Here we are again… bashing out a review of our year with its ups and downs. It would have been a challenge to put all this on a card. There are some in-page links to posts made earlier in the year. Or you can skip to the end if we’re boring you. If nothing else you might come away with a few holiday ideas!

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The year began with Colin receiving a letter inviting him to attend King’s College Hospital for bowel cancel investigation. He decided to put it off until after our carefully planned trip to Goa. What difference would a delay of a couple of weeks make?

On our return to London Colin went down to King’s for his procedure; three polyps were discovered and dealt with fairly painlessly. If left untreated, polyps can become cancerous. He was told that less than 50% of people take the simple “crap by post” test. Don’t be one of them.

From Goa to Delhi

It was our third time in India: our Goan holiday also took in a return train journey to the vast archaeological site of Hampi in Karnataka and finished up in the chaotic metropolis of Delhi. Anne was hampered by an injured knee but we still had a wonderful, memorable time, finally getting round to see the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid mosque.

Don’t stop the music

Colin continues to play guitar, after his fashion, in One for the Wall (formed in 1978!). They launched their third album by headlining a gig at St Michael at the Northgate, Oxford on 1 March, with a follow-up private concert at Herne Hill’s Half Moon Hotel on 27 May. The band is now working on a fourth (double?) album. Bernard’s songwriting is as prolific as ever.

Anne has kept up her weekly piano lessons. As well as working on solo pieces, she now plays “one piano, four hands” with her friend Rachel who, like Anne, has reached Grade 8 level. They both took part in a concert at St Faith’s Church, North Dulwich.

Rena Wight and David Young

Colin’s mum, Rena, is still at Upton Manor, where she has now been a resident for nearly three years. She has dementia but is being well looked-after and seems content there.

Anne’s father, David, is in his own flat just a few minutes down the road from us. It is easy to forget that he is now 89, but of course he is starting to slow down.

Back to college

On 16 March Colin attended a Queen’s College reunion for Modern Languages graduates. We have decided to support the Translation Exchange scheme, which aims to reverse the decline of language learning in UK schools and encourages students to opt for languages at university.

The long-awaited biography by Bruce Taylor of the late Professor Sir Peter Russell was published this autumn. Colin contributed some anecdotes from the 1970s and 80s.

Working for nothing

Anne continues to be a Trustee of the Wordsworth Trust at Grasmere (Cumbria) and Jane Austen’s House at Chawton (Hampshire), as well as the Peter Minet Trust in South London. 

Colin, Hon. President of the Herne Hill Society, still edits their website and e-newsletter and is working on a long-term local history project. At this year’s AGM he managed to trip over his laptop cable, considerably enlivening the event.

Herne Hill, a pretty anonymous South London suburb, has been our home for the last 22 years. Every so often a newspaper article refers to it a “hidden gem”. Then we return to happy obscurity. We had a predictably wet street party in September and, a few days later, an ambitious and well-organised Oktoberfest celebration at a local bilingual primary school!

We also attended a ceilidh with a live band. It’s all too much excitement.

Highlight of the year

On 30 May we began a four-week tour of Europe by train, visiting eight countries and travelling over 5,000km. Colin has blogged about it at enormous length… If you’d like advice on pensioner-interrailing, get in touch with Anne. While we were away we had Chris in to redecorate the hall and staircase. Then came the new carpet, garden furniture etc., etc. It all costs money but apparently you can’t take it with you.

French connections

We visited our holiday home in Charente in March and April – then again in August, which was roasting hot, touching 40c some days.

Unwilling to pay the exorbitant prices of the Paris-based Olympic events, we decided to go to Bordeaux for a few days, take in some sights, and attended a bad-tempered France v Argentina football quarter-final. It was nice to have some involvement in this major sporting festival. Back in La Bréchoire we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on 4 August.

Unfortunately, we discovered our little house had been infested by wood-boring beetle, which led to Colin spraying all the wood (and there is a lot of it) twice over with a toxic product called xylophene. Not the ideal way to spend three hot August days, but emergency repairs are almost inevitable when you have a second home. We’re not complaining; buying a house in France has been one of the best decisions we ever made.

On a happier note we finished with a short stay in a beachside hotel in Saint-Malo before taking the ferry home.

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We had our fingers crossed when we returned in November but it seems that the wood treatment has been successful.

In contrast to 2023, November in Charente was mostly sunny and dry, and without violent storms. We attended the Armistice Day commemoration in Auge, where the mayor read out the names of local men who died for France in two world wars.

TRFC limp on

After watching Tranmere fail to win at home to MK Dons and Salford City, Colin finally witnessed a Rovers victory: 2-1 at Bromley FC. A rare occurrence during a very poor season.

Health and fitness

Age brings wear and tear of the muscles and joints, and Colin has spent more time at the doctor’s than he would have liked. Whilst there may be little one can do to ward off arthritis, it is always a good idea to lose weight and improve strength and balance.

We had been swimming every Sunday morning for years but knew it was not enough, so after some prevarication we started visiting the gym and signed up with a personal trainer. It takes commitment, it costs money and sometimes it hurts. A dozen or so sessions in, we started to push double the weights we started on. It’s even more of an effort when it’s cold and dark but we’ll keep it going.

Both of us are increasingly bothered by unnecessary noise in public spaces, especially piped music in pubs and restaurants, but also mobile phones on buses and trains. Colin has recently joined the campaigning group Pipedown. If muzak annoys you too, you might like to visit their website.

Autumn in Cyprus

It was generous of Bob and Dot to invite us to stay with them in Pissouri, near Pafos. Never having been to Cyprus, we decided to see as much of the island as we could in 12 days, so we hired a car to explore North Cyprus, as well as traversing the Greek-speaking south by bus. The sun shone constantly as if it were July rather than October.

