Oliver James, our first grand-child, was born on 7th November 1988 and a fortnight later, on 24th November, Marilyn and I moved to Bourton-on-the-Water.  When we decided to find a smaller house than that at Montague Road we did not have anywhere specially in mind.  We started looking at places not too far from Berkhamsted and gradually 'in ever-increasing circles' visited several towns and villages.

You will remember that we had spent our short honeymoon at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire and we decided to re-visit it.  We found nothing of interest in the houses advertised for sale but in the window of one house-agent's shop was a house for sale at Bourton and we decided to see what it -was like.  We saw it and immediately decided to buy it.  It was as easy as that.  I need not describe the house and garden - you have visited it often enough.

And, as you know, David bought the Montague Road house and so we still visit Berkhamsted frequently.

When we moved to Bourton and settled into 80 Lamberts Field the year was coming to an end.  However, we had to discover what the area had to offer in the way of shops and services and we were surprised to find how well Bourton caters for its inhabitants.  Since the village (really it is a small town) sees lots of visitors during the year (as we discovered later) there are plenty of varied shops and also cafes and restaurants, this not being typical of a village.  We have a hospital, for which we have been very grateful, doctors and dentists, solicitors and two banks, though one has now closed.  There is a bus service to Cirencester and to Cheltenham and several other routes which we could use as an alternative to the car.  [FWB notes in the margin that this should be put into the past tense.}

We discovered that Bourton has a Christmus Tree in the river which flows through the village.

Almost as soon as we moved in we had a card put through the door inviting us to the Methodist Chapel at Westcote, four and a quarter miles away.  There is no Methodist Church in Bourton and we thought we should probably go to Stow-on-the-Wold where we knew there was a Methodist Church but, having received the invitation we went - and are now very much involved.  More about that, later.

It was very easy to get involved.  Bourton is a mixture of 'old' Bourtonians and 'incomers' and both lots seem to get on well together.  Apart from our involvement in the Chapel we have other things too - after we had lived here about a year I joined the Panto Group, but it was not as pleasant and satisfying as the Radlett Players or the School Staff Group and in 1994, after producing 'Aladdin', I decided my dramatic days were over and I resigned.  Marilyn had meanwhile joined the Bourton Vale Players, a group which produced two plays each year, but unfortunately due to lack of support they had to disband later.

There were other things though.  Marilyn joined the Women's Institute and I joined Probus and later we were both members of the Local History Society of which I was the first Chairman, remaining in office for ten years.  In Probus I was successively Treasurer, Secretary and Speakers' Secretary (responsible for finding speakers for the fortnightly meetings).  Marilyn held various offices in the W. I.

As for the Church (which was known as the Chapel to distinguish it from the Parish Church at Westcote) Marilyn fulfilled preaching appointments in the Circuit and is the Church Council Secretary.  She has also been concerned with a Holiday Club with children (of whom there were and are very few).  I am at the moment (2001) Treasurer and also Secretary and Treasurer for the Circuit for Methodist Homes.  Marilyn has also been the Circuit Local Preachers' Secretary but has now given this up.

For some time I was the Methodist Representative to the Parochial Church Council but I had to give this up, firstly because I no longer drive the car at night and secondly because the P.C.C. meetings were held on a Wednesday and it often clashed with the Local History Meetings at which, as Chairman, it was imperative that I should attend.

So our life at Bourton gradually took shape. We did the day-to-day things, attended or led meetings, visited other villages or towns and at times went to Berkhamsted or the family came to Bourton.  And with a fair-sized garden I was able to grow at least a small amount of vegetables and fruit, with from time to time a glut of gooseberries or plums if the season was favourable.

One thing we have done since the beginning of 1989 is to keep a diary of our days; the next chapters must be read with this in mind, that many everyday and uninteresting things (like dentist's appointments) and many minor things (like having someone in for coffee) are not mentioned.

1989    Pippa had decided to take a year off and circumnavigate the world.  She left on 31st January and went to Australia where I have some relatives.  She stayed in Sydney for some time and later went to Vancouver (16th June), to Toronto (23rd June to Marilyn's relatives) and finally returned home on 6th July.  She will be able to tell you of all that she saw and experienced.

