Not the retiring type

IR John Foley has led an interesting life - and that's putting it mildly. But it's a description about his career which is used often by Herefordshire and Worcestershire's High Sheriff, a charming man with a gift for the understatement and an endearing ability to gently poke fun at himself.

A "brief" run through his years takes the better part of an hour and is, quite frankly, an eyebrow-raising summation of a life lived along key events on the world stage, which he regularly describes as 'interesting'. Interesting indeed.

Sir John and Lady Ann returned to their home, just outside Hereford, last September at the end of Sir John's five and a half years as Guernsey's Lieutenant Governor, the Queen's representative on the Channel Island.

It marks the end of several 'migratory' decades which have seen them live in London and around the world, all the while holding on to a house in Fownhope, followed by the last nine years at their Jacobean farmhouse.

A return to Herefordshire, they say, was always part of their grand design.

While Lady Ann, 'a city girl' came to the county after marrying Sir John in 1972, he grew up here and still has family in the area. He attended prep school in Kent - "I'm still a bit puzzled as to why my parents sent me to a prep school in Kent other than the obvious reason to get rid of me, it couldn't have been further away" - and Bradfield College, in Berkshire.

During National Service he conceived the desire to serve with the SAS."I'd met one or two of them, read about them and it seemed the sort of thing I wanted to do," he says. After serving with his own regiment, the Royal Green Jackets, for about four years he passed the SAS selection course in Herefordshire and was a troop commander for just over three years.

"That time was lovely for a person of my age, about 25/26," he remembers. "We had Borneo going on, the confrontation with the Indonesians - which was just what you wanted to do, why you signed on."

There was also involvement with "getting rid of Aden" before he returned to the Green Jackets and later attended a staff college course where he met the future Lady Foley at a party.

"I was not going to go because I had been to so many but I went and thoroughly enjoyed it and then I saw this blonde number in a trouser suit and thought that looks appetising!'" he laughs. "It went on from there."

He then commanded an SAS squadron. "Again we were very lucky. We were deployed a lot in Oman where there was an insurgency against the government," he says.

"That was very exciting because they were a very tough opposition, hardy tribesman who were very brave.

"From a military point of view it was a very interesting operation."

Then it was time for a staff job and the couple went to Hong Kong, Sir John as Brigade Major, responsible for looking after the Brigadier, the headquarters, all the brigade and handling all the staff work. "Thoroughly enjoyed doing that," he says.

The next job saw Sir John commanding a battalion in Northern Ireland and, later Cyprus. For the former tour of duty, the couple, now with two daughters, Annabelle and Joanna, lived in Londonderry. "I've been very lucky, I always seemed to get jobs where interesting things were happening," he says.

Despite how Northern Ireland living might have appeared to people this side of the Irish Sea at that time, the Foleys were very happy.

"It was lovely," insists Lady Ann, "You take every precaution. We used to go around with someone riding shotgun on our car - but you got used to it.

"There was stress, you were woken every night - he had to be told immediately if something had happened.

"Sometimes that was three or four in the morning and then at five we'd be told all's well. You would be woken all the time. That was tough."

"It was a very interesting period," Sir John chips in.

"Our eldest went to first school there and the youngsest to a toddlers group and came away in part with a splendid Irish accent."

"From a military point of view it was very interesting.

"The misconception people had, and still have, is that if you went to collect a newspaper you collected a bomb at the same time but that's not true. There were big areas of Northern Ireland where you wouldn't hear a bomb, a bang, all year. It was Belfast, Londonerry and some other areas which were hotspots."

Following Cyprus there was promotion to Colonel and an "interesting" few years teaching other young officers on courses before further promotion to Brigadier and replacing Sir Peter de la Billiere as director of the SAS in London.

"I remember being rather peeved. I rather hoped I'd take over in time for the Falklands War but they couldn't promote me because I wasn't old enough - the military is a bit inflexible like that."

A "challenging, interesting" three years of hard work followed, which, because of the world remit, meant lots of travel, but the couple enjoyed living in London. He was then sent on a year-long course at the Royal College of Defence Studies, Belgrave Square - "for backward Brigadiers" - and after which was "surprised" to be told he was going to command the British Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany: a team of people who lived in West Berlin but operated in what was then East Germany on intelligence gathering. An "absolutely fascinating" period.

