ENCOUNTERS WITH THE FAMOUS

During my lifetime, I have had the pleasure of meeting many famous people. This is a glimpse of my Encounters with the Famous, stretching over a period in time from the 1940s to the early 21st Century.
My first experience of meeting a famous person occurred during World War 2 in Swansea, South Wales where I lived with my mother and grandparents – my father was away serving in the RAF with Bomber Command in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
My grandmother, Annie Woodman used to rent out some rooms in her large house in Swansea to visiting artists from the Swansea Empire Variety Theatre. One of the first artists that I remember meeting was Billy Cotton Senior who toured with his band. His famous slogan was Wakey Wakey. Many years later, his son Billy Cotton Junior became Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC until he retired. The lead singer in the Billy Cotton band was Alan Breeze. He used to give an impromptu performance in the living room of my grandmother’s house on a Sunday evening – my mother playing the piano for him. Sometimes neighbours would be invited to hear Alan Breeze sing. I remember Alan signing my autograph book.

The Ganjo brothers who were Russian acrobats used to stay at our house and they too signed my autograph book. Later, the Ganjo Brothers became more famous as London Theatre impressarios. Sid Field the comedian was another guest and I remember him signing my autograph book with the words Stick to your piano Ray. Even though at the time I was only 7 years old, I was beginning to show promise as a pianist. We used to get complimentary tickets to go to the Empire Theatre and many an artist during the performance would shout out Look, there is my landlady Mrs Woodman up in the circle and they would make some joke about landladies.

After the war, I went to Dynevor Grammar School in Swansea. I was a good rugby player and I played for the School 1st XV and Swansea Schoolboys XV.
Each year Dynevor used to play the Old Boys XV. In the mid 1950s, I had to mark Horace Phillips who played on the wing for the Wales XV. I remember how fast he was – he scored a couple of tries but I did manage to tackle hime a few times.
In 1953 I was the only player from Swansea Schoolboys XV to be chosen for the trial for Wales. The match took place in pouring rain at Ammanford West Wales. I played on the wing and in the centre on the opposing team, played –  Cyril Davies who later played for the senior Wales team. My encounter with Cyril Davies was when I tackled him as he was about to score a try – and he broke a rib in the process. So, not all encounters have happy outcomes.
Our doctor in Swansea was a well known Wales rugby international W. O. Williams. He was a well built tall man with a very pleasant personality.

My sporting encounters continued in the 1960s when we lived in Cwmbwrla a suburb of Swansea. My step father Bryn knew the family of John Charles and Mel Charles who became two of the most famous players to play for Wales – and Swansea, Arsenal, Juventus and Leeds to mention just a few of the clubs. John and Mel used to play around at Cwmbwrla Park and later they would call in to our house in Stepney Street for some tea. I remember meeting them on numerous occasions. They were very tall and happy young men and they loved joking with us. My step father seemed to know everyone in the Cwmbwrla area including the grandmother of Catherine Zeta Jones who later became a very famous Hollywood actress married to Michael Douglas.

Harry Secombe was an old boy of Dynevor School and he used to visit us often at the school. When I was in the Lower Sixth form, I organised a school dance for the 4 grammar schools in Swansea – 2 boys schools and 2 girls schools. It was a great success and out of the proceeds, I bought a large silver trophy which I presented to the Headmaster to be used in The Harry Secombe Sports Day at the school.
It was in 1961 that I had my encounter with a mega Hollywood star in Los Angeles.
I had won the Institute of Marketing scholarship to study American Marketing techniques in the USA. During my visit to the USA, I went to Los Angeles with some of my colleagues from Philips Electronic Industries in North America. The company supplied lighting and sound equipment to MGM studios in Los Angeles. One evening we were invited out to dinner by George Pal who was at the time one of Hollywoods top Film Producers. George Pal took us to a restaurant called Luau’s – a polynesian restaurant. I remember the surprise that I had when I noticed sitting on the table next to us was Zaa Zaa Gabor, who was already famous in 1961. George Pal noticed my look of amazement and he asked me if I would like to meet Zaa Zaa. He introduced me to her and she very kindly invited me to join her at her table. I asked her How are your sisters ? She talked to me about Eva and Magda Gabor and also told me that she had been that day to see her daughter in the convent school – her daughter by Conrad Hilton. She asked me about my trip to the USA. She was as attractive as ever, smiling all the time and a very delightful person. She autographed the menu for me and wished me well.The next day George Pal arranged for me to have a personal tour of the MGM studios including a visit to the set of Bonanza, which was a very well know TV series.