1990    This year stared with a violent storm on 25th January.  Some tiles were blown off our house and damage was widespread. On Stow Hill so many trees were blown down that all traffic was impossible - the road was full of fallen trees.  In addition the fall of the trees broke down parts of the stone walls at the side of the road.

On a happier note, David and Yvonne were married on 7th April.

In May, Marilyn and I went on our first coach-tour holiday.  For years holidays, either at home or abroad had meant driving and non we decided someone else could do the work!  We were able to book at our local travel agent and we went on a coach from Cheltenham to Dover and then across the Channel for a tour of 'Rural France'.  We went on the 12th May and returned home on the 20th.  The coach was only about half-full and we enjoyed this new and relaxing experience.

On 27th July we celebrated the birth of Nicola Anne.

1991    We celebrated the birth of Matthew Nicholas on 1st March.

On 2nd April we flew to the United States for very strange holiday. For some years we had corresponded with Revd. Stuart Brush (no relation!) because of our interest in genealogy.  His ancestor had come from England to America some time in the 1600's but he did not know where in England they had come from.  (We still don't know.)  In 1990 Stuart had written to us suggesting Marilyn should take over his Church for seven weeks while he and his wife visited Europe.  It was wonderful opportunity and of course we said 'Yes!'

We were intended to live in the Parsonage house but early in 1991 it was struck by lightning and when we arrived in America we were told that arrangements had been made for us to stay in a Bed-and-Breakfast place (known to them as an 'inn') which had every comfort.  We stayed there for a while but when the parsonage was reasonably habitable we moved there.

Marilyn took the Sunday Services and conducted services at one or two Old People's Homes and so forth.  We had a lot of spare time to drive around in Stuart's or Laura's cars and we were invited into several homes for meals.

We returned home on 21st May.  On the 24th we met Stuart and Laura at Cirencester and they stayed with us from the 24th to the 30th.  They had been through a very traumatic time on the Continent, havine all their luggage stolen but at last they got safely home.

For part of this year David been working in Copenhagen and we spent a week with him and Yvonne and Nicola in Denmark, from the 24th to the 30th.

It was on 27th of September in this year (1991) that the Local History Society was formed and I was 'pushed forward' to be the Chairman.  According to the Constitution, I should not have been Chairman for more then three years but as it happened I filled the position for ten and then resigned in 2001.

1992   We celebrated the birth of Elizabeth Charlotte on 25th February.

On the 26±h March Pippa was in an accident while driving David's car and was taken to Milton Keynes Hospital.  Fortunately she was not hurt, apart from bruises and shock. It was particularly unfortunate that her Final exams were coming shortly but in the event she triumphed with a 'Two,One'.

We decided to try another coach tour, having enjoyed the first one and booked to go with Page and Moy to Vienna and Prague.  We left on 25th August and returned on 1st September.  Sadly it was not as pleasant as the first trip.  The coach was full, which slowed down the loading and unloading and the hotels were a long way from the towns we had come to see.  We had a quick stop with not a lot of time to absorb everything but we saw many interesting places and the tour guide was very well-informed and helpful.

Pippa had decided that she wanted to go to a university to read for an M.A. and after applying to several she was offered a place at Calgary in Canada and she accepted.  She left for Calgary on 27th August.

1993   On 13th May we left for Calgary to stay with Pippa in her flat ('appartrnent' in Canada).   We stayed until 31st May and she took us to many interesting places, of which the Rockies made the greatest impression on me.  We also met Bryn and Ed who later visited us at Bourton and who had a wonderful house on top of a mountain.  It was there that we saw a moose in a lake from tha window of the house.

On 8th September we celebrated the Chapel Anniversary having a friend from the Bowes Park days as guest preacher, Bill Horton.

The Panto Group's production of 'Oliver!' in the Cotswold School Hall involved both of us, Marilyn as Mrs. Sowerberry the undertaker's wife and myself as Doctor Grimwig.  Both of us, with quick changes, also made two of the tavern's clientele.  This was from 12th to 16th of October.  Marilyn about the same time was concerned with the Vale Players' production of 'Sailor beware'.

