Time...

Just thinking about time and its effects on people, places, minds, the world really.


We went to see our friends Kevin and Lyn on Thursday because it was their eldest daughter, Charlotte's, 18th birthday. They were going out for a family meal, with much talk of Charlotte and her sister Harriett partying and drinking etc. Rewind to 1992, Charlotte is our bridesmaid, charming everyone at the wedding, lovely Autumn day. Rewind to 1990, we meet Charlotte for the first time in Stroud Hospital maternity, freezing cold winter's day. Rewind to 1989, Kevin and Lyn get married, great day but pissing down with rain. Rewind a couple of weeks, Kev's stag night, we're chased through Stroud by his so-called mates who want to strip us, tie us to a lamp-post and stick carrots somewhere carrots should never go. Lovely. Rewind to 1972 or 1973, I start at Eastington school, a short-trousered, fat boy from a different village, Kev takes me under his wing. Time...



I went down to Moreton Valence church this morning to put flowers on Pete's grave, met Mum there. The same sad day replayed for the last 13 years. We met Danny Weaver there who invited us back to theirs for a cup of tea. This is Yew Trees Farm ( or just the Yew Trees ) which belonged to my family for about 30 years until Mum and Pete finally sold it in the early '90s, having been stopped at all turns in their attempts to build a home there by local council twats. The hay barn and cowsheds have been converted into a beautiful home and the muddy old yard has been landscaped and transformed. It's a lovely place but Mum and I obviously felt a twinge of melancholy, thinking of the old days of feeding cattle, gathering apples, stacking hay bales, and making plans that came to nothing in the end. Time...



The picture above is from some family gathering ( wedding, christening? ) from 1954. From left to right: my (amazing) Nan, Pete's Dad who I never knew, some bloke, my sadly-missed Uncle Richard, Pete's tragic sister Kay who I also didn't know, some bloke, and the handsome young man is my Dad, Pete. Everyone in this photo is now gone. Time...



For Peter Henry Barton, 2/2/1931 - 6/12/1995.



Soundtrack: The Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd.