May 2010 – The London Eye

It has been one of Kathie’s top wishes to ride on the London Eye before we leave for Spain but neither of us could justify a trip to London just for this.

It happened that I needed to travel to Maidstone in Kent so we decided that a stop in London was now on the cards on the way to Maidstone.

We made all the arrangements and carefully planned the route through London in order to park close by the attraction. Two days beforehand however I realized that it was the Sunday for the London Marathon so we had to quickly change things.

We drove down and parked near Kew Gardens then took the Tube to Westminster. It was a lovely day and London was extra crowded due to the Marathon but everybody seemed good natured and we had no problems. We had booked priority, open tickets for the Eye which meant that we could turn up at any time during the day and go straight to the front of the queue.

I had imagined that each pod would be crowded but the controlled numbers in each pod means that you can either sit down or move about in relative comfort and take as many photographs as you can manage.













What a fantastic attraction!! If you intend to go then do what we did and book Priority, Open Tickets so that you are not stressing about being late and missing your slot.

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March 31 2010 – Retirement

A very short post. This will have to do instead of Face Book or Friends Reunited.

I finally retired from work on 31 March 2010.

I left school in 1963 and took up an apprenticeship with a long dead Company – Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). It was not for me. I moved on to work at North West Gas, Henriques Tape Manufacturing Company, Norwest Construction Company, Solaglas Ltd, Vanguard Textiles, and finally Balderstone Technology College.

At various times I was a Technical Assistant, Works Manager, Assistant Managing Director, Administration Manager, Commercial Manager, Part Time Teacher, and Computer Technician.

I was without a job for two periods, 8 months in 1991 due to redundancy, and 5 months in 2001 due to a resignation issue.

Most of the time I enjoyed my jobs and the responsibilities which accompanied them.

I made a lot of friends, joined Gymnastic and Rugby Teams, and when in Management Positions tried to be fair and encouraging.

I am now signing off from work so to quote Douglas Adams – “So long, and thanks for all the fish”.

Kathie and I married in 1970 and July 11 2010 marks our 40th Anniversary. My early retirement was so that we could spend as much time together in our new home in Sunny Spain.

Here are a bunch of pictures selected from the thousands we have of our lives together, some are work related, others holiday photos.

February 28 2010 - Kathie's Retirement

The great day arrives and Kathie hangs up her computer mouse and signs off from RMBC.

After over thirty years with the Council, the time has come to declare that she has reached her 60^th Birthday and is proud of it.

We celebrate with a weekend away in a hotel in Kendal. The room has four-poster bed and Jacuzzi, and we have Champagne on arrival. The weather is kind to us so we make the most of it with a lovely drive to Bowness, some retail therapy, choosing of a Birthday Present, and walk by the lakeside.

We caught the last of the winter snow on the hills and the first of the spring flowers by the roadside.

Kathie and I have known each other since she was only sweet sixteen so here follows a selection of photographs from our collection.