BACKGROUND
1. In 1956 a plan was considered to move the Lancashire Fusiliers' Regimental Headquarters (RHQ), Recruiting Team, Museum and Regimental Monument from Wellington Barracks to a new site in Bury. It was clear that following the closure of the Depot on Bolton Road the future of the Regiment lay in the town centre. The plan was put into abeyance in 1958 due to lack of funding and space was temporarily allocated in a corner of the old barracks pending a future move. In 2009 after 50 years this aspiration would become a reality when the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers County Headquarters (CHQ), the Regimental Recruiting Support Team (RRST), the Museum and Regimental Monument finally relocated to the town centre. It was also planned for the Regimental Club to be part of the move however members voted to close rather than relocate.

OPPOSITION TO MOVE
2. A small vested interest group within the local community led by Councillor Roy Walker (It should be noted that Councillor Walker opposed the move of the Fusilier Museum into the Arts and Crafts Centre) is opposition to the move of the Regiment Monument. The interest group has several concerns that we recognise and need to address. These include:
" Redevelopment of the vacated barracks site
" Ashes of former Fusiliers scattered on the memorial garden
" A memorial to Wellington Barracks
Attempts by the Regiment to address these concerns started in May 2006 when a letter was sent to the Councillor suggesting a meeting to discuss the situation. It was ignored. He managed to avoid a meeting on the subject attended by all the other local councillors in Nov 2007. An invitation to the Councillor through the local newspaper was brushed aside and finally an offer by the CHQ to speak at a public meeting called to discuss the future of Monument was blocked. It is clearly Councillor Walker's intention to prevent the Regiment moving its memorial even if he could not stop the Museum Project.

WELLINGTON BARRACKS SITE CURRENT SITUATION
3. Wellington Barracks is expensive to maintain and it has been the intention of the MoD to dispose of the site for some years. Defence Estates are under instruction to sell the site and do not wish the Monument to remain. It is not easy to promote the Regiment and the Army from such an isolated site and access for those served by the CHQ, RRST and Museum is difficult. Both the MoD and the Regiment believe that a move to the town centre of Bury would alleviate these problems. As this brief is written the roof is leaking, the boiler room is flooded and there is no heating. It will not get better.

OPERATIONAL PRIORITES
4. Putting Operations on one side the enduring priority for the Regiment is recruiting. No recruits, no battalions, no regiment, no headquarters and no museum. The jewel in the crown of this project is a permanently manned Army Careers Office supported by the RSTT able to utilise all the facilities and resources of the CHQ and Museum. Recruiting all over the country is difficult and this initiative will turn the situation around in Bury.

THE REGIMENTAL MEMORIAL
5. Creation of the Memorial. In 1922 the Lancashire Fusiliers created a Regimental Memorial to honour the 13,642 regimental dead of the First World War it consisted of a set of Silver Drums, a Roll of Honour and a Monument. In 1946 the function of the Monument was extended to the 1,285 dead of the Second World War and from 1968 to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF). Since that date 105 Fusiliers have died in service. This is their Memorial.

6. Ownership. Today the Regimental Memorial as a whole is the responsibility of the Trustees of the Regimental Collection and they are in turn responsible to the Charity Commission for the state of the Monument. In reality the Charity Commissioners would have to be persuaded that any decision on the future location of the Monument was in its best interests. On a day-to-day basis responsibility is devolved to the permanent MoD staff in the CHQ who have carried out this responsibility successfully for 86 years.

7. Function. The Monument is a functional part of the Headquarters and remains the annual focus for Regimental commemorations and ceremonies in Lancashire including Gallipoli, Minden and Remembrance and it is intended that the Monument should move with the CHQ to enable these events to continue in the town centre. It is important to stress that the Monument was erected to represent ALL Fusiliers and not just those from Bury and is only located on Bolton Road because that is where the CHQ is. Of the 30 Lancashire Fusilier Battalions in the First World War only a third could claim to have been raised in Bury. The vast majority of Lancashire Fusiliers did not come from Bury and would never have seen Wellington Barracks. If the Monument were to remain on Bolton Road the Regiment would effectively be deprived of its use, as it would be extremely difficult for the CHQ maintain it, organise events and run them safely from the centre of Bury. Finally If a Fusilier were killed tomorrow, the Monument would be the focus of Regimental and civic tributes.

