Oh...

I attended a family gathering today. There were at least twelve distant relatives I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time, having heard of them for many years.

Star of the show was Ann, aged 90, who has written this book about my great uncles, the flying Petres. She is my first cousin once removed, ie my father's cousin. I also met N, another cousin, granddaughter of the famous 'Bill' or Sybil Petre, who was a a talented artist who died far too young of kidney failure. I had heard the stories before about my flying uncles, but hearing them all brought together here at the book launch, in a church hall, with illustrations, was incredibly poignant. I knew, when the story started, what was going to happen next....

At the end of the event, I gathered all the relatives together for a family portrait. I gave my phone cam to someone to take a photo. Oops! No actual family photos showed up later on my phone. Fortunately, the paparazzi started popping away so I shall be able to get a copy from someone else. At least I hope so. And possibly another ( family) trip to visit the war grave of my uncle Jack, near Ypres. I blipped a part of his story on 11 November 2013, shortly after I visited Ypres and the Museum of the Cloth of Gold. I would love to return there, with other Petres.

My grandfather Bernard Francis Petre did not fly, unlike his brothers, because he had poor eyesight. He was responsible for planning and ground control of his brothers' exploits. They even built a plane, the Petre monoplane, at Brooklands. It did take off, but landed all too soon....After about 30 yards!

The journey from Stroud to Cambridge, by train, was not without incident, but the sunrise was spectacular, and all problems were eventually resolved. I arrived in Cambridge in time to take a taxi to my air bnb, get changed, and later seat myself in the hall just as the readings were beginning!


Truly I was being looked after by someone! I don't really mind who it was, because they were doing a good job. Back at the air bnb, it's very quiet! The owners have had to go away, the cider is finished, so I might just finish my book too!