Autumn 2011Autumn 2011

Team Spirit PastLaing news and picturesfrom 25 and 50 years ago

National CitizenshipWould you be interestedin helping new scheme?

Retired Employees’ NewsRetired Employees’ NewsProduced on behalf of the John Laing Charitable TrustProduced on behalf of the John Laing Charitable Trust

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DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: October 28, 2011

Let’s hang on to the old valuesWell, few of my generation havewitnessed such social and finan-cial unrest as experiencedthroughout Britain during thepast month. It sometmes feelslike we are moving further andfurther away from the wonderfuldays when people left their backdoors open and bikes unchained,safe in the knowledge that peoplewould not take advantage of whatis now all too often seen as ‘anopportunity’.To me it is largely about the workethic. The retirees I know, includ-ing my parents, worked hard alltheir lives, brought up families –in many cases – and were lookingforward to a relaxing retirement.However, that has not meantmany of them have stoppedworking.It was amazing how many peopleI chatted to at this year’sPresident’s Day Summer Outingswho are providing childcare fortheir grandchildren.I have seen it at my daughters’

school, more grandparents thanparents doing the school run.This is shown in the latest job fig-ures, with nearly 1million peopleover the retirement age taking upfull and part time jobs.It is also about the way we com-municate with each other. TwoLaing retirees who worked longhours on the M1 project both toldme: “Thank goodness we didn’thave mobile phones in those daysor we would never have gothome.”Back then people dealt with eachother face-to-face and there wasfar more community-based inter-action.Nowadays people can spendyears in contact with their friendsor family using the internet ortexting messages without evermeeting them.You may be interested in the fea-ture on page 6 concerning a newscheme which aims to reinjecttraditional community values intoour young people.

There’s plenty more in this issueincluding reports from the sum-mer outings and last calls forphoto competition entries andalso missing names from the1955 pupils picture. Rememberwe always love to hear from you.Two stories from social and finan-cial unrest stood out to me. Oneconcerned two young men caughtby the police, one of whom washolding a firework and the otherhad a flat battery. The policecharged one and let the otherone off.Meanwhile, in Greece, the govern-ment announced it is stopping allexports of humus and tara-masalata forthwith. This wasapparently because of the doubledip recession.At this year’s Edinburgh Festivalcomedian Andrew Lawrence saidhe admired ‘phone hackers fortheir patience as he can’t even bebothered to check his OWN voice-mails.” Until next time...

Alex Finkenrath

Main news 3-7Round up of top stories from the Company

Team Spirit Past 8-9Snippets of news from 25 and 50 years ago

Readers’ news 10-11Your letters, correspondence and stories

New members 12-13Introduction to this summer’s events and new members

President’s Day new members 14-22Introduction to this summer’s events and new members

Retirement club news 23People and events from retirement clubs

Your anniversaries 24-25Two pages of special anniversaries

Welfare News 26Looking after elderly parents and news about wills

In memoriam 27

Please address newsstories/queries to:Pensioner Publishing5 Harpenden CloseBedfordBeds, MK41 9RG

Tel: 01234 313055Mob: 07774 259542www.retirementmedia.comEmail:info@retirementmedia.com

Please address othercorrespondence to:John Laing Welfare Dept33 Bunns LaneLondon NW7 2DXTel: 020 8959 9013

Printed by: Annodata PrintServices, Dunstable

CONTENTS

COVER PHOTO: Retirement clubmembers at Gibbon Bridge Hotel

PensionerPublishing

The SA Health Partnership (SAHP) con-sortium has achieved financial closeon the AUS$1.85billion new RoyalAdelaide Hospital (nRAH).The consortium, which includes John

Laing, Hansen Yuncken, LeightonContractors, Macquarie Capital andSpotless, will finance, design, buildand operate the hospital under a 35-year concession.SA Health Partnership’s Chairman,

Peter Hicks said: “The new RoyalAdelaide Hospital is the single largestinfrastructure project in the State’s his-tory and the largest hospital projectever undertaken in Australia.’’The new Royal Adelaide Hospital will

contain 700 single bedrooms and 100same-day beds, and have the capacityto admit over 80,000 patients peryear. It will use advanced technologiesand innovative care to enable the useof state-of-the-art equipment that willprovide the highest-quality treatmentand care to the people of SouthAustralia.Hi-tech facilities throughout the hos-

pital will include patient weighing bedsand intelligent information systemssuch as wireless technology, equip-ment tracking capability and bedsideentertainment and meal ordering forpatients.Rooms are designed as a private heal-

ing environment, making the most ofnatural light, fresh air and views.Patients will have the opportunity to

display artwork, with access to out-door areas and a place for visiting fam-ily to stay.Green initiatives include rooftop rain-

water and storm water recycling, solarboosted hot water, high efficiencywater fittings throughout, water sensi-tive landscaping, natural light, a tri-generation system (with absorptionchillers) to utilise waste heat fromenergy generators to provide heatingand cooling to the building and theuse of environmentally-friendly materi-als.With financial close complete, the

design work can be finalised andground on the 12 hectare site is likelyto be broken within months.Mr Hicks added that the project had

attracted significant interest andstrong support from investors inAustralia and internationally.Private equity investment in the proj-

ect totals more than A$300m and isprovided by InfraRed Capital PartnersLimited, Leighton InfrastructureInvestments Pty Limited, John LaingInvestments Limited, Lloyds BankCorporate Markets and MacquarieCapital Group Limited.SAHP raised over A$2.5 billion in long

term debt from a diverse group ofAustralian and international banks tohelp finance the project.The group of investors includes some

of the strongest names in internation-al project finance.

NEWS

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New hospital to beat the cutting edge

Laing partof a goldstandardJohn Laing scooped Goldin Business in theCommunity’s (BITC)2011 CorporateResponsibility Index(CRI).David Micciche, JohnLaing Health SafetyEnvironment &Sustainability Director,said: “We are verypleased to receive thisaward, which demon-strates our commitmentto corporate responsibili-ty. We are particularlyproud of our communityengagement strategy andthe positive impact it ishaving on disadvantagedyoung people”.Stephen Howard, ChiefExecutive, Business inthe Community said: “Icongratulate John Laingon achieving Gold in the2011 BITC CorporateResponsibility Index. It isa challenging time, butthe results of this year’sIndex demonstrate thatcompanies are stillfocused on transformingtheir businesses in orderto have a positive impacton society. All the com-panies who participatedthis year are at differentstages in their responsi-ble business journey, butthey are all taking theseissues seriously and areprepared to lead byexample.”The full results of the2011 CRI, including com-mentary and analysis,were published in theFinancial TimesResponsible Businesssupplement (8 June).

Artist’s impression of thenew Royal Adelaide Hospital.

John Laing won a presti-gious RoSPA OccupationalHealth and Safety GoldAward at a ceremony atthe Hilton BirminghamMetropole Hotel, at theNational ExhibitionCentre, in May.The Royal Society for the

Prevention of Accidents(RoSPA), launched itsawards programme 55years ago. The schemelooks not only at accidentrecords, but alsoentrants’ overarchinghealth and safety man-agement systems, includ-ing important practicessuch as strong leadershipand workforce involve-ment.David Rawlins, RoSPA’s

awards manager, said:“RoSPA firmly believesthat organisations thathave demonstrated theircommitment to continu-ous improvement in acci-dent and ill health preven-tion deserve recognition.John Laing has shown thatit is committed to strivingfor such continuousimprovement and we aredelighted to honour itthrough the presentationof an award.”Robin Phayre, the John

Laing Health, Safety,Environment and Quality(HSEQ) & BusinessContinuity (BC) Manager,said: “We are delighted tohave received this presti-gious award for the sec-ond year running that istestimony to John Laing’shard work in providingsafe and healthy condi-tions for our employeesand the communities withwhich we work.

CURRENT CO

4

Positive news from theCroydon project report

John Laingis safe bet

The Croydon Council UrbanRegeneration Vehicle (CCURV) pub-lished its Annual Report for the lastfinancial year on August 1.The report shows that the joint ven-

ture between John Laing and CroydonCouncil has proved to be successfulboth through physical delivery of assetsand through the benefits being deliv-ered to the local community in terms ofcreating jobs, providing work for localbusinesses and involvement with localschools and Croydon College.Work on the Public Service Delivery

Hub (PSDH), which is now calledBernard Weatherill House, commencedin March 2010, with demolition andexcavation now complete; the develop-ment is achieving 99.98% of waste recy-cling and adheres to strict health andsafety procedures with no reportablesite based incidents. Work also com-menced on the Waddon leisure andhousing project in December 2010 andis progressing on schedule.Significant progress has been made

on the Taberner House developmentwith an outline scheme being workedup by renowned architects, Make andGehl.CCURV is looking to consult the

public on the development plans in

the Autumn of 2011. Furthermore,Make and Gehl Architects have beenoutlining future plans for the CollegeGreen Masterplan, which are expect-ed to be completed by the end of thisyear.CCURV is looking at other council

owned sites across the borough inorder to establish what values andregeneration benefits can beachieved.The average percentage of locally

employed people on the BernardWeatherill House site was 18%,exceeding the set target of 10%. Forthe Waddon housing and leisurescheme, 21% of the workforce is local-ly employed, exceeding the target of20%.Jamie Kerr, Director of Strategic

Partnerships at John Laing said: "Theproven success of CCURV is testimo-

ny to all the hard work carried out bythe staff from Croydon Council andJohn Laing as well as our partners.A copy of the Annual Report can be

downloaded from www.CCURV.com.Then just click on the CCURV, andthen CCURV Annual Reports.

n The site was not hit by the recentrioting in Croydon although, work wasdisrupted briefly during the clean up.

