News from Brod Purdy in Lincolnshire May 2009
Carolyn and I are now ensconced in our former RAF Married Quarter in Lincolnshire but are still hard at bringing a 1940s house into the 21st century…within reason. Parish matters still form a focus on local life as chairmanship of the local Parish Plan Steering Group takes up a great deal of my spare time…unfortunately for Carolyn. However, that’s about to come to an end and I should then be able to devote more time to my responsibilities as a parish councillor.
After nearly three years of six-monthly check-ups for cancer, all seems to be going well; I refuse to say I am clear. It is possible that I shall start annual checkups from October…and that means I should be able to get travel insurance at reasonable cost! We plan to visit friends and family in Kenya and South Africa later this year, but only if we can get the insurance company to agree.
Some MODCLS graduates may remember my rallying exploits whilst in Hong Kong – I won the championship in 1977 – so would not be surprised to learn that I’m getting back in the groove with a 1966 Porsche 912 in local and European historic rallies. I no longer challenge for overall lead; I enjoy the competition at the lower end of the entry list. No pressure, just a lot of fun. I’m still looking for a navigator to point me in the right direction!
I think this will be the last year I mark GCSE English scripts – I need to keep my hair. One reads about dropping standards; I concur. Some scripts I mark would not get through the old 11+ exam…but that’s a hobby horse which could keep me going all night! I’ll keep tutoring when required, although the recession here has hit this type of work. I am, however, tutoring a neighbour’s daughter for the 11+ exam in September.
I read with great sadness of the death of Lloyd Behm…he sat next to me during my time at MODCLS and I recall my first day, having arrived just prior to sitting the Linguist examination following 18 months of study at RAF North Luffenham, where I was the only student of Chinese. Lesson One was reading some text or other and as the ‘new boy’ I was singled out by Mr. Tang Pong, the Senior Lecturer, to start. I remember looking at this sheet of totally unintelligible hieroglyphics and making my excuses by saying that I had only learnt Chinese with the RAF; Japanese was not on my syllabus. Lloyd leant over with those immortal words: “They are simplified characters.” I had never come across this form of character as the RAF paper was in full form so there had been no requirement for me to learn them. That would have come post Linguist exam. I did manage to decipher the simplified characters and indeed used them while studying at the Mandarin Centre in Taibei – much to the chagrin of my tutors out there. That was fun!
Contact Brod at rafiki@brodncarolyn.nadsl.net if you would like to follow up on his report. Visit www.pr4motorsport.com for the rallying.