September

Mike and his mother made their annual visit on Saturday 1, having delayed it by a couple of days because of Teresa’s vertigo attack. There was the usual exchange of presents over coffee, and Mike had also brought two or three interesting Icelandic artefacts for us to see. Teresa was feeling sufficiently recovered to produce a wonderful lunch, accompanied by wines Mike had brought on various visits. An afternoon of reminiscences passed all too quickly, before tea and farewells for another year.

Teresa had recovered fully from her illness after a week or so: just as well, as she had for some time been planning a short holiday in Portugal for herself and Jay, and the villa and flights had just been booked. Preparations for this continued throughout the month with departure scheduled for Monday 1 October.

For a couple of years we had been toying with the idea of replacing our faithful Rover, which was starting to look its age, though it had never let us down. An updated version would have suited us fine, but of course Rover no longer existed, and we had not been able to agree on what to get. That changed when Teresa noted a tempting offer for the Skoda Octavia on the radio, and Roger recalled that this model came as close as any to the Rover 45 concept. When we looked for our nearest dealers, we found that one was the Bowling Green Garage in Powick (near Worcester): it looked like an omen.

Accordingly, on Tuesday 11 we went for a test drive and were suitably impressed. The model advertised was selling so well that it needed to be ordered, so we actually ended up with a similar deal on a car already in the showroom. The ‘Sold’ sign was slapped on there and then, and on Friday 14 we returned and drove away with Octavius (as we shall call it).

Spot the difference: Rovy departs for the last time, and Octavius arrives

Roger’s bowls season came to an end with the closing of the green on Sunday 16. Members enjoyed a fine afternoon of bowls followed by a plentiful bring and share tea and the presentation of club competition prizes by the club president. After nine years of trying, Roger and his partner won the pairs title. His indoor bowls at Littleton started on Wednesday 26 with a defeat.

We continued to visit Oxford regularly to see Jay. On Saturday 15 Teresa and Helen both joined Jay in Oxford for Alumni Day, when all former members of the university were invited to an open day of lectures and exhibits – at a price of course. Current members of the university, however, could also attend with two guests to see a limited range of the events at a knock down price. They had an interesting day, mainly in the Biological Sciences field, the highlight being a presentation to a small audience, which also included the celebrated Professor Richard Dawkins.

Toddington’s annual village fete on Sunday 23 fell foul of the weather this year – hardly surprising in view of the summer as a whole. We visited in the morning. Luckily much of it could be accommodated inside the splendid hall, but the main outside event – a dog show – had to be postponed.

As members of the Gloucestershire-Warwickshire railway we get a free ride each year: we took it on Saturday 29, a bright but cool day. As Jay was at home, she joined us. The trip was a ride in a diesel rail car to Hailes and Laverton, then back to Toddington. We could also have done the Winchcombe to Cheltenham leg under steam, had we wished to drive down to Winchcombe. The good news is that the landslips which have bisected the line have now been repaired, and next year the whole line will again be accessible from Toddington.

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