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Text Box: Special points of interest: Information about the long awaited book launch about Walker’s of Tewkesbury—See inside for more. What’s inside? Hospital Fete TFS Model Show Tewkesbury Mop Fair A tribute to Bill Avery

Text Box: Dear Member .
Welcome to newsletter No.21, your committee has been busy promoting the Mop Fair as usual at every opportunity. Since I wrote to you last we have successfully retained the skittles trophy in our annual match against our friends from the Model Steam Road Vehicle Society, this took place at the Tewkesbury Rugby Club during their rally weekend. The society has been given the use of a larger area at the Hospital Fete so that we can provide a children’s roundabout and more games. This larger space proved to be reasonably successful this year. After the devastation of the July floods and the subsequent failure of the water supply it was literally a case of " water, water everywhere not a drop to drink", to see everyone thronging the streets of the town during the Mop Fair was so gratifying, although after the deluge that greeted the showmen at the pull on I was thinking oh no not again!, but fortunately the skies cleared by the evening and the weather behaved itself for the rest of the fair. My thanks to all members who came to our stand in Nelson Street to renew subs or just for a chat. After the fiasco of the Borough Council wanting to put the fair out to tender common sense prevailed and the Showmen’s Guild have managed to secure an agreement to manage the fair for the next few years. Our Model Show held the weekend before the Mop was again very successful, thank you to all who supported it. The Showman’s social took place on the eve of the Mop at the Berkeley Arms, this was very well attended and a good night was had by all. Moving on to 2008 the plaque commissioned by the Borough Council to the late Arthur Stevens was erected, and unveiled at a short ceremony in Nelson Street in mid April. The long awaited book on the history of Thomas Walker Engineers by Dr Middlemiss and Graham Downie is now complete and will be launched at the Methodist Hall on September 13th 2008, ironically 100 years to the month of the tragic fire that destroyed the original works in September 1908. Time marches on and we have sadly lost some good friends of the Society since our last newsletter, firstly Ken Rundle, who exhibited at our model show for many years, Bill Avery one of our first members, a tribute to Bill by our Vice Chairman can be found in this issue, Ernie Taylor the Bristol area correspondent for the World’s Fair the showman’s newspaper, and most recently Percy Caston another of our model show exhibitors, our sincere condolences go to the families of all the above mentioned. Finally looking forward to 2009, did you know we will be 20 years old having been formed on the 9th June 1989.We intend to have some special events to celebrate this. Please take note of the diary dates at the end of this issue. As always my thanks go to all the hardworking committee and to all members for your continued support. Dave Fellows - Chairman.

Annual Newsletter