1994   On 2nd to 5th February I produced and directed 'Aladdin' for the Panto Group but I feel it was not well done.  It made me decide to stop dramatic ventures.

1995   Another big production took place in July 1995 when Marilyn was a 'Pa1ace Guard' in 'The King and I', again at the Cotswold School by the Panto Group.

On 17th August we went to Edmonton to stay with Pippa until 5th September.  At this time Pippa was working for her Ph.D having gained her M.A. at Calgary.

1996   According to the diaries, nothing of interest happened this year!

1997   We decided to try another coach-tour holiday with Shearings and from 30th August to 7th September we went to Germany, the tour being largely around the Rhine and the neighbouring countryside.  It was interesting since we had neither of us been in Germany (except for my two or three days in Buckeburg in 1945).  Unfortunately the hotel which was our base was rather minimal and very full.

1998   Again another year when life must have been very uneventful!

1999   In the early part of the year I suddenly started seting double.  With one eye closed all was well but if I tried to see with both eyes it would look as if there were two images, one below and a little to the right of the other - most disconcerting, especially when two cars were coming towards me and I couldn't tell which was the real one.  I stopped driving.  After some visits to the eye-clinic at Bourton Hospital and one visit to Cheltenham (where I had an hour and a half of eye-tests) it suddenly cleared up and I was able to see normally.  The specialists suggested that a little blood vessel in the brain had burst and eventually had healed itself.  I was very glad that it had.

For a trip this year we went to Holland - with a difference.  We went to Dover and joined a coach there which took us through France and Belgium into Holland.  There we transferred to a ship which was our 'floating home'.  We visited several places including the famous Keukenhof gardens, filled with tulips at that time of year, 25th to 28th April.

In May Stuart and Laura visited us for four days at the start of a tour of Britain which they had planned.  We collected them at Heathrow only to discover that they had hired a car expecting me to drive it to Bourton since Stuart was not used to left-hand of the road driving.  However, the car hire people were not happy about anyone other that Stuart driving and as a result he had to drive home with me constantly reminding him 'Keep to the left here' and 'Stop!' frequently.  I am still amazed that we got through the M.25 safely.  They left on 22nd and at the end of their töur flew back to U.S.A. from Edinburgh so we did not see them again.  We crammed quite a lot into the four days they were with us, visiting Avebury, Chedworth and Hidcote.

On 28th May Marilyn was admitted to Cheltenham witha minor heart attack.  She returned home on 10th June.

On 11th November to Calgary again.  This time we were driven by Sean in atrocious weather to Edmonton where Pippa received her Ph.D. on 18th.  From now on, 'Doctor Pippa'.  We flew home again on 23rd.

2000   A lot of people celebrated 1st January as the start of a Millenium, quite wrongly of course since this year was the last of the first {sic - surely the second} Millennium and not the first at all.

It turned out to be a bad year for us.  Early in the year it was discovered that Marilyn had an ovarian cyst Which would need to be removed and she was operatéd on in Cheltenham Hospital on 16th February.  All seemed well and she came home on 25th.  Fortunately Pippa was home at the time.  About thirty-six hours later Marilyn had to go back to Cheltenham since an infection had set in, and she was operated upon for the second time on 29th.  About a month later, on 27th March, she was transferred to Bourton Hospital and finally came home on 5th April.

We decided to have a little break and booked a week at 'Holly Ridge' near Ottery St.Mary in Devon.  The proprietors were very understanding and we were able to come and go as we wished.  We travelled about and saw various interesting places - but it rained all the week.  We returned home on 29th May.

We were not out of the wood yet.  On 16th June Marilyn was once again in Bourton Hospital with pneumonia.  As she recovered she was allowed home for a few hours during the day from time to time and finally came home on 17th July.

That was quite enough for one year.

2001   The great event of this year was the wedding of Pippa and Sean.  As you know, all the family went to Virginia and enjoyed the occasion.  Marilyn and I had arranged to spend a few days in Connecticut with Stuart and Laura so our itinerary was rather different from yours.

