In my last post I mentioned we were hosting my half-sister Pat’s dog, Bessie, a small black Patterdale terrier. Pat’s husband, David, had been waiting for surgery and did not want the dog around in the run up to it, or in the recovery period. Bessie was with their daughter, Kate, but needed interim lodging. We collected her at the end of December. The trip was also a chance to see family.
Sadly, David died on New Year’s Eve 2023. Arranging funerals and cremations can be a lengthy process, the facilities are busy in January. The date was set for 1st February in their hometown of Cranbrook. The Norwich contingent was Ailsa, Douglas, Rowan, and me. As Rowan and Douglas could only get one day off work, we had to make a day trip.
Logistically it went very smoothly. There is an hourly bus to the station around the corner from our house. We caught it at about 8:30 am, this got us to the station by 8:50. Rowan caught her local bus and met us there. We had tickets but not booked seats. There was ample room and we got four seats together. The train from Norwich goes to the Liverpool Street terminus, and we had to get across the city to the London Bridge Station. Rowan guided us to Moorgate Tube Station, I had no idea it was so close to Liverpool Street, less than five minutes’ walk. We took the tube for two stops and then caught the train to Staplehurst, the nearest station to Cranbrook. We met my sister Gill on the train and shared a cab to the town.
We had time for a quick lunch, and then walked the few yards to St Dunstan’s Church where the service was held. The impressive church is about 500 years old.1 David and Pat were involved with this church and were clearly much appreciated by the congregation. We were told David had planned the funeral and had given strict instructions that there was to be no eulogy. In a way this was a pity, and I am putting in a link to the memorial page so people can read more about him.2
In brief, he was born 1931 in Kasauli, India into a British army family, educated at Clifton College and Queen’s College, Cambridge. He worked briefly in the British diplomatic service, but resigned in protest at the government’s actions in Suez in 1956. He joined the Colonial Service as a District Officer in Kenya, and met Pat (my half-sister), a Community Development Officer in Kisumu. They married in 1958 and their children were born in Kenya. David joined War on Want in 1971 as a Field Director in India and Bangladesh. In 1973 he joined OXFAM, and developed projects in India, Cambodia (immediately after the Khmer Rouge government), and sub-Saharan Africa, especially Sudan. He retired in 1991. In 1992 he was awarded an OBE for work in international development.
The service and reception were well attended by people from both sides of the family. They included a cousin I had not seen for at least 30 years. It was good to see relatives and the next generation of the family well represented. They were all very interested and interesting, and losing a senior member of the clan is going to be hard. It was a reminder of how fleeting life is. I was glad I managed to see David and Pat in recent years. We left the reception just after 5pm and did the journey in reverse to get home at 9.30 pm.
The family and I are involved in politics in the region. Ailsa, Douglas and Rowan are Green Party members, and Ailsa delivers leaflets for them. She seems to do this every few days, and she has rounds in the north of the city and out in the countryside. In the last local government elections, the Greens did rather well, and they want to build on this. I am not a very active Liberal Democrat. I have delivered about 200 leaflets in the local neighbourhood, but jealously guard my time.
I did however go to the Annual Lib Dem Fundraising dinner. These are held to mark Burn’s Night,3 extract money from members, and build a sense of belonging and enthusiasm. Douglas accompanied me to the first, wild horses would not get him to go again, so I flew solo. As I was doing the ‘dry January’ I did not drink. There is a formula to Burn’s Suppers. It begins with a bagpiper playing as the guests gather; the master of ceremonies welcome people and the Selkirk Grace is said;4 soup is served and the haggis is ceremonially carried in accompanied by the piper. There is an address to the haggis and the main course (including haggis) is served, traditionally with mashed potatoes (tatties) and mashed swede turnip (neeps). The toasts follow and include the ‘Immortal Memory’, an Address to Lassies and a Reply to the Laddies. The dinner ends with the singing of Auld Lang Syne. It is formulaic which is comforting, and the event is celebrated, using the same script, across the world.
In previous years I have dreaded the event, and ridiculously I tend to be one of the younger people there. So much depends on who one is sitting with and whether they are good company. This January I was opposite an 80-year-old couple from South Norfolk, and next to an interesting woman who may have been even older. The conversation was wide ranging covering politics, children, and interestingly, climate change. There is no complacency among Lib Dems on this issue and I advocate electoral alliances with the Greens.
We will get an indication of the political mood in the country in the next few weeks with three by-elections. On 15th January the seats held by Conservatives Peter Bone and Christopher Skidmore will be contested. Arrogant Bone was forced out by a recall petition signed by enough people in his constituency to force the issue. Principled Skidmore resigned in protest against government environmental policy. The third is to replace Labour MP, Tony Lloyd, who died recently. Sunak and the Tories have a big enough majority to hang on to the bitter end, which could be January 2025!
We had two visits to the theatre last week. The first with Ailsa, Rowan and Douglas was to see Macbeth (the Scottish play) at the Playhouse. It was not great; the acting was a bit strained. I am glad we went to see it; I studied it as a set book a million years ago. I like these trips down memory lane. The second play we saw was based on an Agatha Christie novel. The original book was, politically incorrectly, and offensively, called Ten Little ******, the American edition was called Ten Little Indians and finally it got to the title And Then There Were None. The book is the world’s best-selling mystery, and one of the best-selling books of all time.5
The Wikipedia page is very informative on the process of writing this book and the story behind it. The idea is that ten people are cut off on an island off the English coast. They are murdered in ways that reflect the original 1869 minstrel song. This was exceptionally well acted and was altogether a very pleasant evening out. Ailsa was surprised to see one of her Green colleagues in the interval.
Although it is steadily getting light earlier in the morning, and staying light later in the evening, winter still grasps us in its cold and clammy hands. There have been more extreme events than usual, mainly rain and wind. At the same time there have been fewer nights with frost, and we have only seen a few snowflakes this year. Back in South Africa, Durban is, as usual, hot and humid. I do not like that so even this weather is preferable being in hot, sweaty Durban.
- https://www.stdunstanscranbrook.org.uk/about
- https://daviddepury.muchloved.com/Gallery/Thoughts
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper accessed 6th February 2024
- Selkirk Grace
Some hae meat an canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None. Accessed 6th February 2024
Alan Whiteside 