MPANY NEWS

5

Fired up by top awardsAn ambitious building programmeinvolving three north east fire andrescue services has won two nation-al awards.Representatives from the three

authorities of Northumberland,Tyne and Wear and Durham andDarlington fire and rescue services,making up the North East Fire andRescue Authority (NEFRA), were thebiggest winners at the PartnershipsBulletin Awards in May.During the awards ceremony host-

ed by Partnerships Bulletin inLondon, NEFRA scooped the ‘BestAccommodation’ category beforegoing on to win the ‘Projects GrandPrix‘ award.The Partnerships Bulletin Awards,

formerly the Public Private FinanceAwards, is now in its 13th year andis the biggest night in the partner-ships calendar.The evening was hosted by former

BBC political editor John Sergeantwho presented the awards to NeilCook, project leader for NEFRA andNorthumberland Fire and Rescue,and Michael Butcher, general man-ager for John Laing.Other projects on the shortlist for

‘Best Accommodation’ includedBelmarsh Prisons, Stoke on Trentand Staffordshire Fire and RescueService, Two Counties PoliceInvestigation Centres, Luton NewHomes and Forest Gate – NewhamHousing. In a unanimous decisionby the judges, NEFRA topped astrong shortlist of internationalprojects including the Lisbon toMadrid TGV High Speed Rail Link,Long Beach Court Building USA,Peninsula Link, Australia and theKing Edward VII Memorial Hospital,Bermuda to win the ‘Grand Prix’award, for delivering outstandingimprovement in public service forthe benefit of communities.Five new community fire stations

and a headquarters forNorthumberland were built as partof a NEFRA Private Finance Initiative(PFI). This included new community

fire stations for County Durham andDarlington Fire and Rescue Service,Northumberland Fire and RescueService and Tyne and Wear Fire andRescue Service.John Laing Investments provided

project management of the con-struction and operational phasesand national contractor ShepherdConstruction, which has offices inDarlington and York, built the fivenew stations. Mouchel Ltd was thetechnical adviser to the project andJohn Laing Integrated Services isproviding facilities management forthe 25-year contract.The stations became operational,

as follows: Bishop Auckland, May2010; Pegswood, near Morpeth,June 2010; North Tyneside East,North Shields, June 2010;Spennymoor, June 2010 and WestHartford, Northumberland head-quarters, August 2010.The design and construction of all

five stations is environmentallyfriendly achieving BREEAM (energyefficiency rating) of between ‘verygood’ and ‘excellent’.As well as providing emergency

fire and rescue cover, each commu-nity station provides state-of-the-artfacilities, free internet access andmeeting rooms, which are availablefor local organisations and mem-bers of the public to book.

Building began in 2009 and eachstation took about a year to com-plete. As construction progressedeach fire service sought to involvelocal communities; time capsuleevents with school children andopen days to mark the completionof projects were among the eventsthat took place. HRH The Prince ofWales opened Northumberland’sheadquarters at West Hartford inNovember last year.Chief fire officer for

Northumberland Fire and RescueService, Alex Bennett, said: “All ofthose who were involved in thebuilding projects from conception tocompletion are to be congratulatedfor their hard work in making thesefantastic projects a success. Theseawards recognise the quality of thework that was carried out betweenall of the partners involved. All fivefire stations are now integral parts ofthe communities they serve.”Regional Operations Director for

John Laing, Joe Linney, said: “We aredelighted that the project has wonnot one but an astounding twoawards, which is testimony to all thehard work that was put into not onlyensuring the provision of efficient,state-of-the-art emergency facilitiesfor the benefit and safety of com-munities, but also doing it with areal partnership spirit.”

Teammembersfrom theNorth EastFire andRescueServicesoutsideone of theaward-winningprojects inthe region

6

GENERA

National Citizen Service (NCS) is aprestigious, challenging andadventurous programme for 16-year-olds to take part in over thesummer months, following thecompletion of their GCSE exams.It is a Big Society initiative beingpiloted by 12 provider organisa-tions in almost 200 locationsacross England.Thousands of young people have

taken part this summer alone andanother pilot will be run next sum-mer with places available for up to30,000 young people. TheGovernment intends that in thefuture, every 16-year-old will haveaccess to a place on the pro-gramme.A major aspect of NCS, launched

last July by the Prime Minister,David Cameron, is to provide aconstructive experience forteenagers from different back-grounds to work together for thebenefit of their communities.NCS starts with two weeks of

away-from-home residential expe-riences. These two weeks willrequire young people to take partin outdoor, team building chal-lenges as well as engage with thecommunity to develop a socialaction project which they feel willmake a difference. Following this,the young people will deliver theirself-designed social action projectin their home communities.There are many ways in which

volunteers can support young peo-ple as they take on the challengesthat NCS presents. For example,older people, such as retirees,could volunteer as mentors for theyoung participants, sharing theirknowledge and experience andbringing the different generationscloser together.

Grandparents’ efforts in provid-ing free help and childcare forfamilies have been well document-ed. Research by Aviva in Marchthis year suggested that 7milliongrandparents help out with grand-children while their parents go towork.However, scheme organiser Paul

Oginsky believes the younger andolder generations often lose touchwhen these children reach adoles-cence. He said: “NCS is all aboutpeople understanding the valueand importance of communities.“While the scheme is aimed at

giving teenagers a valuable oppor-tunity at this formative age, webelieve it also provides a specialchance for intergenerationalunderstanding and bonding.”Paul added: “Lives have changed

and young people can communi-cate in ways that previous gener-ations could not have imagined.At the same time, perhaps manyof us are lacking the in-depth,face-to-face interactions which

previous generations had.“Many young people already have

very rewarding experience by con-tributing to their communities inall sorts of ways. NCS seeks togive that same rewarding opportu-nity to every 16-year-old in thecountry. I believe giving youngpeople a chance to really under-stand, appreciate and help theircommunities through NCS willbecome an important part of shap-ing their values and bring themcloser to everyone with whom theyshare that community.”David Micciche, John Laing Health

Safety Environment &Sustainability Director, said: “Thisis a very interesting scheme andcould provide long-term benefitsfor society as a whole. If any JohnLaing retirees are interested inbeing involved in their area, dur-ing the 2012 pilot, they can regis-ter their interest with TeresaPettican by emailing tere-sa.pettican@laing.com or by tele-phoning 020 7901 3231.”

Bridging generationsThe Government is currently piloting the National Citizenship Service (NCS)

aimed at giving young people a better sense and appreciation of community. Itwill also bring older and younger generations together through mentoring.

Young people taking part in one of the NCS challenges

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AL NEWS

Under rail bridge at the Collingtree on the M1 project

There is still a chance to sub-mit pictures for this year’sLaing retirees’ photo competi-tion.It does not have to be a pic-ture taken this year, you cansend in any picture taken byyourself from the past, butyou must ensure that it isclear and easy to see.You can post or email yourpictures, but please ensureyou provide details about thephotographer, the name of thepicture, a return address (ifposting) and any other inter-esting information about thepicture itself.Please ensure that postedentries are carefully packedand if you are emailing, makesure the picture is at least1mb in size. Emailed entriesshould be sent to:info@retirementmedia.com.

Photographiccompetition

Memory plea forresearch projectLaing retirees’ memories are beingsought for an exciting researchproject being undertaken by theUniversity of Westminster.Constructing post-war Britain:

building workers’ stories 1950-70is a project, funded by theLeverhulme Trust, which aims tocollect the stories and memories ofpeople who worked on the con-struction of important examples ofpost-war architecture and civil engi-neering.The case studies chosen include

major civil engineering projects (M1motorway), schemes offering newperspectives for future living andworking (Barbican development),iconic projects of the early WelfareState (Stevenage New Town, SouthBank Arts Complex), and largeindustrial sites associated withnewly nationalised industries(Sizewell A Power Station).All the schemes reflect the impor-

tance of large projects in shiftingentrenched attitudes and traditionalsocial, technical and industrial rela-tions in the construction industry.The project addresses key factors

of change, including: social rela-tions on site; trade unions; training

and apprenticeships; the workingenvironment; industrial techniques;design conceptions; wage relations;work and family life; housing andliving conditions. Its objectives areto:

n Find and record the working andliving experiences of over 50 build-ing workers engaged on case-studysites;

n Evaluate these in the light of doc-umentary evidence, related litera-ture and research;

n Identify key changes in post-warsocial relations of building produc-tion and assess their significancefor the sector and for the built envi-ronment;

n Create a sustainable archive oforal histories of building workers

n Reveal the role and experiences ofbuilding workers in the creation ofthe post-war built environment.If you, or anyone you know,

worked on the sites mentioned andare interested in participating in theproject please contact Dr CharlieMcGuire: Email –c.mcguire@westminster.ac.uk ortelephone him on 01522 529327 or07826 255555.

