TIDRIDGE WEB SITE
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John Michael BATHGATE (1934-?) & Jean Ann BATHGATE [1938-?] nee TIDRIDGE
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Their 1 child was: John (1880-?) Children were: John Alexander (1906-?), William Kenneth (1910-?), Children were: John Michael 1934-?), Brian William (1937-?), Children were: John (1960-?), Michael (1962-?), |
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Children were: Children were: Children were: Children were: Children were: Samuel, John (1721-?), Thomasina (1722-?), William (1725-?) Children were: Children were: Children were: John (1840-?), William (1850-?), Elizabeth Ann (1852?) Children were: Children were: Their 2 children were: Their 2 children were: |
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Children were: Children: Children were: Children were: Children were: Children were: Children were: Children were: Their 2 children were: |
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JOHN BATHGATE My details : Born lucky on the 12 August 1934 in Southampton. As a boy I went to Eling school whilst living in Causeway Crescent, Totton, and then St Denys school when living at 12 Kent Road Southampton. During this time we endured the 1939-1945 war. We had frequent bombing raids on Southampton and as we lived near a railway bridge we had several bombs land within 100 yards or so of the house. We stayed in an Anderson shelter in the garden during raids. Air raid warnings from sirens were a big nuisance to me, as they meant leaving a cinema to go to the shelter. If the raid was local and the all clear did not sound within 15 minutes then the film show was abandoned. I went to the cinema every week to the Broadway with my Auntie Vera, so I saw every MGM and Warner Brothers films made during the war. My mum would often slip me a shilling to go to other cinemas so that I could catch up with the output from other studios, so long as i took my gas mask.
I passed the scholarship and went to Taunton's school in Southampton from 1945 to 1950. This was an excellent boys only grammar school which gave me a first class education. We lived with our back garden running down to the main Southern Railway. I loved the trains and became a "spotter". I often cycled to Salisbury and Andover to catch "foreign" engines. I also caught the train up to London so that I could wander round the stations of other railways to cop real foreigners.
I joined the GPO in 1950 as a youth-in training (39 shillings and 6 pence a week) and spent two years on a selection of different telephone engineering jobs. This meant going to Bristol for residential courses. This was fine as Bristol had more cinemas than Southampton and I could see probably eight films a week.
Then in 1952 I was called up to do two years National Service in the RAF. I did my square bashing for eight weeks at Padgate near Warrington, before going on to trade training at Locking near Weston super Mare. I ended up at RAF Lyneham as a ground wireless fitter maintaining the radio transmitters and receivers on the aerodrome. Not a lot happened, I avoided parades by having convenient faults to repair urgently and for most of the time was billeted off the main camp at the transmitting station. We drew rations to cook our own meals and worked a three shift pattern. This left time for me to keep up with current films. I was however bored with the work and was glad to be released from the RAF in 1954.
Returning to St Denys and the GPO, I was employed on telephone exchange construction work around Southampton and Winchester. This was ideal work for me, it suited me exactly. Lots to learn, so it meant a series of training courses at Bristol and Stone. By the late fifties I ended up becoming Clerk of Works on large contractor supplied new exchanges.
However early in this period on the 21st December 1954 at an evening Christmas party at the main Ogle Road telephone exchange, I met Jean. We hit it off immediately and became a couple straight away. Our first date included beans on toast at Charlie Wayman's cafe at the Junction in Southampton. I also attended the Christmas Eve midnight service at Eling church with Jean's family. At that time of night, I had my first bike ride back to St Denys.
Jean's father was a bit old fashioned and rationed our meetings to Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and Jean had to be home by ten. This wrecked my cinema going career as we could only go together on a Saturday. Sunday was out as no well brought up lady went to a Sunday cinema show.
When we decided to get married, we also decided to save first and buy our own house. In the end we saved £400 to put down on a £1995 bungalow at West End, Southampton. We were married on the first of March 1958 at Eling church with a reception provided by Jean's mother, Ethel, in the parish hall. We went straight to our new bungalow for the honeymoon, having hired a Ford Anglia for days out. Our next door neighbours were Les and Christine who remained our friends. Chris died and Les remarried to Linda and they now also, by chance, live in Lydney close to us.
