Sir Henry Elwes retires as Gloucestershire Branch President

At the Gloucestershire Branch AGM, held jointly with the Oxfordshire Branch at Cotswold Wildlife Park on 12 June, our County President of 23 years Sir Henry Elwes retired from the role.

Sir Henry has been a member of the Gloucestershire Committee since 1968, having joined the association sometime around 1960. He became President of the Gloucestershire Branch in 2002.

Sir Henry served on district and county councils for 32 years, and in 1992 became The Queen’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, retiring from the position in October 2010. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2009.

To thank Sir Henry for his dedication to the CLA, President Victoria Vyvyan presented him with an engraved Armarda Dish.

Current Gloucestershire Branch Chairman Anabel MacKinnon said of Sir Henry: “The Gloucestershire committee have been lucky to learn from and need to thank Sir Henry Elwes. He is passionate that people who live in rural areas should take an active role in local government. He believes we should look back at history but also move forwards, make modest improvements and adapt to our lifestyle changes. We would do well to take this pragmatic advice in the eye of the storm.”

We are delighted to announce that Henry Robinson, who was President of the CLA from 2013 to 2015, has accepted the invitation to fill the role of Gloucestershire County President. He said: “Sir Henry is a hard act to follow. He was responsible for getting me started with the Gloucestershire Rural Issues Task Force back in 1999. From there I discovered a fascination with all the rural issues that led into the CLA.”