New Members
Jo Hook writes:
We welcome the following new members into the Guild:
- Stewart Kinloch from Kenya joins. His interests are WW1 in East Africa particularly Kenya
- Peter Edwards from West Yorkshire joins. His interests are 1914-1918 Berlin, Warsaw, Early Medieval, Medieval and Tudor
- Andrew Warren from Somerset joins. His interests are WW1
- Keith Bowen from Surrey joins. His interests are Normandy, The Somme, Arnhem, Bastogne, The Alsace, Dachau
Guild AGM Weekend
Secretary writes:
The Guild AGM weekend will be held at Highgate House
Northampton between the 29th and 31st January 2016. All members and associate
members are invited. An application form to book your accommodation
requirements is attached.
The Guild AGM will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 30th
and formal notification of this will follow.
The final details of the programme for the weekend are in
the process of being prepared and will be put up on the website in due course.
However one element will be a Naseby battlefield walk which will be held on the
afternoon of Friday 29th. It would be useful if members interested in
participating in this would indicate that on the application form at this stage.
Payment for the weekend can be made by cheque (made payable
to the Guild of Battlefield Guides) or bank transfer (if using this method
please let me know when you have paid and reference the payment so that I can
identify it). Payment must be made before 31st December 201
Places are filling up and to date the members attending are
as follows:
Graeme Cooper
Richard Barnes
Chris Finn
Anthony Rich
John Pratt
Carlo Larosa
Vivienne Whelpton
Paul Oldfield
Terry Webb
Ian Langworthy
Allan Wood
Gary Edwards
Mike Mizen
David Harvey
John Cotterill
Tony Smith
Mike Peters
Simon Worrall
Emma White
Mike Scott
Brian Shaw
Dudley Giles
Tim Stoneman
Tony Coutts Britton
Lord Faulkner
Wybo Boersma
Willem Kleijn
Duncan Barnes
Chris Preston
Andrew Thomson
Duncan Cook
Julian Whippy
Clive Harris
Kathleen Neagle
Ian Gumm
Glenn Hearnden
Bert Eikelenboom
Joel Stoppels
Julian Humphries
Dennis Weatherall
John Hamill
Rob Deere
Edwin Popkin
Jip Meijer
Paul Kersey
Validation at the Annual General Meeting
Tim Stoneman writes:
Guild members wishing to be validated for Assignments 1, 5
and/or 6 at the AGM should email me (valsec@gbg-international.com) by
29 December in order for the validation sessions to be arranged and fitted into
the weekend's programme.
Members wishing to submit written assignments prior to the
AGM are reminded that the Validation manual states: "Candidates must allow
at least a clear month between submission of assignments to the ValSec and the
Friday before the Guild AGM if they are anticipating the award of the Badge at
that AGM. There will be no assessment of written assignments at the
AGM." Thus the deadline for submission of written assignments by
those hoping to be awarded the Badge at the AGM is also 29 December.
Validation Day 28th November 2015
Chris Finn writes:
There will now be a Validation Day at Thundersley (near
Basildon) on Saturday 28 November starting at 1000. I already have four
Assignment 1 candidates so there is one further slot (1500 to 1600) for anyone
who wants to do Assignments 1, 5 or 6, plus a reserve or two. This is also an
excellent opportunity for anyone thinking of doing Assignment 1 at the AGM to
see some beforehand, which is highly recommended.
Please let me know, cval@gbg-international.com, if you
wish to attend and in what capacity.
Guild Christmas Lunch Friday December 4th UJC London
Mike Scott writes:
There is still time (and room) for those who have space in
their social calendar for December to attend the guild Christmas lunch.
We have 25 booked for the lunch and this number is likely to
rise as members (and friends of the guild) suddenly realise that they are both
free and that they can combine a splendid lunch with a Christmas shopping raid
on the capital.
Cost £35 – for the full Christmas fare PLUS port. Great
value, great company and an excellent way to end the season.
Please contact Mike Scott (mike.r.scott@btinternet.com) to
book a place. Last reservations will be taken on Friday 20 November ie next
week.
Payment is by cheque to Tony Smith payable to Guild of
Battlefield Guides Ltd or by Bank Transfer to the Guild Account:
Account name
Guild
of Battlefield Guides Ltd
Sort
code:
40 19 30
Account
number:
91657135
For reference please use your membership number with the
prefix LL.
