Christmas Newsletter 2023
Hi everyone and welcome to this year's edition of our newsletter.
Holidays and days out
Sorrento
Highlight of the year was a one-week holiday to Sorrento in Italy – our first proper holiday together for around four years. We had a great and interesting week combining coastline, countryside, island, city and historic treats. Most of the first day was spent getting to our base, a two-hour flight to Naples, plus anther two hours by coach. Sorrento is located on the south of the Bay of Naples and on a hilly peninsula that separates the Bay of Naples from the Bay of Salerno. Our hotel was located around a thousand feet above Sorrento, with fabulous views. Our holiday included excursions to the old city of Pompeii, obliterated by the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius, plus free time to explore Sorrento, and two spare days to go our own way. These were put to good use with an afternoon spent on the sightseeing buses in the fascinating city of Naples, and an afternoon visit to Herculaneum, another city destroyed by Vesuvius. Trips were also made by bus or boat to the showpiece towns of Positano and Amalfi, on the other side of the peninsula and the famous and picturesque island of Capri. The last night included a farewell dinner at a restaurant within Sorrento harbour. All week the weather was lovely and we certainly enjoyed this holiday.
An interesting day excursion was arranged by the Croydon group of the Richard the Third Society to Eton College near Windsor. A private tour took in the main buildings, including the original classrooms and the chapel, the latter looking rather like a miniature cathedral, beautifully decorated and containing the largest organ in the UK. It was fascinating standing in the 400 year old square over which the most modern aircraft were flying low, having just taken off from Heathrow Airport. We then moved to the library to see the large collection of very old books and documents, including some survivors from the Richard III period.
Separately, Anne went on a tour of Charterhouse in the City of London. Encompassing seven acres between Barbican and Farringdon, Charterhouse has been part of our history since1371. It has been a monastery, a Tudor mansion, a boys’ school and an almshouse, which it remains to this day.
During July, Anne took part in the Race for Life, completing a five kilometer walk around a large Croydon park, this year in aid of Cancer Research UK.
We went to Bristol to meet Alan’s school friend Martin from 1962 for a celebration lunch. They had both just reached the ripe old age of 75 this year, Martin being just one month older than Alan. After an interesting guided tour through the city past the harbour, cathedral and university, we arrived at a well-known restaurant in Clifton and reminisced for nearly four hours about our progress and fortunes over the years, and looking forward to the next twenty-five, Fingers crossed!
Anne’s birthday treat was to Mudchute Farm. This is located on the Isle of Dogs in London, beside the River Thames and about three miles from the Tower of London. The area is better known as Canary Wharf, the financial district of London with some very tall buildings. The whole area is pierced by waterways and in its heart is a countryside farm. This is a place where city folk and especially their children are welcome to watch and feed the animals. Entrance is free, there are play areas for kids, there is a very good café and for a small charge you can purchase food suitable for the furry and feathered residents. Animals that are usually shy with humans are only too pleased to be up close and personal at the sound of a rustling paper bag! Residents in this idyllic place included cows, goats, squirrels, llamas and pigs to name but a few. There was another side to the island: its name came about because many dogs from the Tower of London, then a large fortified village, lived or exercised there. Then, during World War 2, there were a large number of anti-aircraft gun emplacements - the final protection for London against invading German bombers. One such gun remains as a memorial to those who were very much in the firing line. To round off the day we visited the tropical garden in Canary Wharf, full of exotic ferns and trees from around the world, situated on top of the Elizabeth Line railway station. Free to visit and open to the public until 9pm or sunset in summer, Crossrail Place Roof Gardens is one of London’s largest. Sitting almost exactly on the Greenwich Meridian Line, the plantings are arranged according to which hemisphere they are from, with Asian plants such as bamboos to the east and plants such as ferns from the Americas to the west.
