Can anyone confirm that this is still the state of affairs at Waddington?
I've been overseas for a while and returned to the UK and spent a couple of days at an Army Mess 'in the south of England'. The behaviour of the livers-in was spretty ordinary but understandable. Nobody went to the grim bar, guys read the papers on their ipads in the ante-room, often with their MTP PCS legs draped over the arm chairs, whilst feeding Rupert the Lab high tea scones (to be fair, they made excellent dog biscuits)
Christ, it was awful. The food was dire (book two days ahead, please), the rooms gloomy and in need of an urgent redec, the carpets worn through in the corridors, the furniture was the old mahogoney and formica stuff from the 1970s and the showers had the tiles peeling from the walls and pools of stagnant water sat upon the uneven (and clearly infrequently cleaned) floor. When I paid my bill, there was a charge for 'changing the linen' and for use of the Mess washing machines - and well as 'extra messing' ie, having a third course in the evening. Gosh, livin' the dream.
Now I know the contractor, A*p*r*, have been there an awfully long time. I also know that washine machines and driers are now publically funded and this Army 'nonsense' of paying to have your bedlinen changed went out with the Arc, or so I supposed. Exactly the same thing happened when I stayed in the same Mess as SLIM about 6 years ago and took it up with the elderly Garrison Commander, who agreed that it was wrong and that he would get this changed. Nothing happend. I've written to the Garrison Commander, probably still the elderly FTRS Lt Col, asking why personnel staying in his messes are still incorrectly charged.
Will I ever willingly go and live in a Mess? Never in a month of Sundays. Fortunately for me, this is now unlikely...
Edited to add that a number of Wg Cdrs, Gp Capts and 1*s got their OBEs and CBEs out of CRL (catering retail & leisure) proposals between 2005 - 2009 and it can't be reversed because the saving made (cue dubious accounting) have been sucked up and the money ain't there. Some of the dimmer proposals - eg having the public paying to use our gyms, luckily fell by the wayside as far as I am aware - mainly because our gyms are sh!t and very few people would pay to use them, when, for a modest monthly fee, one can join a professionally run civilian gym in a clean and modern building (not a 1940s converted barrack block), with decent showers and changing facilities. I could go on, by I am trying to hold my head in my hands as I type!
Last edited by Whenurhappy; 19th Sep 2013 at 15:46.