydraulic system was water       In the period following
                                                                                                                                      the war with less traffic,
                                                                                                                                                                            the only one of its kind
                                                                                                                                                                            and is scheduled under
                                                                                                     and, with all the salt around,
                                                                                                     the components rusted            lack of maintenance and               the Ancient Monuments
This July, Carol and I, along                                                                                                         the nationalisation of the            and Archaeological Areas
                                                                                                     quickly and the seals in the
with two friends, decided                                                                                                             canals, the lift became               Act 1979. It is subject to
                                                                                                     rams kept failing.
to tackle the Cheshire                                                                                                                more and more unreliable              The Lifting Operations
Ring on a Narrow Boat.                                                                               A solution was proposed          and, following a couple               and Lifting Equipment
The Cheshire Ring is, as                                                                             and implemented in 1906          of potentially serious                Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
the name would suggest,                                                                              by Colonel J.A. Saner to         accidents, it was taken out           and is operated by the
a circular route around the                                                                          scrap the hydraulic system       of service in 1983.                   Canal and River Trust.
south of Manchester and                                                                              and convert the lift to cable
uses the Macclesfield, Peak                                                                          operation with a system          Fast forward to 1997,
                                                                                                                                                                             * The others are: The
Forest, Ashton, Rochdale,            was primarily commissioned       of three feet in diameter.     of counterweights. It was        following public appeals,              Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Clwyd,
Bridgewater and Trent &              by two industries: the           The clever bit of course       at this time that all the        fund raising, Heritage                 The Falkirk Wheel, Falkirk,
Mersey Canals. The highlight         potteries wanted access          is that the trough weighs      cogs and headgear in the         Lottery funds and funding              Stirlingshire, The Caen Hill
                                                                                                                                      from British Waterways                 Flight, Devizes, Wiltshire, The
of the ring, and to be honest        to the river Weaver and          the same full of water as it   photographs were added.                                                 Standedge Tunnel, Standedge,
the main reason that we              hence to Liverpool for           does with a boat and water,    This time, power was             Board, the decision was                near Marsden, West Yorkshire
chose it, is The Anderton            exporting their goods; and       since the boat displaces its   supplied by a 30 horsepower      taken to restore the lift to its       and The Bingley Five Rise
Boat Lift. One of the seven          the salt mines along the         weight of water (Archimedes    electric motor and the           original hydraulic operation,          Locks, Bingley, West Yorkshire.
wonders of the canal world*          river Weaver wanted access       Principle). The only power     conversion was carried out       this time using hydraulic oil
and sometimes known as               to the canal system to           that was needed to operate     working 24-hours a day with      and an electric motor. Cost
the Cathedral of the Canals.         distribute their product. (The   the lift was a ten-horse       two ‘possession’ periods:        of the restoration was £7m
                                     ‘wich’ in the town names         power steam engine.            19 days in April and then 10     and work commenced in
                                     along the river, Northwich,                                     days in August. The cost was     March 2000 with the official
                                     Middlewich, Nantwich etc,        The contract for the           £25,869.                         re-opening on 26 March
                                     comes from ‘wych-house’ –        fabrication and erection of                                     2002. The headgear from
                                     an ancient word for a place      the lift was let to Emmerson   Operation of the lift became     the 1906 conversion was
                                     for making salt).                Murgatroyd & Co. Ltd of        far more reliable with           left in place for historical
                                                                      Stockport for £28,420.         annual tonnages of 75,000-       interest and the cables &
                                     The design of the lift by        Somewhat higher than the
                                     Edwin Clark was ingenious        original estimated cost of
The Anderton Boat Lift               and relied on the principles     £12,000! It took 30 months
was opened in July 1875              discovered by Archimedes         to build. The final cost was
as a commercial response             around 250 BC. Two cast          £48,428. Some things
to the costly problem of             iron troughs filled with water   never change!
moving goods between the             are connected by a hydraulic
River Weaver and the Trent           system and as one goes           The completed lift
& Mersey canal – a level             down, the other comes up,        was hailed as a great
difference of 50 feet. It            operated by enormous rams        engineering triumph at the