John was born in 1960 and Mike in 1962. We had bought our first car, a 1947 Standard Vanguard, and so we went on holidays to the Isle of Wight.
At work, I was taken off Clerk of the Works duties in 1964 and put onto Internal Planning. Not so interesting but I was then recommended for promotion, took the board and passed and spent six months based in Taunton visiting all the various telephone groups. Who gets training like that nowadays? In the end I was given a new post in Bristol on External Planning. We moved to Wick on the last day of 1964.
I spent a few months in the Bristol office and was then moved to Bath to take over the group planning the rerouting of the external cables to the new Kingsmead exchange. I think it was time to be thrown in at the deep end, but I had lovely staff who made sure I didn't do anything too stupid. The exchange went into service with no problem. I joined the Bath planners skittles team and then played for them for 41 seasons until the team broke up.
I thoroughly enjoyed external planning as it had everything. Laying out a cable network, economics, liaising with surveyors, builders, farmers and the public. Even Jean enjoyed a day out in the sun surveying decayed poles for renewal. I ended up moving back to the Bristol office to plan the big cables that ran between exchanges.
Meanwhile the children went to the primary school in Wick followed by the comprehensive in Cadbury Heath, Bristol. John went on to university in Pontypridd, Wales. Jean started to work part time as a clerk with a firm that made shoes. There she made friends with Sylvia, who with her husband Derek, have remained good friends with us. Holidays went a bit further afield to the various Channel Islands. Later she rejoined BT as a telephone accounts clerk.
In 1974 I was further promoted to Executive Engineer but this time I did not have to move again. I took over the Business customer engineering planning and coordination and the several Stores in the Bristol area. This gave me a staff of over 100 to deal with and was a different sort of work. I was asked to train my planners in external work so that we could take over the entire networks on the very biggest sites, eg aerodromes. I had just the right experience for that sort of work and thoroughly enjoyed running the group. During the 70s we started to holiday in Scotland, gradually going further and further north. We now visit northern Scotland a couple of times a year as we have become friends with Christine who lives in Reiff, a hamlet on the coast looking out over the Minch to the Outer Hebrides. The islands appear on the horizon on clear days.
As the 80s started, the demand for "private circuits" became phenomenal and my other work was gradually stripped away so that I could become the Bristol Area's Private Service Manager. This still left me with around 130 excellent staff.
Life in the 80s was excellent. Margaret Thatcher upset a lot of people but for Jean and I, she was fine. It was a decade of fine dining and better holidays. It was in 1980 that Jean suggested that we go white water rafting on the Colorado in the USA. This was a hugely memorable holiday as the four day trip turned into a bit of a disaster from the weather point of view. We should have slept on the river bank under the stars but instead huddled packed under a tarpaulin sheltering as far as possible from torrential rain. The rapids were easy compared with the weather. We did meet Barbara from Texas who became our very good friend and still is to this day. Having broken the ice we have always regarded America as the best place to holiday and have now visited 35 states.
In 1986 we decided to move "over the bridge" to Tintern in Wales. At the same time BT reorganised and I had to take over the private circuit staff in the Gloucester area. The work load became ridiculous, I did not enjoy this, so when early retirement was offered to any fifty people in the new District, I jumped at the chance. So in December 1988, I left work with a good pension. Jean resigned at the same time.
We stayed in Tintern until 2007. During that time we integrated into village life, making a big circle of new friends. I published the Parish News and became treasurer of the Village Produce Association and Jean became Show secretary. We continued to holiday in America and Scotland and eventually added Serbia and Croatia to our favoured spots following our son John's decision to move to Novi Sad in Serbia.
We both had cancers during this time but we were both treated successfully. Life was fine in Tintern but eventually Jean decided our garden was too much to handle as it was large and on a slope with 39 steps from bottom to top.
I had joined the Dean Forest heritage railway as a telecoms volunteer so we decided to move to Lydney, nearer the railway. We managed this in 2007 and now have a small house with a lovely small garden in the middle of town. Lydney is a busy small town with all the facilities very close to us. The Forest of Dean is on our doorstep and the railway is under a mile away. I run a small team looking after the "comms" on the railway. We have three electro-mechanical heritage telephone exchanges to play with, and a fourth under construction. Jean has joined the gardening team and they also look after the second hand book store and they pack and send out the railway's magazine.
