Exeter Sojourn

During the last part of his week in England Gordon went down to Exeter to visit Dawn and James Pettit whom he had not seen since they came to visit us in Canada in 1999. Dawn persuaded James to take a day off work and they took Gordon on their catamaran which is moored at Brixham Marina. Unfortunately there was no wind that day and we couldn't set sail so just motored across Torbay, around Hope's Nose and anchored in Anstey's Cove for a picnic lunch on board. Dawn dipped her foot in the sea and declared that it was rather cold for a swim; she always likes to swim when they are out on the sea. Gordon decided that he couldn't miss the opportunity to swim for the first time ever in the English Channel so he just dove in. Well Dawn decided that she couldn't be outdone so she also went in - although slowly down the ladder ! Admittedly it was quite cold but nothing worse that a fresh mountain stream in the Canadian Rockies !

Here are some of the photos from the outing :

REPS Reunion

During his trip to England for the family reunion Gordon spent several nights with Roger Hiscoe and his family in Twyford near Reading. He and Roger were at REPS together in the late 60's. They had re-connected - after some 30 years - in March 2007 when Gordon stopped in UK on his way back from Zambia, but it was good to spend more time together reminiscing about the old days. That included a pile of old photos from REPS days which Gordon had borrowed from Martin Sanderson to scan. (Album soon to be added here !)

Above : Roger and Gordon

Below : Roger and his wife, Marinda and son Ben with Gordon

Poultney Family Reunion III

A couple more photos from the reunion held at Robert and Bridget's home in Carshalton, South London

The four of us - Gordon, Jen, Bron and Dave

The whole gang that made it for the reunion
Back Row : Robert, Bridget, Tom, John, Lindsay and Dave
Front Row : Rita, Caro, Jen and Bron and Gordon

Poultney Family Reunion II

These photos were taken by Gordon's niece, Bridget, as he walked into the room to give the family the surprise of arriving for the reunion unannounced.

Poultney Family Reunion

Gordon’s brother, Dave has lived in UK for many years. His sister, Bronwen, is now living and working there for most of the year – earning “real” money and going back to Bulawayo from time to time to check up on things there. His other sister, Jen, and her husband, John (Brebner), were over in UK from Bulawayo for a few weeks in September/October to visit their two daughters who now live there. Rita decided to go over in early October to see them for a couple of days before they returned to Africa and then stay on to visit family and friends for another few weeks. Although the family members have seen each other at different times and in different places over the years, they had not all been together in one place for some 30 years. So Gordon decided to make a quick visit to UK too so that they COULD all be together again. Thing is, he decided to make it a complete surprise – only his niece, Bridget, was in the know, as she had to ensure that there was a gathering at her place to fit everyone’s schedule. So Gordon arrived in London on October 5 and stayed overnight with friends near Heathrow. The next day he walked in on everyone gathered at Bridget’s house – and it was a total surprise ! Not even Rita, who had left Canada just days before, had any idea ! It was a wonderful reunion, sadly for only 24 hours as people had to get back to work.

The photo below was the last time we were all together in one place. It was at the home of Gerald and Nan Brebner in Newton West, Bulawayo. There is still debate as to exactly when it was but the general consensus is that it was sometime in 1977 !

Above : From Left : Dave, Rita, Mort, Bron, Gordon and Jen c. 1977

Below : From Left : Gordon, Jen, Rita, Bron and Dave October 2007