Whilst collating data for my Thesis on American Marketing Techniques, I met Ed Weiss who was at the Doyle Dane and Bernbach advertising agency in New York. Ed Weiss at the time was one of America’s top marketing gurus. He was involved with the classic advertising campaign for the Volkswaggon beetle car in the 1960s. – one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time. I met Ed Weiss in his office in New York. He was very helpful to me and he gave me a full catalogue of photos about the Volkswaggon campaign. Whilst in New York, I studied Colour Television developments and I met a number of top executives at NBC studios.
In 1967 I was studying at the Harvard Business School in Boston. During my stay at Harvard I had the pleasure of meeting the Dean of the Harvard Business School, The British Consul in New York, Ed Burske Editor of the Harvard Business Revue and Professor Theodore Levitt, famous for his ground breaking book Marketing Myopia.

In 1968, I was back in North America as the guest of the Government of Ontario as part of a trade mission to Canada. On my return trip from Toronto to London, I had my next dramatic encounter but this time with the infamous.
I had boarded a British Airways plane in Toronto which was supposed to be a non stop flight to London Heathrow. To my surprise, the plane landed at Montreal. No passenger got off the plane. After a while, Canadian Mounted Police entered the cabin followed by 3 men. The cabin staff showed the 3 men to the seats immediately in front of me. A man sat in the middle seat handcuffed to the other 2 men. The man was Charles Wilson the infamous Great Train Robber. He had been caught in Toronto and he was being escorted back to the UK by 2 detectives from Scotland Yard.
I had a very clear view of Charles Wilson. He was smiling and joking most of the time.
He was concerned that his wife would be looked after.
The plane was diverted to Prestwick in Scotland. A number of press reporters boarded the plane at Prestwick including the main tabloid papers. The press kept asking many questions to Charles Wilson and he did not get much rest between Prestwick and London where more reporters and television cameras greeted us as we disembarked from the flight at Heathrow. The next day when I arose from bed, I picked up the Daily Express and the whole of the front page was covered with a photo of Charles Wilson, the 2 detectives and me taken in our seats on the plane. The first and only time I hit the front page of a national newspaper.

Whilst I was the Chief Executive of Ofrex Limited ( 1968-1972 ) I used to sponsor the England Women’s Cricket Team. Rachel Heyhoe used to be the Captain of the team. I used to provide the team with bags, equipment and other gear for their international tours. I remember that on the eve of the team’s departure to tour Australia, Rachel Heyhoe ( later Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, famous as a BBC presenter and President of a Cancer Charity ) invited me to a farewell cocktail party at a venue near Piccadilly London. I was very pleased to meet the famous England Cricketer Sir Len Hutton. I had a photo taken with Rachel and Len Hutton. He was a most charming and modest man – considering he had been one of England’s most prolific run scorers in history up to that point in time. He had played against all the main cricket nations and he had scored many record breaking centuries. I also met Dennis Compton at the Saints and Sinners Club dinner at the Savoy Hotel London.
At Ofrex, we negotiated a deal with Technicolor Corporation to sell their Super 8 cameras in the UK. Market. . We had a meeting at Ofrex House London with another famous personality – Harry Saltzman producer of The James Bond films with George Drexler multi-millionaire owner of Ofrex. It all ended happily and we signed the deal.

During the period 1972-1974 I was a founding Director of the Medishield Corporation of BOC. I was the Deputy Managing Director and Controller of all the medical businesses of BOC. One day I got a call from ny boss asking me to go to Olympia Exhibition Hall where the BOC Medical stand were expecting a visit from HRH The Prince Philip. Of course, I took a taxi there straight away. I had the pleasure of greeting HRH The Prince Philip to the stand. And I had a photo taken with him.
Some weeks later, I was assigned the task of greeting The Prime Minister of Antigua to Hammersmith House London which was the Headquarters of BOC. After greeting the Prime Minister and his aid, I entertained them to lunch in the private executive dining room. During the lunchtime conversation, the Prime Minister told me that he wanted to establish an holiday air link between the UK and Antigua. He had heard about Sir Freddy Laker and his low cost airline Laker Airways. By coincidence, my Personnel Manager at Ofrex was a personal friend of Sir Freddie Laker. I offered to make the contact for the Prime Minister. He agreed and I telephoned my contact in Ofrex, explained the opportunity for Laker Airways and asked her if she would contact Sir Freddy Laker. She did make contact with Sir Freddy Laker who arranged to meet with the Prime Minister.
During my time at BOC I met many famous people in the medical profession including Professor Jimmy Payne of the Royal Collage of Surgeons – he was at the time Head of Anaethesia at the College. I had lunch with Professor Robson of Hammersmith Hospital and met most of the top doctors in the world specialising in anaethesia – I spent some time at the University of Chicago Hospital observing Programmed Anaethesia. Professor Paine, Professor Robson and myself were the judges for the BOC Fellowship in Anaethesia – the first award going to Doctor Kumagai from Sopporo University Japan.
I went to Saint James' Palace for a reception with the Bath Society and shook hands with Sir Barnes Wallis, the investor of the bouncing bomb in WW2 for the famous Dam Busters Raid on Germany.

