Ceremony

Today I took Django out for a walk, finding my way out of the hotel grounds, through the village of Cranage, and down to the River Dane - which also flows through my home town. After a good breakfast at the hotel, I went with daughter K to visit Jodrell Bank, which was the birthplace of radio-astronomy, and has a huge radio telescope (see extra). It's hard to appreciate its size in photos - it's 76m across, weighs 3200 tonnes - but it's awesome to be next to it. Moveable in both dimensions, its construction in the 1950's was a tremendous achievement. As well as its scientific value, it played an important role in the cold war and space race. It's another thing that I was used to seeing as a boy, but is still impressive.

We then picked up A and daughter L, to drive to Congleton. There we went to the church my mother attended and, in a ceremony led by the minister (who knew her and conducted her funeral two years ago), scattered the ashes of her and my father in the garden of remembrance. Also there was one of Mum's friends who, since she's a Scot who lived for a long time in Penicuik, was clearly pleased to see our girls. 

After a brief stop outside the house where I lived from the age of 10, we went to Macclesfield. The girls haven't been there before, so it was interesting for them to experience another important place in my life. I went to school there for nine years, and now that it's moved, we could walk amongst the buildings that have been converted into flats. 

Before returning to the hotel, we enjoyed a good meal in the beer garden of a familiar pub on the edge of the town.