Wedding of the Year
Our good friend and previously a neighbour, Amanda, remarried in August and we were invited to the wedding. It took place at the four-star Ashdown Park Hotel near the Sussex/Surrey border and comprised three large buildings, lots of parkland and a sizeable lake. The weather was kind, so the ceremony was performed on the lawn, followed by canapés and champagne. (To celebrate her husband Steve’s Yorkshire heritage, cloth caps were donned by all the guests at one stage in the proceedings and then tossed into the air for a photograph at a prearranged signal.) The hotel is vast with an east and a west wing and in between is a monastery, once the home of a French order of nuns, and this was the location for the wedding breakfast, dancing and other entertainments. Although only a 40-minute drive from our home, we decided to stay the night and explored the grounds the next morning, being greeted by ducks and a large number of carp in the lake.
Cats and dogs
No special news here. We are still dog walking Dexter and Ace for our friend Jean, and enjoy visits from Panther, the cat next door.
The week from Hell
The first week in October has come to be known as ‘The Week From Hell’ and you would be right to assume that things did not go well for us that week! It started on Monday when Anne had arranged to meet a former colleague. As usual they had planned to meet up at a cafe in Hayes at 11.30. Anne was there but her friend did not turn up and was not answering her phone. Back home Anne worried about what had happened to her friend and eventually we both went over to her house and, making enquiries among neighbours, discovered she had not been seen for nearly a week. One neighbour had a key so we went into the house and found her collapsed on the floor, trapped between the door and her bedroom. She’d had no food or drink for several days so we called for an ambulance which arrived two hours later, and after various tests were carried out she was taken off to hospital where her recovery took about a week.
You would think that was enough excitement for one week but the next day we went out to take Jean’s two dogs for their daily walk, as we usually do, and there was no answer at her door and no sign of her. However, there were two very anxious dogs there. As Jean is not in the best of health, we searched the house to make sure she hadn’t collapsed, but she wasn’t there. We thought it best to take the dogs for their walk and when we got back we were mightily relieved when her son turned up to say that his mum had been taken to hospital, where she stayed for a couple of days because of a serious wound on her arm.
Could things get worse that week? Yes, they could as on Wednesday I bumped into our friend who lives nearby and he was clearly unwell and needed to go to bed urgently. Well, at least he was still breathing for which we were very grateful! (and he was much better the next day.) Luckily that was the end of our adventurous week from hell!
The Coronation
Undoubtedly the event of the year and quite a few hours were spent in front of the television watching the Coronation and pageantry of the great day and associated events. Alan has always felt a close affinity to Prince Charles as they were both born in the same year and both have ears that stick out! God Save The King!
Goodbye to old friends
The older we get, the more funerals we go to!
They got off to an early start this year with Anne’s stepmother May’s funeral in January. She had been living in a care home in Ely for the past couple of years, and she died there. The funeral in Cambridge coincided with a large snowfall just two days before, blocking all routes north and causing us to abandon our planned journey. Luckily, we had built in an extra day ‘just in case’ and we ended up driving to Cambridge on the morning of the funeral with fingers crossed that we would get there. We did with half an hour to spare, swelling the number of mourners to a respectable six! Here is May on her 90th birthday.
In early September, a phone call from a solicitor in Kent advised Alan of the demise of Don Clegg, a colleague and friend since 1973, who lived in a care home near Rochester in Kent. At 91 years of age, with Alzheimer’s Disease and no known living relatives, it fell to Anne and I to not only deliver a eulogy but also to arrange the whole event in the town of Gravesend, where Don had lived for much of his life. Daunting as this must sound, and with the help of an excellent funeral director, all went well and we think that Don would have been proud of his send off in a glorious church on a fabulous day, with the colours in the stained glass windows beaming down on his coffin. There were about twenty of his friends there to say goodbye. An excellent vicar made the day memorable, and thanks to modern technology, the choir of Christ Church College, Cambridge boosted the congregations’ singing efforts, making for an impressive service.
We said a very sad farewell to Sheila Weir in November. For some time she had been a care home resident and she died following a brief illness. We felt honored to be invited to attend a special service near West Wickham, Kent where she used to live. Anne had known Sheila since she was five years old when Sheila lived next door in West Croydon. Sheila is seen here with husband John.