During the period 1974-1986 I was the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Camping Gaz
 ( GB ) Limited based in Windsor. It was a period of intense encounters with the famous.
I remember on one occasion during a visit to the head Office of ADG the parent company, my colleagues and I had dinner at La Coupe Choux restaurant on the left bank in Paris. It was an old building converted into a very classy restaurant. Dining there also were the Rolling Stones pop band who were already very famous worldwide. I met Mick Jagger – he had studied at the London School of Economics like myself and I met Susan George the actress who was dining with the Rolling Stones that evening..
We waited together as a group outside the restaurant for a taxi. I chatted to Susan George about Maidenhead where she lived. When a taxi arrived, we offered the Rolling Stones the first choice of a taxi and off they went. It was a fun encounter because we had all drunk a lot of french wine !

On another occasion in Paris, I had lunch at the offices of our advertising agency Havas. Sitting next to me was a very fine lady whose name was Madame Hervet. During the lunchtime conversation, I noticed that she had a lovely gold medallion necklace. I asked her where she had got this lovely necklace. She replied Your Queen Elizabeth gave that to me. I asked her why the Queen had given the medallion to her ? She replied For my services to your Duke and Duchess of Windsor whom I worked for as a Personal Assistant for many years. She then asked me where my colleague and I were going to dine that evening.? I told her that we had not decided yet. She suggested that we dine at the Tour D’Argent a famous restaurant on the left bank. Later she very kindly booked a table for us. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shown to the special table overlooking the Seine where royalty and special guests usually sat. We looked out at Notre Damne Cathedral. Madame Hervet had fixed it for us at the Tour D’Argent.

One day at the National Sports Centre Gym at Bisham I was on the bicycle when Clive Richard sat on the bike next to me. I started to hum...We are all going on a summer holiday. He laughed.
Another time at Bisham, I was on the rowing machine. Suddenly, Sir Steve Redgrave 5 times Olympic Gold Medal Winner from Marlow sat on the rowing machine next to me. Before he could get going fast, I increased my stroke rate and over 1 kilometre, I won. Yest, I beat the World Champion! hahahaha.

There was another fun encounter with the famous when I attended the Harrogate Trade Show one year. We were staying at the White Swan Hotel where they were filming scenes for the film Agatha – about that time when the author Agatha Christe disappeared. As we returned to the hotel from the Show, they were filming in the reception area. There was Dustin Hoffman standing by the reception desk. My colleague rather boldly said to Dustin Hoffman Dustin, I would like you to meet Ray Williams. Dustin responded by saying hello to me and asking me what I did – and we chatted until he was summoned for the next scene.
I met also Vanessa Redgrave at The Swan Hotel. She was playing the part of Agatha in the film. She was so friendly, humorous and a delight to meet.
At the Harrogate Trade Show I met Chris Bonnington the Mountaineer and Sebastian Coe.

I was at a concert in the BIC at Bournemouth when Cilla Black picked me out of the audience with the words - Living proof that Grecian 2000 does not always work ! She spotted my grey hair.

In 1953 as a young boy I had seen the film of The Conquest of Mount Everest and Edmund Hillary standing proudly on the top of Mount Everest. Whilst at the Harrogate Trade Show, I had the great honour to meet on a few occasions Sir Edmund Hillary. I presented him with a Camping Gaz cooking stove and he gave me a picture print of Mount Everest

More recently in 2015, I met the famous Ria Jones who has starred as Leading lady in many West End Shows and her brother Ceri Dupree. I had lunch with Ria in London. Her mother Avril was my school friend in Swansea.

In 2016 my sons Michael and Stephen had lunch with Ivan Gazidis Chief Executive of Arsenal Football Club. Michael and Ivan had played football together when they were schoolboys. I drove then both to matches over a 2 year period,

I met TV star Suzanne Shaw at The Pride of Buckinghamshire Awards.Our Club Wycombe 50 Plus Club won an Award. The event was held at the Stoke Park Hotel at Stoke Poges.