Class of 1955 pupilsconference picture

Your retirement news

Thank you to everyone whosent in names to go with thewonderful 1955 PupilsConference picture. We havethe majority of them now andplan to publish next issue.However, there are still a fewnames missing, so please sendin any of the people yourecognise before October 28.

Don’t forget, we are alwaysdelighted to receive your cor-respondence, whether it isnews of something interestingyou have done in retirement,comments on articles con-tained within the magazine oreven just to pass on yourideas of what might be doneto improve the magazine. Ouraddress details are in theinside front cover.

The CIS/CWS Insurance offices inManchester was attracting a lot ofattention as one of the country’stallest buildings. Dr Billy Graham theAmerican Evangelist speaker arrivedon site on June 12 with only a fewhours’ notice and addressed staffduring their lunchbreak alongsidepassers-by. Team Spirit highlightedtwo site staff ‘literally on top of thejob’, 450ft crane drivers PeterMcDermott and Bill Whelan. Bill saidthat the two-way radio kept him inconstant touch with those on site andthat he ‘did not have time to get lone-ly’.

Two other big projects in Manchesterwere well underway including theSimon Engineering Laboratories atManchester University which had justbeen topped out. Meanwhile at theRingway Airport in the city, an auto-mixing concrete machine, designedby Laing’s R&D centre was being usedin the construction of a 2,600ft longconcrete taxi run and 1,500ft ofwidening work elsewhere. The newmachine had been specificallydesigned for high quality concreteand had a capacity of 80 cu yards perhour.

Meanwhile in Northern Rhodesia, thefamous Lake Nyasa steamer wasbeing used to transport materials onthe Northern Province contract inNyasaland.

Construction work began on the firstcomplete brewery to be undertaken inBritain since before the war.Constructed on a six acre site atAlton, Hampshire, the brewery wasbeing developed by a joint committeeof two companies. The engineeringand architectural design, includingM&E services had been carried out byJohn Laing and Son Limited in coop-eration with engineers seconded byArthur Guinness Son and CompanyLimited.The brewery would have a total floorarea of 116,000sq ft and comprisesix sections with provision for futureexpansion. There would be a four-storey office block, three storey brewhouse, refrigeration plant and a five-storey fermentation and storageblock.

The Minister of Housing the Rt HonHenry Brooke visited LeverstockGreen in Hemel Hempstead to pres-ent The Laing Housing Company withthe 150,000th certificate of GoodHouse Construction. The certificate,awarded by the National-Housebuilders Registration Councilwas received by Mr DP Marriott. Thenew owners of the three-bed semi,called an Ashton were Mr and Mrs KAllen.

The four-mile Maidenhead bypassbuilt by the Company had ‘made mile-long traffic queues a thing of thepast’ according to Team Spirit.

Among those receiving their longservice awards was none other thanMaurice Laing. There was plenty oflaughter as his brother Kirby Laingmade the presentation in the Mill Hillcanteen.

In Rochdale, the Company was build-

ing a £400,000 extension to ArrowMill, for yarn spinning.

The Company welcomed its firstfemale civil engineer Miss Kik HongOng. The 21-year-old LondonUniversity student was working on M6sections C/D during her summer hol-idays. She had won a scholarship tostudy from her native Malaysia.

A particularly challenging concretepour took place on the sugar silos atAllscott for British Sugar. Agent DCThompson’s team had to ‘slide’1,250cu yards of concrete for thewalls of each silo carried out continu-ously over the days and nights untilthe operation was finished. Itrequired a massive amount of prepa-ration including 60 climbing jacks foreach silo and a 180-ft scaffoldingtower to carry the concrete hoist.There also had to be two mixers, eachcapable of being fed by two 30-tonne cement silos.

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TEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO – 1961

Above, MauriceLaing receives hislong service awardfrom brother Kirby.Left: Miss Kik HongOng Laing’s firstfemale engineer.

CIS crane drivers PeterMcDermot (left) and Bill Whelan.

PhotographerJohn Sulman wasfeatured. He wasa founder mem-ber of the photo-graphic section12 years earlierand had previ-ously worked onFleet Street at theDaily Sketch. Hewas described as‘extremelyreserved’ but the article added ‘he isbroad-shouldered and over six feettall... there is something about himwhich discourages argument.’

Steel and formwork on giantAllscott sugar silos.

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TEAM SPIRIT 25 YEARS AGO – 1986

Site agent Dave Scott and his teamwere ‘coming across historial artefactson an almost daily basis’ at theClerkenwell Green housing project.Start of the £1.6million contract hadbeen delayed for nearly two years forvarious reasons including the historicalfinds on the former priory site includ-ing an ancient tunnel leading to thewell from which Clerkenwell gets itsname.

In Dumfries work was getting under-way for the 109th Littlewoods store ina Northern Region contract worth£2.2million.

The new Millburngate II shoppingprecinct in Durham was on target to befinished intime for the beginning ofthe Christmas season. John LaingDevelopments and the Teesdale Groupwere responsible for lettings on the£5.5million contract.

Laing Management Contracting wereworking on separate contracts atopposite ends of Kensington HighStreet. While one team worked on the£27.2million prestige refurbishment ofthe world famous Barker’s store, theother was creating a new developmentintended to attract shoppers to theother end. As well as seven groundfloor shops, the development wouldprovide five levels of luxury flats, plustwo penthouses, three floors of offices,basement parking for 60 vehicles anda loading bay.

Team Spirit marked the first anniver-sary of John Laing Homes Inc inCalifornia. Staff had grown from threeto 22 and they had successfullyopened three major sites in a year.

Two of only ten Heritage Awards weregiven to HWA for ‘works considered ofoutstanding merit in the City ofWestminster’ as part of the area’s400th anniversary celebrations. PaulErrington director of HWA BuildingRefurbishment and Fitting out receiveda certificate for the £10million CivilService Stores contract ‘DickensHouse’. HWA Management directorPeter Scott received a certificate in theRestoration category for a ‘splendidrefurbishment’ of the Grade I listedClermont Club in Berkeley Square.

A £9million contract to extend theMater Hospital in Northern Ireland wasLaing’s first in the province. IrishRegion were to in-fill between existingblocks, a seven-storey structure on theCrumlin Road site. The super structurewas completed after initial demolitionbegan in March.

Scottish Region had to hand back thekeys to the largest military fortifica-tion in Europe during the official re-inauguration of Fort George nearInverness. JLC took possession of thekeys in 1983 ahead of a multi-millionpound refurbishment contract tomake the listed ancient monument asuitable base for a modern infantrybattalion.

Eastern Region had to make quickadjustments to its Epping Civic Officescontract when protected species ofcrested newts were found in a stag-nant pool on the site which was aboutto be filled in to make way for part ofa car park. The team, after consulta-tion with the Nature ConservancyCouncil, designed a pond surrounded

by a one metre high wall, with holesbeneath the ground to allow the newtsaccess to nearby gardens. They alsobult a newt tunnel beneath a nearbyroad.

North West Region began work on the£18million contract to build the sec-ond phase of the Manchester RoyalInfirmary, the largest ever contractawarded by the North West RegionalHealth Authority.

Four men from EPL got coveted pass-es to attend the Royal Wedding ofPrince Andrew and Sarah Fergusson.Harry Barber, Jim Matheson and TerryJesse (pictured above) were operatingthe platforms supplied by the compa-ny for television cameras covering theevent. They were also joined by col-league Ian ‘Slim’ Playford.

OC Summers Wales Region had won two major contracts worth £6.5m intotal. These were mains and service laying (plus associated works) forBritish Gas and also mains water laying for the Welsh Water Authority.team, from left: Peter Cowlin, George Bowden, Sami Metti, GwynethJenkins, Sandra Bowden, John Bibey, Hugh Christopher and Ron Evans.

Laing Retirement Homes was featured after recently moving from MillHill to Borehamwood. The team, pictured from left, top: Joe Hyams,John Streak, Ken Bickley, Doug Adams, John Horne, Paul Boys, DaveMargetts, Bob Bidder and Ed Briscoe. Seated: Robin Sherwood, RosHowell, Anne Jackson, Pauline Hanson, Judith Foster, Caroline Mardenand Bill Patrickson.

