Susan

March, 2006

“Raining old women and their sticks!” What a wonderful phrase which appeared in a lovely long letter from Susan last November. When she wrote, she and John had just returned from a holiday, a cruise on Minerva II, the new Swan Hellenic ship. There were excursions to museums and sites and “one of the different trips involved a fairly strenuous walk in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus. We were told about the island’s history and natural history. What’s more, we were encouraged to pick and eat the figs, grapes and other fruit which dangled temptingly over the garden fences.”

Susan went on to say that one of the guest speakers was John Barron, and his wife joined the ship halfway through the cruise. “He asked to be reminded to everyone who was in our year at Bedford. He spoke of his Bedford days with great affection and expressed sadness that the college was no more. He commented that, "if the principals of Bedford College and Westfield College had been able to exchange a civil word with each other, Bedford might have survived through a giant protest against the closure”. His first talk, which I attended, was like being in a ‘time warp.’ It was entitled ‘A Brief History of Greek Sculpture.' The talk interested Susan’s husband who is interested in sculpture “from an engineering viewpoint. ” They also visited Tiryns, Messene and Santorini.

Susan and John’s non-classical trips last year included France and Cornwall, for a visit to the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Life wasn’t an unmitigated pleasure for Susan, who had to deal with “two noisy Welshmen down a very deep hole” fixing a burst underground pipe . I had to deal with something very similar and I can imagine Susan’s annoyance as they trampled over her yard while exclaiming, ”Can’t be ‘elped, luv.”

Susan has been continuing her Welsh studies, both by visiting her brother and his welsh-speaking neighbors in “in deepest Caermarthenshire” and deciphering Deeds and Indentures for a local history club project tracing the history of local farms.

On top of all that, Susan’s family keeps her on her toes. Jonathan and Polly were, at the time of Susan’s letter, working to restore their Victorian house in Swansea, prior to the arrival of their new baby, bringing Jonathan’s contribution to Susan’s grandchildren to four. Nick and his partner, Jo, are working on a flat in a Georgian house in Bristol, where they discovered two rooms behind what they thought was a solid wall! Jeremy and Paula, together with Paula’s daughter, round out the family gatherings. Susan gave a graphic description of a trip Polly and her daughter Ellie attempted to make to Oxford on July 7, and the confusion with transportation, even as far away as Swansea.

Susan and John met with Anne and Peter when they were last in England. I don’t know what plans, if any, Susan has for the reunion.

September, 2005

Susan made the fatal mistake of writing a wonderful long letter and sending photos just too late for the last up-date. So after such a long interval the faces in her photos must be a little older and the news must be a little out of date, but I am delighted to pass it on and hope that Susan will be prompted to write again and send more pictures of her family.

She also sent a marvellous memento: a Bedford prospectus listing the courses we may have/should have taken. Good to see those course titles and faculty names again! While on a reminiscing note, I know that Anne (Burt) and Peter Moss visited Susan and John in Wales last year. I didn’t realize until Anne and I were talking when she was in Detroit that Anne and Susan had at one time been roommates.

The first photo, taken in 1996, shows Susan’s husband, John and their son, Nicholas, on the latter’s graduation day (remember Susan saying, “the second followed his father’s interests and became a materials engineer?”

The second photo was taken at Jonathan’s wedding to Polly in 2001 and shows John, Nicholas, Susan, Jonathan and Jeremy.

The third photo, taken in 2002, shows Susan’s striking granddaughters, Harriet, Ellie and Charlotte. Harriet and Charlotte are equestrians, and Susan also sent lovely photos of them on horseback. Susan was delighted that Charlotte earned an “A” grade in Welsh in her general Certificate of Secondary Education. She must have completed her A levels by now and we hope to hear more about her plans for higher ed.

