Post by aghart on Aug 20, 2012 19:59:35 GMT
The Bournemouth, Poole & District branch, Royal Tank Regiment Association visited the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas in Staffordshire on Sunday 19th August 2012. We travelled up by coach on Saturday and stayed in hotel accommodation overnight at Burton on Trent. Due to a couple of people dropping out at the last moment, Paul Robinson & Marty Lawson joined us from Yorkshire, having been offered the double room that was on offer.
Concerned that it was a double room, I suggested to them that they try to swap it for a twin room when they arrived. They arrived before us and followed my suggestion and exchanged rooms. However, I didn’t mean that they take mine and Dave Roberts twin room and leave us with the double bed!!
Saturday night in the hotel restaurant saw the staff put lots of tables together so we could sit as a large group. A great time was had by all; in fact the time passed so quickly that the plan to visit down town Burton on Trent went by the wayside. The bar had 3 different real ales, it was a very warm night and the beer garden was a good substitute.
On Sunday, following breakfast we set off for the Arboretum, We met Jeff & Sue Lyman at the RTR plot where lots of photos were taken before we dispersed to wander around the site our own pace. We did have tickets for the land train tour, which was a godsend for the older, less able branch members. The train had a running commentary and had us laughing when we passed the Royal Army Dental Corps plot as the commentary started with the sound of a dentist’s drill. Not every plot could be commented on, so there was loud cheering as we passed the RTR plot and a quite detailed explanation of the RTR was given.
I had acquired a wheel chair for Maurice Bourne MM, our 92 year old El Alamein veteran, and we two sought out and found the Mediterranean garden. This garden commemorates not only the North African campaign, but Greece, Crete, Sicily and Italy as well as post war conflicts like Cyprus and Palestine. We then headed past the Basra wall, and a number of infantry plots including the Light Infantry, Para’s and The Royal Hampshire Regiment. We also saw the QDG, the 10th Hussar and 11th Hussar memorials before Maurice insisted that we visit the beer tent. The other elderly members were also superbly looked after by both the younger members and especially by their wives. Dave Larcombe took numerous photo's which should be online soon.
To be honest, you would need about a 5 days to be able to see everything at Alrewas so you have to decide what you most want to see and concentrate on that.
All too soon it was time to board the coach and head back to Dorset. Without doubt this is the best thing our branch has done in many years. Despite trying not to, at branch meetings you tend to get the older members sticking together while the younger ones also form little groups. This weekend that was totally blown away, there was more bonding within our group in 48 hours than in 5 years’ worth of branch meetings, and remember this is a branch where the members get on with each other and has no in branch friction whatsoever.
Thanks must go to the “Not Forgotten Association” whose kind donation allowed this trip to take place.
We stayed at the Premier Inn Central (there are 2 PI’s covering Burton) Burton on Trent, which is a new and very clean and shiny hotel. The Beefeater restaurant next door was first class and the “meal deal” which gave you a 3 course evening meal and an all you can breakfast was amazing and fantastic value for money.
If you fancy a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum but don’t live very close to it, trust me, when I say you can’t do it justice on a one day round trip, I fully recommend the Premier Inn Central at Burton on Trent (10 minutes by car from Alrewas) as the perfect base for a group or family base.
Concerned that it was a double room, I suggested to them that they try to swap it for a twin room when they arrived. They arrived before us and followed my suggestion and exchanged rooms. However, I didn’t mean that they take mine and Dave Roberts twin room and leave us with the double bed!!
Saturday night in the hotel restaurant saw the staff put lots of tables together so we could sit as a large group. A great time was had by all; in fact the time passed so quickly that the plan to visit down town Burton on Trent went by the wayside. The bar had 3 different real ales, it was a very warm night and the beer garden was a good substitute.
On Sunday, following breakfast we set off for the Arboretum, We met Jeff & Sue Lyman at the RTR plot where lots of photos were taken before we dispersed to wander around the site our own pace. We did have tickets for the land train tour, which was a godsend for the older, less able branch members. The train had a running commentary and had us laughing when we passed the Royal Army Dental Corps plot as the commentary started with the sound of a dentist’s drill. Not every plot could be commented on, so there was loud cheering as we passed the RTR plot and a quite detailed explanation of the RTR was given.
I had acquired a wheel chair for Maurice Bourne MM, our 92 year old El Alamein veteran, and we two sought out and found the Mediterranean garden. This garden commemorates not only the North African campaign, but Greece, Crete, Sicily and Italy as well as post war conflicts like Cyprus and Palestine. We then headed past the Basra wall, and a number of infantry plots including the Light Infantry, Para’s and The Royal Hampshire Regiment. We also saw the QDG, the 10th Hussar and 11th Hussar memorials before Maurice insisted that we visit the beer tent. The other elderly members were also superbly looked after by both the younger members and especially by their wives. Dave Larcombe took numerous photo's which should be online soon.
To be honest, you would need about a 5 days to be able to see everything at Alrewas so you have to decide what you most want to see and concentrate on that.
All too soon it was time to board the coach and head back to Dorset. Without doubt this is the best thing our branch has done in many years. Despite trying not to, at branch meetings you tend to get the older members sticking together while the younger ones also form little groups. This weekend that was totally blown away, there was more bonding within our group in 48 hours than in 5 years’ worth of branch meetings, and remember this is a branch where the members get on with each other and has no in branch friction whatsoever.
Thanks must go to the “Not Forgotten Association” whose kind donation allowed this trip to take place.
We stayed at the Premier Inn Central (there are 2 PI’s covering Burton) Burton on Trent, which is a new and very clean and shiny hotel. The Beefeater restaurant next door was first class and the “meal deal” which gave you a 3 course evening meal and an all you can breakfast was amazing and fantastic value for money.
If you fancy a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum but don’t live very close to it, trust me, when I say you can’t do it justice on a one day round trip, I fully recommend the Premier Inn Central at Burton on Trent (10 minutes by car from Alrewas) as the perfect base for a group or family base.