Flashback January 2014: Ex-Gurkhas on the March and Misty Mornings Seen from Above

Published on: 23 Jan, 2024
Updated on: 28 Jan, 2024

Flashback looks at some of the top stories published on The Guildford Dragon NEWS exactly 10 years ago.

Guildford Ex-Gurkha On March In London For Welfare Rights (published on January 21, 2014)

A former Gurkha, who lives in Guildford, will be joining around 200 fellow ex-soldiers when they present a written submission to an all-party parliamentary committee on Gurkha welfare in London tomorrow (Wednesday, January 22).

Nanda-Lem Guring (right) is one of the former Gurkhas taking their welfare concerns to politicians in London. Left is the chairman of the Guidford Nepalese Community, Shamsher Gurung.

Nanda-Lem Gurung (right) is one of a large number of former Gurkhas taking their welfare concerns to politicians in London. Pictured left is the chairman of the Guidford Nepalese Community, Shamsher Gurung.

Born in Napal, Nanda-Lem Gurung served with the Gurkhas in the British Army for 14 years, and was based in the UK, Hong Kong and Canada. He has lived in Guildford since 2006.

He will be representing the Guildford Nepalese Community for the presentation of the weighty document. He is pleased that a parliamentary committee will at last be looking at the grievances of Gurkha veterans over compensation claims, pension rights, adult dependants, equal treatment for Gurkha widows and free medical treatment for veterans in Nepal in line with those available for senior citizens in the UK.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg backs the investigation which comes after continued protests by Gurkhas over issues that remained after the Government in 2009 ruled that all Gurkhas who retired before 1997, with at least four years’ service, could settle in the UK.

Mr Gurung said that within the Guildford Nepalese community there are 17 ex-Gurkhas, with the local Nepalese association having 133 adult members. He said there are estimated to be about a further 25 Nepalese adults living in Guildford.

“It is not just the ex-Gukhas who are suffering with pensions much lower than fellow Briton who served, our widows and children are affected as well,” said Mr Gurung, adding: “Some of us have sons now serving in the British Army.”

His own son, Jiwan, is an instructor to the officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, and is the first Gurkha ever to do so. He is also among a small number of Gurkhas who have served with the SAS in recent years.

Mr Gurung, who works at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, has two brothers who also served and who all now live in the UK. He said: “We have actually been campaigning over these issues for the last 23 years. The Government has not always listened, although there have been some pension increases. Now we are hopeful of a good outcome.”

He expects there to be a large turn out in London, that will include the actress Joanna Lumley, a long-time campaigner of Gurkha causes. Also present will be a retired British colonel who was attached to the Gurkhas. Mr Gurung said: “He knows everything about the Gurkhas and will present evidence to help our cause.”

Mr Gurung, along with fellow former Gurkha and the president of the Guildford Nepalese Community, Shamsher Gurung, are active in the Guildford community and supporters of the Park Barn & Westborough Community Association. They and members of their community regularly attend and take part in local events.

“Unfortunately, Shamsher cannot attend our event in London,” added Mr Gurung, “but he also hopes for a successful outcome.”

Flying High To Capture Some Stunning Misty Morning Images (published on January 24, 2014)

It looks like a cross between a helicopter and something that might be sent further into outer space, but the radio-controlled drone with a tiny camera attached is proving a fantastic tool for Guildford photographer and designer Dan James.

Misty morning top: view from about at St Martha’s Hill near Chilworth.

He and a friend were up before dawn on Monday and headed to St Martha’s Hill near Chilworth where they captured some stunning early morning images of a misty landscape as the sun was rising.

Click here to see the short film Dan has compiled.

Dan regularly contributes to the Dragon with his local landscape photos, and these latest ones are in another world. In fact, his fame is spreading fast, the Daily Mail picking up on these and publishing them this week.

The church of St Martha with rolling morning mist.

The pictures here included those taken with his drone, a piece of kit that is expensive, but not out of the reach of photographers who go in for this kind of thing. Other imges were taken with his normal cameras at ground level.

Wide-angle sun rise.

Dan, 24, runs his own design and photography business and hopes that this aerial photography might lead to him being commissioned to take pictures of a range of things, such as extreme sport videos, music videos, and luxury home aerial photo-shoots, to name but a few!