News for 2014/5 Updated:- 29.07.2015

NEWS FROM HOME (Hadzor)

Jan 15. Well here we are Christmas and New Year behind us and looking forward to 2015 and all it has in store for us. The past few months have seemed like a bit of a whirlwind with so many things happening with in the families all around the world  .
On a personal note the last year has been filled with good news. Retirement has been good no more scares in the health department and the consultants have given me a clear bill of heath which is all great news for me and Trish..2014 we travelled to see the family in Leamington Spa, Devon, Spain and of course our new little branch in Worcester with Justin Debbie and our new granddaughter Isabella Rose who was two last November, a most welcomed new member to the family. The last two years we have been doing a few nostalgia breaks the first with Trish to visit my old and last ship HMS Cavalier which is now a floating museum at HM Chatham Dockyard in Kent which we did in March for my birthday then  travelled to meet up with Jenny and Nigel with visits to Portsmouth Royal Dockyards. Followed in April/May to East Anglia to do some National Trust properties, we also took a flying visit to Shotley Ipswich  where I started my Naval training at HMS Ganges, sadly closed now but we did get some pictures of the main gates and the infamous mast that we all had to climb as part of our training. we then journeyed on to our base for two days at Great Yarmouth from where we visited several NT properties some with WWII RAF connections as the Bleniem aircraft training centre and the forerunner for the Lancaster Bomber which followed, a most interesting visit.

CAVALIER REVISITED.
The start of our nostalgia beaks was to Chatham the final resting place for HMS Cavalier my last sea commission while serving a great day with loads of memories, just as if I’d never left the bunk bed even my locker all as it was. We explored the dockyard and the working rope house (pictured right,) which was over 175 yards long so that a continuos piece of rope can be made to anchor ships in the deepest harbors around the world, we also had a tour of an old “O” class submarine and the lifeboat museum (pictured left) which has restored lifeboats from day one, a fascinating and adventurous day.


PORTSMOUTH VISIT. 
A memorable return to old haunts in and around Portsmouth Dockyard, a very full four days with trips to the submarine centre which was  atmospheric with simulated attacks as it would have been for real all enjoyed it, we then visited the explosives dept which housed all the armored weaponry  from Bofurs to 16 inch breaches from the Vanguard (pictured) Seacat and Seaslug missiles not forgetting the Depth charges for anti submarine warfare. We took in the main dockyard going over HMS Warrior which is an old ironclad launched back in the 1700’s and in it’s earlier days was part of the floating billets for HMS Vernon the torpedo training center before becoming shorebased at Gunwharf (pictured left) were I was trained.    Whilst there we visited the Mary Rose (King Edward VIII’s Flagship which has been rescued from the Solent, an incredible piece of salvage work and restoration for the nation
.
The center has hundreds of reclaimed objects from the ship from canons to cutlasses even leather shoes and webbing with plates and cookware including the brick ovens, on a wooden ship!! a real eye opener but an absolute must to visit thoroughly recommended, you’ll need at least a weekend to do it justice

HMS M33 (A Monitor) The only surviving ship from the World War One Gallipoli campaign has been restored and opened to the public with the help of a £1.75m lottery grant. Project director Matthew Sheldon said: "HMS M33 is a small ship but has a big history.
"Finally, we are able to share the story of her part in the Gallipoli Campaign, and reveal what it was like for the 72 crew who were crammed on board."
The 568-tonne, M29-class monitor has a shallow hull, which allowed it to get closer to shore to fire at land targets. More than 100,000 lives were lost in the Gallipoli campaign between April 1915 and January 1916.
Monitor ship HMS M33 sits in number one dock next to HMS Victory, in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
The £2.4m restoration will be paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and a Hampshire County Council grant to the National Museum of the Royal Navy. After the war, the M33 returned to action in the Russian Civil War, where it was involved in the withdrawal of troops from northern Russia during the Dvina River Campaign, which took place between 1918 and 19.
It spent the remainder of its active service in Portsmouth, where it remains.
And last but by no means least.
HMS Victory Nelson’s Flagship:
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

She was also Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she served as a harbour ship.

In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She is the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission.

Reconstruction:
By late 1797, Victory was stationed at Chatham under the command of Lieutenant J. Rickman. In December, unfit for service as a warship, she was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war.

