Once again the year has passed by very quickly. Our branch continues to meet at Heald Green Village Hall, Outwood Road, Heald Green, Cheadle, Cheshire. SK8 3JL on the second Saturday of each month starting at 1.30. All are welcome, why not give us a try?
We began the year with another interesting show of eleven Gold DSO’s from his own collection by Martyn Lovell, explaining that whilst they were all Gold, only two were solid Gold and that the remaining nine were actually silver Gilt. All were attached to the medical services in some way or other. He gave a brief account of the life and career of each person which was well received. It was good to see the differences and much conversation was had about the differences from each era. Stuart Hall of the Stockport Militaria Club gave a very different talk concentrating on WW1 trench raids and the equipment used by those taking part. His wife was an active participant, especially during the demonstration of a bayonet charge Our newest member Gary Coker, spoke about the Order of St John which was well followed up by other members bringing examples of each of the medals to show. Paul Mitchell gave an interesting talk on the Cheshire Volunteers to 1908 with a promise to update from 1908 onwards, another time. A branch members own display of civilian medals produced a few interesting items. James Carver (from Noonan’s) gave an interesting talk on the Royal Niger Company with some rare and unusual items from his own collection. Barry Sutton presented his annual miscellany of medical badges and awards, while a general medallic discussion took place during which Adam Greenslade arranged a virtual meeting for August. Peter Williams gave an interesting talk about Trafalgar and showed a medal from his own collection. The AGM and our annual quiz organised by last year’s winner Mark Relf. Congratulations to Peter Williams for winning – we look forward to his quiz in 2025. Once again we learn how little we all actually know about our hobby! There seems to be a theme here with Mark and Peter annually setting and winning the quiz (are the branch members trying to tell you something?). During the AGM, Martyn Lovell passed on the baton of chairmanship of the Northern Branch to Adam Greenslade, Martyn had held the position for 13 years, he was thanked by the branch for all his hard work and effort on their behalf. The final physical talk of the year was undertaken by Robin Clay on raised dates on a QSA from his own collection, which he brought along – something not many of us have had a chance to closely examine. December’s meeting was a virtual one with a bit of Christmas Cheer.
The sad duty of disposing and re arranging for the ownership of the Ian McInnes archive was carried out over several months, possibly the highlight being the presentation to the museum of the Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London. They gave a souvenir, Yeoman Teddy, of the visit to be handed over to Ian’s widow Alma, this was done. Ian’s 50 year gold medal was also presented to Alma at the same time, pinned to the teddy!
We will once again be holding our “Convention In A Day” on April 5th– see notices in both the Journal and Medal News for more information. We’d like to thank our sponsors Noonan’s and Spink for the help