Star Wars Celebration Europe: Meeting Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill

Don't get me wrong. He was definitely at the huge event, dedicated to Star Wars fans from all around Europe and beyond. So, in a sea of fans, finding Mark Hamill was going to be the tricky part.

I have been a fan since the first Star Wars released in '77, so an opportunity to meet my heroes was one to relish. Much like The Force Awakens, it would be a long adventure before a brief encounter with the ageing Jedi.

Along the way I encountered other heroes from my childhood. Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca the Wookie, who was as grouchy as can be. Still, it was a treat to meet him. Similarly, Anthony Daniels – the C-3PO actor – organised early-comers to one of his autograph sessions by sorting the queue himself. Rather rudely, I might add – but I'd like to think tongue-in-cheek. Neither was up for a chat. Divas? Perhaps. But time was limited for them and there were thousands of fans to meet.

Next up was Carrie Fisher. Now this was likely to go one of two ways. The queue to meet her was understandably lengthy, as was the wait. Not that the wait wasn't entertaining. One of Carrie's helpers revealed that he was in charge of looking after her dog Gary. You must have seen Gary. He seems to attend every media event she is at. "I've been looking after Carrie's dog and Mark's too," said the assistant. (By Mark he meant Mr Hamill. Luke Skywalker.) "I had to go to McDonald's for them yesterday," he added.

Carrie and Mark each had a fillet of fish and Gary had a Big Mac."

Amusing little scrap of info, but perhaps not the exclusive I had in mind.

When I did finally meet Carrie it was across a wide divide. From two tables away she signed a couple of photos for my son and friends and politely smiled and said thank you.

Then in the screened area, I chanced a glimpse of Mr Hamill in the adjacent booth. It was a tantalising, if fleeting moment. Hang in there Luke, I am coming.

As I waited to get to Mark/Luke I chatted with Burntwood's Mark Newbold. His is co-owner of Jedi News – an immensely popular fan service covering website, podcasts and so many forms of social media. Jedi News plays no small part in bringing events to 'Celebration'. "As a fan, I love being here. To be so involved makes me so proud," says Mark. All weekend fans followed him as he broadcast a live 'radio' show with themed guests and other events.

And Mark is not the only connection between Star Wars and the West Midlands. Rogue One, the next Star Wars movie, has an eclectic cast, headed up by Felicity Jones. But did you know that Felicity's parents actually met while working at the offices of the Express & Star in Wolverhampton? Yep. That's right. If it wasn't for a sales representative meeting a journalist many years ago, the Star Wars Rogue One star would not exist.

Did you know R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker was born in Birmingham and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards was born not so far away either? Shropshire also has some nice claims to fame connecting the county to a galaxy far, far away. Han Solo actor Harrison Ford has holidayed on the Shropshire Union Canal with wife Calista Flockhart. And seats for the Millennium Falcon were made in Telford by Cobra.

The next big Star Wars connection is going to be a surprising tie-up between Shropshire comedian Greg Davies and Mark Hamill in comedy series Man Down. Bizarre right? Eventually it was my time to meet Hamill but I was told my time with him would be brief and to prioritise any questions I might have. Questions? I have billions. Two short hours later I was seven or eight people away from him.

Then my chance came. I shook his hand. "Hi Mark I work for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star newspapers in the Midlands," I announced. "You are about to star in Man Down with Shropshire comedian Greg Davies and..." He pre-empted my question. "Hey, yeah, the paper that Greg did an act on stage about."

I beamed a broad smile. "That's right. I've sent you the link by Twitter," I replied proudly. "That's great. Thanks." And that was it. My moment was over. The next day I checked my Twitter account and found that Mark Hamill had seen and liked my tweet. A proud moment.