Worcester and Hereford Grenadier Guards marking 100 years

As time rolled on, many members of the Barrell family came to settle in the border regions of Worcestershire and Herefordshire and remained fighting men. One of them RH Barrell, who actually lived in Worcester, was a member of the First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards and William Barrell was a Colonel.

The Corps of Drums at Madresfield Court in 1986

The regiment later became the famous Grenadier Guards and has always had a close connection with this part of England. This brings us to the hotel near Droitwich – the Pear Tree Inn at Smite – where on Sunday, May 1, the Worcester and Hereford Grenadier Guards Association will be celebrating its 100th anniversary at an afternoon tea.

A charabanc outing for the Worcester branch of the Grenadier Guards Association in the 1920s

There will be civic dignitaries and old soldiers, guardsmen in full uniform and the Queen’s representative, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, who just happens to be a former Grenadier.

The loyal toast will be proposed by Hamish Grey-Cheape, president of the local association, and the response will be by Col. Richard Aubrey-Fletcher, president of the Grenadier Guards Regimental Association. It should be a grand social occasion with more than 100 there.

The Grenadier Guards receiving the Freedom of the City of Worcester in 1999. Mayor Jo Hodges presents the scroll to Major General Evelyn Webb-Carter

The Grenadier Guards has always maintained a strong link with Worcestershire, which has traditionally been a fertile recruiting ground. This was underlined in May, 1999, when the regiment was granted the Freedom of the City of Worcester, an ancient privilege giving it the right to march through the streets  “with drums beating, colours flying, swords drawn and bayonets fixed”.

It's 1990 and a line of pupils from the city’s Christopher Whitehead High School comes face to face with Sgt Alan Ash of the Grenadier Guards. The encounter was part of a careers event at the school, which aimed to put fourthyear students in touch

The national Grenadier Guards Old Comrades Association (re-named the Grenadier Guards Association in 1967) was founded back in 1913 following a review of the Brigade of  Guards by King George V. Locally we were not slow out of the blocks and following the First World War the Worcester and Hereford branch was set up in February, 1922. Three years later the regimental band made its first visit to Worcester.

There have been many functions and parades across the two counties since then, notably the granting of the Freedom of the City of Worcester in 1999 and a lavish banquet in 2006 at the Chateau Impney, Droitwich to mark the 350th anniversary of the regiment.

The Grenadier Band in Worcester Cathedral

The Grenadier Guards band has appeared in Worcester at venues as diverse as the cathedral and the stage of the former Gaumont cinema and has also played in Kidderminster, Evesham, Malvern and Stourbridge to mark the regiment’s connection with the area.

However one anecdote in particular lingers long in the memory. In the decades immediately following the Second World War many ex-guardsmen joined the police, which then had a height qualification, and at Lower Broadheath, near Worcester it became tradition the village bobby was drawn from the ranks of former Grenadiers.

The Grenadier Guards make their way towards the Guildhall from the cathedral on their 350th anniversary parade

This placated the owner of the local Kenswick Manor estate Brigadier Charles Britten, a formidable presence who had long and loyal service in the Grenadier Guards. 

When Sir John Willison came to retire as chief constable of West Mercia Police in 1974, after a long and distinguished career stretching from Scotland to the East End of London and including riots, gang feuds and murders, he admitted one of the most challenging tasks he had ever faced “was when we eventually ran out of ex-Grenadiers to send to Lower Broadheath”, adding “It was only with considerable difficulty and using all the charm and tact I could summon, that I managed to persuade the Brigadier an ex-Coldstreamer might just pass muster.”

Grenadier Guards, it seems, are a breed apart.

Marching through Worcester in May, 1999 at the Freedom of the City

If there are any ex-Grenadiers who would be interested in joining the branch, they can contact Veronica Baylis, the branch secretary at grenguardsworcs@gmail.com There are meetings three time a year at The Portobello Inn, Worcester, followed by lunch with a Christmas lunch at The Pear Tree Inn, Smite.