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Those of us who attended the mini-reunion in September 2009 were very impressed by the stained glass windows in St George's Church. Many Apprentice entries, other RAF Halton groups and some commercial concerns with Halton connections have paid for windows to be installed. The eight of us felt that the 208 entry should also be represented and we started a collection while having a drink in The Shoulder of Mutton, the old entry pub.
Min Larkin, the Curator at the museum gave us the name of Karen Newby in Anglesey who had made several of the other windows and told us the cost would be between £800 and £1,000. We needed a design of course and there was some reluctance at first to come up with something. Jim Colclough was first to put pen to paper and also made a very generous contribution to the window fund.
Jim's sketch was the basis of our final draft but it took a little longer for us to reach a mutually acceptable design.
Karen created another draft containing all the elements of Jim's and this was circulated amongst the entry. This was almost universally rejected and a long game of e-mail tennis ensued.
We had lots of different ideas but finally settled on this splendidly executed design submitted by Clem Ord. A majority agreement was reached and the design was sent to Karen with a request for her to start work on our window.
Meanwhile, the fund was growing. Contributions of £100 were made by those attending the Apprentices Triennial Reunion in 2010 and at the Second Jim Sparks Reunion in June 2011, a further £516 was collected. Donations were also made by transfer and post and by the end of June 2011 we had £1,253 in our bank account.
The leaking gutter.
The installation date was set for Wednesday 25th April 2012. It was threatening rain that morning so I turned up early with a tarpaulin sheet. Brian Newby arrived at 3pm, as expected and by that time I had it covered. Exept of course for the small matter of St. George's leaky guttering! Brian did all the installation work and made a very fine job of it.
For the rest of the story, please see the Window Dedication page and also our page about the donation we made to the RAF Benevolent Fund with the change remaining.
Our superb window should last now for at least as long as the church and will be a fitting reminder of all the boys who were thrown together in January 1967. Bring your children and your grand children to see it and tell them what it means to us, The 208 Entry, Number One School of Technical Training, Royal Air Force Halton, and tell them to pass it on!
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