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NEWSLETTER NOS. 112 from Barbara in Sierra Leone JULY 2009 113 AUGUST 2009 114 SEPTEMBER 2009 Hello!
Hello! How are you?
My greetings to all of you! I am now back in warm Salone – lovely sunshine but still some very heavy rain, thunder and lightning. I had an absolutely great time in the UK visiting family and friends. However, before I recount my travels, I must say Happy 66th Anniversary to my Mum & Dad and Happy 90th Birthday to my Dad – what achievements!! I know you will join with me in sending love and prayers for both of them. I also want to wish Happy Birthday to Matthew (37), Jill (19), Amy (6), David (32), Luke (5), Zak (1), Susan (42), Ken (64); and Happy Anniversary to Susan & Stephen (32 yrs), Susan & Phillip (10 yrs), Claire & Daniel (4 yrs). Congratulations and love to you all!
I must also at this point ask that you remember in your thoughts and prayers Harry Parker who has been badly injured whilst serving in Afghanistan. His father Nick served as a Brigadier here. I know you will join me in wishing Harry a speedy recovery and that Rebecca & Nick and their other son Tom will have the strength they need to support and encourage Harry during his convalescence and rehabilitation.
Now to my travels. Schools closed on 10th July which gave me a few days to prepare for my trip to the UK which started on the 14th. Instead of taking the helicopter (which I usually do because it only takes about 7 minutes from Freetown over the water to Lungi airport), I went on the Pelican Water Taxi (boat), which takes about 20 minutes. Although, I have to say that in the light of day and on a fairly calm sea it was great, I would not fancy crossing at night on it especially during the rainy season when the sea can get rough to say the least. The actual flight left Lungi bound for the UK on time. There were no problems and we landed safely and on time. ‘Aunty’ Kitty and ‘Uncle’ Amadu were on the flight. They were going onwards to the US to see family and friends. However, they decided to join me as I was going by coach to Cardiff in Wales first to see Jane and Bernie and to participate in the music and drama festival that blind and visually impaired children and young people from their organisation UCAN, in conjunction with RNIB Cymru, had organized to be held at the Millennium Centre. Approximately 152 blind children and young people from all over Wales participated. There were marvellous performances which displayed enormous talent. I was very moved and inspired. I know Kitty and Amadu were glad they had taken time out of their itinerary to see the festival. After the final performance, some of us went for a lovely meal. I would like to say a big thank you to Tim and his team for kindly letting me stay at the Urdd Centre. One evening we took a few of the blind children to play 10-pin bowling. It was great fun and they all got high scores. I also had a really good day watching the Red Bull motorbike stunt riders’ display in the Millennium Square. The acrobatics and height of their jumps was amazing. There was also a man who, dressed in a leotard, inflated an outsize balloon and then wriggled himself inside the balloon bit by bit – all the while dancing to the cricket theme song ‘A Little Bit of Erica’. Then, when he was fully ‘immersed’ inside the balloon, he burst the balloon and popped out dressed as Elvis the first time and Superman the second time. It was a very unusual act that I hadn’t seen before and it was rather clever and certainly a great crowd puller.
Then it was off on the first of two visits I would make to bonny Geordieland (Newcastle upon Tyne) to stay with my Mum and Dad. I visited the Discovery Museum which is always interesting, and looked round the shops. I also spent a couple of days visiting the new Central Library following up on a few leads regarding our family tree which my sisters and I are tracing. My brothers and sisters and I were also making final arrangements for the celebratory get together we were planning for my parents in August (more about this later). It was really nice to catch up with everyone when I went to St. Francis Church and to see all the familiar faces and to meet new ones.
Next stop – Perth in Scotland, where I was kindly invited to stay with Caroline and Adrian Freer at their beautiful country house. I loved it – it was quite easy to imagine that I was staying in one of the ‘stately’ houses. Adrian had also served as a Brigadier in Sierra Leone. As Adrian was now working away from home during the week (he is no longer in the Army), Caroline and I had plenty of time of catch up on all our news and then catch up with Adrian when he returned at the weekend. On the Sunday I was there, we went to the service at St. Mary's Church at Dunkeld with Birnam. Built in 1858, it is quite a small church and the congregation filled it. The service was tranquil with an interesting talk given by the Rector. One day we walked by the beautiful river Tay and looked around Dunkeld Cathedral which was built in stages between 1309-1475. This was such an historically interesting building. We had a good day spent looking around Dundee. We also did a long walk up the hills through Fowlis Wester, Abernyte, Kilspindie and Glendoick – great names aren’t they? It was very beautiful countryside and we were quite fascinated watching a bird gathering materials to build its nest. I really enjoyed my time with Caroline and Adrian.
Next on the itinerary was a train over to Edinburgh. I had hoped, that before going to Edinburgh, I would have been able to go up to Inverness to see Mary and Gordon, Mary Hovendon, Dave and his family and others at Gordonstoun. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out due to their work commitments and schedules. Not to worry, however, I’ll make sure they are on the itinerary next time. Back to Edinburgh – I stayed with my good friend Pinkie in Stockbridge, which is a short walk from Princes Street (the main thoroughfare). Pinkie worked for an NGO in Sierra Leone a few years ago. I met her good friend Sue who lives in a flat above Pinkie. She was a very interesting and well traveled lady. I also met Pinkie’s aunt who lives nearby. She really in her 90s and a real character and had us laughing a lot. One evening we went for a meal at San Marcos (Italian) restaurant, and on another we went for a meal at Lancers (Indian). At both, the food was splendid and the evenings were most enjoyable. Another good place Pinkie introduced me to was Oink, where you could get sandwiches filled with yummy tender pork and crackling. We also had some lovely long walks by the river and around the shops (to work off all that food!!) and caught up on all our news.
