Ciao for niao, Liz! And Simon!

Here is Liz who, with her partner Simon, is about to move from Norwich to Durham to take up an academic post at the University of Durham.

She is from Durham, played in the creche at Durham University, took her degrees at Durham and is now returning to teach there. How wonderful is that? Simon is also an academic and the nature of his work is that he is not tied to a specific geographical location - a sign of the times. Again, how wonderful is that?

I first met Liz during the campaign against the EDL marching on Norwich in November 2012 and again during the campaign against the bedroom tax and we share the same sense of humour and dry wit.

Liz is a philosopher, whilst I am more grounded in the social sciences and arts. This evening was the leaving do for her and Simon where about a dozen of their friends gathered to have a few beers and have chats in a local pub.

It was a lovely evening, and even though I didn't know anyone apart from Liz and Simon I was quickly engaged in many and varied conversations. Nothing too deep or intense, but everything interesting. Topics included:

- proof reading
- owl calming
- festivals
- trams
- living with cats
- playing uke
- libraries
- washing machines

And so it went on. Perfect. I hope I will keep in touch with Liz and Simon. I'm sure I will.

But, whatever happens, I wish them the very best. I just wish I'd taken a photo of them both together.

This was the only photo I took all night as I didn't really feel comfortable about whipping my camera out.