Friday 16th April – New High Sheriff

Hugh Trevor-Jones was made the new High Sheriff in Shropshire and I now stand down to go back to my normal  much quieter life. 

Before the ceremony

 We held the very traditional and historical installation ceremony at the Guildhall in Much Wenlock.

Handing over the badge of office.

I have had the most wonderful year with many notable occasions.   I look back over the years activities and think of so many things I have enjoyed but each time somewhere near the top for enjoyment was taking the salute at an Army Cadet evening at Donnington.   Not only does it make you feel like royalty but also extremely proud to see so many of our counties young striving away to better themselves and become achievers.

The new team and ex sheriff.

Thurs 15th April – Thank you dinner

Over the last year so many people have helped and advised me, hopefully preventing too many disastrous mistakes.   As a small gesture of gratitude I asked twenty of them to dine here.  

calm before the storm

  Sandra Slater fed us like fighting cocks and so I didn’t even have to worry about the catering – my favourite sort of party!   Luckily our garden is still full of daffodils and so table decorations were easy.

14th April – Age Concern Day Centre

Porchfield Age Concern   

  I was really pleased to be able to fit in a visit to this Day Centre before I hand over on Friday.   As I parked outside I could hear the loud chatter that was emanating from inside,  an indication that the members are having fun and catching up on the news!   As always these day centres do not run themselves and I was introduced to the fantastic, loyal and enthusiastic group of volunteer helpers.

Its not the first time that I have taken the hint and left when lunch arrived, suddenly priorities change when the smell of hot food wafts by!

12th April – Police Awards

West Mercia Police Awards at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.   I would like to think I could be as brave, if necessary, as some of the award winners, but I hope to be never  put to the test.    Those that had been commended  seem to have had no hesitation in putting themselves at risk in dangerous situations in order to save someone else.   Sorting out a drunken brawl when knives are involved would not be everyone’s idea of a safe career.  

 It is a great privilege to be able to hear about the achievements of these award recipients.

11th April – Army Cadet Force

 Curry Lunch at the Officers’ Mess, Copthorne Barracks.   I feel a bit of a fraud because I just managed to get invited last year to this fund raising lunch for The Army Cadet Force League , when I had recently been made High Sheriff and have managed to secure a second invitation before the next High Sheriff could take office.

Martin Rutledge who is General Office Commanding the 5th Division gave a talk about current high profile defence issues facing his Division which was very interesting and went a long way to helping us understand some of the dramatic funding issues they face.

1st April – Muller

Visit to Muller Dairy, Market Drayton.

A Visit to Muller Dairy is not an opportunity to  miss.   We had a fascinating tour given to us by Trevor Benyon who is Head of Engineering and followed the trail of milk to yoghurt.   Muller has expanded to bursting point and every square inch is occupied with high tech machinery that uses 600,000 litres of milk every day and produces a variety of yoghurts, rice and drinks.   I had imagined there would be endless lines of bored employees performing dull jobs, but in reality machinery does the lot and highly skilled employees programme and care for the hugely expensive equipment.

The new Chief Executive , Gharry Eccles gave us coffee and took time to explain the commitment Muller is making to the environment and community.  
We much enjoyed ourselves and many mysteries of what goes on at Muller were solved.

31st March – Fire and Rescue

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service Awards.

Awards for long service and Good conduct were given to four, these represent twenty years  of dedicated service and are not an automatic award, they are only presented following recommendation from the Chief Fire Officer.   It is an imp9rtant occasion for both recipients and the Fire Service.

Charlie Cartwright

I took great delight in giving The High Sheriff’s Good Citizens Award to Charlie Cartwright who works as Community Fire Safety Officer and has a reputation for being a willing helper and a huge asset to the service in the many different voluntary roles he undertakes.

29th March – TCAT Telford

High Sheriff Young Citizenship Awards Ceremony at Telford College.

I have definately gone de-mob happy as I forgot to take any photographs of this ceremony that is the highlight of an High Sheriff’s year.   To listen to over 50 citations about remarkable young people and what they are doing in the community is absolutely humbling beyond belief.  

 The winners, Jade and Kyra Jones are true heroes, they have  had a very unwell mother and so administered  medication when she was unable to, cleaned and dressed  father’s wounds after he suffered a collapsed lung, made meals, did housework and still carried on with their school work as well as raising funds for Macmillan Cancer.

The runner up was a young lad of 5yrs called Cameron, he has collected over 50 toys for children at Hope House and the childrens’ wards at the local hospitals when he heard about children who didn’t get to spend Christmas at home because of illness.

I hope all those present enjoyed the evening as much as I did, there were certainly a lot of proud parents listening to their children’s achievements.

23rd March – Horticultural Society

Reception at Albrighton Hall Hotel to mark Howard Franklin’s appointment as president of Shropshire Horticultural Society.   A great party with a wide selection of  Shropshire supporters.   Now all those that aren’t members of the society must sign on the dotted line,  no such thing as a free meal!

23rd March – Awards

Skillsmart Awards, Whitchurch Retailers. 

I was  pleased to hear that Whitchurch Retailers had done so well in this UK – wide survey.  A team of mystery shoppers and town assessors ranked Whitchurch seventh out of almost eighty towns, and so a prize giving evening took place at The Dodington Lodge.   Sadly my plane landed late at Liverpool Airport and so I arrived just after the awards had been made but JT proved that the High Sheriff  is dispensable and stepped into my shoes, probably gave a much better speech than I ever could!