READERS

10

Two readers enjoy100th birthdays

SWEET SURPRISE: The Tesco’s cake

CENTENARIAN:Margery on herbirthday in July

Two Laing pensioners celebratedtheir 100th birthdays in July thisyear.Retiree Margery Turner celebrated

her 100th birthday on July 6 andDoris Wilson on July 9. Bothreceived a card from Her Majestythe Queen.We managed to speak with

Margery at the nursing home whereshe lives in Worthing.She recalled working as a secre-

tary at Mill Hill on a couple of occa-sions for about 15 years. She wasmarried to Ken Turner who spent49 years working for the Companyat Holloways. He retired in 1978.Everyone you speak to about

Margery will say what a lively andinteresting person she is.She moved into the home at

Worthing 5-7 months ago and wasplaying golf, bowls and dancingregularly until then.Margery celebrated her birthday

with a party for friends and wasinsistent upon buying a ‘new frock’for the occasion.

70th birthday is apiece of cake

We like to feature greatLaing projects over the yearsand in the next issue we willbe looking at two significantLaing achievements.Following the loan of somewonderful pictures and asso-ciated memories, we will belooking at Thermalite andalso a later John LaingInternational project: theOresund Tunnel which waspart of a project to linkSweden to Denmark by road.Recently retired Mike Hopperhas kindly provided somegreat pictures and informa-tion from the project. But wewould also love to hear fromanyone else who wasinvolved in either of theseparts of Laing’s history.Just contact us using thedetails on the inside frontcover if you have any memo-ries, stories or pictures thatyou would like to share withthe readers.We will need to hear fromyou before October 28 if youwish to be included.

Classic projectsfor next issue

Margaret Niland was rather surprised toreceive this cake on her 70th birthdayorganised by husband Colin.When asked why Colin had gone to the

trouble of getting such an excellent repre-sentation of Tesco’s for the cake, he joked:“It’s because she spends all her time there!”Margaret just said: “I think he’s being sar-

castic.”Margaret enjoyed a lovely birthday and the

cake has made a great talking point since.

11

S’ NEWS

This year’s engineers and archi-tects reunion article prompted var-ious correspondence.John Wehrle wrote to provide

clearer detail regarding the historyof the ‘Engineers Nite-Out’. Thesewere organised by a committee ofpeople from the engineers depart-ment: John Wehrle (organiser), JimWiffin (costings), Judy Pollard (sec-retary) and Bill Murry (artist – menucards etc).John added: “The first nite-out

was in 1968 and continued to runthrough to 1973 and was held atthe Waterend Barn in St Albans withan average of 250 attending. Thelast occasion was in 1974 and washeld in the restaurant at Mill Hill.“Many themes were introduced

over these years such as: EngineersNite-Out – In Transylvania... InTahiti... In Bavaria...etc.”Phil Rendle also wrote to say that

he was delighted to see so manypictures of his retired engineeringfriends. He could not attend theMarch event due to holiday com-mitments, although he is lookingforward to the 20th anniversaryreunion in 2012. In 1952 he was

working in the Engineers DesignOffice at Mill Hill when current andpast members had regularreunions at a pub in Whitehall fol-lowed by a dinner.It was Phil’s job to telephone

everyone to remind them. Headded: “In March 1991 at my retire-ment party I suggested that we allmet again in 1992 for a buffetlunch – and so the Engineers’Reunion became an annual event!”

Thanks to John Wehrle for this invitation to the 1973 Engineers Nite-Outwhich claimed some terrors lay in store for the intrepid guests travellingto the event, including a werewolf, vampire and unexploded bomb!

Engineers’ reunion history

Benghazi correspondenceI was very interested to read the arti-cle about Benghazi in the last maga-zine. I think I mentioned to you at thePresidents Lunch that I had beenbased in Malta during my NationalService in 1948. I was in the RoyalEngineers and was attached to theChief Engineer's Office, Malta &Cyrenaica. We were engaged inrebuilding the airport at Benina,Benghazi and when all the designwork was complete our CO said wewould have to go across to Benghazi.As the Laing team found two yearslater, you could not get in toBenghazi Harbour and so ouradvance party went via Tripoli and

then along the coast by road. Themain party followed via Tobruk andthen by road. We passed through allthe places we had heard of during thewar and it was quite an adventure. Ithen spent just under a year inBenghazi arranging tenders for thebuilding contracts and bills of quanti-ties. Our offices were in the BereniceHotel which was, and probably still is,right next to the Mae West Cathedral.Your article brought back many mem-ories and I am rather proud of thefact that without my little contribu-tion in 1948/9 the Laing Team wouldnot have been able to fly in.From: Roger Mountford

Out of AfricaFollowing a conversa-tion with former Laingarchivist Alan Thorpe,it has been pointedout that the picturewe published in ourSpring 2011 issue fea-turing a James Laing &Son sign in the Sudanwas not connected toJohn Laing and Son.Alan confirmed thathe had no knowledgeof either the companyor any projects carriedout in the Sudan. Weare happy to clarifythis matter.

NEWCASTLE

Diane and Andy Cutler wereattending their first summerevent. Andy was a planner havingfirst worked with the Companybetween 1968 and 1973, thenagain from 1990-2010. He spentvirtually all his time in the NorthEast region, with a tiny bit inYorkshire. His favourite contractwas around 1989-1991 whenthey knocked down the famousgiant golf balls at Filingdales, theUS listening post. They replacedit with an equally bold shape,this time a pyramid with a solidconcrete bunker beneath to pro-tect the computers.

SALTIREJack Allardice worked 34 yearswith Laing, starting out onG l a s g o wAirport andmoving onto do main-ly shop-ping cen-tres includ-ing the StJ a m e sCentre inEdinburgh.O t h e rmemorablep r o j e c t si n c l u d e dthe Scotsman Newspaper build-ing and the futuristic DynamicEarth Centre also in the city.

Jack’s favourite project, onreflection, was the StirlingThistle Marches shopping centreand also John Lewis in Glasgow.

CARLISLESteven Holt spent 15 years withLaing from 1961-1976 startingout as anest imatorw o r k i n ghis wayt h r o u g hcost sur-veyor andproductioncontrol.He lovedhis time atLaing, butwas luredway bya n o t h e rl o c a lbuilding company where he car-ried on until 2003. One of hisfavourite projects was a £6-7mproject for Roche Products atDalry in Ayrshire and also theWest Cumberland Hospital.

REALLorna Glide worked at Mill Hillduring the 70s as secretary end-ing upworking forJim Wiffin.Lorna reallyenjoyed hertime keep-ing in touchwith col-l e a g u e si n c l u d i n gJudy Pollardand BettyGower. In astrange wayLorna hasnever left Mill Hill as she nowlives in housing built on the mas-sive site. It was also at Laing thatshe met her husband to be. She

PRESIDENT’S DAY

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Yet more new memberscame along to the 2011President’s day SummerOutings. From the firstevent at LNER at BailbrookHouse near Newcastle tothe final event with Solareat Ockenden Manor nearCrawley, the venues andevents provided a greatbackdrop for friends andformer colleagues to chatand exchange news and sto-ries. Lady Laing spoke ateach event to thankMargaret Staines and herteam of welfare officerswho continue to providehelp and support forCompany retirees. She alsothanked those who hadhelped to organise theevents and the staff at eachvenue who had ensured thateverything ran smoothly.On the right are some ofthe new members attendingtheir first events. I shouldsay that, having takensoundings from many clubmembers, it was almostunanimous that each clubshould have its own page.Due to the varying numbersof members at the clubs,the pictures and names takeup different amounts ofspace. Quite a few membersasked for details of the ven-ues around the country, incase they would like to trythem out. For this reason,where there is extra space, Ihave included informationabout some of the venuesvisited this year. However,they were all excellent.

New members join in the fun2011 summeroutings details

SUMMER OUTINGS

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said: “It was very strange, when Ilived with my parents he used todeliver our mail and just bychance his round was changed tocover Mill Hill Page Street just asI started there. I recognised himwhen he was delivering mail, wegot talking and ended up gettingmarried. It was lovely, theCompany gave me £10 whenthey discovered I was gettingmarried, it was a generous sumof money to get in those days.”

Judy and Derek Pollard also metwhile working for Laing. Derekwas a graduate engineer whoworked at the Company from1965-1970. Mrs Pollard workedfor Denis Mitchell during her 13years and ended up working forchief engineer Jack Megit. Shewas very happy and would haveworked longer for the Companyhad it not been for her husbandgoing away sailing. Mr Pollardwas also involved in politics andhad suddenly realised that hewould not be able to do a speechwhich Lord Wigg had asked himto write. He called Lord Wigg’soffice to explain the situationand left his wife’s number atLaing in case there were anyqueries. When Derek returnedfrom his week away, he askedJudy if she had heard from LordWigg’s office. To his surpriseLord Wigg had called personallyand been so impressed by Judythat he had taken her out forlunch and offered her a job ashis own secretary, which shetook.