However, on 8 October 1799, HMS Impregnable was lost off Chichester, having run aground on her way back to Portsmouth after escorting a convoy to Lisbon. She could not be refloated and so was stripped and dismantled. Now short of a first rate, the Admiralty decided to recondition Victory. Work started in 1800, but as it proceeded, an increasing number of defects were found and the repairs developed into a very extensive reconstruction. The original estimate was £23,500, but the final cost was £70,933.] Extra gun ports were added, taking her from 100 guns to 104, and her magazine lined with copper. Her figurehead was replaced along with her masts and the paint scheme changed from red to the black and yellow seen today. Her gun ports were originally yellow to match the hull, but later repainted black, giving a pattern later called the "Nelson chequer", which was adopted by all Royal Navy ships after the Battle of Trafalgar. The work was completed in April 1803, and the ship left for Portsmouth the following month under her new captain, Samuel Sutton.
Nelson and Tafalgar:
Vice-Admiral Nelson hoisted his flag in Victory on 18 May 1803, with Samuel Sutton as his flag captain. The ship was not ready to sail, however, so Nelson transferred to the frigate Amphion on 20 May and left to assume command in the Mediterranean. Victory later sailed to Ushant to serve as flagship to Cornwallis, but was not required and so went to the Mediterranean in search of Nelson

On 28 May, Captain Sutton captured the French Embuscade of 32 guns, bound for Rochefort.Victory rejoined Lord Nelson off Toulon, where on 31 July, Captain Sutton exchanged commands with the captain of Amphion, Thomas Masterman Hardy and Nelson raised his flag in Victory once more.

NEWS FROM THE FAMILIES and FRIENDS ABROAD

NEWS FROM THE JONES’S/PERRY’S

Welcome to the Jones and Perry’s news page we will try to keep you all up to date with the family news keep watching this space. or click on the link to our album site below or in the left margin

Jan 15. hello folks
The latest pictures from can be found on our web site www.jcjones.plus.com

Click on "family" then "the twins" (see the home page if you need help enlarging and navigating the photos).

The two black & white photos were taken by Matt two weeks ago when
the girls were one month old. He's conveniently labelled them.

I've edited out a number of the earlier photos.

Mar 10. Hello everyone, "the twins" (to be found under "family") has been updated. There are now so many photos of Anna and Sophie that it's been difficult to narrow down the selection. Many earlier photos have been replaced by more recent ones but a few have been left to illustrate how much they've changed. Although they are not identical it can be difficult enough to tell them apart in the flesh, let alone in photos.

Our web site is www.jcjones.plus.com

If you have difficulty navigating the web site have a look at the home page. The plus.com web site was playing up earlier today. If you have a problem getting access it might be worth just leaving it until later.

There are no pictures of our holiday in Canberra and Victoria yet. We'll sort out some soon. However we mostly videoed on our travels.

NEWS FROM THE BROWNS

JAN 13.

Thought you might be interested in what Annabel is doing, here is the link

www.leicesterbabyfair.co.uk <http://www.leicesterbabyfair.co.uk/>
 

The picture is little lottie with her first biscuit, she has her granddad’s smile (before he’s put his teeth in!) and a bonnie one she is too.

 

NEWS FROM THE CHAMBERS

Jan 15. Teresa is doing well at Coventry & Warwick University  hospital maternity unit she is on the NHS local web site video to see the video follow this link to the site and click to watch, www.nhslocal.nhs.uk/story/day-labour-ward  or click on the NHS local logo below

Adam’s growing at a pace now in his eighth year picture to the right at the controls of his plane!!

Likewise Hannah now eleven and quite the young lady about town

NEWS FROM THE FARRS (Droitwich)

May 15 - Great news from Justin’s camp, Their second child was born 23rd May 2015 weighing in at just under 6lbs a beautiful baby girl and her name is Sofia Mae Farr

Justin’s business is going from strength to strength and it looks like it was a wise decision to start his own company, we wish him continued success especially with this extra mouth to feed.
Isabella is growing at a pace 2 and a half years old now and quite the little girl as you can see!!

Enjoying life to the full as you would expect...

NEWS FROM DEVON

Jan 13 - Here’s the news from Devon,
 

TRAVERSO’S NEWS - Laurie and Sarah are well as are Scarlet and L.J. the family have just got back from skiing in Austria, this is the first time for the little ones and Sarah’s also. Laurie’s business is progressing the new album called “Traverso” was released and new tunes are in the mix (check out the link on the left navigation bar) still doing gigs in and around Austria while doing a bit of snow boarding - great life isn’t it...The new single “Dance no more” has been released so go out log on to ITunes and buy your copy for 79p only. You can also visit Loz’s blogg

NEWS FROM THE SKEDGELS CANADA

Jan 15. I was browsing your website and thought maybe you would like to have our photo web address, (click on the link for the Skedgels).
 

NEWS FROM THE SKEDGELS DEVON

Jan 15 Welcome to the Skedgel’s news page down in Devon
All work completed at Mo’s with major building work to the garden to creating off road parking electric gates and new patio  with a complete revamp of the kitchen and dining room into a state of the art kitchen/diner all very chic.
 

NEWS FROM THE NAKAZATOS

NEWS FROM THE HERMANS

Jan 15 - Welcome back to the Herman’s news page.