C E Lillis Esq, High Sheriff of Shropshire 2017-18

Saturday 2nd December 2017 At the invitation of the Dean of Lichfield Cathedral, Veronica and I attended an Advent Carol Service in the Cathedral, together with the High Sheriff for Staffordshire, Humphrey Scott-Moncrieff and his wife Judy. The service was quite splendid with exceptional singing from two choirs, and beautifully arranged against the majestic background […]

Wednesday 29th November 2017 At the invitation of John Dempster, Chairman of Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestra, Veronica and I attended a concert at the Alington Hall in Shrewsbury School. We were treated to Verdi’s Nabucco Overture, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 and Beethoven’s Eroica. The quality of the playing was excellent and we very much enjoyed […]

Tuesday 28th November 2017 At the invitation of Sally Johnson of the Harry Johnson Trust, Veronica and I visited St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury to view the sale of charity Christmas cards which happens every year in the church. There are 41 charities involved – both national and local – selling their own cards, and each […]

Monday 27th November 2017 At the invitation of Christine Abram, Veronica and I visited St Oswald’s Church in Oswestry to view the sale of charity Christmas cards, which takes places each year in the church. There are over 25 volunteers who give their time to keep the shop open every day, and we met three […]

Sunday 26th November 2017 At the invitation of Mr Iain Gilmour,  Veronica and I attended the Rotary Tree of Light Service at St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury organised by the three Rotary Clubs in Shrewsbury. These organisations do much charitable work within Shrewsbury and more widely within Shropshire, and the purpose of the evening was to […]

Thursday 23rd November 2017 At the invitation of Superintendent Tom Harding, Commander of Telford & Wrekin Policing Area, Veronica and I attended a “Commendation and Awards Evening” in Telford. Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans and Chief Superintendent Charles Hill were present and helped present awards. Over 30 serving police officers and two members of the […]

Thursday 23rd November 2017 At the invitation of Mr John Ellery, the Coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Veronica and I accompanied the Lord-Lieutenant, Sir Algernon Heber-Percy, on a visit to the Coroner’s Court at Shirehall in Shrewsbury. We sat in on three inquests. The role of Coroner inevitably involves dealing with the family and […]

Wednesday 8th November 2017 I attended the Rifles’ Regimental Awards Dinner in the splendour of the Great Hall, Guildhall, City of London, at which awards for various types of excellence were given out to serving members of the Rifles by HRH Prince Henry of Wales. The programme for the evening was very impressive with excellent […]

Friday 17th November 2017 At the invitation of David Evans, Councillor for Cravens Arms, and David Mills, Chairman of Craven Arms Town Council, Veronica and I made a visit to Craven Arms. We met at the Discovery Centre, where we were joined by Cecilia Motley, the Rural Issues Champion on Shropshire Council. We were very […]

Friday 17th November 2017 At the invitation of the Shropshire Rural Communities Charity, Veronica and I attended their AGM in the University Centre, Shrewsbury. The AGM was chaired by Hugh Strickland, and their chief executive, Julia Baron, gave a speech summarising the charity’s perfomance during the year. I then presented a number of cheques to […]

Thursday 16th November 2017 At the invitation of the Samaritans, Veronica and I attended an Open Evening at St Nicholas Hall by the English Bridge in Shrewsbury. Richard Dunnill, Director of the Samaritans of Shrewsbury, gave an eloquent and thoughtful talk on the work done by the Samaritans in Shropshire. We felt in awe of […]

Sunday 12th November 2017 At the invitation of the Mayor of Shrewsbury, Councillor Jane Mackenzie, Veronica and I attended a Remembrance Day service at St Chad’s in Shrewsbury followed by the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial in the Quarry and the March past by HM Forces, the Royal British Legion and the cadets […]

It’s good of Shropshire Drama Company to mention on their publicity that this is an amateur production of ‘Bedroom Farce’ … because you’d never guess. Instead, this is one of the most skilful and professional presentations of an Ayckbourn play I have seen outside Scarborough….and an excellent ensemble of actors were rewarded by gales of […]

Ten percent of the profit from a forthcoming play at Theatre Severn will be donated to Severn Hospice, it was announced today.

Friday 10th November 2017 Veronica and I attended the opening of Ellesmere College’s new indoor tennis centre. The new centre, comprising four hard courts, was officially opened by Annabel Croft, former British number One tennis player and now a well-known TV and radio commentator. She is still passionately involved in tennis, running her own academy […]

Friday 10th November 2017 Veronica and I attended the formal opening by Ludlow MP Philip Dunne, Minister of State for Health, of the Marches Centre of Manufacturing and Technology (MCMT –  https://mcmt.co.uk/) in Bridgnorth today . MCMT is a venture owned and established by various engineering firms in Shropshire and which is designed to allow […]

5th November 2017 At the invitation of the High Sheriff of Cheshire, Mrs Sarah Callender Becket, Veronica and I attended Choral Mattins in Chester Cathedral. It was a splendid ceremony attended by “Her Majesty’s Judges, Magistrates and Representatives of Civic and Legal Bodies in Cheshire”. together with High Sheriffs from neighbouring counties. The service was […]

Thursday 2nd November 2017 After the visit to the Magistrates’ Court in Telford, David North and I attended a Citizenship Ceremony, at which those who have applied for and been granted British nationality are welcomed into the “British family”, in the Shirehall in Shrewsbury. The ceremony was very ably conducted by Council staff, who welcome […]

Thursday 2nd November 2017 My Chaplain, The Reverend Prebendary David North, and I visited the Magistrates Court in Telford, where we were met by Mr Steven O’Hara, Chairman of the Shropshire Magistrates’ Bench. We were given a tour of the building and introduced to a number of Magistrates and court staff. We also attended the […]

Shropshire recycling and resale organisation Reviive has stepped in to help with Shropshire Drama Company’s (SDC) forthcoming production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce at Theatre Severn in November.