8. Maintenance. There is concern that should the Monument be relocated to Sparrow Park that it would be subject to vandalism. This is being addressed through a combination of good design and other security enhancements. At Wellington Barracks the full time CHQ MoD staff maintain the Memorial on a daily basis. Security is enhanced because the CHQ is manned six days a week and the Club is open in the evenings, nevertheless there are still problems. If the Memorial were to remain on Bolton Road once the CHQ and Club close next year the Memorial would be at significant risk. In addition once the CHQ/Museum have moved out ground maintenance would cease and the gardens would quickly become an overgrown mess. It is difficult to see how some amateur local group could guarantee to maintain the Monument to these standards in perpetuity

9. Location. The Monument has not always stood in its present location. It was first erected at the original entrance to Wellington Barracks in 1922 but was moved to its present temporary location alongside the Headquarters following the closure of the Depot in the 1960s to enable the Council to develop the site.

10. Address Local Sentiment. For some, the move of the Regimental Monument has become an emotional issue. There has been a considerable amount of ill informed comment flying around and a number of myths have developed largely perpetrated by the wording of a petition that was circulated several months ago. Thus some people believe that the Regimental Monument is:
" The local war memorial.
" The memorial to Wellington Barracks.
" The memorial to Bury Fusiliers.
In reality it is none of the above. However they are important sentiments and need to be addressed.

11. Conservation. The Monument has required urgent conservation and restoration work for a number of years. The Trustees decided to use the Project as an opportunity to carry out essential work including removal and replacement of lettering, redefinition of carving and re-emblazoning of the Colours. To achieve this it was planned for the Monument to be dismantled once consent was obtained and moved to a stone mason's workshop for the work to be done undercover. It would then be resurrected at the new site in Sparrow Park. Failure to undertake this vital conservation work would put the Monument at risk.

12. Sparrow Park. For operational and logistical reasons the Regimental Monument has always been collocated with the CHQ. In Sparrow Park it would be alongside the Regimental Museum also a significant memorial to the Lancashire Fusiliers. Together the CHQ, Museum and Memorial would be the focus of Regimental and civic commemorations in Bury and do justice to all Fusiliers. In Sparrow Park it would be accessible to all and not just a select few. The 200,000 annual visitors to Bury who are expected to attend the Regimental Museum, Bury Museum and Art Gallery and the East Lancashire Railway would be able to appreciate the Memorial, its architecture and what it represents. This is in contrast to the 2,000 a year that currently visit Wellington Barracks. Significantly the many school groups that would visit the museum would be reminded of the sacrifice of Fusiliers past and present.

13. Scattering of Ashes. Since the 1960s the ashes of a small number former Fusiliers have been scattered in the flowerbeds around the Memorial. The ground is not consecrated and this practice was never officially sanctioned, there was no formal agreement between the MoD and the families concerned and no record was ever kept. However this is a sensitive issue and although the MoD accepts no liability for these ashes the Regiment, at its expense, will with due ceremony remove an appropriate sample of soil from the flowerbeds to be re-interred in Sparrow Park. It is also hoped that the practice would continue at a proposed new memorial garden to be created close to the old entrance.

WELLINGTON BARRACKS MEMORIAL
14. Permanent Memorial. The Regiment has proposed for some time that a permanent memorial to the original Wellington Barracks and to the Lancashire Fusilier Depot should remain on site. The new memorial would be situated on council land close to the original entrance to the barracks. It would consist of a small garden that would allow the practice of the scattering of ashes to continue with permission from the Council. It would also include interpretation boards that would explain the history of Wellington Barracks and the Lancashire Fusilier link. It would be a joint project involving the Council and hopefully the local residents. Funding would come from the developer as part of the conditions for the sale of the site and hopefully a contribution from the local residents group. Perhaps the mobile phone company that now dominates the original barrack entrance site could be called upon to make a contribution to the construction costs.

I felt that I should write and thank you all for the great turn out for Minden Sunday at the Regimental Club, it was good to see so many of the old and bold under the same roof and the excellent performance of our Association Band and Drums made the day.
My sincere thanks must go to the Chairman Alan Noble and his committee, bar staff for all of the arrangements that made Sunday such a memorable day for us all.
The Branch secretaries meeting earlier that morning went well with lots of ground covered regarding the opening of the our new museum in April of next year, the Fusiliers Gathering in September of 2009 and the planned Battle Field Tour for June 09.
The details of all of these events will, I promise, be published shortly to allow good planning time for your dairies, please keep an eye on the Association Web Site Page and notice board in the Club, there might also be a day out at Chester Race Course.
It was good to be able to welcome to the table our Area Secretary Col Mike Glover, Major Brian Bath, and Captain Joe Eastwood, Brian Bath is an ex Quartermaster with the Fusiliers and has expressed a desire to help out in Lancashire on our Executive Committee also welcomed to that same Committee were ex Warrant Officer Ian Hilton, Dennis Laverick and Ron Owen all well known Fusiliers. What this brings to our table is a vast amount of experience of men with excellent organisational skills which we will need in the year that lies ahead.
I hope that my talk to you all now gives a clear picture as to where we stand in relation to the closing of our Regimental Club in September of next year, there is no one sadder than I am that this decision has had to be taken but the land belongs to the M.O.D and they will do with it as to what is in there best interests once the R.H.Q site closes, however I can assure you all that our Club will close with Dignity and will have a good send off. We as good Fusiliers now have to pick ourselves up, dust of and look to the further. Our new Museum will be a state of the arts project and will put the Lancashire Fusiliers back up there amongst the front runners in the whole of the country.
Again thank you all for attending on Sunday so pleased to see the weather kept dry for us, my best wishes to you all and your families.