I started by saying I was lucky. This is true, I had the right parents, the right school, the right job, the right friends but mostly I married the right girl and had good children and grandchildren.
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Jean Ann Tidridge was born in Hedge End, Southampton on the 4th March 1938. Her parents were Walter Sidney Tidridge and Frances Ethel Tidridge, then living at 17 Treeside Avenue, Totton, Southampton, UK. Jean went to School Road school at Totton as a young child and then won a scholarship to Brockenhurst Grammar School in the New Forest. This involved a daily train journey to and from Brockenhurst. Jean was always in the middle of the class and finally obtained five "O" levels at sixteen. Jean started work as a telephonist for the Post Office Telephones in 1954. At that year's Telephonist's Christmas Party, Jean met her future husband, John Michael Bathgate, an engineer for the same employer. Jean left the employ of the Post Office after eighteen months and went to work as a private telephonist for a firm of Southampton Solicitors, Waller, Cheshire and Allanson. Jean married John at Eling Church, near Totton on the 1st March 1958. The reception was held in the St. Mary's Hall in Totton. The honeymoon was spent on days out from their new bungalow in a hired car. One amusing anecdote concerns the wedding photos. They were ruined by the photographer's brother who knocked over the developing tank. The Bride and Groom and as many of the wedding guests as possible were reassembled on the Sunday afternoon for the photographs to be retaken; the bouquet was slightly tired. From March 1958 until the 31st December 1964, Jean and John lived at 25 Sharon Road, West End, Southampton. Jean changed to working as a clerk with Edwin Jones (Wholesale) during this period. She had two sons, John, born 9th February 1960 and Michael, born 5th April 1962. With the birth of her sons, Jean became a housewife. From the start of their life in West End they became friends with their next door neighbours, Les and Christine, and they have stayed firm friends ever since, though Christine died in 1997. On the 31st December 1964, Jean and John moved to Bristol as John had been offered promotion to that city. Their address was 43 Parker's Avenue, Wick, Bristol. The children went to school, firstly in the village school at Wick and then at the Sir Bernard Lovell School at Oldland Common. John worked in Bath and Bristol. Eventually Jean returned to work at G B Britton's shoe factory as a clerk on overseas sales. In the late seventies Jean returned to work for British Telecom as an accounts clerk, part time for two years and then full time until December 1988. On the 6th April 1986 Jean and John moved to 6 Parva Springs, Tintern, Chepstow, Wales. They commuted "over the bridge" until John retired early in December 1988 and Jean resigned at the same time. After retirement, Jean and John integrated into village life at Tintern and were very active in village societies. Jean was assistant secretary of the Village Produce Association (gardening club) and John produced the Parish News and ran the Village Web Site. In 2007 They moved to their present house at 8 The Hawthorns, Lydney, Gloucestershire. This was a downsize in houses and a real change in that they now live in the centre of a small but busy town in the Forest of Dean. Both now spend a lot of time as volunteers at the local Forest of Dean Steam Railway. Jean works with a friend mainly as a gardener looking after the flowers etc at four stations on the line and John works with the Electrical and Telecom group. Funnily enough, their friend Les of fifty years, also lives in Lydney with his second wife, Linda. Jean and John spent holidays in their early married life within the UK and the Channel Islands. The West Coast of Scotland has remained a regular feature of their holiday schedule, (see www.reiffcottages.co.uk for the favourite spot). Trips have been taken to Europe but not to any regular extent. However son, John, moved to live in Serbia in 2005 and there have been several visits to that country since. John lives in Novi Sad, the second city of Serbia. This is an interesting city on the Danube and visits there are always very enjoyable. In 1980, they went to the USA for the first time and on a white water rafting trip on the Colorado, met Babs from Texas who has remained a firm friend ever since. There have now been many trips to America, often going via Texas. Other American relatives and friends have also been visited over the last twenty years. The USA is now the holiday of preference. Other holidays have been spent in Canada, seeing brother John and Australia seeing brother Ivan. March 2009 |
n older brother, John Walter Francis Tidridge and subsequently a younger brother, Ivan Charles Tidridge.
