The Mermaid of Morley

Up at a quarter to seven, it has rained overnight but the skies seem to be clearing, although heavy rain is forecast for later. Make boiled eggs and toasted soldiers for breakfast, with tea, somehow off my usual black coffee lately. Eat this in the garden room whilst watching the rabbits playing amongst the dandelion clocks in the field. The seed heads seem more pronounced first thing in the morning, because the yellow dandelion flowers won't open until it warms up a bit. Wash, dress and drive to Cherry for a quarter to nine to take the dogs out. I am meeting some cousins for lunch in Morley, near Leeds, at one o'clock and will need to leave Beverley no later than a quarter to twelve. Between now and then I hope to walk the dogs, have a swim and have time for a drink afterwards. Farmer Wareing has put his herd of prize Holsteins in the field adjacent to the railway line, and as I can't trust naughty Teddy not to run in there, we turn right and do the circular walk past the Golf club and back through the village. Storm clouds are gathering and the cold north wind persists, there is a brief shower as we approach the wooden steps from the Hudson Way to the Leconfield Road, but it is mercifully light and we arrive back at Two Riggs, reasonably dry, just after ten. Both dogs behaving impeccably for a change. Arrive poolside for ten thirty, ahead of a bus full of school children, the pool is reasonably busy and in five minutes or so, half of it will be roped off for the kids. Push off and warm up with 4 x 100m mixed medleys and manage to avoid colliding with anyone and then move into a 4 x 100m in each stroke. Just as I am completing the 100 fly the school area is roped off, but by negotiation, the other half is divided into two double lanes, and we are able to swim a clockwise rotation with room to overtake in the centre. Complete the next 3 x 100m without problem and then finish off with 4 x 100m individual medleys. I haven't swum for a week, and although it's only half my usual session, it felt OK. After showering and changing, there is still plenty of time for a hot chocolate before setting off for West Yorkshire. There are a couple of heavy showers, and the usual roadworks at the M62/M1 junction but, nevertheless, I arrive on time. There are six of us to lunch, four cousins and two spouses, George, my oldest cousin and his wife Val, couldn't make Aunty Marion's funeral last Friday through ill health, so this is the first time we have met in a couple of years. We spend a happy two hours talking about children and grandchildren, but mostly about parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles now long dead. I expect this store of fond memories from the postwar period will be replaced by our children's memories when we are gone, which won't be too long now. Somehow I doubt their stories will have the richness of texture and interlacing of those of our generation and the ones preceding it, as the large extended families based within a limited geographical area has become a thing of the past. All my ten Aunts and Uncles and fourteen cousins lived within a two mile radius around Batley. You can more than double those numbers for my parents generation and double it again for my Grandparents. After lunch we travel five miles to Manor Road Park in Ossett, to consider the possibility of planting a tree for Aunty Marion alongside her husband Jack. When we get there his tree is flourishing, it's over twenty years old, but the brass plaque has gone. We conclude there is just enough space for another tree, if we can get permission. Ossett Grammar School is just across the road and the park is full of schoolchildren. I hope if we manage to plant a tree, it will be left to grow. I arrive back in Beverley in time to collect Alice and Louis and deliver them to Cherry for six o'clock. On my way home I call in to see Felicity to conclude arrangements for the ballet at the cinema tomorrow. At the last count there were four of us planning to go. Home for seven thirty to a tomato and mozzarella salad followed by an early night.