Two years later it was back to London to become Director General Intelligence (Rest of the World) - "awful military terminology!" - which meant if it wasn't Europe or North America, it concerned Sir John.

Then the Gulf War happened, a period of "very very hard work indeed" which saw Sir John, as a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee, ensuring intelligence provision (in the theatre of war) and assessments for government ministers.

The Orient beckoned once more and Sir John, as Commander of the British Forces Hong Kong, arrived just before Chris Patten who "put the cat among the pigeons as far as the Chinese were concerned" so it was a "very interesting" period.

Sir John was his defence/security adviser and spent 80% of his two years there "doing political things" as he developed the plans on how to hand over the colony's military assets to the Chinese.

"It was not without its stresses but it was a lovely period and was lovely to go back there, it's a most exciting, vibrant place," he acknowledges.

A further "interesting, challenging worldwide" remit followed in the form of promotion to Lieutenant General, deputy chairmanship of the Joint Intelligence Committee and and becoming Chief of Defence Intelligence.

Retirement was then beckoning which Sir John accepted - but only from the military. He had various roles, including international board member of Group 4 and chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board.

He was also asked to "have a shot at" the Governorship of either the Isle of Man, Guernsey or Jersey.

"Ann was keener on it than I was to start with," he confesses. "But we still felt quite young and energetic and able to hack it so thought it would be rather feeble not to go for it." They eventually opted for Guernsey, one of their reasons being St George Foley, from the Worcester branch of the family, was governor from 1884-7.

"You're a conduit between the local government and the UK government - makes you sound like a drain," theorises Sir John. "But that's what it was.

This was when Lady Foley, a vital part of the team 'behind the scenes' through the years running households, family and staff, adopted a more public role with her involvement in an "enormous" number of charities. "It was lovely, I was never bored" she says. The couple were planning a second shot at retirement but the question of becoming High Sheriff came up - having first been asked two years before going to Guernsey.

So here they are, back in the county and enjoying their latest role in life. I observe that Sir John appears to have enjoyed everything he's done, to which he responds with a twinkle in his eye: "Well I'd be pretty foolish not to!" He accepts the observation, though, adding: "If I do something, I'm enthusiastic about it and then, on the whole, I enjoy it."

Ancient post which came with a posse

SINCE Saxon times, sheriffs - or Shire Reeves as they were originally known - of each county went to the King's or Queen's court to give account for the money they collected on the monarch's behalf.

They no longer collect money for the monarch but their annual attendance at court has continued and has been used to mark the annual nomination of the new High Sheriffs.

Originally the office held many of the powers now vested in Lord Lieutenants, high court judges, magistrates, local authorities, coroners and even the Inland Revenue.

Formerly, the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county.

However, most of the responsibilities have been transferred elsewhere or rendered obsolete and the functions of the post are now almost entirely ceremonial.

The only significant legal functions relate to the enforcement of High Court writs. Although the duties of High Sheriffs have changed, the post still remains the oldest secular office in the land.

In previous centuries, in addition to raising funds for the monarch, High Sheriffs were empowered to raise a posse to accompany visiting judges round their county, possibly to protect them from relatives or friends of those whose cases they had tried or were scheduled to try.

These days the posse is no longer considered necessary but High Sheriffs are still expected to be ready to attend to the needs of and provide hospitality to High Court judges out on "circuit", when they preside over the county's crown courts.

High Sheriffs rank among top dignitaries in their areas and are expected to attend at royal visits to their counties, as well as being entitled to act as returning officers in Parliamentary elections.

They are officially nominated in a ceremony dating back to Saxon times when bewigged judges and court officials, wearing official court clothing that dates back centuries, gather to preside over the nomination of 51 High Sheriffs and their deputies from England and Wales in the country's finest court room, the Lord Chief Justice's court in London's Royal Courts of Justice, before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, Mr Justice Langley and Mr Justice Eady.

Before they take up office a further ancient ceremony also take place at the Privy Council in London.

The Queen, using a silver bodkin in a practice dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria, pricks their names on a parchment list to give their appointments the Royal seal of approval.

Sir John is officially appointed High Sheriff. With his mother-in-law, Mrs Beatrice Humphries, daughter Joanna and Lady Foley

Sir John Foley with the statuette presented to him upon his retirement as chairman of the Gurkha Welfare Trust. On the base are all the regiments of the Brigade of Gurkhas.

Sir John and Lady Ann Foley at their Jacobean farmouse.