Men have faced many a difficult situation in the remote Northumberland village of Otterburn over the centuries.
2013 and the 32nd annual conference was to mark a sea change for the Otterburn Society and a break with the long held tradition of enjoying the hospitality of the village !
The village of Otterburn lies less than 15 miles over the border with England. The Garrison there remains the most northerly outpost currently occupied by the British Army.
The moors around the village of Otterburn provide some of the country’s most hostile environments. It is said that there is just one thing that every soldier in the British army wishes they will never here and that is “we are being posted to Otterburn” !
Despite this, the training camp develops all that is good in men, and a fighting force internationally acknowledged to be the finest in the world.
Of the many skirmishes in and around Otterburn, the most notable, as every member of the Otterburn Society will tell you, was fought on the night of 19 August 1388, by the light of a full harvest moon.
The Battle of Otterburn must remains as one of the best told stories ever.
On that night, Sir Henry Percy led an assault on the camp that the noble Earl of Douglas had established at Otterburn. The courageous Scot, John Douglas lost his life that night, a price he paid for having earlier relieved Percy of his sacred pennant from under his nose and vowing to display it high above the ramparts of his castle in Dalkeith.
To this day, members of the Otterburn Society set great importance to the sanctuary of their society Standard, and each member will fight for its honour (even if it does mean a trip to the beautiful border village of Moffat, Dumfries to recover it)!
Members of the Otterburn Society have found themselves reluctant participants in at least one other skirmish in and around Otterburn, the most well documented of which took place on the night of 24 November 1984. That night, the Society had convened at the Otterburn Hall. Weary after their travels, the members had assembled in an ante room to the great hall. Without warning a skirmish broke out with a group of educationalists who had also set up camp at Otterburn on that night. The confrontation that ensued served to only fuel the appetite of the members and a great feast of roast beef followed !
All ended well that night, however since that occasion, and for unrelated reasons, the conference of the Otterburn Society has always been held at venues other than Otterburn Hall !
An account of the battle of Otterburn, 1388 is recorded in the Foissart’s Chronicles, 1326-1400. The Society’s great skirmish of ’84 is recorded in the “Dear Keith” letter.
Today Otterburn is a quite different place. Over the past thirty or so years, members of the Otterburn Society have been very warmly welcomed to the village of Otterburn and particularly to the Otterburn Tower Hotel. The Tower was originally owned by Dianne and Peter Harding and latterly by John Goodfellow.
Otterburn Tower is now under new management.
Members have also enjoyed a very warm welcome at the Percy Arms over the years.
Each year since 1979, members of the Otterburn Society have convened in Otterburn and as is the tradition, in 2013, accommodation was reserved for Otterburn XXXII at the Tower Hotel.
A cornerstone of the success of the Otterburn Society is the enjoyment of a member’s presentation.
Members are free to talk on a subject of their choice however if a member has not prepared anything suitable, a subject for him to speak on will be chosen by the Chairman.
The Society’s member for Dundee, Mr John Beck, this year had decided to talk on the subject of brewing.
Mr Beck had personally supervised design and construction of a brewery in one of his out buildings at his residence. Mr Beck had also personally supervised preparation of an Otterburn Brown ale for tasting by the members as part of his presentation.
No such presentation would have been complete without sampling the ale and two barrels of the Ottterburn Brown, brewed at the John Beck Brewery, Dundee, were delivered to the Tower.
On arrival of the advance party at the Tower on the Friday of Otterburn, the society were advised that if Mr Beck was to make his presentation and permit the Otterburn Ale to be consumed on the premises, then a not insignificant payment would be required.
Members were appalled ! Over the years, as many visitors to the Tower at around the end of November will remember, the members of the Otterburn Society have always been very generous in encouraging others to enjoy their champagnes.
Of particular note was the night a Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne was opened at the Tower Hotel. As there were only 8 members being there to enjoy it there was far too much champagne to drink that night, despite being also enjoyed by the staff and other guests. There was Champagne in the bottle the following morning but alas this was not drinkable at breakfast because the “fiz” had been lost, despite the best efforts of the disgraced inventor of the Otterburn Syringe, Jeremy Featherstone, in his design a suitable means of preventing this.
The members of the Otterburn Society were very disappointed to be informed of this levy when they arrived at the Tower.
Members of the Otterburn Society, however, are made of stern stuff. They rise to a challenge and steadfastly fight for what is right !
