Pat Green 23rd March 1943 – 10th September 2000 Jennifer Dixon pays this tribute to her sister Pat My sister Pat was born at Horsham in March 1943. I was born three years later in 1946. At that time, we lived at Rudgwick in a bungalow with an apple orchard, chickens and my Mother’s many […]
Category: Gathering
2000 Balchin Family Gathering – Portsmouth
The theme of the Gathering was the Family connections with the Royal Navy. The only place we could hold this event was therefore at the heart of the Navy – Portsmouth. Saturday 7th October On Saturday morning, some departed on the Mystery Coach Tour, after landing a couple of stowaways from the HMS Conway Association, […]
1999 Balchin Family Gathering – Aldershot
The 1999 Gathering was held in the Prince’s Hall, Aldershot on Sunday 3rd October. Aldershot is 8 miles west of Guildford, just over the Surrey-Hampshire county border. The town has long been the major base of the British Army, and it was natural that the theme of the Gathering was ‘Balchins in the Service of […]
1998 Balchin Family Gathering – Alfold, Surrey
The 1998 Gathering was held on Saturday September 12th and Sunday 13th. For the first time, it was based in a village hail, at Alfold in Surrey, near the border with Sussex. On Saturday afternoon a coach trip took about 30 members to West Chiltington, where Jenny Dixon showed them round the picturesque village with […]
1997 Balchin Family Gathering – Godalming
The 1997 Gathering was held on Sunday September 14th in Godalming, and was organised by Pat Green, who reports as follows: Well, the day arrived fine and mild, what a relief – perhaps buying that umbrella the day before did the trick! That wasn’t the only task carried out in the days preceding – suddenly […]
1996 Balchin Family Gathering – London
The 1996 Gathering and Second Annual General Meeting was held in London on Sunday September 8th at the House of the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington Gore. 65 members and guests attended. The Gathering and the Annual General Meeting were structured along the lines of the 1995 Bookham meeting. The meeting opened with a welcome […]
1995 Balchin Family Gathering – Bookham
A regional Gathering was held on Sunday 17th September 1995 at the Bookham Grange Hotel, Little Bookham Common, Leatherhead, Surrey. Bookham and nearby Effingham have strong Balchin links, as both localities were homes to a family of wheelwrights who descended from Henry Balchin and Mary Thompson of Alfold, whose uncles founded the West Chiltington and […]
1994 Balchin Family Gathering – Guidford
The inaugural Balchin Family Gathering was held on the campus of the University of Surrey in Guildford between the 2nd and 5th September 1994. Friday 2nd September saw the arrival of overseas and long distance members and the setting up of exhibitions by members of the Committee. Formal registration of participants began on Friday 2nd […]