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Reunions
2012
All Arms Junior Leaders' Regiment / Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
Joint Luncheon
Civil Service Club, Great Scotland Yard, London
Thursday 22nd. November 2012.
 
Our second Joint luncheon was attended by John Burns, Fred Philpott, Geoff Graves, Rene Dee, Graham Bonewell, John Sabini (who organises this splendid occasion) and me from AAJLR, with Bob Smith, Les Clarke and of course Mr Sabini again – as he has a ‘foot in both camps’ of the ICCY. We were also pleased to have guests, Peter Brown, Neil ‘Dutch’ Holland – Graham’s son-in-law – (until last year WOII RCT), Brian Cook (MOD and Royal Ordnance Factory Retired), Laurence Ward (formerly Merchant Navy) and Paul Howard (MOD).
Obviously not wishing to wait until our agreed lunchtime hour at the Civil Service Club and showing ex-Junior Leaders’ initiative, Messrs Burns, Sabini and self met in “The Sherlock Holmes”, Northumberland Street – which is just behind Charing Cross Station. This is a very decent – and highly recommended - Greene King pub, and also a museum to the ‘great detective’. Many of the artefacts gathered over the two floors – but mainly in the first floor dining room – were collected for the Festival of Britain in 1951, after which they were part of a touring Festival which went around the Commonwealth and Empire. In 1957 the brewers Whitbread & Company bought the Sherlock Holmes collection and housed in this pub which they re-named from ‘The Northumberland Arms’ to suit their acquisitions. Since then many more Sherlockian items including stills from television and films, and letters from Conan Doyle’s family archives have been added. The most impressive display is of Holmes and Watson’s study from 221b Baker Street, which is life size and encased behind Perspex windows off the first floor landing and dining room.
From there we ambled across into Great Scotland Yard and the Civil Service Club, where others of our party were assembled in the bar and unsurprisingly availing themselves of the various amber nectars on offer. When all – except Mike Owsley (unable to make it due to dental ill health) – were gathered we went to an upper floor dining room for our first class three course luncheon. This was accompanied by bottles of wine, a jug of fine ale and decanter of port which, when passed to the left, was raised in toasts to our Sovereign Lady the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year, the AAJLR and last but not least the ICCY. It was also agreed by those present that the St Fagg’s Day Luncheon should be held in April 2013, at the same venue, but on a Saturday to be decided, in order that the ladies can also attend.
Following lunch we continued with the ale-quaffing tradition and repaired to the bar where more was imbibed and where we were pleased to be joined by another Tonfanau/Intelligence Corps ‘graduate’ Mr Gavin Greenwood who is having a brief United Kingdom break from his home in Hong Kong.
This was a most enjoyable day, made possible by the organisational skills of young Sabini, which will be repeated annually and which I commend to anyone who would wish to attend.
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If you have any reunion photos I would love to show them.

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