8 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                         Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019 9
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Events | Good news                                                                                                                                                                                         Area Golf Day | Events

Good news!                                                                                                  Area Golf Day                                                                                                  14
                                                                                                            ON 14 MAY WE HAD OUR YEARLY HALF DAY AT ABRIDGE GOLF CLUB,
Pat’s 90th Birthday!                                                                                        ATTENDED BY 15 GOLFERS OF MIXED ABILITY                                                                        May ‘19

Patricia Wojcik celebrated
her 90th birthday at Mulberry                                                                             Set in 240 acres of beautiful parklands with
                                                                                                          excellent views of the countryside it is
House with all her family and                                                                             home to major amateur golf tournaments
a few old friends. All organised                                                                          including the South East Regional
by daughter Carolyn. A good                                                                               Open Qualifier.
time was had by all!                                                                                      If I recall correctly there had been much rain
                                                                                                          beforehand but we had a glorious day.
                                                                                                          Buggies were allowed which is great for us
                                                                                                          oldies with worn out knees etc!

Pip’s 90th Birthday!                                                                                      We enjoyed our bacon roll and coffee as usual
                                                                                                          on arrival and then ventured out onto the
A celebration                                                                                             course. Later there followed a very pleasant dinner.
was held on
20 July at the                                             Pat at 90 years young

John Barleycorn
restaurant near
Harlow for                                                                                                                                                                                                              ll winne
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                r
                                                                                                                                                                                                             dams: overa
Pip Pitts and                                                                                                                                                                                        Derek A
                      Pip & Peggy
his wife Peggy.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  The overall winner was
It was a dual occasion as Pip was 90 years                                                                                                                                                        Derek Adams. Roy Ellis
of age and days away was Pip and Peggy’s                                                                                                                                                          won the Front 9 and Paul
65th Wedding Anniversary.                                  John Spray
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Goddard the Back 9 as well
                                                           toasts Pip                                     Paul Goddard: winner of Nearest the Pin   Malcolm Burton: winner of the Longest Drive
More than 40 friends and family, best man                                                                                                                                                         as Nearest the Pin.
                                                                                   Pip says a few words
and the remaining bridesmaid enjoyed a                                                                                                                                                            Malcolm Burton had the
lovely dinner, entertainment, toasts and                                                                                                                                                          longest drive.
speeches afterwards.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  The course was very
In attendance from Kier were John Spray,                                                                                                                                                          challenging and many
Pearl Smeeton, Harold Thompson,                                                                                                                                                                   golfers present would say:
John Stanford and Duncan Mort and                                                                                                                                                                 “I could have been better,”
their wives.                                                                                                                                                                                      however, we all enjoyed the
Congratulations to Pip and Peggy. Here’s                                                                                                                                                          day and the camaraderie.
hoping there are many more to come!                                                Pearl, John & Yvonne   Roy Ellis: winner of the Front 9          Paul Goddard: winner of the Back 9
                                                                                                                                                                                                  John Spray

10 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                                      Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019 11
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Feature | Barmy Army in Sri Lanka                                                                                                                                                                         Barmy Army in Sri Lanka | Feature