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A Tidridge Reunion May 2000 John, Jean and Ivan Tidridge managed to get together for the first time for thirty years at Jean's home in Tintern, Wales. Ivan had visited from Adelaide, Australia and came to the UK for eight weeks. Not an entirely happy holiday as his wife's mother died during the visit. Ivan and Phyl though were at least able to help arrange and attend the funeral. John and Maureen had come from Edmonton, Canada for just two weeks, most of which was spent in Southampton visiting relatives. We did get a period of three days all together at Tintern where we all had a very good time. John, Jean and Ivan
On the Tuesday morning John and Ivan tangled on the golf course at Shirenewton, Australia won! Later in the day a party was held at Jean's with as many of the family coming as possible along with friends of Jean. Phyl, John and Maureen, the Spouses We had thirty two at the party including Joyce who had lived next door to the Tidridges in their youth and had been one of Jean's bridesmaids. The party started at three and went on until eleven pm. Wednesday was spent shopping locally in Chepstow and Monmouth until, in the evening, the six of us repaired to the Parva Farm House Restaurant just down the road for dinner. Formal yet very relaxed and a lot of fun with an excellent meal and service from Vicki Stubbs who runs the hotel and restaurant.
John and Maureen said their goodbyes on the Thursday morning, Ivan and Phyl left us on the Saturday. I don't think we can afford to wait another thirty years though!! John Bathgate |
On the Monday, Jean cooked a family dinner for the three Tidridges and their spouses.
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A Note From The Tidridge's in Canada John and Maureen have almost recovered from their holiday in the UK. Relearning the English language proved very exhausting. John reports that driving on the wrong side of the road was a breeze. Fortunately most of the drivers were most polite, even those who had been 'cut off' a couple of times. The price of gas (petrol) (83.9 UK pence per litre) was a bit of an eye opener. Here at home (yes, it really is) we are paying 62.9 cents Can. and the people are ready to riot and take over the government..well, if it wasn't summer then they would, and it's too cold in winter... Jean and John treated us royally...can't say enough about the way they looked after us. Whenever I visit a strange(?!) place I usually check the telephone directory. While staying in Bishopstoke, close to Southampton, I noted a P. Tidridge living about 100 yards from where we were staying. Taking my English/Canadian dictionary in my hands I visited and knocked on his door. After some hesitation he allowed me in and we drank coffee together. Unfortunately, even after meeting me he would not admit we were part of the same family!!...I phoned another Tidridge and found we were related... Phil, the Tidridge that I met, said his family was not very close..and very seldom communicated. Unfortunately I don't find this strange..I send out the Newsletter four times a year..about forty email and forty regular mailing each time, and I have only heard from about six or seven relatives!! I know, I know, you did not ask for the Newsletter!! The weather was excellent..very much like our own. Glorious sunshine for the most part, with carefully arranged showers over night and scattered showers on the way to Wales. I will not comment on the golf game other than to say that I was badly injured on the second or third hole by being tripped as I left the green. My brother denies any involvement but he and I were the only ones around for miles... Even if you cannot visit...family is important..make an effort to keep in touch with each other. John Tidridge 2002 https://uan1a33wqwfkqcworurysq-on.drv.tw/public_html/indjb34.htm |
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To John and Jean BATHGATE Dear John and Jean, Firstly, may I congratulate you both on your input to this most successful web site.. Reading your life histories, there are two periods when our paths may have crossed. John, we note that you lived at St. Denys as a child. Marion did also - at 92, Priory Road, which is situated opposite the end of Ivy Road. She does not recall you, and as you are five years older than her, it is probable that you never met. She has an elder brother John, born in 1935, who went to King Edwards school. Ring any bells ? The family were evacuated to Bransgore in the New Forest for the war years. Know any girls from the village, Jean, who went to Brockenhurst Grammar ? Secondly, I note that you spent your early married years at West End. Did you, or perhaps your friends there, ever meet my father, Paul, who taught at the school there between 1946 and 1974 ? He died in 1983. He used to be in charge of the school sport, and several years ago, I donated a load of photographs of him with the various cricket and football teams over the years to the West End museum. The school is no more. Finally, here is another coincidence for you. Although the MAIDMENTs in the 1930's were a Southampton family, in 1934 my father accepted a job in Bristol. I was born there in 1935 at Ashton Gate, in a house which more or less backed onto the City football ground. I was christened at the well known St. Mary Redcliffe church. The job did not work out, and by 1938 we were back in Southampton. We await your reply with great interest. Kind regards. Gavin and Marion MAIDMENT. 29 August 2002 |
