2006 Reunion Weekend - 6 , 7 and 8 October 2006

The formal Reunion dinner was held on the Saturday evening at the hotel in a dedicated function room. First timers Paul and Veronica Sweetman were welcomed, as were Shug Dalgleish and Roger Gulliver who had been prevented from attending in 2005 due to illness. Unfortunately, Mick Mepham couldn't make it (he was recovering from a knee operation) and nor could Niall Thomas attend (he had a recent hernia operation).

The entertainment for the evening included a magician. The magician was extremely good—at one point Maureen Hughes suddenly found she had two balls in her hand (I’ll leave you to figure out the innuendo and the amusement that that caused). The magician was also adept at the usual card and rope tricks and, even at such close proximity to his audience, it was impossible to see how he did those tricks.

After the dinner, we played a form of “shuv ha’penny” on the dance floor, except that it was played with pound coins and a large bottle of whiskey. Bill Butlin got his pound coin nearest to the bottle and so won the bottle of whiskey and the pound coins off all the losers. Bill generously donated his cash winnings (£45) to the Northwest Air Ambulance Service. He kept the whiskey (he’s no fool). There was also a raffle which raised £88 that was donated to the 89th Entry Association Fund.

Later in the evening we did a little dancing. As usual, most of the men preferred to stand at the bar but, to encourage the boys, the girls reminded them of their youth when they would go along to the local dance hall and try to pluck up enough courage to ask one of the group of girls dancing around their handbags for a dance.

Our thanks go to Peter Bolton, ably assisted by John Boyack, for organising an excellent Reunion (pictured below).