Winter

What a bleak winter it was! I am afraid it played havoc with the numbers attending our services at the chapel. This set the tune rather for the whole year. We lost five permanently to ill health which is an abiding sorrow. Added to which, there always seemed to be others away due to the weather, sickness, family commitments or holidays. So, there were many Sundays when our congregation was small. Christian service is supposed to be a joyful thing – but I must say it is hard to stop positive when support is dwindling away.

I am still able to find happiness in small things. In January I encountered three friendly women in one day. A rich divorcee chatted away as we both waited to have new tyres fitted to our cars. Julie at ‘Cutting Edge’ flirted and teased as she gave me my customary short back and sides. The teller at Lloyds Bank was sweetness and cheerfulness personified. It was a day I counted myself fortunate. However even these charming ladies failed to quicken my pulse as much as the darling two-year-old girl in the cafe on the Moreton Hall Estate in Bury. Tommy and I were there in lieu of bird watching on a grey, cold, wet Friday. Both as I came into the cafe and left the dear little girl gave me for free the most radiant, joyous smile imaginable. Thank God she hasn’t yet learned to discriminate!

I enjoyed Christmas Day with Philip, Sandra and the family. We had an excellent lunch – a goose with all the trimmings. I am very grateful to my brother and his wife for inviting me to such a feast. Proceedings in the afternoon were greatly enlivened by two uninvited and unwelcome guests. Two fleas put in an appearance. They showed impeccable taste making straight for my niece, Ruth’s, cleavage. They were not seen again but left every one feeling itchy – especially Ruth. On Boxing Day I entertained my friends Dorothy Haylock, John Tyers and his brother. We had a happy time – and the beef was good.

At the end of December I had a rare experience. For the second time in 50 years I went to the cinema. I joined my brother and his family to watch, ‘The Hobbit’. It was an eye opener. I would never have believed that people could eat so much popcorn. They consumed pails full. And the noise! It was horrendous. The seats were uncomfortable and the air full of germs. As for the film; it was far too violent. It lacked the whimsy and gentle humour of the book except when Bilbo and Gollum were asking each other riddles.

In January I recommenced watching, ‘Cheers,’ the American comedy set in a Boston bar. So for an hour almost every weeknight when I am at home I sit and laugh at the antics of Sam Mayday Malone and his friends. It is very therapeutic.

I was pleased to see two of my old pupils later in the month. I taught Rosemary at the County Grammar School. She joined us from the Convent School and my methods were a shock to her system – something she has never let me forget. It was good to hear all her news. I also saw Francesca who was in my last form at Debenham High School. I was intrigued by her account of a very busy life – but she shouldn’t be so self-deprecating.

Mr Rogers, who took an evening service at our chapel in February, had a personal anecdote that touched me. He is a porter at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Whenever students ask him for the key to the music room he asks them to sing him a song. He told us that the previous week when he made this request of a really lovely girl she sang, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Mr Rogers said he joined in.

I did, of course, continue to go bird watching through the winter with my long suffering friend Tommy Bamber. He no longer stirs me up! Our best sighting during the cold, cold winter was of 4 Bewick swans at Lackford. On another occasion I went to Minsmere with Richard Plowman and we saw five smew – a grebe like, very active duck. I also was chuffed to see a tree creeper in my garden.

I worked very hard in the winter producing one exposition after another on Paul’s epistle to the Romans. I found it very, very taxing – but a profitable enterprise – for me if for no one else.

Spring

March was an awful month! Every day the wind was from the north east, skies were leaden and it was bitterly cold. I scarcely went out - conditions were so cheerless. When I read my diary entries for March I felt really depressed! Indeed I was more depressed than during the month itself. Fortunately I can always find something to do. At the end of the month John, my neighbour across the road, died. At the wake his widow told me that she, too, had terminal cancer.

April 7th was a red letter day – I took my only preaching engagement for the year in a Grace Baptist Church. I conducted the afternoon service at Horham – but only because the speaker they booked dropped out at the last minute. I suppose if my father was still alive he would say, “Well John, I told you so! You should have taken my advice and been as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove.” If I had my time all over again I would preach just the same! There is plenty I would change if I could – but not that.

At last! A warm day! On April 14th the wind blew from the deep south and temperatures soared to 18 degrees centigrade.

On April 26th Tommy and I had our best morning’s bird watching of the year seeing 73 species at our three West Suffolk sites. At Cavenham Heath we saw stone curlew, wheatears, woodlark, sand martins and heard reed, sedge and willow warblers sing. At Lackford we heard our first cuckoo of the year and snatches of the nightingale’s song. A turtle dove was sitting on an electricity cable. Great! Then next day when I was watching Brockley Seconds play cricket I spotted two whinchats on the perimeter fence.