Gordon and Christine Fosterare yet another couple who metwhile both working for Laing.Gordon was a chauffeur with theCompany between 1980 and2002 and very much enjoyed histime there. He started out driv-ing John Renshaw and ended updriving Derrick Ardern amongothers. Christine worked at LaingTechnology Group at Mill Hillbetween 1969 and 1995. Theymet across a ‘crowded canteen’according to Gordon and weremarried after she left Laing.

REALM

Anne and Brian Burrin are yetanother Midlands couple whomet through the Company. Brianspent 46 years with Laing as sta-tionery manager based at MillHill.Few will know that the Laing sta-tionery dept supplied ALL theFalklands stationery at one timeand also had a big contract tosupply stationery to Poland.Anne worked at various parts of

the Company includingRetirement Housing inBorehamwood from 1984 –1990.Anne said it was exciting beingpart of a completely new busi-ness sector. It was ahead of itstime really, just Laing andMcArthy and Stone.

SOLAREJohn and Monica Tuck wereattending their first SummerLuncheon. John worked at Laingfor 36 years starting out as a car-penter joiner and ending up as asite foreman by retirement inAugust 2000. His penultimateproject, the £30million BrightonHospital stood out among hisfavourites, along with the JointServices Command and StaffCollege (JSCSC). John worked onthe central core of the stunningproject which includes reception,conference and dining rooms.

Michael Farragher spent 45years working with Laing as ajoiner andconstructionmanager. Heworked on ahost ofi m p o r t a n tp r o j e c t st h r oughou this longc a r e e r .Among thosewhich stoodout for him was the Pinter Hotelin Gloucester Road and theBarbican in London on which hespent eight years.

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High winds and heavy rain could notdampen the spirits of retirees as wekicked off the outings near Newcastle.A number of members had made thetrip from Yorkshire to attend the eventincluding Harold and Barbara Hulse whohad driven more than 70 miles from thecharmingly named village ofWombleton. Apparently, years ago whenhe had fallen from a scaffold and was inhospital, the police came and asked himwhere he was from, so he told them. Hesaid: “They came back 20 minutes latersaying they couldn’t find it.”When it comes to long distances Brianand Sandra Coppen had just returned

from six months on the other side of theworld visiting their son in Queensland(who started out as a joiner with Laingmany years ago) before stopping off tosee her brother in Tasmania on the wayhome.Closer to home Joe and Sylvia Crozierwere celebrating the arrival of their firstgreat grandchild, Mitchell.Diane Cutler was struck by the curse ofthe new arrival, asking for prizes to beput back in the raffle as her ticketsscooped no less than five of them.There were two 94-year-old guestspresent: Dorothea Mitchell and BettyWalton.

LNER May 23 Beamish Hall, Co Durham

Albert Clark, Shirley andAlistair Thompson, AlwynWhitley, Diane and AndyCutler, Stephen Buckle

SECOND: Jim and BrendaWatson, John and MonicaBell, Paul and Cyril Wallace,Tony Blackwell, Sue andMalcom Reid.

THIRD: Dorothea and JackMitchell, Hilda and GeorgeStorey, Bill and MavisJackson, Betty Hope andBryon Taylor

FOURTH: Margaret and AlfOwen, Bob and Mary Kelly,Mavis and Fred Ramsay,Jack and Eileen Henderson.

FIFTH: Syd and Hilda Foster,Sarah Fitzpatrick, AnneFoster and Betty Walton, Joeand Sylvia Crozier, Paulineand Aidan Kelly.

SIXTH: First aiders, Johnand Pat Crosby, BrendaSeed, Jean and BillFergusson.

SEVENTH: Harrold andBarbara Hulse, Brian andSandra Coppen, GeoffSmith (welfare officer)George Beazeley MattyOvington

Beamish Hall is a luxury 42 bed-room country house hotel.Privately owned since 2004 it issurrounded by 24 acres of woodedparkland in the heart of the coun-tryside between Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Durham City.There are a range of outdoor

activities on the doorstep includ-ing their own Beamish Wild andBeamish Museum.There is a restaurant and the

Stables Bar eatery and Beamish hasits own micro-brewery on site witha range of ales.

Today’s environmental conditions included athreatening dust cloud from Iceland and a hailstorm.Hugh and Rita McGeoch made an appear-ance as they have done for many years and metwith new welfare officer Geoff Smith.Meanwhile Tom McVeigh announced that hewas going to contact the Guinness Book ofRecords to find out if he was the world’s old-est toy boy. He recently had to escort a womanfrom his village to a dance. Having had sixdances he discovered she was 102 years old,compared with his lean 83 years. She com-plained afterwards that he had not twirled her.Stan and Mona Karbownicki were attending

Saltire for the first summer luncheon after mov-ing north from the Solare area, where they havebeen club members since the early days. Thefree bus pass came up again as it transpired theywere able to use it to get from Edinburgh andwalk the last part of the way.Dorrie Gordon was also present, she told SirMartin that at one stage she had seen her carenotes and was surprised to see that she had beenput down as being a former builder.ChairmanMaurice Lone thanked all the guestsfor coming and made a special menton of HughMcGeoch, saying how much his welfare workhad been appreciated over the years as he handsover to Geoff Smith.

SUMMER OUTINGS

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Saltire May 24 CringletieHouse, nr Peebles

TOP: Joyce and WalkerHodgson, Mona andStan Karbownicki,Margaret and MauriceLone, Marie Cullen.

SECOND: Joyce Tullet,Helen and JimMcFadden, LadyStephanie Laing, TomMcVeigh, Jack Allardice,Andy Waring and coachdriver Dennis Connelly.

THIRD: Nan and MauriceAshbridge, Bob Curran,Jean and Ian Beckwith,John Dixon, Anna andDavid Thomson.

FOURTH: Sam and SusanFergusson, Carer andDorrie Gordon, GeorgeHarris, Margaret Evans,Doris and Jim Saunders.

Cringletie House is a country house hotel in the Scottish Borders, 30minutes (20 miles south) from the centre of Edinburgh. It is situated inan idyllic rural setting. It boasts four red stars and claims to be the onlyAA Top Hotel (Inspector's Choice) in the Scottish Borders. It has alsobeen awarded four gold stars by Visit Scotland.

PRESIDENT’S DAY

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Willie McMillan is into his seconddecade of retirement following 43years in the joinery shop at Carlisle.A fellow retiree said to Willierecently ‘you must be older thanme, I was your apprentice’. Willie,86, replied: “I think virtually everyjoiner here was my apprentice atsome stage!”Chairman John Barrow thankedHugh McGeoch for all his welfaresupport over the years for clubmembers. He also thanked hard

working secretary Margaret Levinand all the other committee mem-bers.Diners Evelyn Crowther andNorma Johnston were atCaldewgate Primary together allthose years ago. In fact, Evelyn alsorecalled teaching Carlisle’s newWelfare Officer Geoff Smith in herfirst assignment at Carlisle second-ary school where she pointed outthat she was a young teacher and hewas an old pupil.

Carlisle May 25 GibbonBridge Hotel, Lancs

TOP: Carer and Annie Winthrop Laing, Connie andLeslie Barlow, John and Sheila Barrow, George andMuriel Boyd. SECOND: Gordon and Sheila Carter,Pat Corrie, Ted and Mavis Drinkwater, Evelyn andAlan Crowther, Tony and Faye Douglas, JackMacDowell. THIRD: Margaret and Tony Daltry, Jimand Irene Davidson, David and Patricia Edwards,Brenda and James Harrison, Willie MacMillan.FOURTH: Steven Holt, Ian Mooney, Gordon andMargaret Lawson, Jean McAvoy, Ena Pearson,Hugh and Rita McGeoch, Norma Johston. FIFTH:Jean and Joe McVittie,George McVittie, CeceliaMorris, Jimmy Pringle, Elmer Richardson, HildaRobertson and Joyce Nanson. SIXTH: Edna andAlan Sim, Ann and Alan Brown, Joe Simpson,Derek and Marion Simpson, John and SylviaRobertson. SEVENTH: Joan Weymouth, Derek andJune Wilson, Maureen and Colin Wood, Vera andKeith Warwick, Harry and Connie Haughan.

SUMMER OUTINGS

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North West May 26 Gibbon Bridge Hotel, LancsNorth West members wereslightly delayed by animpromptu sight-seeingtour of Lancaster, but theyarrived safe and soundFor Dick Underwood,times have changed sincehe first took up sea fishingwhile working on the StMatthews development inLeicester 1965.He and friends includingBrian Gregory, BobBurton and David Jones

were all part of the LaingSea Fishing Club at vari-ous times. He netted 100lbof cod on his first everouting and the club onlyfinished last year.Bill and Pat Fergussonwere contacted by an oldfriend he had served hisapprenticeship with aftertheir picture appeared inthe last issue of the REN.Bill, who seemed keen topoint out that he was a

good year younger thanhis old pal (DickBromley), was contactedafter the former colleaguemanaged to get his numberfrom Bill’s sister whoworks in an MoT garageowned by her husbandnear Carlisle. They wereapprentice plant fitters upin Carlisle together.Welfare Officer DaveMarkall was present withhis wife Sue.

