2023 in Pictures

2023 in Pictures
2022 can be viewed here
The last year has been more 'normal' - at least returning to something we would have recognised before the years of the pandemic. We've enjoyed more time with family and friends, renewed involvement in activities in the Village and Bridport, and travelled more freely and more widely. We spent our fortnight in Spain, celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary as planned in Switzerland, and joined in a special party for our former neighbour, Elaine Tame, as she celebrated her 100th birthday. We continue to welcome friends who want to share our proximity to the sea and beautiful countryside - it's always good to get out and about to enjoy this area together and often find new places previously undiscovered.
The year began with a very wet spell in January followed by an unusual freeze which lasted almost a week. However, we enjoyed a few days in the company of our nephew, Colin, and his wife, Sooyoung, who came to stay early in the new year.
Rather than repeating our normal escape to warmer climes in the Canaries, this year we went to a different Holiday Property Bond site at Alfaix in southern Spain not far from the coastal Mojacar but a few miles into the mountains inland. We now know why it is such a popular destination as the facilities and location (surrounded by orange and lemon groves) are superb. We enjoyed site-organised visits to the Cabo de Gata national park, Almeria (including the Alcazaba citadel) and olive oil and wine producers - with sampling, of course! True to HPB's standard, they had found a most excellent guide able to relate UK issues to similar issues in that part of Spain (eg their equivalent of HS2, the track for which runs yards away from Alfaix but has no rails as yet!)There were also varied walks locally around the lemon groves and up the mountains. However, with an excellent mini-market adjacent to the site, a quality restaurant, bar and take-away facility within the site, three swimming pools and other leisure facilities, we were happy to manage without hiring a car and spend a really relaxing time in the sun. We will certainly return to this site in future.
As usual, we were delighted to see our two nieces and their families at various times in the spring. Ali, Pedro and little Sophie enjoyed a day with us in April whilst Ruth, Andy, Reuben and Jake visited in early June. The latter were keen to clear every piece of litter on our walk around the area much to the delight of the National Trust staff on duty that day!
There was a special event in May when we travelled to a small Wiltshire village for the 100th birthday celebration of our former neighbour, Elaine, now in a care home in Bradford on Avon close to where the party was held. It was a very special celebration and happily coincided with Julian's birthday. Rather than returning home immediately, we spent a few days in Stroud and enjoyed exploring Gloucester by train (choral evensong in the cathedral) and the Cotswolds (including NT Newark House). On our way back, we stopped off at NT Tyntsfield, near Bristol, which has been on our wish list for some time.
The main event of this year, and something we have dreamt of for some time was the Glacier Express train tour to Switzerland in July. We were grateful to Julian's cousin, Judith, who enabled us to leave our car in her garage in south London whilst she dropped us at a nearby station with a direct link to St. Pancras where our trip started. Changing in Paris, our first stop was in Strasbourg and we enjoyed a morning to take in many of the sites of the city before leaving for Basel and onwards to Chur, our base for three nights. We were somewhat surprised to be viewing glaciers whilst the temperatures in the cities were in the mid 30 degrees! Our first journeys on the narrow-gauge trains took us to Poschiavo, not far from the Italian border, and back via St Moritz, taking in the spectacular Landwasser viaduct. After a day in Chur (enjoying the cable car to the nearby peak), we boarded the train again to Brig and another hotel for the remainder of the trip. From there, it was easy to visit Zermatt and take the Gornergrat railway towards the Matterhorn for spectacular views. The return train involved two breakdowns - each half of the multi unit at successive stations requiring transfer to a later train when it drew alongside - not what we expected from Swiss railways! After a day in Brig our final excursion was to Spiez with tours of the spectacular lakeside castle and a trip on the lake to the city of Thun. Our return to the UK took us via Zurich and on the 200mph TGV to Paris and thence to St Pancras once again. The other 22 members of the group were very friendly and the tour guide, extremely experienced and resourceful. It was a lovely way to celebrate our 30th anniversary and a trip we shall always remember.