John O'Grady
Chairman.

Opening letter to the members

Dear Members of the Association (Lancashire)

I write to you all as your new Chairman and would like to say what a privilege it was to have been appointed to the post by our present Deputy County Colonel, Colonel Brian Gorski M.B.E. I would like to record my sincere thanks to Eric Davidson for all of his hard work whilst in the chair over the past three years or so.

My intentions are not to mend a wheel that is not broken but to take a careful look at our present situation and with the help of my committee set out a strategy programme that will take the Association through our present time and lay the foundation for the next fifteen years or so. My Committee will be tasked to raise the membership by 25%, to continue to track down and enlist the 1960's generation and increase the number of present R.R.F. members leaving the army, increase the I.T. awareness to all members' young or old by October this year, which in turn will help to play a very large part in the recruiting programme in Lancashire.

My committee will also be asked to look at and improve the payment of subscriptions with an aim of achieving an 85% payment by direct debit to allow forward planning in the further, such as The Fusilier Gatherings, Gallipoli weekends, Battle Field Tours, days out ect.

I am very impressed with what is going on in our outlying branches and the hard work that is being put in by the sectaries' and I look forward to meeting up with then all shortly to discuss my ideas and theirs, ensuring that we must never loose sight as to why the Regimental Association was implemented in the first place, it is where Past and Present members of our anti cadent Regiments and present Regiment can meet and discuss old times and be updated by our younger members as to how times have changed over the years in a warm and friendly atmosphere. This will, I am sure be borne out in the forth coming year in Lancashire with the opening of the new Regimental Museum in April 2009 (The biggest shot in the arm the XX The Lancashire Fusiliers will have had in the past fifty years or so,) plus the past forty years of our present Regiment, this museum will be a sight for sore eyes and will be a magnificent credit to all of those people who have contributed to its creation.

In all a very busy year ahead with many challenges for the Association in Lancashire which I am confident will be met with the true spirit of its members.

John O'Grady
Fusiliers Association Lancashire Chairman

1. Gentlemen of the Association Lancashire, you are aware of my vision of the way ahead for the Association Lancashire in terms of getting a lot more of our members interested in the use of I.T. equipment, it does not matter what age you are and it will fascinate you as to the speed in which Association news can be circulated to all of it's members.

2. It is with this in mind that I have tasked our web site manager Mr Dennis Laverick with the task of finding out what availabilities you have in your areas and if any cost is involved, most adult education centres in most areas provide a very good service to the elderly and I am hoping that Dennis will be able to confirm this with his research.

3. Most of will now except that I.T. is the way forward and with the help of Captain Joe Eastwood we are hoping to put together a power point presentation and recordings to enable us to visit areas and show it on a large screen, the recordings will consist of The History of the ''XX The Lancashire'' and our Present Regiments and the new Museum, I hope it will lead to us being able to raise funds for the Association and Museum. To learn the computer it takes two hours a week and a little practice you meet some very nice people and get lot's of enjoyment, so come on get on the bus and open your mind to a new experience.

John O'Grady.
Chairman.

To ALL Association Members.
Dennis Laverick has spent a lot of time going into research finding out what is available in your Areas in terms of Free Computer course's and it would appear that most courses are now coming to an end for this term however, this dose not stop you from enrolling now for next terms course's it is free and most enjoyable, I hope you will all take advantage of these facilities, as I have already said it is the best line of communication that I am aware of , give it a whirl.

John O'Grady
Chairman.

Note from Dennis
Most Libraries have computers which are free to use (you may have to book) and some are only to happy to help you out, some do do computer courses check out our local library.

Lt -Col E Davidson M.B.E.
I am certain that you will all as members of the Association want to join me in offering Colonel Eric our sincere congratulations on his award of the M.B.E. in the QUEENS Birthday Honours list.
An award well earned for all of the hard work Eric has put in to the Community over the years, both him and his wife and family will, I hope , feel very proud and enjoy there day out at the Palace, our best wishes will be with them on that day.
John O'Grady
Chairman.