I loved Susan’s account of the trip to France she made for the Grand Prix, a 65th birthday present to John from Nick. After a train ride from Nice to Monte Carlo, John and Nick went to watch “trials and various races”, while Susan and Nick’s friend Jo found their own amusement: “the only suitable simile for entering Monte Carlo while a race is in progress is ‘It’s like entering Pandemonium.’ The roar of the car engines as they speed around the track reverberates off the hills and is deafening. Earplugs are ‘de rigeur! I simply couldn’t believe that people would pay to endure this form of torture, but they do and in large amounts. It’s the modern equivalent of chariot racing. Jo and I escaped up the hillside away from the smell of oil and gas fumes. We sought out a quiet cafe—empty except for a couple of like-minded females, because ‘tout le monde masculin’ was watching the race. We enjoyed a glass of wine before indulging in some civilized shopping, making a point of avoiding those establishments which had installed a television showing the race.”

Susan’s sense of humor did not desert her when she and John went on a cruise to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Beginning at Thessaloniki, where they visited the tomb of Phillip of Macedon, they moved on to Delos and Mycenae. “The climb to the Acropolis at Mycenae was daunting, but we made it. An added dimension for me was the abundance of wild flowers; autumn crocuses in shades of lilac and white, yellow sternbergia, purple mandragora and cyclamen. These last were growing plentifully on top of the walls in and around ancient sites.

The number of places we visited reads like a roll call from Greek history. The climb to the Acropolis at Athens was child’s play in comparison to Mycenae. On arrival, we noticed a ceremony, complete with Greek soldiers marching smartly along in national dress—ballet-like skirts and shoes with red pom-poms. It’s almost as mad as bearskins! It was the Greek equivalent of V.E. Day, hence the speeches from local politicians (as usual) and the celebrations. The Parthenon is being restored for the Olympics and had more scaffolding than usual, and general chaos abounded. So you will not be surprised to know that we got lost. We separated from our party and followed the exodus signs down the wrong side of the hill, coming to a complete stop just in front of a workman’s trench at the bottom. I tried, in my primitive Greek, to find the way back. ‘Kalimera’, said I, ‘Touristi?’ ‘Acropolis?’ With a jerk of his thumb, one indicated the other way up the hill. John had his doubts about my linguistic skills and so we continued down the hill, until suddenly a bus passed us, containing the aforementioned soldiers in national costume, standing like a row of skittles in the aisle (of the bus), unable to sit down because of their skirts! A truly surreal sight.”

John and Susan went on to visit Corinth, Crete and finally, Ephesus. “The size of the complete site is enormous: so far only one fifth has been excavated. We, once more, left our party and explored. The Library of Celsus was magnificent, but unfortunately the Turks decided to have a sound system with, as they thought, appropriate music, so we sought peace at the theatre where St. Paul preached. It is built into the hill and had superb acoustics. Altogether a memorable holiday. "

Equally amusing was their 2003 trip to Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and St. Petersburg “whose newly restored opulence was overwhelming. Palaces, gardens and churches had been restored for the tercentenary. At the end of May, when we arrived, the celebrations were beginning, the population (or much of it) was dancing in the streets and red, white and blue flags were unfurled everywhere. They were preparing to welcome President Putin back to his birthplace.

As often happens, there was one idiosyncratic character on board. A bagpipe playing Scotsman. Fortunately (for music lovers) he was forbidden by the Norwegian captain to play his pipes on board. Not to be outdone by this edict, he played on the dockside just before the ship left port. At St. Petersburg, in full piper’s regalia complete with sporran, he marched up and down alongside the ship, unaware that he was being followed by a very lean and mangy German shepherd dog that matched his step and the rhythm of the pipes, five paces behind him. As the final chords died away, the dog sat down and howled. Even the Norwegian captain, watching from the bridge, raised a wry smile.”

Susan’s wonderful descriptive writing isn’t reserved for exotic places. I loved her description of her part of Wales in winter, “We continue to enjoy walks along the marsh road which leads to the estuary. The winter migrating birds have arrived and, at night, when the tide is high their calling can be heard from the house-curlews, oystercatchers and redshank. It’s an eerie sound, but fascinating.”

I think there is always room for a humorous travel writer, Susan, but for now an update on your family would be wonderful.