On 13th November 2019, family, friends and colleagues of Guardsman Paul Fryer gathered at the side of a Commonwealth War Grave at Danygraig Cemetery, Risca to remember him, 40 years to the date that he was killed by the IRA in Crossmaglen, South Armagh.

On 13th November 1979 Paul was on patrol in the Fords Cross area of Crossmaglen with his Brick led by his Platoon Commander Lt Peter Bevan (RIP) with Gdsm Dai Parry 65 and Gdsm Mike Miller 84 making up the four-man brick.  Having successfully carried out their scheduled routine patrol they were moving to a rendezvous point to return to base by helicopter (the only safe way to travel in the area) and whilst moving from one field across a road to another, a RCIED (Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device) consisting of 200lb of explosive packed in a milk churn, concealed beneath the surface was detonated.

Paul, who was directly above the device, was killed instantly. Paul was 18 years old.

There is a full gallery of pictures HERE:

A poignant and busy day in London yesterday.  The annual Welsh Guards Memorial Parade, known within the Regiment as Black Sunday takes place in the afternoon after the annual Remembrance Parade at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.  

There is a full gallery of pictures HERE:

The first Saturday in October is firmly in the diary now as the day for the annual Ride to the Wall. A day when thousands of bikers the majority being ex-service people make their way to National Memorial Arboretum for a unique motorcycling event which gives motorcyclists the opportunity to gather together at a place of remembrance, to pay their respects to our serving and fallen service men and women and in doing so, raise funds solely for the purpose of perpetuating their memory and recognising the sacrifice made.

It has become our tradition to gather at the Household Division Memorial at 13:00 hrs to lay a wreath, have a quiet reflection and meet old friends.  A couple of Welsh Guards regulars were hors de combat this year but we were well represented.

Just arrived home from a wonderful short break in Mallorca. So good to catch up with family and friends and to attend the Wedding of my niece Gemma and David. It was a joy to attend a wedding without having a camera in my hand so only a few snaps with the phone.

The first meeting of the Welsh Guards Association was held in Cardiff on Saturday 29thNovember 1919 and here we are in Cardiff one hundred years later celebrating this Centenary. We started our celebration in Saint John the Baptist Church with a service designed and delivered by the Welsh Guard’s Padre, Captain Matthew Dietz wonderfully supported by the Band of the Welsh Guards. After the service we headed to the Angel Hotel for a celebratory lunch with a wonderful quintet from the Welsh Guards Band entertaining us whilst we ate. After the meal Colonel TCS Bonas, the Regimental Adjutant and the President of the Welsh Guards Association gave a short address, read the replies to our loyal greetings to both the Colonel in Chief and the Colonel of the Regiment and proposed the toasts to the Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales the Regiment and the Association.

You can see more pictures HERE

We are getting ready to celebrate the Centenary of the formation of the Welsh Guards Association. The Regiment was raised on the 26th February 1915 as the youngest regiment in the then Brigade of Guards and now the Household Division, within six months of the end of the Great War the Association was formed in Cardiff “to maintain connection between the past and serving members of the Welsh Guards and thereby promote their mutual interest and welfare of the Regiment generally”.

We are celebrating on the 20th September with a Church Service at Saint John The Baptist church followed by a lunch at the Angel Hotel, Cardiff.

At 05:30 hours on a damp Saturday morning twenty-two serving members and veterans of the Welsh Guards along with a number of Welsh Guards Association associate members and widows of some of the Guardsmen who liberated Hechtel-Eksel set off on the annual Welsh Guards Association Battlefield Tour.
And what an amazing experience it was. Over the course of 5 days we experience a whole gamut of emotions and learned a great deal about the history of the regiment.

You can see a full gallery of pictures HERE

A wonderful day shooting a .22 LR shooting challenge. The weather was exceptional, the banter great and the shooting was pretty impressive too.

Safely home from The Gamefair after an enjoyable but exhausting week. Thursday was a very difficult day, certainly the hottest day I have experienced in the UK and in getting everything ready for the show opening the following day, according to my "Fitbit", I managed to walk 17 kilometres!

The show went very well for us with the gundogs, we had over 20 different breeds of gundogs in the Sporting Dog Pavilion as well as a full three-day programme of events and demonstrations in the working dog ring.  The hot weather broke on Thursday night, and we had some terrific thunderstorms and torrential rain so a huge thankyou to Ridgeline of New Zealand for providing our waterproof clothing. The highlight of the show for me was watching Ben Potter fly his Steller’s Sea Eagle a huge and magnificent bird and it really drew the crowds.  You can see a full gallery of pictures from the show by clicking HERE.

Another beautiful morning at Croxton Park, the early morning mist was starting to burn off as the sun was rising on my arrival, and the day was looking to be set fair.  We are still getting to know the land so I had an interesting and enjoyable three hour walk.  I saw so many hares that I literally lost count, I spotted one muntjac deep in the trees, it was clear to see through the thermal but the undergrowth is so dense this time of year that it was impossible to pick out through the binoculars.  I found an old high-seat above a clearing in one of the woods, it has not been maintained and it pretty much fell to pieces when I tested it.