Judy and GeoffBabbage, HaroldBoardman,Susan andFinbar Carroll,Jack Stokes.

SECOND: KenCole, Anna andMalachyConcannon,Joyce Elliott, IrisCommons andBill Eaton.

THIRD: Steveand Jean Hewitt,Bill and PatriciaFergusson,Lillian Jamesand MikeMcKenna.

FOURTH: Billand MaureenMcGarrie, Colinand MargaretNiland, PeterSouter andBarbara Moss.

FIFTH: Dorrieand DickUnderwood, Boband JeanWeaving, Chrisand IrenéTaylor.

Gibbon Bridge Hotel is run byJanet Simpson who wasbrought up on the site when itwas a family farm.It is now a leading hotel famedfor its beautifully landscapedgardens and high qualityrestaurant.It is hidden away in theLancashire countryside andespecially popular with olderguests as a retreat from thebustle of daily life.

PRESIDENT’S DAY

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REALM May 27, Forest of Arden MarriottRon and Vi Selway had a bit of luck when fiveLottery numbers came up just after their DiamondAnniversary. It was enough to have another breakin Tenerife – virtually straight away – so theycould celebrate their friends’ anniversary there.Phyllis Sturgeon wondering if she should put hermodel Laing lorries together with Charlie Laing’sfor some sort of exhibition?Rosaleen Norris almost didn’t make the lunchbecause of her new front door. The new lock wasvery stiff and she was reduced to knocking on hernew window – from the inside – to attract theattention of Freda Kearny who had come to pickher up. She resorted to passing the keys throughthe letterbox and eventually they managed to get itopen,After lunch chairman David Barnes thanked allwho had made the luncheon such a success.

TOP: Anne and Bob Warren, Peter Duggan and Freda Kearney, Geoffand Lucy Hall, Mary Higgins, Ren and Jim Coxon, Phyllis Sturgeon.SECOND: Tony and Sue Pott, John Eburah, Joan Street, Kitty Ainsleyand daughter, Betty Johnson, Phil Nunn (Welfare) Paula Mariner, Ronand Vi Selway. THIRD: Elizabeth and Tommy Hughes, Beryl Sutcliffe,Alan and Barbara Swindell, Eric Andrews, Barbara Reacord andBarbara Higginson, David and Jane Barnes, John and Sheila Parry.FOURTH: Michael Blakemore, Richard and Janet Broadbent, Brianand Ann Burrin, Allan Cannan, Pauline and Tom Featherstone,Robina Eburah and Rosaleen Norris. FIFTH: Elsie Turner and FrankSamuel, June and Chig Gibson, Sheila and John Goodenough, PhilPrice, Bob Homer, Charlie Laing, Stan and Janet Utting. SIXTH: Kenand Margaret Hughes, Audrey and Alan Sloan, Barry and MargaretHughes, Sir Martin Laing, Janet Price, Betty King, Annette Homer.SEVENTH: Trevor and Eileen Manning, Richard and Sue Pike,Maureen Ford, Jan Hemlin, David and Ruth Saunders, DavidHemlin, Alan and Marian Vining. EIGHTH: Tommy and Sheila Pye,Ian Rennie, Ray Ritchie, Ann and Gil Roberts, Kathleen Woodcock,Roland and Pamela Seymour, Connie and Brian Wheller.

Y SUMMER OUTINGS

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South West, June 6,Bailbrook House, BathAmong the members making awelcome return to the lunch-eon was Anna Tulodzeicki,whose husband was a foremanwith Laing working on con-tracts including BerkeleyPower Station and houses inthe centre of Bristol during his25 years with the Company.Anna made us promise toreport her comment that “LadyLaing is wonderful, doesexcellent work for the pension-ers.”Illtyd Hughes is not amongthe many who collect everyissue of Team Spirit, but hedoes possess a copy of the first

issue from November 1946,which came out at the sametime as he started with theCompany himself.As the club approaches its25th anniversary, chairmanJohn Tite joked that he wasconsidering a calendar girlscelebration for the eventhavingheard that Realm are planninga calendar for their silveranniversary, also this year.Eddie Goodman and Pat Meaddiscovered that they had beenbrought up on the sameSouthmead Estate and hadboth attended Fonthill Roadschool some decades earlier.

TOP: Paul andJenny Channon,Ray Hudman,Colin Jones,Mike Bownas,EddieGarraway, Johnand GwynPearce, DaveThomas.SECOND:Marcia Jones,Ron Flowers,Joyce Padfield,Gill Bownas,Anna Hope,Peggy and BobGoodfellow,Tony Edwardes(Welfare).THIRD: Edwardand NannetteGoodman, FredHubbard andson, Illtyd andJune Hughes,Margaret andLindsayWilliamson,Doreen Jeweland daughter.FOURTH: AnnaTulodziecki,Geoff Luckett,Roy andBarbaraMerrett, Tinaand DannyO’Neill, Gordonand ChristinePirrie.FIFTH: Derekand Pat Mead,Gladys andRowlandRogers, HazelTatton, LillyHolbrook, PeterRowe, Lorraineand John Tite.SIXTH: BettyChallis, EdnaHaines, Cliff andJoan Skinner,John and PeggyStyles, AlanThorpe andJune Chadwick.

Bailbrook House is anotherbeautiful setting, eventhough quite a few people(including yours truly) acci-dentally popped into neigh-bouring Bailbrook Lodge bymistake at first.Set in large gardens, fiveminutes’ drive from the cen-tre of Bath, this Georgianmansion has 78 rooms, agym, tennis court, free park-ing, a sauna and a jacuzzifor guests, plus mountainbikes to hire. The Grade-IImansion overlooks the AvonValley and is 10 minutes’drive from the M4.The restaurant with terracehas an AA Rosette for its cui-sine, and lunch is availablein the bar.

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PRESIDENT’S DAY

Elstree, June 7, Five Arrows,WaddesdonWith memories of the latest royalwedding fresh in everyone’s minds,Don Dexter recalled being a mountedescort for Queen Elizabeth II duringhis six years as part of the RoyalHorse Guards.When he first started he had no ideaabout riding a horse. He was alsomade a freeman of the city of Londonfor his 50 years’ service in the RoyalLife Saving Society and that was in1989. He still swims every day. ElsieRoberts had everyone in stitches withher traditional speech from the chair.After thanking guests and hotel stafffor making the luncheon such a suc-

cess, she said that she had recentlymade some jam for a Women’sInstitute competition and had neglect-ed to label it. When asked about thejars filled with motor cars sheallegedly replied it is a traffic jam ofcourse.Following on from an office wind uprevealed in our last issue, Anne Fostershared a couple played on her. Onceshe found a note on her desk to callMr R Madillo, and on April Fool’sday another year, ‘some wags’ hadmeticulously undone all the screws onher typewriter. When she hit carriagereturn, it flew off onto the floor.

Joan Smedley,Doris Wright,Anne Smith, Sidand Florrie Bull.

SECOND: Doreenand BillButterworth,Christine Allenby,Gay Southgate,Pauline Andrews,Doris Reilly.

THIRD: DonDexter, ElsieRoberts,Margaret Adams,Rose and HarrySnell, LynneEwers.

FOURTH: JosieShingles, CharlesNelson, MaggiePutman, Malcolmand MarionSmith, Ted andDoris Neale.

FIFTH: Mike andEve Glover, Firstaider, Pat andStuart Stamp,Margaret Stainesand Ginny Dean(Welfare).

The Five Arrows Hotel andRestaurant stands at the gates ofWaddesdon Manor, which houses oneof the finest collections of Frenchdecorative arts in the world. TheHotel has 11 bedrooms, a varied andexciting menu to suit all tastes, and awine list that encompasses everydayand rare wines from both New andOld World vineyards. It sports a hostof quality marques including AA****(Restaurant With Rooms) and men-tions in the Tourism Excellenceawards for 2009 and 2010. There areformal gardens and WaddesdonManor is only a pleasant walk away.The whole hotel can be hired out forfamilies who are either holdingevents there or at neighbouringWaddesdon Manor.

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SUMMER OUTINGS

REAL, June 8, OffleyPlace, nr HitchinNew member Hazel Steedon was celebrating her birth-day on the day of the luncheon while Peter andMargaret Allcroft had recently celebrated their RubyAnniversary.Chairman Alan Chaney was unable to attend due to aprevious golfing engagement, but his wife was there.Pauline Bryant thanked the guests, staff at OffleyPlace and all those who had made the lunch possible fora lovely day.Despite poor eyesight Mir Shafi, with the help ofREAL committee member John Davis and otherfriends, keep the Laing rambling club going. Mostrecently they travelled to Derbyshire for an enjoyablewalking break.

