50th Anniversary Dinner Weekend 2009 - Cardiff, 6th-8th February

Photos taken by Rhyan Probert available by clicking here.

The excitement in the weeks running up to this years 50th anniversary dinner was quite amazing, even the boys were rumoured to have had a discussion about what to wear!
Everybody (by which I mean most of the current people, not all 180 attendees) congregated in the Cefyn Mably arms on Friday night. By the time I arrived it was packed and there was standing/kneeling room only! (This was especially good as the weather was so awful that many people had had problems getting to Wales). The mascots got friendly in a corner; it was the first tour Rhys had been on in a few years and he and Idris certainly enjoyed catching up… After many beers had been drunk, people dispersed to various locations, with about 20 people going back to the hall. Space was more limited than it has been on recent tours, leading to Malcolm suggesting that in the future double air beds should be banned!

I realised why Rhys is usually left in the safety of St Johns when Andy kidnapped him on Saturday morning and put him in a place inaccessible to me ( I was too short to reach!). Looking back this should have been a warning to me to keep a closer eye on him!

Breakfast was cooked for the last time by Becky and Sue who provided muffins and pancakes. This was thoroughly enjoyed by everybody but Ross who asked whether they had any muffins which tasted like fried bacon!
The plan for the day was three peals to be rung and three towers for general ringing. The peals were all successful. The general ringing was at St Mellons, Marshfield and Bassaleg. Methods rung varied from Rounds and call changes to Bristol. Lunch was eaten at several pubs in the area and then everybody met back at the hall for the AGM. Highlights included the nomination of both ‘Percy’ and ‘Stephen Penney’ for webmaster. Paul was elected to be Master and Pete Deputy Master. The only contested position was Social Secretary and this went to Sarah T, after Becky had told everybody why she should do it, which included the phrase ‘I don’t really know what to say’; this was clearly highly persuasive. Percy was re-elected to be General Secretary and Webmaster and the coveted positions of Catering Officers went to Bob, Pete and myself. James and Charlotte Mundy agreed to be Mascot Keepers again, although James had been rather bored by the meeting and spent most of it folding up paper into aeroplanes and throwing them at Ross.

After the AGM some people went to their hotels, others to their houses and ten of the most hardcore members of the society got ready for the dinner in the hall. I had unfortunately failed to notice Andy walk off with Rhys and I did not see him again for several hours…

The dinner itself was held at St Mellons Hotel. There was an amazing atmosphere in the hotel when we got there; 180 people make quite a noise! Everybody enjoyed catching up and laughing at various appalling photos from the past 50 years (Bob Hardy ringing in a dress was a particularly awful one). The dinner was excellent and led straight on to the speeches. The Master drank with

  • Everybody who had rung a quarter or peal in the year
  • All members who had joined this year
  • Lots of other people who I cant remember

Tim Payne gave a speech about the Founding Members. He prevented any heckling by saying that he would announce how popular any person who heckled was, based on the seating choices. Malcolm had, judging by his facebook status, forgotten to write a speech. He did manage to say something, although he resisted listing all the couples who’ve got together on welsh colleges. A method was rung on handbells which got a large round of applause. Jeanette gave the Master’s address and finished with a very good cheesy poem. Getting 180 people into one photo was the next challenge of the night. People were sitting on the floor, sitting on chairs (they were the lucky ones) standing on chairs, and the bravest (drunkest?) stood on the backs of chairs. Pat’s hair was brushing the ceiling. At length everybody had been arranged and a member of hotel staff was grabbed and told to take the photo for us.

Then the room was quickly cleared and the disco set up. The youngest members of the group (ages 3-8) were the first on the dance floor, followed by Pete and Paul. The craziest dancers of the evening were Organic Bob and Rhod, although everybody else tried hard too! James Mundy taught Ross a few moves! Group dances to the Maccarena (can’t spell that…), Saturday Night Fever and the Hokey Cokey were particularly spectacular.
The minibus left for the hall at 12.45 (ish) and a second group driven by Pete left a while later on. When we got back Giles was in a box, apparently a dj box, it was a little strange and somebody was heard to wonder whether there was anybody in there with him!

I was not particularly looking forward to trying to wake Pete in the morning for our first breakfast as Catering Officers (Bob abandoned us as he was staying in the hotel) but he seems to be easy to wake up when he’s sober. We cooked (well, I say ‘we’; he cooked and I made tea) and everybody enjoyed muffins, bacon, egg and sausages for breakfast. Due to Michaelstone church services starting quite late and the hall being next to the church it was a very leisurely morning. The only hitch was that the church warden had run off with the tower key so we could not get in on time. Lots of people turned up for service ringing (unusually!) so everybody got one ring. After we had rung down (catching in queens which everybody did know although Malcolm did ask just in case) it was time for everybody to go. We nearly left the catering equipment behind but I think that somebody took it in the end.

Everybody seemed to have had a very good weekend! Many thanks to the Dinner committee for organising everything!

- Sarah West