Memories from Over the Fence
Our first recollection of David is from July 1989 when we moved into No. 3 next door. Before we had sorted things out, we went to The Wheatsheaf at Lower Woodford for an evening meal. David and Heather were there and introduced themselves to us which proved to be a good omen from our new neighbours. David, and Heather of course, have proved to be excellent neighbours now for over 23 years! We look after each other’s houses when one of us is away, collecting up mail and papers, watering plants, feeding ‘Poppy’ etc. We have also provided extra sleeping accommodation for each other when we have had additional visitors for special celebrations.
Unfortunately, on one occasion when David and Heather came down stairs in the morning, David reported that they had not been able to get water from the shower over the bath in our second bathroom! As a result, we had a new shower installed!
David has been a great help as our personal ‘computer consultant’ – unpaid except for the occasional bottle in thanks! David encouraged us to join the computer age, initially by lending us his old computer when he upgraded. After we had completed a training course and decided to buy our own computer, David drew up a specification to cover our requirements. When we later decided to move on to Broadband, David organised this for us and installed a telephone extension from our bedroom to the study. Whenever we experienced some problem – quite frequently initially! – David was always willing to come round and sort us out.
In January 2012 when we had a couple of inches of snow, David decided that the couple next door were too doddery to clear their driveway themselves and proceeded to do it for us. Also, after we had both our driveways high-pressure jet cleaned, David renewed the sand filling between the blocks on our drive for us. We were very grateful!
As with everyone of a ‘certain age’, David has not been without his ‘senior moments’! One we recall was when he and Heather went away for a week and after they had left we found their front door was wide open! David had forgotten to close it when he got into his car – well, at least he got the blame from Heather! David supports Alan’s Cricket Club as a Vice-President although he sometimes forgets to make the expected annual donation until he is chased! (This is probably a ‘tit-for-tat’ for our support of the Salisbury and South Wilts Museum but another example of being ‘good neighbours’.)
For several years, David and Alan have jointly performed the bar duties at The Stratford Guild annual Christmas and summer parties without any major spillages of wine!
Golf is, of course, another of David’s major interests! Alan was happy to propose David for membership of Salisbury and South Wilts Golf Club and had to accompany David to meet the captain to check that he was a suitable person to become a member. Fortunately David passed this test and has become a very keen golfer who is prepared to play in almost all weather – unlike Alan who has become a fair weather player! David’s competitive nature resulted in his handicap quickly coming down from its initial 28 down to 16 – but from Alan’s experience it is more likely, now that David has reached 70, to gradually creep up again rather than decrease any further! Initially David’s shots had a fairly consistent ‘slice’ ( although David would call it a ‘fade’! ) which was alright except when for some reason it did not happen in which case, having allowed for it, he could be in trouble! Alan remembers playing with him once when David’s second shot finished a little short of the 17 th green; David ‘thinned’ his chip to the green and his ball was racing towards the pit at the back of the green only to hit the pin square on, jump in the air and drop into the hole – so Alan lost the hole to a birdie! (How lucky can you get! ) When Alan was organising starters for the annual Seniors Open Day, David became one of his team of helpers for several years and then took over as the organiser when Alan retired from this job.
We have been privileged to have had such a good neighbour for over 23 years and hope this will continue for a few more years yet.