Last night I went along to the Beating of the Retreat at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, as a guest of the members of the officers' Mess. There was a cocktail party first where Stuart and I chatted to guests and found out that the barracks was also a college for the army, navy, airforce and many overseas students. There are almost as many academic staff as there are military.
The band of the Corps of Royal Engineers beat the retreat as the sun was going down on a very pleasant summers evening. They were immaculately turned out and completely in step - weaving some complicated patterns as they paraded and played. They played 12 tunes in all, including the corp's own tune, 'Hurrah for the CRE', which I attempted to sing along to, but got a bit lost as the lyrics became more obscure, e.g. 'Oshta, oshta, oshta, oshta. Ikona malee, picaninny skoff'
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