LORD LIEUTENANT OF BERKSHIRE’S RECEPTION

The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Sir Philip Wroughton, invited myself and the Mayoress, Edwina Cooper, to his farewell reception at Woolley Park on Friday 18 April. As he was reaching the age of 75, he has to retire from this appointment and another Lord Lieutenant would be appointed. We arrived promptly at 6 p.m. to see that a large marquee had been erected in the grounds of the house. Metal tracking had been laid at the entrance and this led to the temporary car park. We walked to a covered way which led into the marquee and we were greeted by Asian drummers and what a wonderful noise they made. Queuing to meet our hosts, I noted behind me Chief Inspector Graham Smith who is the deputy to the superintendent of Newbury Police. He was involved with a presentation evening on Neighbourhood Policing at the Newbury Race Course some weeks ago, so it was good to see him again. After being greeted by Sir Philip and Lady Wroughton, we circulated and met many of the people we had contact with over the last eleven months as Mayor. It is always a pleasure to meet up with Major John Cole who has been associated with many activities and organisations in Newbury over the years; Fairclose Day Centre, Newbury Operatic Society and the Coldstream Gurads Association to name a few. We had a fleeting glimpse of Richards Benyon, our Newbury MP before he had to dash away to somewhere else and had a few words with his father, Sir William who was looking remarkably well. We also briefly met Colonel John Kedar from the school of Military Survey at Hermitage and his wife who were at the reception in the Town Hall for the soldiers returning from active service in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Our movements were stopped when the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police Mrs Sara Thornton gave a speech to honour his outstanding contribution to the County and stated that it probably was the highest profile appointment in the country because of the Royal Residence at Windsor Castle. Her speech was warmly applauded and in response, Sir Philip responded by thanking her for her kind words and for the great support which Thames Valley Police and the Close Escort Police had given to him and the Royal Family over the years. He also paid tribute to his staff who had also given him such support and advice on a range of activities and functions he had to attend, or in support of the Queen or other members of the Royal Family. He thanked his wife for keeping him firmly focussed on what he had to do and for all her support. I was surprised to hear that his appointment is unpaid as such. He announced that his successor was Mrs Ann Bayliss who gave a short speech in which she said that although delighted and honoured at her appointment, said Sir Philip would be a hard act to follow. A surprise speaker was Bishop John Pritchard who praised Sir Philip for his support for the Church and said that he would be honoured by an award from the church in Oxford in the foreseeable future. I was unsure what this was but I gather it was to be a member of an ecclesiastic order. I am sure this will be well reported on.
It was soon time to say farewell and I was somewhat sad to say goodbye to him and his wife, even though our paths had not crossed many times over the last eleven months. He is one of those gentle and kind people you can never forget.