A personal post for a change. Because our family and friends are spread around the world Dee puts together a Christmas newsletter every year. If you are on our Christmas card list you will have seen a copy. If not here it is. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Well, what a strange year it has been!
The first week in March we were in a packed theatre at the Words by The Water literary festival in Keswick. Because of pressure on our bank balance and our bookshelves we only stayed for a weekend instead of the whole eleven days. Oh boy, am I glad we came home when we did! When we went to Keswick there were only 55 cases in the UK. Two weeks later it was 1500. Then came lockdown and you know the rest.

We are lucky to live where we do. We were able go on long walks along the beaches around Morecambe Bay or do woodland walks where we met very few people and, when we did, we were able to give each other a wide berth. And we had our allotment as part of a community growing space on Walney Island to keep us busy and let us meet friends, socially distanced of course, on their plots of land.

The day before lockdown Katie started on a clinical trial for a new cancer treatment. We were optimistic at first but after 6 months they decided it was not working. Katie is not in treatment at the moment. She goes to the Christie for regular scans and when new treatments come up she will give them a go. She is feeling well in herself and looking forward to going back to work.

Just before lockdown Katie was promoted to assistant manager at one of her employer’s restaurants. Then she had three months on Furlough before she could walk through the door. A week after they reopened one of her co-workers tested positive for COVID and the company put her back on furlough. They have been really good to her throughout. Now she is waiting on Manchester coming out of Tier 3 restrictions so the restaurant can reopen.

Matthew was also furloughed by the National Trust. When lockdown was easing he wrote a very persuasive letter to the regional director explaining why the Coniston Steam Gondola should be included in their opening plans. The boat has been very busy since, as has the whole Lake District, with people holidaying in the UK rather than risk being quarantined if they go abroad. We joined them for their last cruise of the year and under Matthew’s direction Katie was allowed to take the helm. For once she had to listen to her big brother and do as
she was told. They both looked very happy about it!

After not seeing the children during lockdown we booked a holiday home in Oxford for a week in September. It was in walking distance of all the main tourist attractions. Katie joined us and we were able to show her the sights. Everything had to be booked in advance and social distancing meant very small tour parties for places like Oxford Castle, Christ Church College and the Bodleian Library. It was better in a way. Last time we went everywhere was so crowded. We also went to the Ashmolean Museum (twice!) Once for a Rembrandt exhibition and once to see the rest of the museum.

It wasn’t all high culture. Mike and Katie visited “The Still on the Hill,” Oxford’s very own gin distillery. I decided to give it a miss – too much red wine the night before! There were lots of free samples. Katie enjoyed that. Mike had a sore head the next morning. Then Matthew gave me a birthday surprise me by coming to Oxford for the weekend. And when the restaurant found out (Katie told them) they gave us a free bottle of Prosecco.

Back to my favourite, the Bodleian Library, the tour started in the Divinity College. That was used as the infirmary when they were filming Harry Potter. The guide told us that in the old days, to get their degree, students at the college would have to debate with their tutors on topics like “How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Pin?” And they had to do it all in Latin! I wonder how many could do that today.

Most of the literary tours were cancelled because of the pandemic. But when we visited the Botanical Gardens we were able to sit on Lyra’s Seat, made famous by the Philip Pullman trilogy, “His Dark Materials,” now showing as a series on BBC1. Check it out. Another casualty of the pandemic was the Eagle and Child, the pub where Tolkien and fellow writers like CS Lewis met and read each other bits from the books they were writing. It has since reopened which is a good excuse to go back to Oxford next year. Our last night in Oxford we went on a river cruise from Folly Bridge before having a gourmet meal at the Folly restaurant.

So here we are, out of lockdown for the second time, looking forward to a quiet Christmas with our children and hoping to get the vaccine in the new year.