 All the peas have now been harvested so it was clear to see the signs of deer activity, slots, scat and some very obvious lying up places where they are ether spending the night or taking their siesta. 

 All in all a great but tiring walk spoilt only by my useless Härkila Pro Hunter boots, £300+, one year old and leaking like a sieve!

My first morning stalk on our new lease at Croxton Park and it certainly bodes well for the future

It was a beautiful morning and the sun was already warm and shining when I arrived at 06:00, there is a broad strip of mowed grass separating a small plantation of elders and a wheat field near where I parked the car, it is about 10 meters wide and around 300 meters long and there must have been anything between 10 and 15 hares happily basking in the sunshine. Not wanting to disturb them I set off walking through the elders only to notice the rear end of a deer backing into the small ride I was walking on about 100 yards in front of me. 

I was expecting a muntjac but it turned out to be a very fine Roe Buck indeed. We have decided not to shoot the roe until we have a better idea what is on the ground so I just watched it for a minute or so through the binoculars, it had a good head not sure if it would have made a medal but it would not have been far off, eventually he spotted me and made off sharpish. 

The elevated roe-box is very spacious and comfortable but the roof is a little low, I settled down to see what was about there were squirrels everywhere and a couple of very large hares came past. At just after 08:00 I spotted some movement on the ride to my left, there is a bit of foliage that needs trimming back to give a clear view up the ride but when I was eventually able to see what it was I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a very large muntjac buck, it was still in velvet but it looked like he had a pair of over-ripe bananas stuck on his head. Far too good a buck to be taken in velvet so he will get another day. 

An hour later there was again movement on the ride to my left, this time it was a doe, slowly making her way towards me down the ride, she turned and presented a broadside and she is now in the freezer.

An excellent weekend in Wrexham. On this 37th Anniversary of the Falklands War Chris Hopkins has yet again organised a wonderful weekend giving us the opportunity to remember our friends and colleagues who did not return from the South Atlantic and to give thanks for those who did. Followed by an evening to pull up sandbags swap stories and catch up with one of the most rewarding and enjoyable extended families anyone could wish to belong to.

There is a full gallery of photographs from the weekend HERE

I had a very interesting and enjoyable day helping out at the “Farm Open Day” at Hill Farm Packington. I was talking to the visitors about the Deer and Bison.  It is a bit of an eye opener to see just how little people know about anything rural and agricultural.  I blame BBC Countryfile :-)

A truly excellent day at the Queen’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards Parade in London.  The 1stBattalion of the Grenadier Guards were Trooping their Colour.  I did not take a camera so it was just a few pictures with my phone.  I was rather worried on the trip down to London on the train as it was raining all the way but my fears were groundless as the rain stopped and at time the sun even put in an appearance.  The parade was followed by an excellent lunch at the Cavalry & Guards Club followed by even more Champaign at the In & Out Club, the downside to the merriment and festivities was that I had to leave my car at the train station when I arrived back in the Midlands and take a taxi home.

You can see more pictures from the day HERE

I finally decided that it was time to revamp my web presence. I am still not sure if this is a great idea or simply a vanity project on a grand scale. I guess if you are reading this you have found your way here so hopefully you will enjoy your visit.

An excellent day with Edward Tate on his farm in Shrewsbury, He explained how he is using ‘Enhanced Ecological Management Project’ and ‘Social Programs’ which have gradually evolved over the last ten years. In simple terms he is attempting to reduce his reliance on bagged fertiliser, improve soil health and benefit the natural environment whilst helping local and visiting communities enjoy the health, recreational and educational benefits of a rural setting. Currently all his activities are self-funded with no external fiscal contribution. As with everything these days The Isle has its own mission statement:

“To sustainably farm for the future”. (Sustainability incorporates continual evolution and dissemination of financial, environmental and social practices).

As I was leaving one of the peacocks was putting on a display for a gathering of peahens, this would have been all the more impressive had it not been taking place on a pile of horse manure.

They call it the “Golden Hour “for a reason, we had the dogs out on the farm for a run around and a bit of training. Poor Brady is carrying way too much coat but this will all be coming off in a couple of days. Basil the Springer puppy is coming on well.

The Sporting Irish Water Spaniel Club held a training weekend with Dorothy Walls-Duffin at her beautiful training ground in Fillongley, Warwickshire. A good mixture if novice and experienced handlers being put through there paces by the as ever patient Dorothy.

You can see a full gallery of the pictures from the day by clicking HERE

I was doing some housekeeping on the MacBook to free up some space and found a couple of pictures that I had taken of Teresa a long time ago. I can’t remember when I took them, in fact I can’t remember taking them at all but I think they deserve an airing now.

Another great day at Andrew’s social day for members of his PR&H FaceBook Group. A number of steel targets out to around 600 yards as well as a number of closer targets for the rimfire rifles. As ever, even though the shooting was good the most enjoyable thing about the day was the crack and catching up with good friends. One small downside was that in the few days between Andrew putting the targets out the crop had grown so much that many of the targets were quite hard to see, in true stiff upper lip spirit this was simply considered an added element of difficulty.