Memorial concert... for our cat!

Over the past few years, MyWelshpool has promoted a number of Memorial events for people who have passed away, but here is a first.

On Saturday, Guilsfield Church will be hosting a big fundraiser in memory of Mycroft the cat.

For eight years, Mycroft (pictured) was the pride and joy for Roy and Joan Upton-Holder who have decided to organise the musical tribute to raise money for the Shropshire Cat Rescue charity.

“Mycroft was a wonderful cat so we thought we would give a concert in his memory,” said Roy who is the founder of the Welshpool Deerstalkers Society for local fans of Sherlock Holmes.

“Mycroft was named after Sherlock Holmes’s brother and for just over the eight years that we had him he never killed a bird or a mouse.

“When we had visitors for a meal we knew that he would not jump onto the table and steal food.

“Many of our neighbours never realised that we had a cat because he rarely went out of our garden.

“In the morning he would only come into our bedroom after the alarm had sounded – in fact, we couldn’t fault him on anything.”

Roy’s passion for everything Sherlock has made him an authority on the subject resulting in him being featured several times on television, and of course Mycroft has also appeared.

“He can still be seen in a clip from a BBC TV interview in connection with the Deerstalkers of Welshpool on www.sherlockholmeswelshpool.com,” said Roy.

“The amazing thing was that we never had to train him - he instinctively behaved correctly. We have had several cats in our lifetime – but none like Mycroft who was so special to us and we will remember him Saturday evening.”

The concert will feature light music for flute, clarinet, saxophone, voice and piano and gets underway at 7.30pm in Guilsfield Church. Admission is £5 with a raffle and refreshments.