Next was a train down to Crawley in Sussex to stay with my friend Linda who, along with my other friends Craig and Apul, runs the George Hotel, a former coaching inn established in 1615 with, as you can imagine, a lot of history attached to it. It was great to see Linda because she had recently got married and had some lovely photos of the occasion. I am so happy for her as she has not had an easy life especially because her son from her first marriage died when he was young. I admire her courage and determination to ‘pick up the pieces’ and make the most of life. I visited the new Central Library (which is modelled on new ones that have been built in many of the major cities in the UK) a few times to meet up with friends. On the Saturday, I took the train down Brighton to meet up with my very good friend Norma, whom I have known for about 20 years – and we had a great day looking round the shops, having lunch, going for a ride on the Volks miniature railway from one pier to the other. It was a lovely sunny day and when the children on the train waved to people walking alongside as the train went past, everyone happily waved back – such an idyllic scene and a wonderful atmosphere. On the Sunday I got the train over to Burgess Hill and went to St. Andrews Church (built 1908). It was so good to meet all my friends there and to meet with new members of the congregation. Unfortunately, I did not see the vicar Ian and his wife Jane as they had moved to Durrington, near Worthing, the week before on Ian’s retirement. The following Saturday, Norma came up to Crawley and we spent the day walking round the shops and the park. We had a lovely lunch and caught up on all our news – it was a lovely time and we always get on so well and enjoy ourselves. On the Sunday I went to St. Johns Church (built 1250) right in the centre of Crawley. This is a very small church but has a large congregation which virtually fills it to the rafters. It was a really nice service and everyone was very friendly and welcoming.
Next, it was back onto a train for the journey down to Sevenoaks in Kent to stay at our twin school, Dorton House. Dorton House was interestingly featured in one of the ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ programmes on television because one of the relatives of the celebrity who was tracing their family tree, had attended the School when it was established at Swiss Cottage. The School relocated to its present site in 1955. It was lovely to meet up with Jude, Martha, Tom, Barbara and everyone else at the School. One evening while Jude was out, I had a great time with Martha and one of her school friends. Another evening, Jude, Martha and I went out for a lovely meal and caught up on all our news. I always enjoy my time at Dorton House in idyllic, friendly and relaxing surroundings, and it was no exception this time.
Then, it was off again on a train to stay with my sister Lesley and brother-in-law Ken in Reigate. We had a great weekend catching up on all our news. We also went to the park in Redhill which has excellent facilities for children. There were lots of people there enjoying themselves. The three of us then went by car up to Newcastle for the ‘bit event!’ – the celebration of my Dad’s 90th birthday and Mum & Dad’s 66th Anniversary! There were seventeen members of the family at the celebration, including Ken’s mum Eileen. Not that I’m bragging or anything but Mum & Dad have 6 ‘children’ ; 11 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren!! We were all waiting at a restaurant called The Pavilions at Earsdon near Whitley Bay, as one of my brothers brought Mum & Dad in, having picked them up from the house in his car on the pretext of taking them for a quiet lunch. They were quite speechless when they saw us all. There was a banner on the table and a big balloon on Dad’s chair. It was an absolutely brilliant time with a sumptuous meal and everyone chatting away. At the end of the meal, Dad got up and made a short speech to say thanks to everyone – I know he was quite moved by the occasion. We continued enjoying ourselves when we went back to Mum & Dad’s house. It was great that we were able to arrange the celebration as a way of saying well done and congratulations to you Dad and to say congratulations and thanks Mum & Dad for all you have done over the years - we all love you both!
Next stop – back down by car with Lesley & Ken to Reigate for the weekend. We went up to London to Laura (niece) and her boyfriend John in London. They have a lovely flat in a converted warehouse on the quayside right by the Tower of London – one of several they have converted into beautiful apartment blocks which have made what was once a really run-down are of London into a very attractive area. Claire (niece) and her husband Daniel joined us and we all went for a meal at a great restaurant called Grouchos. The food was really excellent and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
From Lesley & Ken’s, my next port of call was back to Crawley to confirm my travel arrangements and relax a bit. I also went to St. Johns Church again and I made my farewells to Linda and the others.
Finally, a one-night stop at a B & B at Heathrow – for the convenience sake of getting to the airport early the next morning without any hassle. Then it was onto the plane for the flight back to Sierra Leone. There were no problems with the flight and we made good time. Then onto the short helicopter flight from Lungi over the water and into Freetown. It was good to be back in spite of the heavy rains still with us which have caused a lot of flooding damage.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the UK and I apologise to those of you who I didn’t get to see – but there’s always next year. And finally, I will finish and as always it just remains for me to close now as always by sending best wishes to those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and any other happy event. I also send goodwill messages and solicitations/condolences to those who are not well or have a bereavement or have received any sad news.
From all the children and staff here at the School and myself, I send all our love and prayers to you and your families and friends.
May God bless
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