Dear Friends,
This year has been an interesting one for us as a family, with its ups and downs. The saddest occasion was the death of JR's brother Barrie in October. The memorial service at the kingdom hall in Crosby was a fitting tribute to a very humble man as witnessed by the very large turnout. The family coped superbly and we met so many lovely people.
A few months earlier, in June, we met up with Andrew who was working as an English assistant at the Lycee Militaire in Aix-en-Provence. We flew by easyJet to Marseille where we had our photo taken at the airport where Colin Firth was filmed in 'Love Actually', and hired a Renault Megane for three days enabling us to see some of the beautiful countryside. Andrew is now back living at home and is the proud possessor of a Peugeot 206. Along with two friends he spent a week in Wales at the end of August, staying in a cottage in peace and tranquillity. He decided against going to university and spent the summer months working at the Cruise Terminals in Dover, and more recently at the Post Office sorting department, in between running his mobile disco company AP Events.
Rebecca is in her A level year at Dover Grammar School for Girls and is still doing her Saturday job at JJB Sports. She has had one spell in hospital concerning her diabetes. She has been on several interviews at various universities for a place as a primary school teacher starting next September so we are hoping she obtains her grades next summer. She has started taking driving lessons and her driving instructor is pleased with her progress. She is House Captain and has taken part in a number of drama productions at school, including being a door, a dancing tree and virgin strapped to a rock. She is going to New York in February for six days with other local sixth form students and is rather excited about it even though it is likely to be very cold.
Barbara continues to enjoy working in the boarding house and teaching maths. This year we are privileged to have not only a Marlborough girl as Head Girl but also a Chief School Prefect. The sixth form are generally excellent which helps when we seem to have more than our fair share of difficult girls in the fourth and fifth year. At least she has a very good team of tutors, matron and housekeeper to support her. Along with a small team of girls she has designed and produced seven banners which are currently hanging in chapel.
JR is teaching solely RE. The workload seems to be mounting up, but those of you who are teachers will know all about that. He is also on the committee of the School Chaplains' conference which is a marvellous opportunity for meeting people doing the same kind of work. He even gets to have luncheon in the Athenean club in London. Once again we attended the Spring Harvest convention but this time in Minehead immediately after Easter. Rebecca took a friend with her since Andrew was abroad and we all had a really fabulous time, despite the tedious drive to the West Country.
Our summer holidays this year saw us in the French Alps, near Chambery. The weather was mixed, from brilliant sunshine one minute to violent thunderstorms the next but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and managed a day trip to Geneva. We even went part way up Mont Blanc by train from Chamonix and soon realised that the flashes were not from cameras but lightning! (See our website for further details). Next year we have already booked to go to a campsite at Serignan Plage near Bezier in the Languedoc- Roussillon region on the Mediterranean coast in July. We shall make an overnight stop in Burgundy which is a region worth seeing, and are hoping to go on a sentimental journey to Castres, near Toulouse where JR spent his year as an English assistant thirty five years ago.
We also managed a long weekend in Calais this October with the grandparents and had the benefit of lovely weather. Andrew and Rebecca joined us in Calais for the Friday afternoon as foot passengers in order to have a family meal at our favourite restaurant, La Providence, highly recommended by all of us. Grandad has problems reading the menus and that is just the English section but usually enjoys what we order on his behalf. He has had to dispose of the car so I think they both appreciate our ferrying them about now and again.
Tuesday nights appear to be our night off when we can go out to the cinema or the theatre without having to worry about rushing back for 10.30 pm when Barbara would normally resume duty. Our DVD selection is piling up and Barbara has constant requests from the girls to view them in the dayroom. It seems funny to think that when the children were little we hardly ever managed to get out as much unless it was to church functions such as summer outings, harvest suppers and numerous Christmas dinners.
As you may be aware, we now have our own website on the Internet. Over the last year, Andrew has developed the site to include various pieces of information including previous year's Christmas letters and family summer holidays. All you need to do is log onto our site at www.broughtonfamily.co.uk! Just watch out for some photos (yes, the one with Becky climbing down a staircase backwards). Finally, we trust the year has been as fulfilling for you as well and look forward to hearing from you. We have been particularly delighted this year to have friends from different parts of the country stay with us or simply call in en route from their continental holidays.
Best wishes and God bless.