New Year Letter

Happy New Year!

We didn’t get around to our Christmas letter this year. A mixture of sloth and being browbeaten by those who say this form of communication is self-indulgent and largely unwelcome by those who receive them. However, reading your Christmas news has reminded us just how much we enjoy hearing from our friends and relatives over the Christmas season. So here, after all and belatedly, is a little news from us. You don’t have to read on if you don’t want to!

We have had several visits to and from Ormskirk. Joel, our grandson is a very bouncy and joyful two-year-old. Philip is still an architect in Liverpool and projects this year have included some renovation in the Catholic Cathedral, as well as the more usual round of school and leisure centre work.

Jane continues to teach near Henley and she and husband Matthew have been in their home at Wootton, near Oxford, for just over a year now. We are again expectant grandparents - Jane’s baby is due in June.

Alan’s stint of chief timekeeping at the European Indoor Championships went every well and he and his team had an excellent three days in Birmingham, back in March.
He also had a pleasant surprise in November when winning an ‘unsung hero’ award (from the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership) for his contribution to athletics administration and officiating. The two of us had a very pleasant evening at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium (the top facility outside the football league and the best legacy from years of mismanagement).

November also saw a weekend break in Norfolk, with Alan’s sister Linda and cousins Betty and Brian – and a couple of the partners, Gill and Michael. Brian had been trying to get us together for a long time, as a variant on the occasional rather sad meet-ups at funerals.



Our ‘big’ holiday this year was a week on a canal boat, doing the ‘Four Counties Ring’ (Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and west Midlands) – quite strenuous for both of us, but great fun. And we extended to take in a few days at Ormskirk to visit Philip, Carolyn and Joel.

We did get out of the country once earlier in the year, when we enjoyed some fantastic February weather in Calpe, where our friends Alison and Roger have now settled.

Otherwise, it’s largely the regime as before. Carole is working in the College Library until at least until next July and Alan still does three days per week as General Secretary of his professional association and two days of local schools-college partnership work.

We hope this finds you well and send you our love and best wishes for this new year.

Alan & Carole