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Sorry to say that Jean and I don't seem to have come across any of the people you mention in your e-mail. I went to Taunton's, not King Edwards, and in those days there was absolutely no contact between the two schools except for fights on the common in the lunch break, usually over some little madam from the Girl's Grammar. When we lived at Bristol we were at Wick, on the other side from Ashton Gate. We have lived in Tintern, Monmouthshire since 1986 and love it here. I run the village web site, www.tintern.org.uk and I produce (but do not edit) the Parish News. I'm having trouble with the firm that hosts the Tintern site at present and it is quite often either unavailable or has reverted to an earlier version. We spend at least a month every year in the north of Scotland and I run the web site for our friend there who owns a holiday cottage, see www.reiffcottages.co.uk We have our own web site as well, which we add to sporadically www.johnandjean.freeserve.co.uk You can probably find out quite a lot about us from all those sites. The Tidridge site does not now have to be updated very much as we seem to have stopped finding new family members. Our family tree now holds nearly 4000 individuals but only the Tidridge side gets put onto (updated March 2010) cheers John Bathgate |
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MAY 19 2009 Jean and John B entertained John's partner's parents from Serbia, at their home in Lidney, Glos. UK. It would appear that a good time was being had by all.
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AUGUST 20 2009
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MAY 2010 John Tidridge cannot describe all the flowers in his sister, Jean Bathgate's garden! Needless to say he is proud (envious?) of her many gardening triumphs. He supposes it would be a case of sour apples if he said, "Well, England's climate makes it so much easier to produce results like that ". But he won't!! Jean (and John who is, I think, but not entirely sure, the photographer) have done a wonderful job! Jean's garden 2009 pictured below
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JUNE 18, 2010
On June 18th Daniel James Bathgate, Michael and Sue's middle son, married Nikita Jane Clark at Abson Church, Gloucestershire. The service was attended by John Bathgate and his partner Vera Miodragovic from Serbia and his daughters Sam and Rosie with their partners, Mike King and Tasi Brown. Daniel's brothers David and Jack were ushers along with Nikita's two brothers. It was lovely to get all the Bathgates together.
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| Dan and Nikita | Dan and Nikita | John jr and Vera | Mike & |
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| John jr, Vera Jean | |||
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| John, Jean & Mike | John, Mike and John |
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| Nikita and Dan | John & his railway crew | Jack, Rosie and Mike | John and Rosie |
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| Casey, Dan and Nikita' son | Jean & Sam | Local squire, John B | Susie, Mike's wife |
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| Dan with his son Casey | Casey | Mike and Sam | Sam and Mike |
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Hi John T [August 12, 2016]
This is my car blog :
I got my own back. I drove it into the back of a Landrover in the snows of 63. The step on the back of the Landrover snapped off. The Vanguard dribbled anti-freeze everywhere but the rust meant that the door pillars broke away from the floor. The car was a write off. I think the insurance company valued it at £40. It was time for the scrap yard.
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LCR925 (1960-1963) I never thought too much of cars. The first one I had back in 59 was a beetle back Standard Vanguard. It broke my arm. Now I have a plate in my wrist to remind me that cars are not just fun.
TRV340 (1963-1969) A Bedford Workabus followed. This was a super vehicle. It required very little repairs over its life, though the starter was a problem and Jean became expert at hitting it with a big screwdriver and a hammer. Bedford had thoughtfully allowed the starter to be accessible from inside, useful in the cold weather. We converted the Workabus to a caravan and took the family everywhere.
248FAE (1969-1971) At 108 thousand we changed cars for a Standard Ensign. Back to problems. This car did not want to start and when it did, it liked to make gear changing as hard as possible. It covered most of Great Britain though.
AAE492J (1971-1973) By now I was earning somewhat more and we went for our first new car. It had to be small, cheap and economical. We succeeded, we bought a two cylinder NSU Prince. In the rain this became a single cylinder car despite packing the two coils into plastic bags. It also needed the head to be removed every 18 thousand. "They're all the same, it's quite normal" I was told by the garage. Any ham handed mechanic could strip the plug threads. Mine had both cylinders fitted with coil inserts by the time it left home.
