Lochaber Cameron Highlanders hold final reunion after 30 years
AFTER 30 years, Lochaber Cameron Highlanders held its annual reunion lunch in Fort William for the last time on Saturday.
Forty-one guests from around the country came together in the Alexandra Hotel for the final Lochaber reunion lunch of the Cameron Highlanders as the committee gets set for retirement.
Lochaber committee chairman Rory MacDonald and his wife Marion welcomed friends to the special Lochaber reunion lunch on Saturday October 28 on the year of the committee’s 30th anniversary.
Mr MacDonald’s guests included Angus Fairrie, James MacIntosh Walker, Mr and Mrs DD Muir and P Gordon Duff Pennington, who were welcomed to the reunion lunch with the sound of pipes, courtesy of John MacCallum from Ballachulish.
Also present at the reunion were Lochaber members Duncan MacDonald, now residing in Maryburgh, and Donny MacDougall, now in Dalmally. Chairman of the Cameron Highlanders’ Highland branch Hamish Sutherland was also in attendance.
From further afield, present at the reunion, as every year, were members from Carlisle, Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Inverness, Glencoe and Bearsden, who all made the trip to Lochaber to meet with the regiment.
As guests sat down for their lunch, grace was said by Dennis Muir, while James MacIntosh Walker toasted fallen comrades. The royal toast was delivered by Jimmy Smith and Charlie Miller led the toast to the regiment.
The afternoon lunch was the final time the Cameron Highlanders will meet in Fort William, owing to the retirement of the committee. After three decades of organising these reunions, a combination of old age and decreasing numbers has meant the committee will no longer be holding the event.
Jimmy Smith, secretary of the Lochaber committee, said: ‘It went very well. There was a few unexpected cancellations at the last minute but there was a total of 41 of us. We’re all old friends and Cameron Highlanders, some of us serving back in 1950.’
Although this was the last meeting in Lochaber, the group will still have the opportunity to meet up as the Cameron Highlanders’ branch of the Regimental Association will still be meeting in Inverness.
‘Thanks to the Alexandra Hotel for their support over the years we have been there,’ Jimmy continued. ‘A special thanks to Val, as well as the previous manager Brian Hume. Special thanks also go to Tanya Warner for the cake on the day which was well appreciated by all members. Thanks also for the donations from Colin Ross at the Ben Nevis Distillery over the years.’
The lunch was especially significant for Jimmy, who has served as secretary of the committee for the full 30 years.
He added: ‘It’s 30 years coming to an end. I can’t quite believe I’ve been doing the job for all these years.’