TOP: Margaret and Peter Allcroft, Eddie Blackburn and sis-ter, Bill Bowden, Jasmin Brown, Pauline and Tony Bryant,Jane Chaney. SECOND: Cecil Cherns, Vic and Jennifer Israel,Mir Shaffi, Helen Porter, Brian Cider, Nigel Clark, Lal Dias,Vic and Christine Allen. THIRD: Anne and Mike Corlett,Doug and Edna Jury, Anne and Peter Coles, Bill and PeggyCutmore, Ron and Cora Field, Audrey Maynard. FOURTH:John Davis, Marion and Peter Donaldson, Shirley Frost,Margaret Steer, John Hockley, Frank and Dorothy Hearn.FIFTH: Jerry and Jean De Vries, Lorna Glide, Lew and JuneGambrill, Allan and Jean Martin, Ken and Joyce Martin,Valerie Wiltshire. SIXTH: Gordon and Christine Foster, MoiraHanniffy, Pauline and Frank Willcocks, Ann Lyons, DoreenSmee, Roger and Maureen Mountford, David Toynbee, JeanBreslin. SEVENTH: Ron and Eileen Norton, Ron and LynnePierce, Judy and Derek Pollard, Donald and Jean Ridley, Fayand Bill Malcolm. EIGHTH: John and Margaret Trounce, HelenJacobs, Fred Potter, Barry and Barbara Whitaker, Margaret andPeter Worth, Alan and Mimi Walton.

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SUMMER OUTINGS

Solare, June 9, OckendenManor, CuckfieldIt was the first time in any-one’s memory when the ‘sun-shine club’ did not have a blis-teringly hot day for theirluncheon, but, as chairmanKen Jones said ‘ one out of 17’was still great.Among those who havedelved into their family histo-ries was Carole Walden whodiscovered that her grandfa-ther’s neice had been involvedin running today’s venue whenit was a school. During her 15years of research she tracedher family back hundreds of

years. It has become much eas-ier lately with many detailsavailable on the internet,whereas Carole has had totraipse around the country sift-ing through local and churchrecords.Ken Fisher is lucky enough tohave a cousin ‘Intrepid Linda’who has been looking into theirfamily history on everyone’sbehalf. Again she has seemedto hit brick wall at the 1600s.After lunch club chairmanKen Jones thanked those whohad made it all possible.

TOP: Brian Aitken, Alex Gregory, DoreenAitken, Brian and Barbara Blight, Eric and JeanChilds, George and Sandra Edwards. SECOND:Leighton and Wendy Davies, Monica andTrevor Berry, Mike Webb, Roy and DorothyGraham, Tony Hale, Bill Blamire, MikeFarragher. THIRD: Ken and Shirley Fisher,Margaret and Jim Glynn, Beryl Henry, BettyHagart, Deanne and Les Hilman, LaurieHodgkinson. FOURTH: Joyce and MikeLemonier, Ken and Roberta Jones, JohnMcGuinness, Pat and Stan Jarman, Mike andMarion James. FIFTH: John and Monica Tuck,Anne and John May, Betty and Gil Lumley, Jerryand Monica Lewis, Maureen Rice. SIXTH: Janand Dave Constable, Ray and Rena Phillips,Teresa Pierkarski, Pam Peed, Pam and RogerStride, Margaret and Ron Richards. SEVENTH:Peter and Barbara Watson, Vivianne and FrankSinnock, John and Pat Tully, Ian and CaroleWalden, Lynne Wilkins and Hazel Watson.

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CLUB NEWS

Cumbria Margaret Levin01228-526374

Elstree Shirley Napier020 8207 5110

LNER (North East) John Crosby0191 262 4978

North West Jack Stokes01204 491004

REAL (Nth London) Pauline Bryant020 8907 2166

REALM (Midlands) Jane Barnes01827 61267

Saltire (Scotland) Jim Saunders01324 638896

Solare (SW London) Bill Blamire01737 553174

South West Geoff Luckett01934 843077

CLUB CONTACTS

CUMBRIA* Weekly meetings atWigton Methodist Hall

ELSTREE* Weekly meetingsSt Michael and All AngelsChurch Hall, Tuesday2.30pm.

REALMeetings at Allum Hall,BorehamwoodOCTOBER 5* Talk on the work of TheSamaritans by JohnCooper.OCTOBER 19* Tour of St. PancrasInternational Station.NOVEMBER 2* Talk on Ghosts.NOVEMBER 16* Coach trip to Windsorand Eton.

REALMSEPTEMBER 14* Outing to the NationalBrewery Museum, Burtonon Trent.

LNERSEPTEMBER 14* Trip to Bowes Museumat Barnard Castle lunchand a conducted tour

SALTIRESEPTEMBER 20* A coach trip and con-ducted tour of Edinburghwith a fish lunch at thehistoric ‘Peacock Inn’.

SOLARESEPTEMBER 21* Social & AGM atAntoinette Hotel,Kingston.OCTOBER 19* Autumn lunch at theToby Carvery, CheamRoad, Ewell.

SOUTH WESTSEPTEMBER 22* 25th Anniversary lunchat Brent House, nearWeston Super Mare.OCTOBER 6* Skittles event at theWoodborough Inn.

CLUB EVENTS

Call clubs for details

Clubs celebratingtheir anniversariesThe newCarlisle clubchairmanJohn Barrowdecidedagainst tak-ing out asuperinjunc-tion to pre-vent thepublicationof the image shown here. It waspassed on by his ‘friends’ on thecommittee and features him wearingthe prize he won in a dancing com-petition during the club’s holiday toTenby in May.Meanwhile, north of the border clubsecretary Jim Saunders points outthat the ‘10th Anniversary of the for-mation of the club, had passed sometime ago without acknowledgement’.They are putting the situation rightwith a special trip to the Scottishcapital in September.South West and Realm are both cele-brating their 25th anniversaries thisyear, with various events and activi-ties.The clubs provided details of manyenjoyable trips, two of them on theriver, Realm from Conway Castle toTewkesbury and Solare on theMedway.

24

MAJOR BIRTHDAYS A

Diamonds are forever

M1 led to happiness

DIAMOND WEDDING, BILL ANDDOREEN BUTTERFIELD, JULY 21,2011

They met as members of thesame social club where Bill usedto box, a year later they weremarried.Bill was also the Middlesex

regional athletics champion, nick-ing the title by one point againsthis best friend Maurice Staff.He spent 14 years working with

Laing as a plumber and enjoyedevery minute.He said: “I Ioved my time with

Laing, it was one of the best jobs

I ever had in my whole career.”Previously he had run his par-

ents green grocer shop in BurntOak. The couple have a son and adaughter and two grandsons.

GOLDEN WEDDING,ALAN AND DORATYERS, JUNE 24,2011

The couple met whileAlan was working onthe M1 as a PlantFitter, and were mar-ried in the village ofNaseby NearNorthampton.They travelled the

country on differentsites and worked at anon mechanical plantdepot in SelceyForest for four yearswhere the DepotManager was JackOgbourne.Alan then spent

around two yearsworking in theLarkhill/Bulford areaon the 'Jesperson'

buildings, beforeending up at theSouth West PlantDepot in FramptonCotterell near Bristol.He was a mobileplant fitter there for32 years and hasmany happy memo-ries.He retired in 2000

after 42 happy years

with John Laing andthe couple still live inthe Bristol area withtheir two sons andthree grandchildrenliving in the sametown.Dora and Alan cele-

brated their GoldenWedding on aMediterraneancruise.

GOLDEN WEDDINGS

DIAMOND WEDDINGS

3 JuneJohn & Trixie Hammett

Derrick & SusanHenstock

10 JuneLes & Beryl Frost

8 JulyTrevor & Eileen Manning

19 JuneColin & Valerie Clark

24 JuneJoan & Peter Sands

21 JulyBarry & Marie Tarrant

28 JulyDavid & Mary Lewis

John & Mary Plunkett

We love to publish your anniversary pictures and details. Ifyou wish to be included, please send your Golden and

Diamond anniversary details to Pensioner Publishing or theLaing Welfare Department at the addresses on the inside

front cover of this magazine.

100th BIRTHDAYSMargery Turner – July 6Doris Wilson – July 9(see page 10)

95th BIRTHDAYJohn Crehan – Aug 26

90th BIRTHDAYS:Gordon Grieves – June 5(pictured above)Barry Tarrant – July 1John Leslie – Aug 11

25

AND ANNIVERSARIES

Ritz Ballroom dance is Golden

Couple travelled the world

EDWARD AND MARGARET GARAWAYGOLDEN WEDDING, JULY 14, 2011

The couple met at the Ritz Ballroom inIrvine, Ayrshire in Autumn 1959 whileEddie was Lance Bombardier in theRoyal Artillery stationed at DundonaldCamp before a posting to Germanyand demob in 1960.They were married at St AndrewsChurch, Irvine and had a one-nighthoneymoon at the Railway Hotel in Ayrbefore heading to their first flat at theQuadrant, Redland, Bristol when Eddierecalls they ‘had £3 between us untilthe next payday!’He first worked for JLC in early 1958on the Metal Bridge over the River Eskon the English/Scottish border.Following a spell with the Port ofBristol Authority, Eddie rejoined Laingin Spring 1961 as a steel fixer. Goingon to be a foreman steel fixer heworked on ‘a vast number of projectsin the south west’ before being trans-

ferred to Management in 1983/83.Major contracts included one-and-a-half years in the Falkland Islands. Mostof Margaret’s working life was spent asa nursing auxiliary and later as a carer.They have three children, seven grand-children and three great grandchildren.

