World Hatfield Week – Gala Dinner

World Hatfield Week – Gala Dinner – Beales Hotel

Gala Dinner

SOLD OUT

Great Evening, Beales Hotel as ever were welcoming and kind. Our thanks to Jamie Curtis Head Chef at Beales for a truly great dinner and staff that went the extra mile to help. Barbara Halbert took us back to the 50’s where as a young lady from Lucy Clayton, she was part of the Jet Age, flying to Hong Kong with members of the Royal Family, and really communicating how far ahead of the rest of the world we in the UK were at that time due to Hatfield and de Havilland. Geoff Russell of the Duxford Aviation Society very professionally linked together three stories about Three different players from the time, including John “Cats Eyes” Cunningham, test pilot and WW2 Fighter ace with some 20 kills in night fighters. So called, along with stories of eating carrots, to provide a cover story for Radar. The Mosquito flew higher and faster than anything else in the sky, and was a favourite with the Aircrew, not least because it had the highest surviability rates. Also In the German Luftwaffe, they got one point for a Spitfire or a Hurricane, but two points for a Mosquito, so well thought of was the plane. Nick Brown Chairman Welwyn Hatfield Chamber of Commerce, closed off the evening, by thanking Suzanne Pinney and her team at Sanctuary Housing, for bringing their residents, many of whom worked with de Havilland and in particular, those residents and their colleagues, both for attending the dinner and their significant contribution to Hatfield and the World. He then thanked the Sponsors explaining that the funds raised would be split between the Army Benevolent Fund – The Soldiers Charity and a Fund to help early stage businesses wanting grow both safely and sustainably.