THE DEERSTALKERS OF WELSHPOOL
BULLETIN NO 1  JANUARY 2020
Edited by Dennis J Duggan,  Rock Cottage, Brook Street,
Welshpool, Montgomeryshire. SY21 7NA
E-mail  djduggan@supanet.com
Phone 01938 555574

INTRODUCTION   Welcome to the first Deerstalkers of Welshpool newsletter.   This is a new initiative, as The Baker Street Bugle is no longer viable in its current form.  The Bugle served the Deerstalkers well for many years, and rest assured  it has not been cast into obscurity.  The fact is it has become increasingly difficult to find enough content for the magazine, thus publication became more and more irregular.  It will now be issued only when we have sufficient material to make it worthwhile.  So this bulletin is a simple newsletter.  The aim is to let members know what has happened, what is happening and what will be happening.  Any articles for the Bugle should be sent to me, as should any short items for the bulletin.  The original idea was to publish the bulletin monthly, but it is probably unlikely there will be enough news to sustain that intention so it might be less frequent.  We will see how it goes.

THE CARLTON CLUB   The Carlton Club was introduced by Roy on February 2nd 2017.  The idea was that on the first Thursday morning of every month there would be an informal meeting where Deerstalkers could put the world to rights over a cup of coffee.  The first meeting took place in the Monkey Puzzle cafe in Welshpool, but that did not prove entirely satisfactory and we soon moved to the Royal Oak Hotel.  The first meeting of 2020 saw four people present, and we chatted from 10.30-12.30.  Attendance is fluid – turn up if you are around at the time, if not it does not matter.  Thus numbers fluctate from month to month.

MRS HUDSON’S DINNER PARTY   This annual event is always a favourite, and this year nine Deerstalkers and guests enjoyed an excellent meal at The Raven Inn, Welshpool, on the evening of January 6th.  Until a few years ago most of us made some attempt to dress in a manner appropriate to the Holmesian era  – Roy had the full rig of deerstalker, Inverness cape and Meerschaum pipe – but that custom has died out.

JANUARY MEETING   The last few meetings have been held in the clubhouse of the Welshpool Town Bowls club, but this month they had a last-minute electrical problem and there were no lights.  Fortunately The Raven Inn was happy to accomodate us at short notice, and we liked it so much we booked the pub for the next meeting.  From memory there were six members present, with one apology for absence.  Of course we each had to buy a drink, but that was no hardship!  At the meetings we discuss Deerstalkers matters, and have a quiz on one of the cases.  We usually drift off on to more general topics as well!!

MEMORIAL BENCH   Joan Upton-Holder was, for many years, organist at the church in Guilsfield, a nearby village.  Thus Roy and Joan had strong links with the church, and when Roy passed away we thought it would be nice to pay for a bench in the churchyard.  Ian sourced a suitable bench, which would be delivered and put in place on our behalf.  Of course there would be a suitable plaque fixed to the bench.  Unfortunately we had not forseen the red tape and bureaucracy involved, so there has been little or no progress so far.  Just as well we had not actually paid for a bench!  Hopefully we can move things on in due course.

MEXT MEETING   Monday March 9th, 7pm at The Raven |Inn, Welshpool.  All welcome.

Dennis J Duggan
January 29th 2020