Watkinson Family

The Watkinson Christmas Bash!

2005-12-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Hope everyone is having a super Christmas. The Tunbridge Wells branch had their annual Christmas get-together the weekend before Christmas - all 16 of us!

Here are the 4P's and Mum in appropriate condition during the lunch:

Rumu tries her hand at golf!

2005-11-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

At the annual golf day with the family last month, Rumu was tempted to 'have a go' and play golf, for the first time.

It was a nice, sunny day, and amongst friends, and she soon got inot the "swing" of it (sorry). Rumu and Carolyn shared the shots, and the trolley :

Paul was giving Rumu some useful beginner tips; such as how to look cool and stylish on a golf course:

He even allowed her to have a go with his secret weapon, the launcher :

Rumu played well, and definitely has a talent; and after the mysterious handicap adjustment, came second (jointly with Carolyn) in the round!

Phil visits Hull!

2005-11-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

I was in Hull the other weekend. I saw an advert for a chess congress there, and thought it would be a good idea to combine a bit of chess with visiting my Aunt Marjorie.

As you all know, Marjorie is my Dad's elder sister, married to Bill Shores for many years until, after a long illness, Bill died in February of this year. We (Carolyn, Mum and I) were in South Africa at the time, and unfortunately missed the funeral.

So there was a extra special reason to see her. I had arranged to see Marjorie on the Saturday evening, but first the chess. We were playing in the Station Hotel, just opposite Paragon Square in the centre of Hull; and to be honest, it didn't seem that different from the last time I was there in the mid 70s:

The chess was tough, but I managed to win one, lose one on the first day. In the evening, once I had got settled in at the B&B, I went over to Beverley to see Marjorie.

She is obviously trying to adjust to a very different life, and it cannot be easy. She had just returned from a few days in the Lake District with Alan and Joan, and so was in reasonably good spirits. After a bit of a natter, we went out to a local hostelry for something to eat; I persuaded the barman to take a picture, but he had apparently never seen a digital camera before, and struggled a bit:

We *did* have a good talk and caught up on lots of things. And I think that she enjoyed it as well.

The chess on Sunday was just as tough, and I didn't play well, and lost both games. But it was worth it to see Marge.

Pictures from Prague (Part 1 of 2)

2005-11-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Although we have mentioned our (Carolyn and Phil's) visit to the wonderful city of Prague in September, you haven't seen any pictures yet.

This is picture of both of us, using the timer on the camera:

As you can see the weather was lovely. It's a very picturesque with the River Vltava and a castle on the top of hill:

The city is very compact, and it is easy to walk around, enjoying the sights. Many parts remind us of Paris, as in this frontage in the New Town quarter, near where we stayed:

More pictures to come; especially one for Robi and anyone else who likes fire engines!

The 4 P's go Golfing!

2005-11-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

It's a tradition that the whole family get together around the date of Dad's birthday to play golf. No excuses accepted, not even that you don't play golf. So, a clear, crisp, sunny day last month (October) Mum, the four brothers, with Carolyn and Rumu, and ably assisted by Jack and Maisie, played golf:

We had a lovely time, throughly enjoyed by all. The devious handicapping system, which I am not sure that anyone understands, produced Patrick as the fully deserved winner.
Here is a photo with him being presented with the trophy by Pete, the previous winner:

The grand day out with the family; Dad would have been pleased.

Guess the person in the picture (first in a ongoing series)

2005-10-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to the first in an ongoing series of 'Guess the person in the picture'. Yes, we are hoping for future issues to be images of babies in the bath; lanky teenagers in 1970s clothes; various brothers with moustaches (bring back any memories, Paul??) - in fact, any pictures noteworthy or embarrassing are perfect for this feature. We are going to kick off with an easy one - here we go:

The subject was 19 when the picture was taken; and, if you need a hint, she celebrated her 70th birthday this year.
Enjoy!

P3 Family in France : Notes from the Vendee

2005-10-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Before meeting up in Albi, north of Toulouse, with the Watkinson clan we spent a week in the Vendee and Bordeaux. The weather was fine and, for me, it was bought back memories of a similar holiday in 1970(?) with mum, dad and the 4Ps where we spent the first week in the Vendee and the second in the far south in the Basque region.

Goat-stroking in an amazing safari park near Nantes. The French, being French, ignored all the "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS AS IT MAY MAKE THEM ILL" signs and, basically, threw loaves of bread at the animals. Mind you the bread was fresh and lovely!

Blue Peter badge for the first person to guess correctly what the poles are for. E-mail me if you want to know!

Visiting a beautiful chateau built by this mad engineer who wanted to build a canal to his home for sea-going ships. The only problem was that he lived 25 kilometres from the sea and it was the 17th century! Still they made him the Premier Admiral of France so it wasn't all bad.

This ones for P4. In the grounds of the chateau they were preparing for an outdoor play. Guess the show?

Phil & Carolyn in Sheffield

2005-10-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

Phil and Carolyn were in Sheffield this weekend (8th/9th October 2005) along with many other friends to celebrate 30 years of starting at theUniversity.

The friends we made while at the University in 1975 (for Phil; Carolyn started in 1976) we continued to see at New Year, marriages, christenings, even holidays. Thirty years on, 32 of us came back to Sheffield to see each other again.

The celebration consisted of, as you would expect, lots of food and drink; and a great deal of nattering.

Picture of Carolyn holding court at the lunchtime dinner:

We finished it off with a very pleasant walk in the Peak District today - close to Stannage Edge which is seen in the recent "Pride & Prejudice"movie as one of the Derbyshire scenes. Lovely weather, and a lovely weekend. The date of the next reunion has been announced - 2nd October 2010(!).

In the Peak District today:

Left to Right: Carolyn, Tracey, Phil, Julia, John and Noel.

Phil & Carolyn went to Prague!

2005-10-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, we went to Prague last week (w/e 24th September 2005) for a 5 night stay.

We had been promising ourselves to go ever since the fall of the Wall (just 10 years ago).

And we throughly enjoyed ourselves; and if you haven't gone, we would certainly recommend it.
It's a historic city, thankfully spared from Allied bombing in the Second World War, the old town nestled beside a bend in the river Vltava (as in Smetana's wonderful music) with a Baroque palace on the hill on the other side.

The weather was just perfect - the sun shone every day, but with a cool temperature so that it never got uncomfortable. and the Czech's make the best beer in contintental Europe!
This is true. There was plenty of opportunities to stop at one of the many cafe bars for refreshment and take in the sights and sounds....

Pleasant, peaceful and a wonderful break.

Welcome

2005-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have discovered this software and thought it might be useful and fun for the Watkinson family to share experiences, thoughts and photos.

Add some blogs, include some photos and bookmark the page. It's all free!

Pete

Watkinson (Southborough Branch) enjoying sunny Glastonbury Festival (before the floods)!

If you want to see more let me know and I'll post a few.