I spent nearly every Saturday afternoon watching Brockley play cricket. I enjoy the atmosphere and the opportunity to have a chat with other spectators. One bitterly cold, early April fixture I was talking to one of my old pupils of the County Upper School who comes to watch her son play. It would be nice to report that Kate was one of my fans but such would be a departure from the truth! It was so cold I suggested to Kate we could warm one another up with a little wrestle. She replied, “I don’t like to take advantage of pensioners.”

A few days later my aching back forced me to sit down on a wet bench in Bury St Edmunds. When I got up I heard a woman say to her daughter, “Look at that – poor old fellow.” Then she called out, “You’ve got your coat all wet.” I replied, “It’s only water!”

These references to my decrepitude prompted me to attend the West Suffolk Hospital for physiotherapy. I was asked whether I wanted a male or female physiotherapist. It is no good praying, “Lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil,” and then opting for the latter. But I needn’t have worried. All the physiotherapist did was nearly wrench my legs from their sockets and give me a series of strenuous exercises to do. There wasn’t the slightest hint of a nice, muscle relaxing massage. I have been doing the exercises for the last 8 months and I think they have helped a bit. However, I have done an awful lot of stretching, straining and grunting to lose half a stone but for only a relatively small improvement.

In early May I had lunch with my friends John and Marion Skull. In the afternoon we had a little walk in the valley of the Belstead brook and through Spring Wood. A magnificent hedge by the brook was alive with birds and it was great to hear the nightingales sing so close to Ipswich. Spring Wood was a mass of blue bells. When we left the wood we entered a weird mishmash of stalls celebrating the environment – part eco-warrior, part gypsy and part middle-class volunteer.

At the end of May I was delighted to attend the farewell tea at County Upper School celebrating my ex-colleague, David Dean’s retirement after a long and distinguished teaching career. He was a fine teacher and deserved every one of the head teacher’s accolades. He kept going until he was 70!

Finally on May 31st I gave the address at Hannah and Neal’s wedding. This is the first time I have ever spoken at a wedding. Hannah was brave to invite me! It was a wonderful wedding service. The vicar of Barton Mills conducted it and I spoke for 8 minutes on the need to leave, cleave and weave to make a successful marriage.

Summer

For once the summer months did not disappoint. The sun shone and the temperature for the most part was pleasantly warm. I had almost too much to do in the summer. Indeed, some days I had so much to fit in I began to get stressed and edgy!

In early June I went as usual to North Norfolk for a brief holiday. Lack of mobility means I do not enjoy holidays as much as I used to. On my day of arrival the north east wind was still blowing! I did a little walk along the cliffs at Sheringham up to the coastguard station. I was in a good mood and observed to all the walkers I met how bleak the weather was. One group of feisty females who had walked from Weybourne were reluctant to agree. They had escaped from London for the weekend and were enjoying the fresh air. There was plenty of it about that evening! Later in the week I very much enjoyed visiting an old school friend, Brian Paton, and his wife at the Old Lodge, Bilney – near Kings Lynn. Brian and Charlotte have an interesting house, fine garden, a marvellous wood and a small stream. So I enjoyed my tour of their estate! The other high light of my holiday was the woodland walk in Sheringham Park. The rhododendrons were a month late coming into flower so nearly at their best. It was a truly splendid display.

On June 15th I was very interested to read the obituary of Oliver Bernard with whom I taught for a short time at the County Grammar School. His main claim to fame was as a poet and translator of French poems. In 1985 he converted to Roman Catholicism, attracted by its claim to be a “church for sinners”. He was certainly one such in his youth! However, I was pleased to read that he remained a Roman Catholic and enjoyed his daily walk to the Carmelite convent at Quidenham for morning Mass till his death.

At the end of June I took my friends John and Janet Eley to Market Weston fen to look at the wild flowers. It is a magical place especially on a sparkling sunny morning. We found five different orchids. To Janet must go the credit of discovering the fragrant orchid. On the higher ground there were glorious patches of low growing, pink eyebright and white heath bedstraw. The small lakes provided a habitat for the colourful water violet and the drabber green flowered broad-leaved pond weed. We really enjoyed ourselves.

In July I attended my niece Becky’s wedding to Lea. It took place at Narborough Hall near Kings Lynn. It was a lovely setting on a lovely day. The Hall even had its own pond and resident common tern although quite why Lea had to row Becky out to the middle of it for photographs I shall never understand. I enjoyed the speeches – especially my brother Philip’s who managed to get away with a reference to his daughter’s pubic hair. I was pleased to see most of the members of my family in such happy circumstances - particularly my great niece Karris whom I hadn’t seen since my brother Paul retired.

On July 16th I conducted the funeral of Peter Bonnett who was one of the last boys to attend Brockley School before it closed. I enjoyed meeting his family and gathering material about his early life. Peter loved to tell the tale of the school dentist who filled three teeth in the morning and pulled the same three out in the afternoon. I have memories of teeth being drilled without anaesthetic by the school dentist. Peter was also sacked by a local farmer for stealing his geese! Three days after his sacking they waddled as large as life into the farmyard. Michelle, an old pupil of mine was at the funeral. She confided to my friend Beryl Bonnett that she had locked me in my cupboard at Debenham School. Michelle waited until I had left before making her confession! She might still live to regret making it!