If the Earl of Douglas had been met with a similar ultimatum when he arrived at the Tower in the August of 1388 there would no doubt have been more than a skirmish !.
There was no skirmish between the Otterburn Society and members of staff of the Tower Hotel that Friday afternoon, however the advance party quickly came the conclusion that an alternative venue would be required for the 32nd annual conference where member would be able to make their presentation at a venue where they would be welcomed.
It was with great regret that in 2013, the standard of the Otterburn Society would not be hoisted over the ramparts of the Tower Hotel.
Lunch on the Saturday was taken away from Otterburn.
Members were pleased to be very warmly welcomed at the Bird in the Bush in in Elsdon.
An excellent soup and a fine spread of sandwiches were served.
Members reminisced on being at the Bird in the Bush some years earlier, awaiting the arrival of Dave “Blexley Heath” Smith, who not content with the length of the run down the hill that had been arranged, had decided to take the scenic route, thirty two years earlier.
Elsdon is the site that many of the men who lost their lives at the battle of Otterburn were brought to be buried. Members were please to have this opportunity to pay their personal respects to the fallen of that great battle.
Following an excellent lunch of soup & sandwiches, a newly manufactured pennon bearing the arms of the Otterburn Society was raised by the Heraldic Officer, Mr Beattie, for the members to be rallied for their thirty second annual conference.
At that time it was unclear to most of the members where they would be rallied too, except to know that we would be unable to enjoy the conference at the Tower Hotel.
Members were delighted to discover that the 32nd annual conference of the Otterburn Society was held in the opulence of the Otterburn Memorial Hall, a fine venue in the village of Otterburn with all of the facilities required to make Otterburn XXXII one to remember.
On arrival at our salubrious venue, Chairman of the Otterburn Society, Big dick (Richard) Tarn took his position behind the Society lectern and called the meeting to order.
The Chairman invited Mr Beck to be the first to present.
Mr Beck has built an impressive brewery !
In particular, members found his explanation of the control system developed to maintain the wort at optimum temperature, most interesting.
Members were able to enjoy several samples of the Otterburn Brown Ale produced by Mr Beck for the occasion, without corkage charge !. Most satisfying.
In the spirit of innovation underlying member’s presentations, the honourable member for Otterburn, Karl Beattie, presented an innovative piece of “furniture of pleasure” conceived by him, that, as he informed us, had been inspired by the Marquis de Sade.
The “Otterburn Seat” as it has become to be known, conveniently comprises not only a comfortable chair designed by Mr Beattie, but also the warm red glow enjoyed to the posterior of its user resulting from administration of the secondary aspect of the chair base incorporated by the design by the master.
This invention was considered by the members to be an excellent example of how “slap and tickle” can be readily achieved using a single piece of furniture.
Mr Beattie received warm appreciation from the members for his invention of the “Otterburn Seat”.
Mr Firth presented on the game of Curling being enjoyed in Scotland.
Chairman Big dick Tarn presented the work that his family have completed during the year in Ghana
The Director of Music Alastair Scarborough talked about Patents and how owning these can influence health risks.
Jeremy Featherstone delighted members with some photographs taken on a recent business trip !
Andy Jordan after his update on MQs
Champagne, kindly (and traditionally) provided by the Director of Pencils, Mr Alastair Scarborough was once again enjoyed, however not at the tower !
Members reconvened at the Memorial Hall having dressed for dinner.
The thirty second annual general meeting of the Otterburn Society was brought to order by big dick Tarn.
Unfortunately, no letters of apology had been received.
The Wolfgang award was awarded to Mr John C Beck, of Beck’s Breweries, Dundee.
The following members were elected to the offices indicated:
- Karl Beattie, Treasurer.
- Daniel F Woods, Secretary.
- Andy MQ Jordan, Chairman.
It was noted that members had been able to enjoy Mr Beck’s presentation at the Memorial Hall without the payment of any fees to any other parties, including corkage fees to the Tower.
In light of this, the not insubstantial gratuity that would normally paid to the staff of the Tower, was donated to the Memorial Hall fund.
Whilst the members of the Otterburn Society greatly appreciate the steps taken to make the Otterburn Memorial Hall available to the members at such short notice, brought about by the emergency at the Tower, it was unanimously resolved that suitable accommodation be arranged for Otterburn XXXIII, appropriate to the importance of the annual conference and that Mr Beattie would deliver, even if this was to require that the Otterburn Society would convene at a place other than Otterburn if suitable arrangements could not me made.
