On Thursday, 8th April, just over 60 units arrived at Holmemead School, Biggleswade for the Annual General Meeting Rally to be greeted by Leaders, Frances and Peter Forder and their team. Groups soon formed, sitting outside in the spring sunshine to chat and drink tea. The fine and sunny weather continued for the 4 days of the rally – very welcome after the hard winter we had endured. 

On the Friday, many ralliers departed by coach for a tour of the Chilterns.  The countryside looked lovely with daffodils in the hedgerows and lambs in the fields.  Our first stop was on Dunstable Downs. There were footpaths along the hilltop giving a good view over the Vale of Aylesbury and refreshments on offer at the National Trust Centre.  A short drive away, we embarked on a barge for a trip on the Grand Union Canal. We sailed at a leisurely pace admiring the passing scenery whilst the crew worked hard to steer us through the locks, and serve us a fish and chip lunch and drinks. Back o n the coach, we were driven through attractive hilly scenery and stopped for tea and biscuits at a pub situated in the picturesque village of Aldbury. It was a very enjoyable trip.

On the Saturday morning there were two events. Our Chairman, Doris Pritchard, hosted a coffee morning, to which everyone was welcome, and Christine Cobb ran a jam and cakes stall for charity. Christine would like to pass on her thanks to those who supported the stall as she will be able to send a cheque for £50 to the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

The Annual General Meeting was held in the afternoon and business was conducted smoothly. The minutes will be appearing in a future edition of the magazine.

 The Sunday religious service conducted by the Bedford Salvation Army was upliftingand their excellent brass band helped the singing along besides giving us the pleasure of listening to several solo pieces. Tribute was paid by our Chairman to the vital work carried out by the Salvation Army amongst the homeless, and the collection raised £158.76 which will go to this worthy cause. 

During the free time available between events, some people walked into the centre of Biggleswade to visit the Saturday market and have lunch in the hostelries; others explored the Chilterns by car.

The evening entertainment was of a high standard and varied. The first evening we were given a talk on “The Great Train Robbery” by John Woolley, a retired police officer. When the robbery took place in August 1963 he was the sole young constable at the village of Brill in Bedfordshire. When information came in from a farm worker of activity at the supposedly deserted Leatherslade Farm, he and his sergeant investigated and it became apparent that this was the place where the stolen £2.6 million pounds had been taken to be divided up amongst the gang members. Mr Woolley was involved in the subsequent police investigations and evidence from the farm led to the arrest and conviction of 14 of the 18 gang members. In spite of this, 87% of the stolen money was never recovered or accounted for. Mr Woolley’s talk was extensive, well presented and interesting.

On the next evening, there was a concert given by the Pasque Harmony Singers. This all-female choir of 22 was established in August 2003 by former members of the Luton Girls’ Choir which many of us remember hearing on the radio in our youth. They performed 20 songs; the singing was beautiful and of an exceptional ly high standard.  More music on the third evening, this time from the Blue Engineers Jazz Trio – a very talented set of men. The music, in the modern jazz style, was entertaining and many of the audience recognised pieces by jazz composers – a very enjoyable evening.

On the last evening, Frances Forder gave a slide presentation of her holiday in Canada covering Vancouver and the Rockies. The slides showed beautiful scenery and brought back happy memories to those of us who had visited this country and probably would encourage others to make the trip to Canada.

After the entertainment each evening, Frances and Peter, assisted by their team, served us all with tea/coffee, cakes and biscuits. This made a very pleasant end to the evening and enabled people to gather round tables and talk. Perhaps some future rallies will result from these discussions.

Praise must go, therefore, to Frances, Peter and their team of Mavis and Reg Chalk, Rosemary and Peter Chilton, and Sheila and Eric Johnson. The whole rally was organised in a thoroughly enjoyable and efficient way – they even organised some sunny and spring-like weather! Thank you all very much and well done.