As the Crow Flies

If at all practicable or feasible, I make a beeline for my destination.

This is remarkably difficult, if you think about it.

Only if one can actually see one’s destination, can one go “as the crow flies.”

You could be at the beach, looking across a bay, at your hotel; and you know that the quickest way to get to it is by drawing a mental line across the craggy rocks and water; though it’s so impracticable as to take many times longer to reach your destination, given that you’re clothed, with belongings.

Even air travel is not always as the crow flies. There can be territorial “no-fly” zones, for instance.

Railways and buses hardly ever use a straight route; they have to avoid mountains, towns, private property, perhaps.

So it gives me considerable satisfaction if I can literally, in its true sense, travel “as the crow flies.”

New Lord-Lieutenant

THE QUEEN is pleased to appoint Mr David William McCorkell, DL, as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for County Antrim to succeed Mrs Joan Christie, CVO, OBE, who is due to retire on 28th June 2019.

Mr McCorkell is an Investment Manager by profession and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment.

He retired in 2017 after over thirty years of service within Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC, where he was a Board Director and Head of Investment Management.

He gives much of his time to the governance of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), the Armed Forces Charity, serving as a Trustee and Member of the SSAFA Council in London and the Regional Representative for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr McCorkell currently serves as a Member of the Quality Assurance Committee of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board, Ireland and as an elected Member of the Turf Club (Ireland) and Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee.

Additionally, he is a Committee Member of the Down Royal Corporation of Horse Breeders.

Mr McCorkell is the son of the late Colonel Sir Michael McCorkell, KCVO, OBE, TD, JP, Lord-Lieutenant of County Londonderry, 1975-2000.

He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for County Antrim in 2014.

He is married to Sue and has two adult children.

New DL

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY LIEUTENANT

Mrs Alison Millar, Lord-Lieutenant of County Londonderry, has been pleased to appoint:-

Mr Richard Neal Archibald
Coleraine
County  Londonderry

To be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County his Commission bearing date the 12th day of June 2019

Lord Lieutenant of the County

Lady Mary Peters

CAPTAIN LADY MARY ELIZABETH PETERS LG CH DBE RNR

Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, Dame Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mary Peters trained at "Buster" McShane's gym and health club at 58 Upper Arthur Street, Belfast (beside Music Hall Lane).

My father was a member of the club at the time and he used to take me there as a little boy, where Mary trained.

This was my first encounter with her.

As it happens, I was at Brackenber House at the time, where Mike Bull's father taught PE.

She became affectionately known as Ulster's Golden Girl when she brought us home a gold medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Mary Peters was appointed Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2000.

About five years later, in the Queen's New Year Honours, 2015, Dame Mary was appointed a Member of the Order of Companions of Honour (CH).

Dame Mary Peters DBE in 2000

Dame Mary served the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Belfast between 2009 and 2014 with great aplomb.

Dame Mary with her Insignia of a Companion of Honour in 2015

When she received the civic honour of Freedom of the City of Belfast in 2018, Belfast City Council remarked,

Over the past forty years she has served as an ambassador for Belfast across the world and has been tireless in her efforts to promote sport and the benefits it brings to young people. 

Accordingly, in the recognition of this service, the council agrees that Dame Mary Peters is hereby elected and admitted as a Freeman of the City of Belfast."

Captain Dame Mary Peters welcomes HM The Queen to Belfast

On Monday, the 17th June, 2019, Garter Day, at Windsor Castle, Lady Mary, now a new Lady of the Garter (LG), was installed with His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty the King of Spain, and the 7th Marquess of Salisbury as new Knights.

Lady Mary remains a wonderful ambassador for Northern Ireland.

Three cheers for Lady Mary Peters.

Garter Installation

Captain Lady Mary Peters LG CH DBE RNR, will be installed as a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on Monday, the 17th June, 2019.

Marine Painting

Do any readers recognize the artist of this painting?

Their name appears to be Finley.

It is an oil painting, probably drawn in the 1970s, bought from an art gallery in Belfast.

State Banquet

THE QUEEN gave a State Banquet on Monday, 3rd June, 2019, in honour of The President of the United States of America and Mrs Trump at which The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy were present.

The Viscountess Brookeborough and the Hon John Bolton

Specially attached to The President of the United States of America and Mrs Trump:

The Hon Dame Annabel Whitehead (Lady-in-Waiting), the Viscount Brookeborough KG (Lord-in-Waiting) and the Viscountess Brookeborough, Sir Kim Darroch (Her Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America) and Lady Darroch, and Major Nana Twumasi-Ankrah (Equerry-in-Waiting).

SPECIAL INVITATIONS

The Lord and Lady Bamford, Ms Ruth Cairnie and Mr Anthony Heggs, Mr Mark Carney, Sir Roger and Lady Carr, General Sir Nicholas and Lady Carter, the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, Mr and Mrs Ian Davis, Ms Cressida Dick;

The Rt Hon Nigel Dodds OBE MP, Mrs Diane Dodds MEP, and Mark Carney OC

The Rt Hon Nigel Dodds OBE MP and Mrs Dodds, Mr and Mrs Christopher Fisher, Mr and Mrs Jeremy Fleming, the Lord Speaker and the Lady Fowler, Sir Lucian and Lady Grainge, the Lord and Lady Hague of Richmond, the Baroness Hale of Richmond and Dr Julian Farrand, Mr and Mrs Peter Hill, Dame Vivian Hunt and Mr Nicholas Basden, Mr and Mrs Leif Johansson, the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, Mr and Mrs Helge Lund, Sir Simon and the Hon Lady McDonald, Dr and Mrs Gerry Murphy, Sir Kenneth and Lady Olisa, Mr and Mrs Andrew Parker, Ms Kathryn Parsons, Mr Antony Phillipson, Mr Leo Quinn and Mrs Elaine Fitzpatrick-Quinn, Mr Christopher Ruddy, Sir Mark and Lady Sedwill, Professor Dr and Mrs Ralph Speth, Mr and Mrs James Staley, Mr and Mrs Jon Stanton, Mr and Mrs Mark Tucker, Mr Ben van Beurden and Mrs Stacey Dickson-van Beurden, Ms Emma Walmsley and Mr  David Owen, and Mr and Mrs Alexander Younger.

Presidential Visit

Lord Brookeborough at the President's left-hand side

The Viscount Brookeborough KG (Lord-in-Waiting) attended the President of the United States of America, President Donald J Trump, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, upon arrival in the United Kingdom.

New Belfast DLs

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY LIEUTENANTS

Mrs Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle CBE, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, has been pleased to appoint:-

WELLS, Mrs Caroline Jane
Belfast  

LOGAN, Mr Robert Alan
Belfast  

RADER, Mr Walter, OBE
Belfast

To be Deputy Lieutenants of the County Borough, their Commissions bearing date the 24th day of May, 2019.

Lord Lieutenant of the County Borough