RGL938M (1973-1980) Its replacement was another cylinder challenged car. My son did wonder if I ought to go down to a single cylinder diesel dumper. However I went up in the world to a three cylinder two stroke Wartburg. This was fine to drive. The freewheel allowed clutchless changes once the car was rolling. It went like a bomb, those following would agree as they smelt the burning oil. This car was removed from my life when my eldest son came back from university having passed his driving test. It finished life being rolled over and over after being struck at traffic lights. Every panel was pushed in but my son got just one cut from a spade loose in the back of the car. He arrived home with a door handle in his hand wondering if I wanted to know where the rest of my car was.
OHW822M (1975-1976) The Wartburg had been able to leave home with my son as by then I had bought another incomplete car. This had only three wheels. It was a Bond Bug 700ES. What a lovely little vehicle. Very comfortable to drive. Super performance in the dry, but lethal cornering in the wet. I wish it still lived in my garage. Probably the most fun we had in a car. Its only vice was that it needed a new catch to fix down the lifting roof every year but made up for this by only needing £5 spent if the silencer needed replacement.
OTA191M (1976-1999) In 1976 I traded it for my MG Midget. The Midget was three years old, in perfect condition with only 9111 miles on the clock. The boot looked as though it had never been opened and the passenger seat had obviously never had anything heavier than a handbag on it. The Midget had to earn its living for quite a few years as it was our only car. It went to work every day, down to visit Southampton every three weeks or so, and all over the country on holiday. During its life it has been white, green and red.
C320JKG (1986-1988) My Mini was bought new. Bringing it home from Newport to Tintern took over 40 miles on the clock. Next day it was over 40 miles to Bristol. I found that I had bought a car with an odometer that recorded in kilometres. It wasn't a bad little car but suffered just like the NSU. Rain on the motorway reduced the ignition to nearly useless. Going up the slope on the M4 to the Almonsbury interchange could tell me what the humidity was like that day. If it was dry and fine I could top the hill at 60, if it was humid I could manage 50, if it was pouring with rain it was hard shoulder and hazard flasher time.
C708BTC (1988-1995) The Mini had to go when I needed a bigger boot for wheel chair use. I bought a big boot. It belonged to a Ford Orion. I didn't get on with this car. The boot was big but the sill was too high. The steering strained every muscle. The repair bills strained the credit card limits. I was glad when I was told not to try to get the car through another MOT. The rust heap went to my son for the remaining time on its MOT but he managed to get it through one last time and it spent its last year away from me behaving itself
G464MYB (1995-2002) I asked Jean if she would drive occasionally if I bought a small car with an automatic box. She said "yes". A friend had a Nissan Micra Auto for sale. I bought it and now I have been driven home from skittles in Bath many times. The Micra and the Midget co-existed for some time, the Midget getting the garage as it was there first and is now getting on in years. The Micra sat on the drive and kept an eye on the Midget. I think they got on fine. Eventually the Midget went too far and required £598 spent on a service. I told it off and said it was time to leave home. This worried my youngest son who was horrified at the thought of the Midget leaving the family. We struck a deal and now it resides in his garage instead. My son and his wife went to town cleaning it up until it looked as good as it has done for years but the Midget simply repayed them by demanding a new clutch and thrust bearing.
S941BGX (2002-2007) My friend Les knew that I was looking for a small automatic to replace G464MYB and was talking to his car dealer friend in Southampton when he realised that he was leaning on an automatic 1998 Nissan Micra. He talked the price down by £500 and gave me a ring. Two days later it was ours. It served us well and was as reliable as its predecessor
YD51SVV (2007-2013) Driving by the Nissan Garage at Five Acres, Jean spotted a red auto Micra on the forecourt. We looked at it and it was ours. It managed 115000 miles and was running as well as its Micra predecessors when we decided to change cars. This had been a really good little car.
VE13AWR (2013-2015) Out driving one day, we saw a blue Nissan and I casually said "That's a nice colour". We had gone out to buy a chicken for dinner and came home having ordered a new car! The photo shows it in the showroom on the day we picked it up. This was an excellent car that never had any faults.
