“HOLD FAST”

At the end of 2019, we submitted a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to :

Research the history of the club and, in particular, all the past Presidents since the Club’s formation in 1921.

Publish a book, including illustrations created by a local veterans arts group, by the Neuro Muscular Centre, in Winsford.

Creation of a temporary exhibition which will be displayed for 2 weeks each at Western Approaches, Merseyside Maritime Museum and HMS EAGLET.

Create an on-line school’s pack developed with teachers for KS2.

We were fortunate in having this approved and after more than a year’s research, which included tracing as many relatives of past Presidents that we could, we published the book – “Hold Fast” which was widely acclaimed.  There have been 85 Presidents. 22 of these are still living, so they were contacted to contribute their own biographies which were edited to reflect the overall format of the book, 49 descendants were found, 14 could not be found although the biographies of these people were created from service records. Unfortunately, we could not find any detail of 1 President except an entry in the Navy List.

We distributed over 300 copies to members, families of past Presidents, RN and RNR establishments and local libraries. Click on the image of the book to open.

   

ADDENDUM

However, the story did not end there. Some six months later, the Liverpool Journal of Commerce and Shipping for the 1930s was digitised and provided a wealth of information that we were not able to access previously. We then produced an Addendum! Click on the image of the book to open.

EXHIBITION

During the time the stand was on display, visitor numbers were: Western Approaches Museum 1662,
Maritime Museum 9000+. HMS EAGLET not known but estimated at 200.

      

The full size version can be viewed here:

SCHOOLS’ PACK

This was developed using the theme of “Communication” particularly in a Naval manner. This project was
aimed at KS2/Years 5 and 6 children although it could also be used by Year 7. The aim was to show children
how communication is just more than words and the pupil booklet included the Phonetic Alphabet, Signal
flags, Semaphore, Morse Code and a Project option. It is mainly classroom based but with an option to try
using Semaphore outside. The pack was developed and tested in conjunction with a teacher at Tushingham
with Grindley C of E Primary school in Cheshire. The pack is online here with the pupil booklet
readily available but the Teacher’s Pack /Lesson Plan is only available by emailing the Club. The reason for
this was to know who had made use of the Pack but also not to show the answers!

THE JOURNALS OF CAPTAIN HENRY JOHNSTONE TEMPERLEY GREY RD RNR

Henry Temperley Grey was born in Weston-Super-Mare on 20th February 1875, the son of a Congregational Minister. He went to sea at the age of 15 and as you will read, had a wonderful career all over the world and of course, was one of the founders and President of the Royal Naval Reserve Officers’ Club, Liverpool in 1925.
His Grandson, Chris Tilley, kindly lent me the original journals and also the typed carbon copy, so that I might transcribe them and add reader’s notes and photos/scans to enhance the book. I have tried to incorporate as many of Captain Temperley Grey’s original photos as possible.
With grateful thanks for not only the opportunity to edit these journals but to be privy to his personal papers and enjoy a fantastic read! He wrote his story in the mid-1940s and apart from having his notes over the years, he has added descriptions of the places visited and also historical information about them – all in the days before search engines! He had a wonderful way of telling us about the people, places, fauna and flora.
The language is of the time and readers should be aware of this as nothing has been changed in order to preserve authenticity.

John Glover
September 2022

Click on the image of the book to open.