Here we are at the end of another busy year.

We enjoyed two holidays this year – to Cyprus at Easter and to the west coast of France (near Royan) in the summer. It was our first time in Cyprus, and it was great to be able to swim in the sea in mid-March! The ancient remains of Greek and Roman amphitheatres and mosaics are sensational, and – once you get up into the mountains – the scenery is terrific. We enjoyed our French holiday – as ever – and had a great gite with its own pool and with deer walking through the back garden. We were particularly taken with this part of France, and found it easy to settle into the local life of the nearby town, Cozes, for an all-too-short couple of weeks.

I’ve had a few work trips during the year – to Guangzhou, Paris, and Estonia, with one to Belgium due in December. After 6 years as an associate dean of the Management School, I now have a year of research leave, so the travelling has the bonus of being for stimulating conferences rather than stultifying meetings! Jill and I published a book on costs in the higher education sector this year, and Jill, in particular, has been very prolific in publishing journal articles through the year.

Becky and Tom have had successful years at their respective schools – Becky finishing top of her year and Tom finishing second. Katy is now in the final year of primary school, and is much happier there than she was last year (when she was separated from her friends for no apparent reason). Following changes to the secondary school applications system, there’s a great deal of uncertainty about which school she will be able to attend next year, so we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out. Katy has continued to attend Stagecoach drama school on Saturdays, and still enjoys performing. She took part in the village pantomime in February, and in various Stagecoach productions through the year. Becky and Katy are (with me) also in the church choir that has assembled for the Christmas carol concert. The two girls have also continued their piano playing, with Katy passing a grade 1 and Becky passing a grade 3 exam during the year.

Jill, Tom and I all played tennis quite actively at the local club – all getting games in for the B team and playing in tournaments. Success was in line with our talent, but we enjoyed it greatly nevertheless. Tom has continued to play in the A team squad in the relevant age group for his school’s rugby team, and played cricket for one of the junior teams of the Trimpell club in Morecambe. At Katy’s instigation, we all joined the local orienteering club in the summer and had a few enjoyable days out trying to do some cunning running. Katy took part in the national schools’ orienteering championships in November; while she didn’t score a great personal time in that event, her team came third. Tom and I both went to watch Lancashire play cricket in the Twenty20 cup a few times, and I have continued to watch Morecambe play football, with moderate success, in the conference.

If you are able, please e-mail us once you receive this letter. After some virus attacks, I had to rebuild our computer and have inadvertently lost the e-mail addresses of almost everyone we know as a result. So do please contact us!!!

Finally, let us wish you all the best for a happy Christmas and joyful new year.