Wyvern Barracks offers VIP concert ticket to mystery woman caller

Exeter’s Wyvern Barracks is trying to trace a lady who contacted the base with concerns about buying her ticket for its upcoming open-air concerts – because the Commanding Officer now wants to invite her to attend as his VIP guest.

The lady, who did not leave her details, rang the Barracks a few weeks ago to say she wanted to go to one of the ‘100 Years Behind the Red Brick Wall’ events in early July, but did not feel happy about buying a ticket online through the Eventbrite website.

Her call highlighted the fact that many potential ticket-buyers could be deterred by the prospect of using the Internet, and arrangements are now being put in place for tickets to be sold through Exeter City Council’s Tourist Information Office.

To express his gratitude to the lady for raising this issue, Commanding Officer Lt Col Jon Penhale wants to add her to the VIP guest list, but so far he has not been able to track her down.

He even appeared on David FitzGerald’s show on BBC Radio Devon on May 31st to appeal for her to come forward, but there has been no response.

Lt Col Penhale said: “The purpose of organising this event is to provide an opportunity for the local community to come into Wyvern Barracks and see what is behind the big red brick wall. When we put the process in place for ticket sales, I did not realise we had a created another, virtual big red brick wall for some parts of our community. I am very grateful to this lady for pointing this out and would like to thank her personally by inviting her to join me as my guest at the opening night on Thursday 5 July. I hope I can find her to say thank you.”

The open-air concerts on July 5th, 6th and 7th will be the first events of their kind, where the public will be able to see what lies behind the high brick walls of the Barracks in Topsham Road and learn about the last 100 years of its history, including its involvement in the First and Second World Wars, and the more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The concerts on Thursday and Friday evenings will have the multi-award-winning acoustic roots/folk duo Show of Hands as their headline act. All three nights will feature military music, songs from the wartime periods, and performances by The Lost Sound Dartmoor Folk Choir. Radio Devon’s David FitzGerald will provide a commentary, telling the story of Wyvern Barracks and the battalions based there, and interacting with the audience.

• If anyone knows the identity of the lady who wanted to buy a ticket without going online, they should ask her to contact Captain Simon Reed at Wyvern Barracks on 01392 492 439 if she would like to attend as a VIP guest.

Tickets for the concerts are priced at £6 for adults, and £4 for concessions (children, OAPs, students and members of the Armed Forces). A family ticket for two adults and two children is £18.
Tickets can be bought from Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wyvern-18-tickets-44215834752
They will also be made available soon from the Exeter City Council Tourist Information Office.