On July 29th I attended my Aunt Olive’s 90th birthday party. It was a happy and rewarding occasion. I saw 9 of my cousins on my mother’s side of the family. Offspring of all five children of my grandfather Hughes were present. We had some very interesting conversations.

August was a quieter month. I really enjoyed preaching at Whepstead Baptist chapel one Sunday morning. It was great to have some young people in the congregation, to feel among friends and to enjoy such a good rapport with most of those present. I also enjoyed visiting my friends Joseph and Elizabeth Hewitt at Holland on Sea. We went to Brightlingsea for a little walk. Joseph and I were not quite fit enough to finish it! While Elizabeth went off to get the car we sat on a bench in the sun watching two little girls making a poor fist of rowing a boat and various families walking past toward the camp site in the distance. I could have sat there a lot longer! I was really at peace on that bench for a few minutes.

Autumn

I paid my usual visit to my brother Peter and his wife in August. I am usually very fortunate with the weather when I go to see them and this year was no exception. It was very murky and misty over the city but by the time I got to Surbiton the weather had improved. Peter and I spent a couple of hours sitting by the Thames. There is always something to see on the river. A big flock of swans pursued floating rafts of weed downstream. As we watched the usual assortment of humanity walk by who should suddenly appear but our cousin Andrew. He was recuperating from an operation and looked rather gaunt. Andrew was pleased and surprised to see us. I had just observed to Peter that we sit by the Thames every year and watch scores of passersby and never see anyone we know. Now whenever Andrew goes for a stroll by the river with his wife he points to where we were sitting and says, “That’s the Reed bench.” This reminds me of a little ritual that Tommy Bamber and I practice whenever we drive over a very bumpy track on Cavenham Heath. We say in unison, “One, two, three – you can walk.” This was the point where an acquaintance of Tommy’s in whose car we were travelling decided he wasn’t going to drive any further and hence the: “You can walk.” Needless to say he has not been out bird watching with us since.

My friend John Tyers leads a much more exciting life than I do. He especially enjoys his trips to Iceland. I have to say it would not be my favourite holiday destination. I think I prefer sitting by the Thames or the Deben at Woodbridge as I did with friends John and Marion Skull – John suffering from an even worse back than I did. To return to John Tyers! He got hauled over by Icelandic customs last time he visited. They were very suspicious of his bag full of pills. They began to work their way through the assorted packets – pills for constipation, pills for diarrhoea, pills for travel sickness, pills for indigestion, pills for athletes foot, pills for ...... . Johnny Tyers fainted! Down he went – pills scattering everywhere. A very good ploy I might add because the search was abandoned and who knows what customs might have found at the bottom of his bag.

At the beginning of October I travelled to Hastings to visit my brother Paul and his wife Ruth. I nearly collided with a white van on route. My driving leads a lot to be desired. Paul and I spent three days bird watching. At Dungeness there was a wonderful little cameo – a group of three great white egrets, four little egrets, two heron and one spoonbill. It was absolutely fantastic to see them all together. On our last day out we had to traverse a field full of cows with their calves and a huge well hung bull. Our nerve held – helped, perhaps, by the bull being distracted by a cow trying to mount it. I thought it was supposed to be the other way round. During my visit I was pleased as always to see my cousin Michael, his wife and children. His two youngest girls are still young enough to enjoy being made a bit of a fuss off.

Our visiting speaker, David Cordle, made me smile with a little story. He had experienced a very rough time after his leg was run over by a tractor. After two spells in hospital he was convalescing at home. The local Baptist pastor paid him a visit. After some desultory conversation the pastor said, brandishing a clip board, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” “No,” replied David. “Do you want to be buried in the Chelmondiston Baptist Chapel grave yard?” This made David splutter. He was right taken aback and not a little put out. He hardly thought it was the sort of question a man in his condition should be asked!

A great sadness for me this autumn has been the sorry condition of my faithful friend Mrs Eileen Coe. She has been a most loyal supporter at the chapel at Brockley. Eileen not only worked hard for the church but supported me personally. She was a great encouragement. It has also been very sad to watch my neighbour, Aileen, decline with pancreatic and liver cancer. She fought bravely and this week in November passed away.

On a more cheerful note I was pleased to see an old pupil from Debenham reporting on the BBC one a clock news. Olivia has done very well. I used to call her ‘the little spider’ because of her black hair, black eyes and tendency to sprawl over her desk. She probably would not want to be reminded of this today!!

I continue to work for 2 or 3 hours a day on my website. At present I am preparing expositions on Job. I am finding it surprisingly relevant. Job’s criticisms of God were very audacious! He does go on a bit! I still have some Christian friends who have never read a word of my website. If any sentence should end with an exclamation mark the last one should. God bless you all – with all my love – JR (Well past his best).

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