HMS LLANDAFF 17TH REUNION
( Wash Up )
( Dedicated to the memory of Cdr Chris Welland R.N. a great supporter of
our great association who crossed the bar this year )
Advance party ( Slinger & bride, Tommo & Trish, and Bomber Bailey & Sue )
arrived on the Thursday to get the Ship tickertee boo for the arrival of
the ships company on the Friday.
Friday the ships company started to arrive at our new birth The Hadleigh
Hotel which was a totally different lay out that we were used too however
this didn’t become a problem .The bathrooms had all had a refit and the
cabins were very clean . next year the Hotel has just purchased a sister
ship across the road to which myself and the bride have had a guided tour
and will serve ours requirements even better so watch this space !!!!
Nice to have onboard some new comers and sorry to lose some of the first
commission due to an age situation however it didn’t stop the fun of a
reunion .
Friday afternoon their was plenty of lamp swinging followed by a splendid
evening dinner. after dinner we mustered in the ballroom area where our
Emutainments occifer Tommo with Trish at his side entertained us all with
The Llandaff has NO Talent competition !!! Well what can I say I will
always remember the song Saturday night at the movies in a different light
after Del Boy Owen murdered it !!! .
We had great performances from Charlie Williams & Chris Howley and ended
up with a duet play off between Hamish Sterling & Charlie Williams .
It was a close run thing with the judges Susanna Carey opting for Charlie
and Jackie Chisholm opting for Hamish leaving the casting vote to myself
and after a lot of thought 1 second I decided on Hamish by a whisker . The
booby prize was awarded to Yorky Hardcastle & Frankie Vaughan as none of
us understood a word of the song that they sang !!! Well done all that
entered the competition. After we were entertained by several acts the
most standing out were the Ladies , Susanna , Jackie , & Kay for their
Sailor song and Kay for her solo act which involved her Cat ????
Saturday started with a hearty breakfast for everyone except for Shipmate
Dick Joy ( The Lady D.J on the Friday night still coming to terms with the
name ) say no more !!!! Anyway Dick felt sorry for George the night
watchman and decided he hadn’t had enough so worked the first half of the
morning watch as well !!!
Most people chilled out with a few attending the Fish club at lunchtime
putting the finishing touches to the up and coming sods opera .
At 1830 up spirits and Hands to Dinner was piped by Dick Joy and 2 new rum
bosuns Yorky Hardcastle & Frankie Vaughan issued out Nelsons Blood & Wine
for the Ladies ( Think Yorky drank most of it )
The Gala Dinner followed .
The wine this year was once again supplied by our very own Alan Budgie
Imms to which we thank him for his generosity. Budgie is still sailing the
seven seas after all these years on his very large Fanny boat , we hope
that one year he will manage to join us at a reunion .
At the end of the dinner it was decided by a clear Majority that we should
return to Eastbourne next year so put the 12th of October on your calendar
, we know that travelling can be a major issue but when you have lads and
lasses still travelling from across the waters from France, Spain and
Northern Ireland with a few Jocks thrown in for good measure and not
forgetting a couple well into their 80s who travelled all the way down
from Stockport by Train ( Thank you to the British transport system who
gave assistance for the whole journey ) is it really a problem ???
Reunions are about the people who attend not the place you are visiting .
The Venue is also important and Eastbourne has never let us down .
After Dinner we were back up to the Ballroom to be entertained by a local
Duo who approached me before they started to inform me that they had both
been under the weather and were not quite 100% ?? I told them not to worry
as if they had heard some of the singing on the Friday Llandaffs got no
talent night it couldn’t be any worse !!!!
Fair play to the entertainers they performed well with a great mixture of
music . The evening had its usual break for the Llandaff raffle which was
much needed due to a bit of overspending of the funds . Great prizes
donated by everyone and our very own Chiz knocked up around about 19
plaques at £10 each and donated all moneys into the Llandaff funds !!! BZ
that man . An auction was presented to us by our Emutainments occifer
Tommo he had 2 knitted items from Susanna Carey ( Santa and friend Snowman
) and a personised Llandaff Uckers board donated by Bomber Bailey our
webmaster , Yours truly paid £40 for Santa and Stan Holloway bought the
Snowman for £30 he then went on to out bid Chiz for the Uckers board at
£90 but once he realised how bad Chiz wanted the board we did a deal a
Chiz plaque went to Stan for the uckers board in return so everyone was
happy Chiz started crying ( Nothing new there ) and the association made a
load of money . On the night it was in the region of £500 well done
everyone .
The whole evening was a great success and we all had fun which is what its
all about .
Sunday Started again with a welcome breakfast to soak up the juice no
defaulters Table as we were not sure if Dick Joy would make Breakfast !!!,
my advise Dick next year make sure your minders are in place to look after
you .
At 1145 we went for our usual run ashore to the Fish club for our Annual
Sods Opera , Well what can be said it must go down as the Best so far ,
well organised as usual by Tommo & Assistant Trish and some great acts by
the usual plus a new act by the communicators and Hamish but without Doubt
the Elvis act by Chris Howley blew everyone away !!! if you can get You
tube up on your TV or PC it’s a must to watch , well done our master
camera man Bomber Bailey some first class work which also included the
photos that have since hit the web page
www.hmsllandaff.co.uk
A fine buffet was provided by the Fish club although we do pay for it out
of the funds but I must say I’ve never had so many regulars approach me
after to tell us what a great afternoon it was and so we have yet again
been invited back next year . A few of the crew pick up cash from the cash
raffle and Sue Bailey hit the top prize of £100 so what does she do ?? yep
she parted with some of her winnings as a donation towards our costs , BZ
Sue .
We made our way back to the Hadleigh for an evening Meal and a chill out
period , most decided to hit the sack early due to travelling the next
morning .
Monday morning was time for goodbyes so I tackled Chunky Durrant who is
having a few walking problems and suggested that I arranged a Cab for his
journey next year , he replied Sod off send me a Hurst !!!! .Just before,
one of his shoe laces had become undone so Kay Owen bent down and offered
assistance and after he replied with a cheeky grin that’s sticky it needs
a wet wipe now !!! ( Llandaff humour )
All the goodbyes done for yet another year I would just like to thank
everyone for all their help in putting this reunion together , even though
we were down on numbers it was still one of our finest gatherings so
remember without you guys it doesn’t happen !! How many more years have we
got left in our association ?? Who knows we aren’t getting any younger.
booking forms for next year will hit the doormats in February
Slinger & Bride