“A Zulu Dawn-13 Days in January 1879”
Secretary writes:
I have received the following details of a seminar which may
be of interest to members:
A talk and presentation by Mr Dave Sutcliffe
Thursday 26th November 2015 6-9pm
The Senate Rooms, Trent Building, University of Nottingham
Campus NG7 2RD
The Museum of the Mercian Regiment (WFR) Collection is to
host a talk and presentation by Mr Dave Sutcliffe a registered tour guide for
the battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal and a founder member of the Provincial
Tourist Guides Association of KwaZulu-Natal, Battlefields Region. Dave has
recently returned from South Africa to live in the UK. He has spent the
last 15 years conducting tours of some of the many battlefields of
KwaZulu-Natal giving talks and presentations on them.
Dave’s talk will cover the fate of Number 3 Central Column
of the Natal Field force from its arrival on the 11th of January 1879 to its
doomed action at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 where a third of
its numbers were wiped out by a Zulu Army under the command of Chief
Ntshingwayo kaMahole.
As part of the talk the Museum will be exhibiting some of
the original watercolours painted during the Zulu War by Major John Crealock.
These watercolours are rarely on public display. John Crealock was a 95th
Derbyshire Regiment officer who was serving as the Military Secretary on the
Cape during the war. Also on display will be Zulu weapons brought home by
another famous 95th Derbyshire Regiment officer, Lieutenant (later Major
General ) Horace Smith –Dorrien, who was present at Isandlwana and
recommended for the Victoria Cross for his actions in trying to save
soldiers’ lives on the 22 January 1879.
The talk will be held on Thursday 26th November from 1800-
2100 hours in the Senate Rooms in the Trent Building of the University of
Nottingham. Tickets cost £10 each with the money raised going towards the
future preservation of Museum which is a registered charity.
Parking on the University campus is free after 1645 hours. Tea and Coffee will
be available from 1800 hours.
If you wish to attend this fascinating talk by a practicing
guide please forward your payment of £10.00 by cheque payable to Museum of The
Mercian Regiment (WFR Collection) to the Museum at Foresters House, Chetwynd
Barrcks, Chilwell, Notts NG9 5HA and you will be sent a confirmation of a place
with a map of the University Campus
News from the Holts
Tonie & Valmai Holt write:
Conference 2015 and a Naseby Tour Circa 1991
We were interested to see that this year’s Conference
includes a visit to the battlefield of Naseby. This took our minds back to the
early 1990s when we were running tours to the battlefields of the Civil War.
Kelvin van Hasselt had founded The Battlefields Trust in
1991 and we were involved together with Richard Holmes, David Chandler, Robert
Hardy and others. Its purpose was to promote the idea that ancient battlefields
should be considered as National Treasures. Richard later became President of
the Trust. Frank Baldwin is currently the energetic Chair.
Naseby Campaign
At that time there was a threat to the battlefield from the
planned construction of the A1-M1 link road and we joined Kelvin van Hasselt in
a Campaign that asked that the battlefield be protected.
Kelvin organised a fundraising tour to show us the battlefield
and if our memories serve us correctly our old friend Wybo Boersma was on it.
We organised a couple more. As a result of the efforts of many people
(including the Sealed Knot, with whom we were co-operating) it was decided that
evidence should be heard in Court and both of us were summoned to speak.
One of the stratagems that we employed was to deliver to the
then-Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher) at No 10, a slice of earth from the
battlefield with a cry for help with the Campaign. One of us wanted to add the
message ‘Now water the sod’ but the other one vetoed that.
Omar Khayyam
What may be news to many Members is that Edward Fitzgerald,
who did that wonderful translation of the Rubaiyat (the first translation - not
the later ones), lived on the battlefield and owned much of the land. The local
pub is named after him (Fitzgerald). If you are new to Omar Khayyam, look him
up. One of us has read him repeatedly since school days and keeps a copy at the
bedside - leading to endless quotations. So we hope that the tour
includes a visit to the Fitzgerald Arms and while the group is there that they
will recite in chorus the quatrain that starts –
The moving finger writes …
Tonie and Valmai
Best Regards
Tony Smith
Guild Secretary
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