VK15YUE (2015-?) Another on the spot decision to get a red car in place of a blue car. This one was somewhat more upmarket Nissan with the gizmos that are fitted. It promptly went on holiday to West Wales and has been to northern Scotland and France.
| CELEBRATION OF JEAN'S LXXX BIRTHDAY AND JEAN AND JOHN'S LX WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. |
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Back row, left to right: Sue and Mike, guests of honour: Jean and John, John Jr. and Vera. Middle row: Mike, Sam, Etta and Joni [John's daughter and her family] Rosie and Tasi [John's other daughter and her wife], Leanne and Jack and Frank [Mike's youngest son],Dan and Nikita, and Jensen, [Mike's middle son], On floor: David and Casey
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| John and Jean |
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We are quite happy for you to add the pics to your site. Effectively the pic of Jean and myself was taken at our official diamond wedding anniversary at the Ugly Duckling restaurant in Lydney on the first of March. Twenty seven people were invited but only fourteen could make it due to the unseasonal snow.
The family group was taken on the third of March when Mike and Sue organised a party for all our descendants. Despite the snow, everyone turned up at Mike's. Fifteen adults which included partners of course and five great grandchildren were there, along with twins to be in a womb!
My diary entries for the period :
Thursday, 1 March 2018
Our Diamond Wedding Day! It was white when we woke up with the TV promising heavy snow showers later. The phone started to ring with the cancellations for today's lunch. We eventually whittled it down from 27 to 14. Bob and Janet, Linda, Cynthia and Martin, Alison and Charles, Peter, June and Ray, Rick and Janet attended with us. It turned out excellently. The food was very good indeed and the company all chatted and enjoyed themselves. We were home about three. The snow had not done too much by then, the roads were fine to drive but the snow was becoming continuous and by five things were starting to disappear. Actually, although the day could be counted as a disaster, Jean and I had a thoroughly enjoyable day. Friday, 2 March 2018 The snow is quite deep where it has drifted. No one has driven up or down our road yet though there is traffic on the main road. I think we will stay indoors today and hope for better tomorrow. A boring day spent watching bits of TV, working on the computer and looking at the snow that kept falling with small dry flakes for most of the day. We have cancelled tomorrow's party at Mike's. Damn the weather. Saturday, 3 March 2018 Still as much snow about this morning but I felt a bit stir crazy and decided to put on my wellies and go and have a walkabout. I walked down to Kimberley Drive and decided that I could get out in the car if I could do the first twenty yards up The Hawthorns. I kicked out a track for each wheel. The snow was about nine inches deep on the road and untouched by any vehicle wheels. We decided to go for it and try for the party at Pucklechurch. I promptly got the car stuck with spinning wheels as soon as we were on the road. Clearing snow with a foot did not do the trick. I had just decided to get a spade when the neighbour from the house on the corner opposite the footpath appeared with a snow shovel and started to clear a path for me. Lovely man. He did the job. I shot off without stopping. The main roads were all clear and Mike had arranged a spot for us to park so we made the trip with no more difficulty. We were of course, two and three quarter hours early for the party, as we were constantly reminded, so the decorations were still going up. Mike and Sue had done very well, a lovely party venue, much appreciated by the little ones who had great fun with the balloons. The kitten, Misty, was fine too but did go off and hide for a couple of hours sleep later. The party was Mike, Sue and David, Jean and myself, John and Vera, Sam and Mike with Joni and Etta, Rosie and Tasi, now showing quite a bump, Dan and Nikita with Casey and Jensen, Jack and Leanne with two week old Frank. A complete set of descendants. The food was of course a very good buffet, with an anniversary cake. Casey, Jensen and Joni all played together extremely well. Etta rolled around the floor. A most enjoyable day. We left after 5:30, getting back without a problem at 6:30. There is more snow here than in Pucklechurch. Sunday, 4 March 2018 It's Jean's eightieth birthday. It's going to be a quiet day. The thaw has started and it is quite warm today. We drove to Tesco to shop and then round the bypass to have an early lunch at Kaplan's. I got the photos sorted and onto all our devices. That took a bit of time. We caught up on the last two episodes of a Swedish thriller. Not the best from there. Then I heard that Jason has cut our cable at Middle Forge yet again. Unbelievable! |
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