Barmy Army in Sri Lanka
                                                                                                                              Our allocated hotel was the Jelwing hotel,               We survived the daily coach trip which each day
                                                                                                                              Dambulla, which is excellent and in beautiful            was a white-knuckle ride!
                                                                                                                              surroundings. Unfortunately, this was a two-hour
                                                                                                                              drive from the ground. A five-day match – four           By the way, Kandy is in the highlands and an
TEST MATCH SPECIAL                                                                                                            hours in a coach each day.                               attractive region of Sri Lanka. Very cultural with the
                                                                                                                                                                                       famous Temple of the Tooth and others which on
I have been going on overseas cricket tours for                     The Test Match was a success for England and                                                                       this trip I did not do.
many years and have been fortunate to visit                         we won by 211 runs. The weather was dry and hot
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies,                  albeit there was horrendous rain in the evening and
India and Sri Lanka. When asked I say I am on the                   night before the 4th day. A late start we thought,
fringe of the Barmy Army, in the shade rather than                  but no, the ground staff were brilliant and the
in the sun! I always go with the same tour group                    match started on time. For cricket fans it was the
and now have many friends across the UK as I                        final test for Rangava Hevatch, the great Sri Lankan
have seen them on many tours.                                       spinner, who is quite a hero there. Jennings scored
                                                                    146 not out. On one evening we had Matt Prior for
My last one was a second visit to Sri Lanka to watch                our celebrity guest.
                                                                                                                               Our daily Police escort
the Three Test Matches which I prefer rather than
the one-day games. Exciting I know but I call it: “hit              We visited a spice garden in Mutale and were
                                                                                                                              The Minister of Sport arranged for a police escort
and run” cricket. As they say, a Test Match is to test              shown different spices, how they are grown and
                                                                                                                              which reduced the travel time to one hour 20              Buddhist Temple in Colombo
your skills in the game.                                            used in food and medicine. Then followed a river
                                                                                                                              minutes. They parted the traffic like Moses parting
                                                                    trip where we saw a Manitou lizard over 3m long,                                                                   We headed for the Cultural Triangle at Herbaria on
                                                                                                                              the Red Sea. Our coach driver was superb. How he
                                                                    blue monkeys and birds including a few Kingfishers.                                                                the way seeing the Dambulla Rock Temple dating
                                                                                                                              never hit anything was amazing! He drove fast and
                                                                    They are much bigger than in the UK. We also                                                                       back to the 1st century BC. The Buddhist monks
                                                                                                                              he got a big tip. The towns we went through were
                                                                    stopped on a small island where a family lived in                                                                  used five caves with over 2,000sq.m of painted
                                                                                                                              difficult but the police managed it and the people
                                                                    very basic conditions and showed us how cinnamon                                                                   walls and over 150 Buddha figures being 14m long.
                                                                                                                              looked at us thinking we were royalty!
                                                                    sticks were prepared by hand.
                                                                                                                              The Test Match commenced and England were
                                                                    We then drove to Nuwara Eliya, a six and a half hour
                                                                                                                              soon 89 for four wickets. Curran made 64 with
                                                                    journey, for a cultural visit. It is at 6,200ft and was
                                                                                                                              six 6’s and were all out for 290. The weather was
                                                                    a hill station for the British for the cool climate. It
                                                                                                                              usually OK but we did have heavy rain on day four.
                                                                    was built to recreate England with a golf club. The
                                                                                                                              England won by 57 runs.
                                                                    Hill Club still insists on jacket and tie after 7pm
 Old fishing boat at Negombo – now used for tourist sailing trips
                                                                    every day. There are many tea plantations around.         Our celebrity guest was Darren Gough who told the
I arrived in Negombo and stayed in a lovely                                                                                   ladies (yes they have many ladies on these tours)
                                                                    Some of us went to the remote Horton Plains
beachside Hotel overnight. We then travelled to                                                                               his mum told him to accept the invitation for Strictly
                                                                    National Park where there is a remarkable ‘Worlds
Ealle for the first Test                                                                                                      Come Dancing although he could not dance at all.
                                                                    End.’ This is a precipice nearly vertical which drops
Match. Ealle is a historic                                          4,300ft. There are no fences (health and safety
fortified city which was the                                        non-existent) but you are advised not to go near the
major port until the British                                        edge. Sadly, the day before our visit an Australian                                                                 A scene from the Dambulla Cave Temple
expanded Colombo during                                             girl was killed as she toppled over the edge.
the 19th century. The                                                                                                                                                                  From Habarana we visited the Sigiriya Rock Fortress
cricket ground is not                                               We now travel to Kandy for the 2nd test – or so we                                                                 built in the 5th century. The rock is 200m high
picturesque as it looks up                                          thought. We had heard rumours that the Sri Lankan                                                                  with a precarious walkway which is not for the faint
to the ramparts. Many                                               authorities had not booked a hotel for the teams                                                                   hearted. A fabulous view when on top.
                               John at the turtle sanctuary
supporters watch from up                                            and umpires – unbelievable but true! A political
there for free! It was the Dutch who constructed                    storm erupted and the Minister of Sport kicked out                                                                 Next we went on a jeep safari to the Minneriya
a classic-red roofed colonial city and ramparts in                  all the tourists in the Regency Hotel – a great hotel                                                              National Park which covers 34sq.m of forest and
circa 1640-60 after evicting the Portuguese. The                    near the ground. You will have now guessed that we                                                                 shrub with hundreds of elephants and birds. If
                                                                                                                               John and the tour bus
British arrived and evicted the Dutch in 1796.                      were in that hotel!                                                                                                lucky you may see sambur deer and leopards – we