We left Gatwick and flew to Philadelphia.  From the airport we went on an internal flight to Roanoke where Pippa met us.  After a few days with Pippa and Sean we left Roanoke to go to Connecticut.

We got an internal flight to Philadelphia.  There we went on a small train to the main railway station where we caught a train to New Haven where we were met by Stuart and Laura.  We spent a few days there and were taken round to various places of interest.

Eventually it was time to come back, Stuart and Laura took us to New Haven station where we caught a train to Philadelphia.  At Philadelphia we changed to the small train which connected the rai1way station to the airport. At the airport we got completely muddled.  It was not clear where we had to go, signs (such as there were) were misleading or unhelpful, and we found ourselves going through the security check twice.  At last, more by luck than by anything else, we found the correct check-in desk and finally got to the plane.  We arrived home on 22nd.

On 16th July Marilyn was back in Cheltenham Hospital, this time with intestinal trouble.  It meant a starvation regime with intravenous feeding - not pleasant for her.  She came home on the 29th.

We decided to have a few days in Pembrokeshire and booked at a place near Solva.  We enjoyed the first three days but on the Thursday evening of the 4th Marilyn was unwell and we had to return home on Friday 5th October.  That was quite enough for the year.

2002   Golden Wedding Year!  We decided to make a big thing of this celebration and to have a double event - a dinner for family, cousins, bridesmaids and best man on the Friday and a buffet lunch for family and friends on Saturday.  We went to Wyck Hill Hotel and found that the weekend we wanted was already booked for three weddings. (We had thought we were early!)

Our second choice, the Fosse hotel at the bottom of Stow Hill could accommodate us and we booked the two functions, a dinner at 7.30 on Friday 9th August and the Buffet 'Reception' at mid-day on Saturday 10th.

We bought invitation cards for the Dinner and Nicola designed the invitation card for the 'Reception'.

In the garden at Bourton during the Golden Wedding weekend

On a different note, we had heard last Christmas that David Brisby, my Best Man, was far from well and we went to visit him in the Nursing Home at Welwyn Garden City in March.  Some five weeks later, on the tenth of April we went to Welwyn again for his funeral.  Strangely among the many people there and at the house we seemed to be among those those who had known him longest. After the wedding in 1952 and move to Suffolk our contact was usually just a Christmas card, although he and Margaret had visited us at Pakenham and we had been to Welwyn.  They were also at our Silver Wedding dinner in 1977.  David had suffered two strokes and was in a very bad state when we visited him.  We had it in mind, of course, to invite him and Margaret for this year's celebration and happily Margaret said she would like to be with us.

Note re the (DO!)

Week tour of Scotland in September

October - Pat Savage funeral. Church Stretton.(1)

Following the funeral Dad had to be left alone in their home at Bourton. This matched what he wanted but he was slowly declining and became ever more dependent on help from a lady who lived opposite and from chapel members.  Eventually the time came for him to sell the house and he moved to the Dunsland House care home in Shrublands Road, Berkhamsted in 200?.

At the beginning he was an alert and active resident, working on his stamp collection and taking the initiative in running events for other residents.  But his decline was progressive and he was all too aware of it.  Distressingly so.

At some point in 2009

His final Christmas, 2009, was spent at Montague Road with the family but after that he became rapidly worse, to the point where the home could no longer care for him.  They had probably kept him as a resident longer than they were obliged to, and he was admitted in early January to Shrodells Hospital in Watford, which was not where he needed to be.  Thanks to the interventions of Hilary, Pippa and the manager of the hospice he was moved for his last few days to the St Francis Hospice in Berkhamsted who provided a comfortable and caring environment for him. On Tuesday 12th January, all (or most?) of the family visited him on his final afternoon knowing we were saying goodbye, unsure of how much he was still aware of. Within a couple of hours of us leaving him the hospice rang to say he had died.

He had two services, a memorial one at All Saints Church in Berkhamsted and a second, the funeral itself at Church Westcote followed by a burial in the same grave as Marilyn. R.I.P Dad.