For the first time, both of us were invited to a Gaudy at Exeter College, for Alumni who matriculated up to 1965. In the past, these occasions have been restricted to Alumni only.
We contacted a number of our past students, with Ray and Margaret not only responding positively but also inviting us to stay with them for the weekend. We flew over to Southampton on Friday 20th September and took the train to Woking, where they met us and drove us back to their house for an enjoyable meal and lots of chat!
On the Saturday morning we drove up to Oxford, by a circuitous route to avoid traffic, stopping at a service station on the way , arriving at the Hampton by Hilton in Blackbird Leys shortly after 3:00 pm. We were offered a free drink and snack in the reception lounge before finding our rooms on the second floor.
After a short break to freshen up and put on our party clothes we took a taxi to the college, where we were able to take a nostalgic walk in the Fellows’ Garden before joining Evensong in the college chapel, a most inspiring musical treat.
This was followed by a drinks reception which fortunately was able to be held outside Hall, before we took our places on rather uncomfortable benches next to the fireplace, where it was a challenge to stand up for “Benedictus Benedicat”.
The meal was pleasant rather than stunning, but the company was more enjoyable, with the chance to exchange memories with our contemporaries.
Afterwards, following mingling and chatting we met our taxi which took us back to Blackbird Leys in good time for a well earned sleep.
After a leisurely breakfast , we set off back to Cobham, intending to stop on the way at a National Trust property for a lunch break. However, the weather was awful and we decided instead to head straight back and have some lunch back at the house. In the evening we went to an Asian restaurant in Esher where we had a superb meal.
The following morning, Ray had mentioned that their garden parasol was broken, so to pass the time, we set about trying to mend it. After some searching around in his garage, we found some nuts and eased the parasol back onto its raising mechanism. The next job was to unblock the turning base, which involved unbolting the whole assembly and then jiggling it about until it suddenly started working! So a very successful morning’s work.
After lunch Ray and Margaret drove us back to Woking, where our train was just 5 minutes late, so that we arrived in Southampton in time for an evening snack before boarding our somewhat more delayed Flybe flight back to Guernsey. This resulted in Pete being 20 minutes late for his Douzaine meeting but allowed Alison to unpack before he returned home.
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