12 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                                                       FellowshipNews
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                                                                                                                                                                                                             area|| Issue 23 | Summer 2019 13
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Feature | Barmy Army in Sri Lanka                                                                                                                                                                             Obituaries | Please note

                                                                                                                                   Deceased
did not! At the hotel we had monitor lizards and
monkeys in the grounds.

The next day we toured Anurandhapura which was
Sri Lanka’s first capital in the 4th century BC. It is

                                                                                                                                   members
a grand ancient site with enormous Dagobas (a
unique creation of ancient Sri Lanka) a vast palace
and Buddha statues. The sacred Bo-Tree is the                           3rd Test Match, Colombo

oldest in the world being over 2,300 years old.
                                                                       The 2nd day was once again very hot. England were
                                                                       all out for 336. Bairstow scored 110. Sri Lanka
                                                                       then had a collapse. Five wickets falling for 35
                                                                       runs. All out for 240. Rashid took five wickets for      John Walstow
                                                                       49 runs. Bad light stopped play with 30 overs to go.
                                                                       In the evening we had a buffet meal with our guest       John Walstow, also known as ‘Big John’ or
                                                                       Jonathan Agnew. He was a good speaker and we             Johnny Walstow’ sadly passed away on
                                                                       enjoyed his cricket stories. Also, he wished me a        19 March 2019.                                                         Jacqui Towler
                                                                       happy birthday and signed my card!
                                                                                                                                John was born on 23 February 1925 in Loughton. He                      It is with regret to announce
                                                                       The 3rd and 4th day we
                                                                                                                                joined W&C French at Buckhurst Hill in 1942, some four                 that Jacqui Towler, a popular
                                                                       saw England win the
                                                                       match and series 3-0. The
                                                                                                                                years later he was ‘called up’, but returned to the company            member of Alan Cope’s
 Peraliya Buddha Statue – Tsunami Memorial
                                                                       weather was still hot and                                in early 1948. He was known as an ‘outside fitter’ so                  team during our days at 188
                                                                       sunny, however, on the 3rd                               went to various contracts which at that time included a                High Road, passed away
We now head for Colombo
                                                                       day a time of very strong                                considerable number of airfields. During the subsequent                on 11 May 2019. Our
which was a four-hour drive
that saw good scenery,
                                                                       winds badly damaged our                                  years W&C French grew as a company. In the very early                  thoughts are with her
                                                                       stand but nobody was hurt.                               1960s he was asked if he could work on tower cranes so                 husband Derek at this sad
paddy fields, numerous
villages/towns etc. As in                                              We now had a spare day                                   under initial training with Babcocks and Wilcox he took                time. She was the sister of
India, children going to                                                                             Jonathan Agnew (Aggers)
                                                                       and toured Colombo in the wishes John a Happy Birthday   charge of the company’s growing number of tower cranes.                Barbara Plackett.
school are dressed                                                     coach – Sri Lanka’s largest                              His first ‘solo’ contract was Olten Street Poplar. After that
immaculately and put                  School children always in very   city and one of the biggest ports in the Indian          contracts included The Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow,             Ian Burnell
some of ours to shame.                smart uniforms
                                                                       Ocean. It is a teeming, modern business city with        the Woolworths Building in High Harlow, Burmah Oil Building            Sadly passed away on
                                                                       good hotels, restaurants, lovely beaches and fine        Swindon, New Hall College Cambridge, Halls of Residence
Arriving in the excellent Taj Samuda Hotel we had                                                                                                                                                      16 February 2019.
                                                                       colonial architecture.
a cocktail evening and the following day the 3rd                                                                                for Queen Marys College at Woodford, Unilever Building in
Test began.                                                            During the trip I met Geoff Lindsey-Smith and Indy       Burgess Hill.                                                          Keith Rann
                                                                       Muttucamara who were also watching the cricket.
England batted getting 312 for seven before                                                                                     Years passed, French’s had moved to their depot in Harlow              Sadly passed away on
bad light stopped play. In the evening we dined                        One item I forget to mention when I arrived              and John became a charge-hand in the workshops, but still              14 March aged 74.
at the Cricket Club café which was full of cricket                     in Negombo at the start – we got to eat at a             carrying out safety inspections on the company’s cranes on
memorabilia and run by an Australian lady.                             restaurant called ‘Lords’ which had various cricket      various contracts.                                                     Dennis Tarrant
                                                                       memorabilia. The menu was cricket themed.
                                                                                                                                After the company merger and the closure of the Harlow                 Sadly passed away on
                                                                       All in all, a very enjoyable holiday. Sri Lanka is                                                                              6 June 2019.
                                                                       definitely worth a visit. The people are friendly and
                                                                                                                                depot, John was made redundant. Following a short time
                                                                       their culture goes back to the 4th century BC. The       as a facilities fitter, John secured a position in the Pattern         Duncan Brand
                                                                       elephant is important and apparently 2,500 roam          Room at the Royal Small Arms at Enfield. This included
                                                                       in nature reserves and protected areas.                  their move to Nottingham, where he stayed until his                    Sadly passed away on
 Colombo Test Match                                                                                                             retirement in 1990.                                                    30 July 2019.
                                                                       John Spray