All those foreign breaks added up to 16 weeks overseas in 2024, easily a record for us.

Exploring Britain

We had few opportunities to spend time out of London as we were abroad so much, but we enjoyed brief visits to Bosham, Porchester, Whitstable, Winchester and Holywell (North Wales). Of course we are in Liverpool and Wirral quite a lot visiting Colin’s mum. One balmy weekend we actually saw families sunbathing on West Kirby beach.

In November the Exodus North India group met for the 11th annual commemorative curry at Yatri, King’s Cross.

Thanks to everyone who shared our experiences this year – even if was only a meal at King’s Cross. We do not take our friendship for granted.

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Finally, the authoritative and influential cultural review.

Live performance

On an chilly January evening we went to see Cold War at the Almeida, Islington. This new play is based on the film by Colin’s former flatmate Paweł Pawlikowski, with music by Elvis Costello.

In September Isabel generously gave us tickets to Prom 59 at the Royal Albert Hall. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus took on Fauré’s Requiem and Pelléas et Mélisandele, songs by Lily Boulanger and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2. It was a memorable evening’s entertainment. We also went twice to the Wigmore Hall, to hear Clare Hammond and the Salieca Piano Trio.

Just as memorable in its own way was the magisterially tedious, if occasionally amusing, Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, starring – if that is the right word – Ben Wishaw and Lucian Msamati. Much more fun was The Baker’s Wife, a musical production at Menier Chocolate Factory.

At the cinema we enjoyed screenings of live performances of The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre, with Johnny Flynn and Mark Gatiss) and Carmen (Royal Opera House, with Aigul Akhmetshina).

Film of the year: Maestro

Contenders: Conclave, Civil War. Mentioned in Dispatches: American Fiction, The Apprentice, Gladiator II. So-so: The Critic.

On DVD we finally got round to watching all five series of Luther (with Idris Elba, Paul McGann and Ruth Wilson), and on TV we especially enjoyed Joan, Until I Kill You, Vienna Blood, Wolf Hall, Berlin Wall, The Rig and the natural history series Asia.

Exhibition of the year: Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider (Royal Academy of Arts)

Contenders: Sargent and Fashion (Tate Britain), The 80s: Photographing Britain (TB), Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec (RA), Medieval Women (British Library). Mentioned in Dispatches: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c.1504 (RA), In the Eye of the Storm: Ukrainian Modernism (RA), Yoshida: Three Generations of Japanese Printmaking (Dulwich Picture Gallery), Summer Exhibition (RA). So-so: Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious (DPG).

Our European rail trip involved, amongst other things, visits to some of central Europe’s best-stocked art galleries in Zürich, Vienna and Budapest.

Eating out

The best food and service this year were at: The Art School, (Liverpool), Andrew Edmunds (Soho), Imad’s Syrian Kitchen (Kingly Court), Albertini (King’s Cross), Côte (St Christopher’s Place) and Royal Native Oyster Stores (Whitstable). We also enjoyed Tamil Prince (Islington), Park’s Edge (Herne Hill), Kimchee (KX), Yatri (also KX), Babur (Forest Hill), Khao San (Brixton Village) and The Alma (Crystal Palace). Lombok (Herne Hill), German Gymnasium (KX), and Trinco, Dulwich Tandoori, Rocca, Chi Chinese and Monkatsu (all Dulwich) were reliable if unexciting. In November we satisfied a long-held ambition to have cocktails at Rules in Covent Garden and are saving up so we can actually eat there too.

Books of the year

We can recommend Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge and Julian Jackson’s France on Trial. We have become avid listeners to The Rest is Politics US podcast, which offered revealing insights into the 2024 United States presidential election.

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Colin writes: I don’t generally discuss politics here because I try to respect other people’s choices, at least in public, but it’s been an eventful year to say the least. Depressing would be a better word. The election results in France, Germany and the USA do little to encourage one to believe in the wisdom of crowds. And what has been going on in Slovakia, Georgia and Romania? We have allowed the bots, the trolls, the conspiracy theorists, and loonies and criminals of all descriptions to attack precious democratic institutions via social media. We are subjected to malicious interference that operates through internet disinformation as well as old-fashioned bribery, intimidation and fraud at the ballot box. The cynical seem to have the gullible by the throat.

The UK bucked the trend by electing a more left-leaning party than elsewhere In Europe – largely because the last Conservative government had become a laughing stock. We shall see how Labour, inexperienced and perhaps a little naive, shape up. (Our right-wing media will do their best to ensure they are seen to fail; the billionaires, fascists and demagogues are waiting in the wings.)

So many thousands killed in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Lebanon (to name only the conflicts we hear most about) and little prospect of peace. The Western “powers” have learned that intervening tends to make things even worse. Or is that too generous an excuse for our inaction? The recent uprising and regime change in Syria may offer a degree of hope for the Middle East, but who would bet on it?

Let’s leave the climate emergency for another time (which is what elected politicians the world over have been doing for decades).

Well, that was a bit down-beat, wasn’t it? A lot happened this year to make us worried and angry, but when was that not the case? But even if there’s little we can do to alleviate the suffering of millions, apart from charitable donations, we could at least treat other people with kindness and respect (difficult though that can be). Like me, fed up with the toxic polarisation of modern politics? The five-hour parliamentary debate on assisted dying shows that it is possible to disagree on a very emotive subject without shouting and name-calling. I’d love to see more of that on TV and in the media in general.

If you have been… thanks for reading. This comes with our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful and Prosperous 2025.

Colin and Anne