In June my wife and I were invited to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham  Palace. We saw most of the Royal Family  but we never met any !

In March 2016, The Duke of Kent  cousin of The Queen and Grand Master of The Masonic Movement of England visited High Wycombe to officially open The New Wycombe Sports Centre.
As Chairman of the User Panel, I was presented to The Duke of Kent. I also met Sir Steve Redgrave  5 times Olympic Gold Medalist who was currently Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire for the second time.

Met Richard Hardman of the Daily Mail. He is one of their top journalists. He is going to write a Feature Article about solving the 73 years mystery of what happened to Lancaster Bomber EM-L and my Father on the 18 October 1943.Our Family might even appear in a Documentary in 2018 about the 75 years old RAF and the Lincoln Memorial,

Met up for lunch in 2016 with Nicky Barr Director of RAF Bomber Command Lincoln Memorial. Discussed my 45 page Dossier about the fate of my father in Lancaster EM-L in WW2.
She likes the story and it will be included in the Archives at Lincoln. I have become an Ambassador for Bomber Command in Buckinghamshire.

During our visit to Hannover in September 2016 we met the family of Baron Manfred von Richtofen who shot down 80 British planes in WW1 before in 1918 he too was shot down near Amien France by a British plane.

Following the publication of the Daily Mail article, my brother Jeff and I have appeared on British Forces Radio to 23 countries and The Nick Coffer Show on BBC 3 Counties Radio.Forces Radio
lunch in London Ria Jones daughter of my school friend Averil Thomas Jones. She said my music compositions was  " Terrfic." Ria Jones is a famous singer and has played the Lead Roles in - Evita, Cats, Sunset Boulevard and many more successful Musicals in the West End. We dined at Bills Restaurant.




















































































































































































