14 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019                                                                                                    FellowshipNews
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                                                                                                                                                                                                          area|| Issue 23 | Summer 2019 15
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
Events | Summer Lunch, Mulberry House and contacts

    Summer Lunch,
                                                                                                                        7
    Mulberry House                                                                                                August ‘19

On Wednesday 7 August, 49 of our
members and their guests assembled at
Mulberry House for a Summer Lunch. This
event was scheduled to replace the Windsor
Boat Trip and Horse racing events that had
to be cancelled. We will, incidentally, try to
re-arrange both of those next year as we
know that a number of you were looking
forward to them.
                                                              The ‘brains’ of the outfit with quiz-master John Abbott

There was a lot of catching up and
conversation before we settled down to
enjoy a delicious two-course lunch with
wine. The food is always an excellent
standard at Mulberry House.

After tea and coffee had been served our
quiz-master started the specially designed,
summer themed, quiz. We had three
rounds, TV and film, summer miscellany
and summer music. A lot of fun was had
by all of the participants and the worthy
winners are shown alongside and each
received their individual prizes: ‘do it
yourself gin’ and ‘tonic hampers.’

A good afternoon!
John Abbott

FELLOWSHIP COMMITTEE                                                                                          •    Derek Bryant
VERY IMPORTANT: Please remember to always notify us when you have a change of address.                        •    Alan Cope
                                                                                                              •    Chris Oats
John Abbott: 07768 467976: john@bythorne.co.uk                                                                •    John Spray
Geoff Brown, 07502 582950, 01353 648 110, geoffbrown42@sky.com                                                •    Theresa Walstow

16 Fellowship News | Loughton & Witham area | Issue 23 | Summer 2019
Kier Fellowship News The - The Kier ...
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