Annual news 2024

"For our main holiday this year we went to Italy for a fortnight in April. For 10 days we stayed in a remote small village up in the mountains, with superb views all around. The village was old and quaint with narrow streets, perched on the side of a mountain. It was only suitable for very narrow vehicles; we had to use the car park at the edge of the village. While many days were warm we woke up to snow on 2 mornings." - Miriam

Montefegatesi can only be reached via a succession of hairpin bends, a journey of some 25 minutes, but the reward is an ever-changing view as the sun and clouds shift during the day. On the highest point stands a monument to the medieval poet Dante, whose importance is such that modern Italian is derived from his Tuscan dialect. There are further viewpoints from the footpaths surrounding the village.

"While there we visited Pisa, Florence, and the delightful walled city of Lucca. The nearest town of Bagni di Lucca boasts a unique asymmetrical bridge, but little else of interest unless you follow women’s tennis; their most famous resident is Jasmine Paolini."

Even if you don’t follow opera, you have probably heard of Lucca’s most famous son, Giacomo Puccini, whose birthplace is now a museum. The exhibits include the piano on which he composed many of his works.

Pisa is of course most famous for its leaning tower (and the adjoining cathedral), but outside its historic walls we found another rarity: a kebab shop and a couple of other restaurants serving non-Italian cuisine, something which appears to be forbidden just about everywhere else.

"Our final 2 nights were spent in Rome, a complete contrast and distinctly warmer. A crammed tourist schedule included visits to the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and surrounding park and the Vatican City."

"Phil, Martin and I also spent a week on Hayling Island in Hampshire, enabling us to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law, and explore Portsmouth, Arundel, a hovercraft museum and beaches on the south coast."

Did someone mention hovercraft? It’s a long time since one could “hover over from Dover” - or, as I once did, levitate from Ramsgate - but the museum at Lee-on-the-Solent has an excellent display of this great British invention that still retains a niche.

On Hayling Island we walked along parts of the coast for good views of small boats, marinas and harbours as well as the neighbouring coastline. Over the border in Sussex, Fishbourne Roman Palace gave us another taste of ancient Rome. At Chichester we spent a sunny afternoon in the Bishop’s Palace Gardens before walking part of the old city wall.

We spent a day in Portsmouth in the company of a longstanding friend, also visiting Southsea where the D-Day Story museum provides a home for a landing craft (outside) and a huge commemorative tapestry (inside).

A City Council by-election was triggered by the sudden and unexpected resignation of a local councillor, the news coming just a couple of days after we had booked our trip to Italy. This meant that we were away for the second half of the campaign which followed. While we were here, our recycling bin made a major contribution to local democracy by acting as a “warehouse” for leaflet delivery.

A few weeks later I found myself playing an equally unexpected role as a General Election agent in a neighbouring constituency. While I focused on my primary goal of avoiding prosecution, our candidate ran an excellent campaign and achieved a significant increase in vote share.

My mother celebrated her 102nd birthday in November. She is somewhat more frail, as is expected, but can still walk to the nearest shop. 9 members of our extended family spent 2 nights in Moreton-in-Marsh, with a visit to Batsford Arboretum on a rather wet day. The hotel was warm and comfortable with excellent service and there were plenty of opportunities to catch up with news from our cousins.

Along with two other friends I have taken mother on day visits to Coombe Abbey in Coventry, Croome Park and a garden centre near Bromsgrove. Mother is regularly invited to tea with her old friend Ruth who is 103 years old. Their friendship goes back to nurse training days in the early 1940s.