Britain 1992


Prologue

After our return home from England we settled down again, making plans for another trip when it should be possible. I completed the last course for my degree and graduated Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England in March 1991.

Shortly after my graduation Neil returned to England (via Moscow - his account of his Russian adventures and the joys of flying Aeroflot is contained in his journal, "Travelling Hopefully" and is quite hilarious) to spend three weeks in Stourport to further his acquaintance with his grandparents. Unfortunately, his grandmother, by now 90 and in very poor health, was bedridden and unable to appreciate his company, but he spent quite some time with his grandfather, also in poor health and suffering, it would seem, from the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. A couple of weeks after his return, Mac's mother died, to be followed only three months later by Mac's father's death.

Although this was a very sad event, it was not possible to feel too greatly distressed. Our acquaintanceship was very slight and even Mac had only had one trip home (our last in 1989) in 25 years. As Mac was the only child he was his parents' sole heir. To our surprise, this turned out to be quite a respectable inheritance, their semi-detached house, some investments and insurance etc. By the time everything was sold and wound up Mac ended up with nearly $150,000. This was placed in an English bank account but we brought home enough to invest for future holidays. We accelerated our plans to spend some time in Britain, we had to see the solicitor and the bank manager and to confer with Olwen Mellors (Mac's cousin and executor of his parents' wills) and Owen Shutt (next door neighbour and co-executor).

We decided to travel to Britain at the end of August, 1992 and to return home at the end of November. We decided to self-cater and had a great time organising this. Neil, who had left home by this time, agreed to come back and keep Geoff company while we paid his rent for him. I think he alternated between Sydney and the mountains actually but nothing terrible seemed to happen to Geoff in our absence.

My next journal begins with the preparations for this long absence from home.


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