The London Branch of the former C.F.V.A.
Archive
London Branch Newsletter. October 2009
Difficulties in London.
Travelling through London and the City to the Belfast meeting
Travelling through London and the City to the Belfast meeting
from the west can sometimes be a slow business due to traffic conditions.
lt was particularly bad on the Sunday moming when the September meeting took place. From the number of 'Road Closed' signs that we encountered some distance from London Bridge we assumed that there was a major incident in progress. But it was not so - a large cycle rally or meeting was taking place within the cordoned off area, which must have been quite large since every attempt to find a route through, met with more 'Road Closed' signs. Made worse was the fact that no alternative routes were indicated.
l had given Nick Carter a lift that morning. Nick noted that there were also a large number of 'Buses on Diversion' signs dotted about and he came up with the idea of following one of these
Now Nick is older than me and very knowledgeable and I was on the point of agreeing to this course of action when it occurred to both of us that if we didn't know where the buses were going there was no point in following them. There was a sat. nav. in the boot but we knew from bitter experience that the main thing sat. navs. do in London is to send you the wrong way down one way streets to the annoyance of oncoming traffic, because they do not recognise them to be one way. And we didn't want that sort of trouble in addition to being lost.
We decided that basic navigational skills (which we both have in abundance) should prevail. We turned round, found out which side of the car the sun shone on and carried on to the next bridge, crossed to the south side of the river and turned left so that the sun was shining on the other side of the car and we knew then that, in theory, if we kept going we would encounter London Bridge Station. And this we did. Ahead of us we saw the tunnel that runs under the lines leading to the station. Taking this we emerged into Tooley Street and thence on to the car park for HMS. Belfast just in time for one of Vera's sausage rolls and a cup of Angie's coffee before it was time to start the meeting.
Following the preliminaries, the Chairman said that he was sorry to announce that Dennis Reeve had been taken into hospital suffering an aneurism affecting an artery of the leg. Because of the seriousness of the condition an immediate operation had had to be undertaken and further information was awaited. Since then, and at the time of writing, we have leamt from Sybil that Dennis is now home but confined to bed until the initial healing process following the operation has taken place. This is good news and we all wish Dennis a speedy recovery.
Our other member with problems, Bill MacAngus, has had his situation take a tum for the better in as much as he now has a functioning stair lift which is of much benefit, not only to Bill but also Pat, his wife, who has mobility problems of her own. Bill said that he has been in contact with SSAFA. who may be able to help further. So all is not quite as bad as it was a short time ago.
Good news also for successful Branch members who have applied for grants under the Heroes Return 2 scheme. Appropriate sums of cash in the form of grants are available for eligible Veterans to return to places where they served during WW2, either in the UK. or places abroad - even if they have already participated in Heroes Return l. You could put in an application. Understandably, those applying must be prepared to complete an application form, but the one that is sent is user friendly and avoids the long and tedious list of questions so often encountered in official Government hand outs.
In fact, it is not an official Government form - the awards are funded by The National Lottery money so that anyone who has qualms about depleting the National finances by applying, would be worrying unnecessarily!
So if all is well when the time comes, Doug Elliott, his wife and carer will be going to Singapore in November, Ken Gadsdon and his wife will be going to the Adriatic. Peter Bickmore and his wife will be Adriatic bound next year for a visit to Vis. As for myself, I and an old oppo. will be heading for Malta in the spring. We all have grants approved (but are acutely aware, of course, that the foregoing is subject to the permission and blessing of Father Time).
Why not try for yourself? Phone 0191 376 1776 to start the ball rolling.
And the way we were ...........
This half forgotten photo surfaced recently when additional loft insulation was due to be laid and a deadline for complete loft clearance was the order of the day.
It was taken in 1944 when the 66th. MTB. flotilla of 'D's was based in HMS. Attack at Portland. It has spent the intervening sixty five years in drawers and odd boxes, survived several house moves, its edges are curled, it is torn in places, but it never fails to tug at the memory.
lt was particularly bad on the Sunday moming when the September meeting took place. From the number of 'Road Closed' signs that we encountered some distance from London Bridge we assumed that there was a major incident in progress. But it was not so - a large cycle rally or meeting was taking place within the cordoned off area, which must have been quite large since every attempt to find a route through, met with more 'Road Closed' signs. Made worse was the fact that no alternative routes were indicated.
l had given Nick Carter a lift that morning. Nick noted that there were also a large number of 'Buses on Diversion' signs dotted about and he came up with the idea of following one of these
Now Nick is older than me and very knowledgeable and I was on the point of agreeing to this course of action when it occurred to both of us that if we didn't know where the buses were going there was no point in following them. There was a sat. nav. in the boot but we knew from bitter experience that the main thing sat. navs. do in London is to send you the wrong way down one way streets to the annoyance of oncoming traffic, because they do not recognise them to be one way. And we didn't want that sort of trouble in addition to being lost.
We decided that basic navigational skills (which we both have in abundance) should prevail. We turned round, found out which side of the car the sun shone on and carried on to the next bridge, crossed to the south side of the river and turned left so that the sun was shining on the other side of the car and we knew then that, in theory, if we kept going we would encounter London Bridge Station. And this we did. Ahead of us we saw the tunnel that runs under the lines leading to the station. Taking this we emerged into Tooley Street and thence on to the car park for HMS. Belfast just in time for one of Vera's sausage rolls and a cup of Angie's coffee before it was time to start the meeting.
Following the preliminaries, the Chairman said that he was sorry to announce that Dennis Reeve had been taken into hospital suffering an aneurism affecting an artery of the leg. Because of the seriousness of the condition an immediate operation had had to be undertaken and further information was awaited. Since then, and at the time of writing, we have leamt from Sybil that Dennis is now home but confined to bed until the initial healing process following the operation has taken place. This is good news and we all wish Dennis a speedy recovery.
Our other member with problems, Bill MacAngus, has had his situation take a tum for the better in as much as he now has a functioning stair lift which is of much benefit, not only to Bill but also Pat, his wife, who has mobility problems of her own. Bill said that he has been in contact with SSAFA. who may be able to help further. So all is not quite as bad as it was a short time ago.
Good news also for successful Branch members who have applied for grants under the Heroes Return 2 scheme. Appropriate sums of cash in the form of grants are available for eligible Veterans to return to places where they served during WW2, either in the UK. or places abroad - even if they have already participated in Heroes Return l. You could put in an application. Understandably, those applying must be prepared to complete an application form, but the one that is sent is user friendly and avoids the long and tedious list of questions so often encountered in official Government hand outs.
In fact, it is not an official Government form - the awards are funded by The National Lottery money so that anyone who has qualms about depleting the National finances by applying, would be worrying unnecessarily!
So if all is well when the time comes, Doug Elliott, his wife and carer will be going to Singapore in November, Ken Gadsdon and his wife will be going to the Adriatic. Peter Bickmore and his wife will be Adriatic bound next year for a visit to Vis. As for myself, I and an old oppo. will be heading for Malta in the spring. We all have grants approved (but are acutely aware, of course, that the foregoing is subject to the permission and blessing of Father Time).
Why not try for yourself? Phone 0191 376 1776 to start the ball rolling.
And the way we were ...........
This half forgotten photo surfaced recently when additional loft insulation was due to be laid and a deadline for complete loft clearance was the order of the day.
It was taken in 1944 when the 66th. MTB. flotilla of 'D's was based in HMS. Attack at Portland. It has spent the intervening sixty five years in drawers and odd boxes, survived several house moves, its edges are curled, it is torn in places, but it never fails to tug at the memory.