DIAMOND WEDDINGJOHN AND PAT CROSBYJUNE 30, 1951

The Crosby’s GoldenWedding was the first tobe covered in the LaingRetired Employees’Newsletter back in 2001.John worked in the civil

engineering section,Laing Concrete and JLIduring his 37-year careerwith the Company.They met on site during

John’s first posting withLaing at an open castcoal site inNorthumberland wherePat was employed as asite secretary.The two pictures are

those featured from theoriginal GoldenAnniversary piece withthe couple on the theirwedding day and at theirGolden anniversary.

Welcomeback theCrosbys

JENNYAND NEVILLESEMPLE, GOLDENWEDDING, 31 July, 2011

The couple were mar-ried in Hebburn-on-Tyne and immediatelymoved to Dublin.After six years, along

with two children, theymoved to Belfast whereNeville joined theCompany as a QS.In 1983 he joined

Civils in Baghdad, atwhich point the warwith Iran promptlystarted. He came backand joined constructionin London, and thenSurbiton from 1985until he retired in1992. He continuedworking part time else-where in construction

until he was 70; and isstill helping with vari-ous voluntary organisa-tions.Their eldest child,

Michael, is well knowninternationally for hiswork, trying to negoti-ate help and peace(www.talkforpeace.org)particularly now inAfghanistan.His introduction to

this sort of activitycame when, as a youngchild, Neville took

Michael and his sisterAlison with him onSaturday morningswhen he was going onsite to inspect client'sbuildings which hadbeen bomb damagedthe night before.He added: “Laing have

always helped a lot ofpeople in many areasand it's interesting tosee where these poli-cies have encouragedpeople to keep goingand be positive.”

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Having been set up last year, theLegal Ombudsman published itsfirst report in July and chiefombudsman Adam Sampson saidthat the majority of his work con-cerned complaints surrounding thedrawing up of wills.Based on research carried out by

the Legal Services Consumer PanelMr Sampson said that up to 33% ofwills drawn up by will writers andnearly 25% of wills drawn up bysolicitors had been shown to bedeficient.You should shop around and take

professional advice on finding thebest value and most reliable serv-ice, but here we outline a couple ofthe points discussed by the LegalOmbudsman (contact details belowand further sources of independ-ent help and advice feature left).The Legal Ombudsman’s office

only has the power to investigatecomplaints pertaining to membersof the legal profession.Currently the writing of wills is

not regulated and most peopleinvolved with badly drawn up willsonly find out when it is time toexecute the will. During an appear-ance on the Jeremy Vine Show on

Radio 2 on July 22, Mr Sampsonsaid that he felt a professionalshould be involved in the execu-tion of a will if it involved complexfinancial arrangements, or trusts.However, a spokesman from the

Institute of Professional WillWriters felt there was no need forsolicitors to be appointed as soleexecutors generally for straight-forward wills.He also said that the institute’s

members worked to a code ofpractise aimed at ensuring thewills they drew up were valid andreliable.Mr Sampson added that a 'will'

written on a piece of paper bybenefactors themselves and wit-nessed by two signatories whowere not beneficiaries of the willcan be perfectly legitimate, ifstored safely and made availableafter the death of the benefactor.Do not attempt this before seekingprofessional independent advice.The legal ombudsman’s website

is: www.legalombudsman.org.ukor you can call them on 0300 5550333 if you think you may haveany legitimate complaint against alawyer.

Make sure your willis fit for purpose

Retirees coping with elderly parents’ healthAn Age UK forum on improvingessential healthcare of older peo-ple held this summer revealed thatmany retirees have found them-selves dealing with problems con-cerning the healthcare of their eld-erly parents.Earlier this year the Office of the

Parliamentary and HealthOmbudsman published a reporthighlighting harrowing stories ofthe experiences of some olderpatients.The two overall findings of the

report, were:

1) The NHS failing to respond toneeds of older people with careand compassion and (in somecases) failing to provide mostbasic standards of care2) An attitude – both personal andinstitutional – which fails to recog-nise the humanity and individualhumanity of people concerned andto respond to them with sensitivi-ty, compassion and professional-ismYou can find a copy of the report

at: www.ombudsman.org.uk andclicking on to the reports section.

You can also complain direct tothe health ombudsman’s office ifyou feel that yourself or a relativehas been poorly treated.

n The Partnership on Dignity inCare is a new initiative made upof The NHS Confederation, LocalGovernment Group (LG Group)and Age UK. The commission isalso asking for individuals andorganisations working across thehealth and social care sectors tosubmit their input. You can con-tact them at their website:www.dignityincare.org.uk

WELFARE NEWS

Free help and adviceCitizen’s Advice Bureau helpspeople resolve their legal, moneyand other problems by providingfree, independent and confidentialadvice. Find your nearest officethrough the website:www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ or call:0844 477 2020 for Wales, 08444111 444 (England).

Action against Medical Accidents(AvMA) is an independent charitywhich provides free specialistadvice concerning NHS or privatehealthcare complaints where it issuspected that harm has beencaused or there is a threat topatient safety. You can contacttheir helpline from Monday toFriday, 10am - 5pm, on 0845 1232352.

Age UK (www.ageuk.org.uk) pro-vides useful advice on financial andhealth matters. You can call theirhelpline free on 0800 169 6565

The Patients Association(www.patients-association.com)provides free help and advice forall patients in the UK. Theirhelpline number is: 0845 6084455.

The Directgov website has usefulinformation on will planning, go to:www.direct.gov.uk, then use the‘search’ facility to find the informa-tion you need.

IN MEMORIAM

27

was 72 and retired in 1999 after19 years’ service.

Jack Dixon, formerly a Checkerwith John Laing Construction,Northern region, died on Friday29 July 2011. He was 82 andretired in 1991 after 23 years’service.

Dave Ely, formerly a FinishingManager with Laing Limited,Northern region, died onTuesday 16 August 2011. Hewas 67 and retired in 2001 after26 years’ service.

Arthur Hird, formerly aQuantity Surveyor Clerk withJohn Laing Construction,Southern region, died onSaturday 21 May 2011. He was88 and retired in 1986 after 17years’ service.

Jack Mitchell, formerly aSectionManager with John LaingConstruction, Northern region,died on Monday 20 June 2011.He was 83 and retired in 1984after 22 years’ service.

Roy Mitchell, formerly anOperations Manager, with I.S.D,died on Wednesday 27 July2011. He was 84 and retired in1988 after 23 years’ service.

John Moffatt, formerly aGeneral Operative with John

Alan Adamson, formerly aRegional Checker with JohnLaing Construction, Yorkshireregion, died on Tuesday 19 July2011. He was 82 and retired in1991 after 25 years’ service.

Frank Awin, formerly aForeman Plasterer, with JohnLaing Construction, Londonregion, died on Sunday 21August 2011. He was 87 andretired in 1984 after 14 years’service.

John Bowles, formerly AdminServices Manager with CivilEngineering, Mill Hill, died onThursday 23 June 2011. He was85 and retired in 1986 after 35years’ service.

Bruce Boys, formerly Chairmanof JLI, died on Sunday 14 August2011. He was 69 and retired in1998 after 39 years’ service.

Stephen (Steve) Buckle, for-merly a Section Engineer withJohn Laing Construction,Northern region, died onSaturday 11 June 2011. He was59 and retired in 2001 after 22years’ service.

Peter Colley, formerly aForeman Ganger with JohnLaing Construction, Northernregion, died on Saturday 23April 2011 (late notification). He

Laing Construction, South Westregion, died on Monday 8August 2011. He was 80 andretired in 1992 after 40 years’service.

Roy Port, formerly a GroupMaterials Controller with JohnLaing Construction, Southernregion, died on Wednesday 22June 2011. He was 83 andretired in 1992 after 19 years’service.

John Rooney, formerly aGanger with John LaingConstruction, North westregion, died on Sunday 24 July2011. He was 76 and retired in1996 after 27 years’ service.

Sam Samuels, formerly aGeneral Operative with JohnLaing Construction, South westregion, died on Tuesday 21 June2011. He was 87 and retired in1988 after 26 years’ service.

Peter Taylor, formerly a HireController with EPL,Staffordshire, died on Thursday28 July 2011. He was 85 andretired in 1990 after 34 years’service.

Herbert Wragg, formerly aPlant Driver with Thermalite,died on Friday 1 July 2011. Hewas 94 and retired in 1981 after13 years’ service.