t. He was one of the nicest men I have ever met – very modest and full of fun.I was the Vice- Chairman of COLA – the Camping and Outdoor Leisure Association. I was also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Liaison Committee. As as result, I visited the House of Commons a few times. We appointed Sir John West MP for Maidstone as our liaison consultant. I had many meetings with Sir John and lunch in the Members dining room at the Houes of Commons. Sir John served the Industry proud.Each year, I was the guest of Paddy Moloney, Editor of the Camping and Sports Equipment News at the Savoy Hotel London for the Annual Dinner of the Saints and Sinners Club. It was at these dinners that I encounterd many famous celebrities. They included, Giles the cartoonist, Lord Tonypandy the Speaker of the House of Commons, Cliff Morgan the famous Wales scrum half, Dennis Compton the England cricketer, Terry Waite – on the Christmas before he was kidnapped by terrorists, Dennis Thatcher, Barry Cryer the television scriptwriter and many more.One year I was invited to the Ministers Dinner at Greenwich. We had to board a boat at Westminster Pier. Who should join us that evening was no other than William Whitelaw and other members of the Margaret Thatcher cabinet.I met another politician when we were awarded The Marketing Award of Great Britain at The Hilton Hotel London. Sir Keith Joseph, Minister in the Thatcher Cabinet greeted me and presented me with the National Marketing Award. I sat on the top table with him and noticed that he only ate a boiled egg for lunch – he was a sick man at the time.Probably one of the memorable encounters was during the 1990s with Dr James Colthurst. I was studying at Henley Management College for an MBA degree and Dr Janes Colthurst was one of my student colleagues.James and I used to chat a lot over a beer in the bar at Henley or in the main lounge.He used to say to me that he has just had afternoon tea with Diana. I would enquire – Who is Diana ? I was so surprised when he would reply – Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London. How do you know Princess Diana I would ask ?He told me that Princess Diana was a close friend of his whom he had known for some time. He said that he would go often to see Princess Diana at Kensington Palace – he was her best friend and she would telephone him ate at night on a range of matters. James never told me what they had discussed and he was very discreet.Years went by and one day I read about a rumour that the Private Secretary to Diana was likely to resign. I wrote a nice letter to Princess Diana offering my services to her as Private Secretary. I received a very nice leter back from Princess Diana on letterheaded paper of The Household of The Prince and Princess of Wales. She thanked me for my enquiry but she did not want to do anything at that stage – but she would keep my papers on file. So, I did not meet Princess Diana but I met her close confidant.What a confidant Dr James Colthurrst turned out to be. Later in the 1990s all the main Bristish newspapers had front page news about Dr James Colthurst. He turned out to be the man whom Diana invited to record her views on the breakup of her marriage from Prince Charles. James would go to Kensington Palace to interview Diana and record her thoughts with her full agreement. The tapes were then given to Andrew Morton who later wrote books about Priness Diana. James Colthurst probably knew more of the truth about Diana than anyone else in the world.My father was in the RAF during World War 2 and he flew Lancaster bombers of 207 Squadron based at Bottersford, Langar and Spilsby. There are 2 encounters connected to the RAF that I remember well. One was when I met Sir Barnes Wallis the inventor of the Bouncing Bomb which was used by Bomber Command to blow a hole in the dams in the Ruhr Valley of Germany in WW2. I met Sir Barnes at Saint James’s Palace London at the Bath Society event which was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Kent. He was a slim built man, very modest and polite. It was a great honour to meet such a famous man from WW2.Once I reached the Final Shortlist for the position as Chief Executive of The MacMillan Cancer Relief charity. I met Jonny Johnson who was a Spitfire ace in the Battle of Britain in 1940. His face was badly scarred as a result of the burns he received in his encounters with the German Lufftwaffe. He was a slimly built man, very polite and it was an honour to meet him.The other encounter linked to WW2 and the RAF was my encounter with Lady Ryder of The Ryder Homes for the Disabled and wife of the late Sir Leonard Cheshire of the Cheshire Homes. Leonard Cheshire had commanded Group 5 Bomber Command in WW2 and he was the overall Boss for my father’s 207 Squadron. The encounter was in the 1990s when I was running my own Management Consultancy Business called Eurekys Management Consultants. I wrote to Lady Ryder offering my services to her. She replied and asked me if I would accompany her and her architect to Lourdes in France where she wanted my advice on whether or not to invest in a property to open a Sue Ryder Home for the disabled in Lourdes. So, I travelled to Lourdes with her, we met the Mayor of Lourdes and other leading people, we visited the property which was on the market for £5 million. I prayed with Lady Ryder at the Grotto of Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. Shes asked me what did I think. I replied – Yes, go for it.Lady Ryder did go for it and today at Lourdes there is a Sue Ryder Home.It is a amazing to me that all those years ago my father at 26 was flying a Lancaster Bomber over Germany and 50 years later his son was flying to Lourdes with the wife of his Commander-in-Chief.Ther are 2 humourous encounters that need to be mentioned. Dana the Irish Singer had won the European Song Contest. She was singing at Bailey’s Night Club in Watford and I was there with some friends. During her performance, the spotlight fell on me and Dana came down from the stage and started singing a love song to me. I was so embarassed. She took hold of my hand and led me onto the stage. She then got me to help sing a duet with her. I sent her a bouquet of flowers the next day.On another occasion, at the Bournemouth International Centre, I was attending a variety show in which Cilla Black was singing. Suddenly, a spotlight fell on me and Cilla asked me a few questions like where are you from luv and said You see, living proof that Grecian 2000 does not work – yes, I had grey hair.Sir Steve Redgrave won 5 Gold Medals for rowing at 5 consecutive Olympic Games. He lives in Marlow. One day I was on the rowing machine at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre near Marlow. I was taking part in a rowing the Thames competition – one would row each day on the machine and plot a journey down the Thames on a board. One day, I was surprised to see Sir Steve Redgrave rowing on the machine next to me. Suddenly, I increased my stroke rate and for a time I out rowed Steve. So, to his day I claim to have beaten Sir Steve Redgrave at rowing. Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it. My friend and colleague on the Master of Arts course at Brunel University was Jeff Hucknall. He became the Chief Executive of The National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey. He knew most of the famous sports people who visited Bisham Abbey. I met a few including Tim Henman British Number 1 tennis player and 4 times Wimbledon Semi-Finalist and Tony Adams, Arsenal Captain and England footballer. They were often in the upstairs bar at Bisham Abbey after a training session – drinking water of course..In the same gym at Bisham , I was, on another day, on the cycling machine when Sir Cliff Richards sat on the cycle next to me. I said Hello and I could not resist humming the tune – We’re all going on a summer holiday. Yes, he was amused.I have had 2 famous neighbours when I lived in Beaconsfield. One was Tony Palmer who became the Chairman of Taylor Woodrow, leading builders in the UK. I became very friendly with him and his family. The other one was David Morritt who was Chairman of Morritt Homes and Chairman of Wealdstone FC. I was with him at Wembley Stadium the day that Wealdstone won the FA Trophy and completed the double – they were Champions of the Conference League.Finally, I have happy memories of meeting the Captain of the QE2 ship, Captain Warren when it was very new in 1971 on the cruise to Senegal, Portugal and the Canary Islands and later in 1998 meeting his son, Captain Warren Junior during the cruise to Colombia, Panama Canal, Mexico and California
They say that Life is a game of chance. For me, this has certainly been the case. I have been luck to meet so many interesting famous people over many years.
So, that is it up to now in 2008. What next I wonder ? Well, here we are in 2011 and my wife and I are at the Queens Club London for the Aegon Tennis Championships. I was walking along one of the corridors and I came face to face with Andy Murray Number 1 Tennis Player in Britain and Number 4 in the World. He had just returned from Paris where he had lost to Rafa Nadal in the Semi Final of the French Open. I say Hello Andy and asked him for his autograph. He signed my tennis bag. I patted him on the back and said Well done Andy. He then went on his way followed by a hoard of admirers.

