Greetings to all our family and friends as we start thinking about the
coming celebrations.
As always, writing this letter is a great pleasure and reminds us of all the things that we have been up to in the past year. Stephen has reminded me that I need to start with news from last November, as that is when I usually get around to writing to you all. That sends me into a panic as I try and find last year’s diary; thankfully I have got both diaries on my desk.
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In June Stephen reached the age of 70 and thus had to retire from the magistracy. The role has been both challenging and rewarding. Never able to sit still for long, he has since sought a replacement pursuit to keep himself active. The one he has chosen requires significant training with mentoring and ongoing commitment. He certainly won’t be bored
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Stephen was also able to enjoy presents that he had been given previously. At the end of July he achieved a major ambition when he went for a flight in a Tiger Moth; it was a joint Christmas present from the two boys and was fantastic, especially as he was able to take control of the aircraft for most of the flight. Definitely a case of ‘boys and their toys’.
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In October, as my present, we went up to the International Centre for Birds of Prey in Gloucestershire and Stephen was able to experience flying of a different kind. He got to fly a variety of hawks and owls; a truly memorable day, despite the heavy rain that we had at times.
The picture shows Stephen holding a Laggar Falcon
We also managed to get a couple of holidays during the year, not something that we had really believed would happen.
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| The iconic Dom Luis bridge linking Porto to Villa Nova de Gaia. |
The first trip was in June and was our delayed river cruise on the Douro in Portugal. We travelled with Saga and I have to say that it was a truly memorable holiday. Although the cabin was not huge, we did have a small balcony and this meant that we could sit and watch the world go by as we gently made our way up river. The boat was totally silent, so did not distract from the scenery and wildlife.
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| Moored for the night. Click to enlarge |
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| River Douro at dawn - Truly serene. Click to enlarge |
The Douro is a very heavily dammed river and we had to go through a series of 5 locks in each direction; it was a really tight fit and we definitely touched the sides on several occasions, but absolutely superb. There were visits to vineyards, the Spanish city of Salamanca, old villages and Port houses (yes, we did sample and buy!)
In September we finally managed to visit Croatia, something that we first thought about in 1976, so it has taken rather a long time to achieve. The tour was based on three nights near Split and then four nights in Dubrovnik. It was a well-organized and the hotels were fine but there were a couple of things that let it down.
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| The bridge at Mostar. Destoyed in the Bosnian War but now rebuilt. Click to enlarge |
We really did not believe how truly crowded the cities would be, I don’t think we have ever experienced so many tourists. The other thing was the sheer amount of travelling that was involved. The journey between the two hotels took about four hours, but this was then made longer when we had to go through passport control between Croatia, Bosnia and then Montenegro. Still we did see some amazing sights including Mostar, old Dubrovnik and Krka National park. I think the important thing is to try and avoid the tourist season.
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| It's a tough life.... |
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| ....but someone has to do it |
The other major event this year has been that Chris has bought himself a house. It is in the same village as Nick, so they are about 10 minutes’ walk from each other. Chris got the house in June and since then has spent a huge amount of time renovating it and he is doing a fabulous job. From a selfish perspective this will make it so much easier to spend time with both boys.
At the end of August we had another trip up to Yorkshire to celebrate a major family birthday; it was wonderful to be able to spend time with close family and to catch up on things. We also managed to include a trip to the Yorkshire Air Museum, which is just outside York, so that Stephen could donate a ‘Bubble Sextant’ to their collection. Despite the cold and rain we had a great time and saw some wonderful exhibits.
My year has been quite normal compared to Stephen; I have been to lots of conferences, book launches and exhibitions, but nothing truly outstanding until the other week when I went to the Tutankhamun exhibition in London. The last time I saw some of the exhibits was nearly 30 years ago in Cairo but this was such a stunning display compared to the past. They have not allowed the gold masks or sarcophagi out of Egypt, but it is still amazing and I am going again in the New Year.
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Each year, authors and illustrators visit Margaret:
In 2011 it was Henry Winkler (The Fonz),
2012 Simon Mayo,
2013 Sir Tony Robinson
2012 Simon Mayo,
2013 Sir Tony Robinson
2014 Michael Rosen,
2015 it was Julian Clary and illustrator David Roberts
Then in 2016 Clare Balding, Sir Christopher Hoy & Chris Packham
In 2017 it was TV presenter and novelist David Baddiel, and Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE who consulted on and wrote the forward for "Starfinder for Beginners".
This year it was the turn of Ade Adepitan with his book "Cyborg Cat and the Night Spider"
This year it was the turn of Ade Adepitan with his book "Cyborg Cat and the Night Spider"
Health wise I am fine at the moment but when I went for a pacemaker check-up in the summer they found that my battery was getting to the end of its time. I was in having the procedure in only about 7 weeks, which is amazing and I am so grateful that we both have such wonderful NHS support in Bristol.
We are looking forward to having the whole family with us
for the holiday and then we will be planning what we want to achieve in the
coming year. We will be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary
(sapphire) so there must be something special we can do.
We hope that everyone will have a happy and healthy time next year and hopefully we will be able to catch up with some of you
Very best wishes
Margaret and Stephen
