Reunited

On the day that the clock was turned back by over forty years. This was the gang - Hilary, Ruth, Graham, Peter, and myself - our friendships cemented by cycling together from John o'Groats to Land's End, countless caving and potholing trips, and walking the Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yetholm.

We met at Royal Holloway College, after which we departed to all corners of the country: Scotland, Cumbria, Devon, Wales and Yorkshire. It's the first time we've all got together since. Apart from looking older, no one had changed. All the little mannerisms and quirks of personality were still there, instantly recognisable. We got on as famously as ever. It was reassuring to know that some things never change.

I've never been one for going back in life. This is one occasion when I'm very glad I did. Mind you, I'm finding all this time-travel exhausting. It's amazing what people have packed into a working lifetime. There's been so much to talk about. I'm quite looking forward to stepping off back into the present again and catching up with myself.