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Nottinghamshire
County News
2009/2010
It’s Maundy Thursday 2009 and I am making my Declaration as High Sheriff in my local village hall. In the blinking of an eye, it’s Maundy Thursday 2010, and I’m in Kirklington Parish Church handing over to my distinguished successor, Mrs Amanda Farr.
The year has been an amazing kaleidoscope of engagements, all enjoyable, some very moving and all providing me with a deeper insight into my County.
From the list of over 170 engagements (including nearly 60 in court dress) were many memorable highlights including :
• My Queen’s Birthday Service at Southwell Minster, with a Guard of Honour and music provided by the Nottinghamshire Police
• A wonderful dinner hosted by the Judiciary at the Inner Temple
• A visit to Ypres with the Sherwood Foresters to dedicate a new memorial to the 11,000 soldiers who died in the Great War; laying a wreath at the Menin Gate, and planting an oak tree – a clone from the Major Oak – with the High Sheriff of Derbyshire
• A conference of the East Midlands High Sheriffs at Lamport Hall (excellently organised by Deirdre Fenwick, High Sheriff of
Northamptonshire) which I hope will continue for the benefit of future High Sheriffs
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Accompanying the Lord Mayor of Nottingham to the opening of The Goose Fair (the oldest travelling fair in the country) and being caught on film scoffing a traditional delicacy - mushy peas and mint sauce!
• My Legal Service in January at the Parish Church of Nottingham, attended by a large number of neighbouring High Sheriffs, whose friendship and support has been a great feature of the year
• Entertaining, and being entertained by, all our visiting High Court judges, together with the very special privilege of being allowed to sit on the bench with each of them and witness at first hand our judicial system, which I think we can still claim to be the best in the world
• Being lucky enough to bring to fruition a project initiated by Tony Wilkinson (High Sheriff 2005/6) for a new residential unit for young homeless people in
Sutton-in-Ashfield, in the north of the County, culminating in a ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony at the end of my year. This £2.8m project is being undertaken by Framework, a very vibrant local charity doing excellent work.
Interspersed with these various engagements were visits to the Ambulance and Prison Services, many civic engagements, three Royal visits, two Queen’s Awards to Industry and two citizenship ceremonies, where I swore in over 100 new citizens, each and every one taking pride in something they saw as a great privilege.
My chosen charity for the year was COPS (Care of Police Survivors), and I made it my mission to promote the Nottinghamshire Police Force, which has recently received some very unfair publicity. We visited the Headquarters, the dog unit, the armed response teams, the child abuse unit and our local community police station. On every occasion, we met police officers of all ranks carrying out a Herculean task with enthusiasm, humanity and humour.
In conclusion, an unforgettable year for me and my wife, Ann, who has been an absolute brick! The support we have been given by a vast number of people has been humbling and I would resist mentioning individuals with the exception of Richard Bullock, who has now been the Under Sheriff for Nottinghamshire for over 30 years, and whose patience and encyclopaedic knowledge makes the whole thing possible.
I would not have missed one minute of it.
Michael Rowen
High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire 2009/2010
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