Steve Fosh and Alan had been colleagues and firm friends for many years so it came as a shock to learn that, at the age of 65, he had contracted cancer. Four months later he was showing positive signs of recovery, but he suddenly went rapidly downhill and died within a few days. Steve, a fellow railwayman, and his wife Carol were always fun to spend time with and he will be sorely missed. Anne and I were gutted to learn that his funeral in Sussex was on the very day that we were flying off to Italy. Here is Steve with Carol, and below at his daughter Victoria's wedding.
Shows and films
We still enjoy our local film club, especially as most members are ‘of a certain age’ and know how to behave while the film is in progress – no noisy munching of popcorn in this church hall, and a glass of wine for just £2 is a bargain! Notable films this year have been ‘The Dig’, ‘The Dam Busters’, ‘Mrs Harris goes to Paris’, 'Fisherman’s Friend', 'Belfast' and ‘The Sound of Music’ - all the better for being on a large screen. All these and more cost just £15 for the year! Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ (which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year) was touring and came to a local theatre. Anne had seen it soon after it came out, but Alan had never seen it. Anne could recall ‘who did it’ but kept the secret of the twist at the end from Alan. We’ve also seen a number of tribute stars and bands, one of the most memorable being Roy Orbison. We’ve been enjoying monthly visits to the pub in Leatherhead where our friend, Roger, plays saxophone and keyboards in a group called ‘Jazz in a Bar’ on Sunday lunchtimes. We meet up there with our friends, Geoff and Les and enjoy a tasty lunch to the accompaniment of some great music.
This last section is included especially for our railway enthusiast fans and anyone who likes trains.
Transport
Railway farewells
Alan’s modern railway interests have been concentrated this year on farewells of two of the remaining High Speed Train services operating in England. These veteran diesel trains were first introduced forty years ago and are still regarded as some of the best trains to have been operated in the UK. The company ‘Cross Country Trains’ withdrew their HSTs in September and ‘Great Western Railway’ also withdrew their short version HSTs.
I spent several happy days riding and photographing them, especially in the West Country and the Midlands. I have still to find anyone who believes the new Japanese-built Intercity Express Trains are better! Progress?
ScotRail still operates a number of HSTs internally in Scotland so they are earmarked for a visit from Alan next year.
To mark the end of an era Cross Country Trains ran a final special train from Leeds to Swanage, with an afternoon extra tour to Bournemouth and back. Rather than attaching two locomotives in their own smart livery, they used a pair of historic and much-loved InterCity colour schemes: one in blue and yellow (at Bournemouth) and the other in InterCity Swallow (at Southampton).
Another end of an era occurred in December when comparatively new Nova 3 trains operated by ‘TransPennine Express’ were withdrawn from service. They were rather stylish push-pull trains with a powerful diesel locomotive attached to one end of a set of five carriages, which would be pushed or pulled depending on the direction of travel. These trains frequently ran on the Scarborough - Leeds - Manchester steeply graded and scenic route over the Pennine Hills.
There are still many opportunities to see steam locomotives
or older generation diesels at work, particularly at gala events when
locomotives make guest appearances on other lines.
At Didcot Railway Centre four ‘Castle’ class locomotives were gathered together to celebrate 100 years of service.
The Bluebell Railway’s annual 'Giants of Steam' included two Bulleid locomotives: the original streamlined version, deliberately painted in a workaday dirty-ish green and a rebuilt version in wartime black (but they never actually appeared in this colour when rebuilt). ‘Fenchurch’ was busy shunting a freight train.
The Bluebell branch line weekend featured two Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway locos, the small 0-4-0 Pug tank being overshadowed by a larger 0-6-0 with tender.
The Mid-Hants Railway autumn event was host to a London North Western Railway Webb Coal Tank, 'Fenchurch' from the Bluebell Railway and an industrial saddle tank, resplendent in a beautiful red livery.
More than a dozen diesel locomotives were operating or on display at the Severn Valley Railway’s autumn gala. The theme was ‘Diesels of the Western Region’ and four ‘Westerns', two ‘Warships’, two ‘Hymeks’ and a couple of ‘Peaks’ plus other supporting locos delighted the crowds of visitors.
That's all, Folks. Have a good 2024!