Earlier in 2011 I had met Fern Britton the well know TV presenter. She was attending the first year anniverary event at the Ian Rennie Cancer Support shop in Holmer Green High Wycombe. I had a nice chat with her and mentioned that her children went to the same school as my cousin's children. She told me that she was going to do a new TV show soon and would finish her current afternoon show.
In Janaury 2013, I was in Queenland Australia. At Redcliffe in Moreton Bay they were planning to erect a memorial to the Bee Gees who started their careers at Redcliffe in the Speedway arena.
I was interviewed by Channel 7  Television Brisbane about my views on the Bee Gees and appeared on the Nationwide 6pm News Programme. I was also interveiwed by The Redcliffe and Bayside Herald. They wrote about my praise of Robin Gibb who raised millions of pounds for the Bomber Command Memorial in London 2012. The sister of the Bee Gees sent me a thank you for my praise of her brother - she said she was moved by my comments.
It appears that my past Economics Lecturer for my MA Degree is now the Mayor of High Wycombe - Shafique Chaudhray. He invited us to the Remembrance Day Ceremony and afterwards to the reception at the Bristish Legion.
As a member of the Flackwell Heath Lawn Tennis Club, I often play against Ed Cusak who is the Manager and Lead singer of The Joe Loss Orchestra. Ed has been presented to the Queen on 17 occasions and many Royal Command Performances. He is a very likeable modest man and he always beats me at tennis doubles.
I have suggested to him that he ought to write his memoirs because he has had a great career as a lead singer for the Joe Loss Orchestra. He has met many famous people in his time and he mus havet many interesting stories to tell.
In April 2013 I went to the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe to see the musical about the music of Don Black. He wrote the words for many songs such as Diamonds are Forever and Thunderball from the James Bond Films and Aspects of Love. One of the guest singers was Ria Jones. Ria had been Evita in the West End Production and Fantene in Les Miserables. She had sung with Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey and she was without doubt one of Wales's top artists. I had known her mother Avril Thomas in my Swansea school days. I met Ria after the show and told her how I had known her mother. She was delighted and had a photo taken of the two of us to show her mother. I told her that I was a composer too. She gave me her telephone number and then texted me with her address. I sent her some of my my CDs and suggested that she might perorom my song - Everytime. Watch this space.
Ria has since said - " Your songs are terrific." I am having lunch in London with her soon.
At the Remembrance Day 2014  Service in Beaconsfield , I had the pleasure of meeting The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.. He had read my Poem about the new Flag in the Service Programme. I had donated a new flag to St Mary's Church for the past 18 years. Some weeks later, I was surprised to be told that he had recommended me to The Queen, who invited me and my wife to Buckingham Palace for the Royal Garden Party in May 2015. What an honour !
My son Michael used to ne Captain of Wycombe Wanderers Schoolboys football team. He also played for Wyemead Rangers. I used to frive him and a friend called Ivan Gazidus to all the matches over a 3 year period. Today, Ivan Gizedus is the Chief Executive of Arsenal FC.
We were invited to have lunch with Ivan in his office at Arsenal Executive Offices/ It was a great reunion. Ivan gave us a wonderful lunch, showed us the Board Room and we had lots of photos taken with him. His mother still remembers me and and me her thanks for taking her son to football matches 35 years ago.  My son Michael has published his first book - DO BREATHE - it is on Amazon Online. It is how to improve your life. See my comments on this Blog. He presented a book to Ivan when he recently had coffee with him. Karen PA to Ivan Gazidus attends some of my sons Yoga classes in London. What a small world this is !