New Tyrone DL

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY LIEUTENANT

Mr Robert Scott OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of County Tyrone, has been pleased to appoint:-

Mr Malachy Stephen McALEER
Omagh
County Tyrone

To be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County, his Commission bearing date, the 30th day of December, 2017.

Signed: Lord Lieutenant of the County

The Burns Supper

The old school pal, Dangerfield, invited me to a Burns Supper at the family home five years ago.

The weather conditions were poor, though I finally managed to reach his house, a mile or two outside Broughshane, County Antrim.

I'm apprised that they have a hundred and forty acres.

We had a terrific time.

As can be seen by the photograph - Dangerfield had lent me a Royal Irish Rangers caubeen with its green hackle - I was slightly the worse for wear; so I was glad to have a room for the night.

The grub was delicious: wholesome chicken or pheasant soup; venison stew with haggis; chocolate and Cranachan pudding; whisky; abundant wine.

Shortly after the proceedings the drone of the bagpipes could be heard and Gavin marched in.

He must have learnt to play them in the CCF band at Campbell.

One of the house guests, Michael, is an accomplished musician and played the piano for us all.

He's another Old Brackenbrian, so I hope see him at the next annual dinner in the Ulster Reform Club.

I retired to bed at some unearthly hour, perhaps three-thirty the next morning.

We breakfasted in the conservatory: venison sausages, rustic bread, mustard, marmalade, mushrooms, tea.

First published in January, 2013.

Countess of Wessex in Belfast

THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX visited Belfast and County Down today.

Her Royal Highness, Patron, Royal Mencap Society, this morning visited Mencap Centre, 5 School Road, Newtownbreda, Belfast, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of County Down, (Mr David Lindsay).

HRH, Patron, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, this afternoon visited Laganside Courts, 45 Oxford Street, Belfast, and was received by Dr Philip McGarry DL (Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast).

The Countess of Wessex afterwards opened the Northern Ireland Hospice, 74 Somerton Road, Belfast, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast (Mrs Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle CBE).

Her Royal Highness subsequently visited Risk Avoidance and Danger Awareness Resource, 26 Heron Road, Belfast, and was received by Mr Colin Russell DL (Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast).

HRH, Patron, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, this evening attended a Dinner at Harbour Office, Corporation Square, Belfast, and was received by Professor Martin Bradley DL (Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast).

Thomas Tunnock Ltd

THE FOLLOWING WARRANT IS HEREBY ISSUED:

By Appointment to the Rt Hon the Earl of Belmont, 

Purveyors of Tea Cakes,

Thomas Tunnock Limited, Uddingston, Glasgow.

The Tunnock's Teacake, popular in the British Isles, comprises a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a dome of Italian meringue and a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow.

This is then encased in a thin layer of milk or dark chocolate and wrapped in a red and silver foil paper for the more popular milk chocolate variety; or blue, black, and gold wrapping for the dark.

First issued March, 2010.

N.B. Editors: the alter ego, viz. Belmont, simply cannot have enough of these ethereal biccies (!)

Grand Opera House

I happened to be in Belfast yesterday, in the vicinity of the Grand Opera House in Great Victoria Street.

Anybody who knows Belfast will be aware that the opera house remains one of its favourite, cherished and even iconic buildings (despite its bombing during the Troubles).

After City Hall, the Grand Opera House boasts the most exquisite and opulent interior in the city.

The history of this esteemed theatre is so well known that to dwell upon it here becomes unnecessary.

Its exterior has had a major restoration recently.

The minarets, towers, Mercury and many other features have been restored to their former glory.

It was particularly gratifying to see the newly-gilded statue of Mercury, standing aloft, brandishing the Caduceus in his left hand.

At the theatre's entrance front we have the masks of Comedy and Tragedy to each side as we enter or vacate the former front doors below the elevated Crush Bar above the street.

Sheriffs 2018

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

APPOINTMENT OF SHERIFFS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

County Antrim

Miss Gillian May BINGHAM

Templepatrick

County Antrim

County Armagh

Mrs Catherine Mary ADAMS

Portadown

County Armagh

County Down

Mrs Susan CUNNINGHAM

Killinchy

County Down

County Fermanagh

Mr John Patrick MAGUIRE

Lisnarick

County Fermanagh

County Londonderry

Miss Anna Mary CLYDE MBE

Garvagh

County Londonderry

County Tyrone

Mr Barry McGONIGLE

Omagh

County Tyrone

County Borough of Belfast

Councillor Carole Beverly HOWARD

Belfast

County Borough of Londonderry

Miss Agnes Geraldine GAVIN

Ardmore

Londonderry

County Londonderry

Tiptree Tomato Ketchup

I've been fond of tomato ketchup since I was a lad in short trousers.

Forty years ago there was little choice other than the famous Heinz variety.

I remain unenthusiastic about the Heinz ketchup, one factor being its viscosity.

In comparison with Tiptree ketchup it's quite thin.

The percentage of tomatoes in Tiptree ketchup probably remains at 75%.

I must have consumed unimaginable amounts of the stuff over the decades.

The peculiar thing is that, when I was ten years old, I enjoyed corned-beef sandwiches with salad-cream; whereas my pal, John, insisted on ketchup!

Tiptree Tomato Ketchup by Wilkin and Sons is the best, to my mind.

I really ought to be a shareholder in the company, given the amount of their ketchup I consume.

The first Tiptree conserves were made in 1885 on the Tiptree estate in Essex and are still made there to this day.

Fruit crops include strawberries, loganberries, mulberries and damsons, to name but a few.

The signature fruit is the Little Scarlet strawberry, a tiny wild variety, originally brought to the United Kingdom by the Wilkin family in the early 1900s.

It is believed that they are unique in the world in growing this difficult crop.

Wilkin's received their first Royal Warrant from GEORGE V in 1911 and remain Royal Warrant-holders to this day, as purveyors of Tiptree products to Her Majesty The Queen.

Their products are available in over seventy countries, on luxury cruise-liners, in de-luxe hotels and on leading airlines.

First published in October, 2009.