The summer was busy around the Village. The church fete raised around £6000 in early August and was soon followed by the week-long Festival of Music and Art involving internationally renowned musicians - several of whom have been regular performers here for many years and of whom we are all very fond. The church is transformed for the concerts and the 'heavy gang' are involved throughout the week moving equipment, chairs etc. Unfortunately the event provided an ideal opportunity for another round of Covid and Julian was forced into isolation for the second half of the week although Irene escaped. Fortunately we were fit again for the arrival of Irene's sister, Chris, in early September on a 5 day lay-over at Heathrow whilst returning from a 3-week safari in South Africa en route to her home on Vancouver Island. We hired a flat in Windsor for convenience and were able to explore locally (inc Runnymede) as well as meeting up with the rest of the family for a barbeque and a re-run of an old family photo of the three siblings when they were very much younger!
In September, we were pleased to escape again with our friends, Jeff and Judith, to another recently developed HPB site - the Coo Palace in Dumfries and Galloway on the coast not far from Kirkcudbright. Our accommodation was in the converted elaborate cow barn (built by eccentric James Brown over a century ago) with bedrooms in the tower - another triumph for the HPB architects with fantastic facilities. We enjoyed exploring the coast and local towns including the impressive NTS Threave Gardens. The week ended, however, with the first of the autumn's storms (Agnes), although we were secure in our apartment and escaped the worst of the wind and rain. We had a lovely surprise, however, when staying in Warrington on our return when we were able to meet up with our friends from Kyiv who were on a short escape visit from Ukraine and staying overnight in Liverpool. We're in regular contact through Facebook but hearing first-hand about the difficulties of life in the war zone gives us a much greater understanding of the horrors they are living through. We also spent a couple of days in Bath so as to visit 100 year old Elaine and Julian's sister on the way back.
We enjoyed a visit from Julian's cousin, Judith, in October which provided the incentive for some good walks locally and even a cinema trip to see the Great Escapee in Dorchester whilst Irene was on a church treasurers' training event in Cerne Abbas. However, November gave us Storm Ciaran which made the earlier ones seem quite calm. It was the tidal surge and mountainous waves that did the damage to infrastructure at the beach, especially the bungalow on the edge, and the effect at the caravan site in the Village hit the national headlines as several static caravans floated away, bumping into each other, and many occupants had to be evacuated.
The Bridport Literary Festival (Bridlit) goes from strength to strength with 42 events over the week in November this year. We enjoyed attending interesting and sometimes challenging interviews with Philippa Gregory, Alastair Campbell (substituting for Jeremy Bowen who was, once again, in a war zone in Israel), Sir Chris Bryant (interviewed by our former MP, Oliver Letwin) and Clive Myrie - only just back from Israel two days earlier! The political theme was quite pronounced this year - presumably a reflection of the times which have resulted in a number of books suggesting what might be going wrong.
We have recently returned from an enjoyable week at HPB Langton House near Swanage. Although only an hour away, we found lots of places and things to do in East Dorset which have eluded us by living in the west of the county, including Tynham (deserted village) Durleston Country Park, Dancing Ledge, the dinosaur footprints, the Blue Pool and Corfe. We also took advantage of the excellent bus service over the ferry to Bournemouth for a day. There were more floods here in the village whilst we were away but the heaviest of the rain seemed to stay in the west, fortunately.
Irene continues to be one of the longer-standing volunteers in the village library and is still the church treasurer. Julian has continued as a volunteer with the National Trust, helping out at the nearby Hive Beach car park and also helps with the monthly NT conservation group and the twice-monthly Village working group. Bell ringing has continued on a regular basis and Julian joined the area training officer and ringing master in response to a request from a group at the next Village to train them from February to May in order to 'Ring for the King'. After an intensive period of training, 6 were competent enough to ring on the day and are now continuing with their learning with the aim of ringing their first quarter peal on the first anniversary of the coronation. The Village residents are delighted, as the bells have been largely silent for around 15 years. We plan to stay at home for Christmas this year but hope to visit our niece and family near Cambridge shortly afterwards for a few days. In the new year, we're booked to return to La Gomera in February with our friends once again for our regular fortnight of sun and warmth. Our younger Canadian nephew, Ricky, who announced his engagement to Candice last year, has now fixed the date for May 2024 but, unlike his brother, has decided to stay on Vancouver Island for the ceremony. We look forward to travelling to see them and all the family over there, spending time with Irene's sister in her relatively new home which we have yet to visit. Ricky's brother, Danny, who was married last year, is to become a father in January so we shall also be able to meet our new great nephew or niece.
We wish everyone a peaceful Christmas however you are celebrating (continuing to think of our friends in Ukraine), and a happy and healthy New Year..