The 75 Not Out Tour

Following on from my mother’s (me Mam’s) wedding in April, family celebrations continued last week with her 75th Not Out birthday festivities.  The event began in Sunderland on Thursday evening with a surprise party at her favourite Italian Restaurant – no, not Pizzahut – for a group of close friends and family.  This was a prelude to a mystery weekend away with several surprises along the way.

Friday resulted in an excursion from Sunderland to the National Trust’s Belton House in Lincolnshire, an imposing stately home with an even more impressive array of gardens.  Ken Bruce on Radio 2 kindly read out a dedication in his Love Songs slot that managed to be missed despite shouting their names out twice.  Fortunately I’ve managed to pick it up on ‘Listen Again’ and record it onto the camera so that they can hear it at home.  Oh well, there you go.

Staying overnight in Grantham, the next day saw a group of nine of us visit an extremely wet Ferry Meadows Country Park that had suffered (and was still suffering from) more than 24 hours of solid rain.  Unfortunately this put paid to the planned excursion on the River Nene with Poshboatz, a disappointment as it was one of the highlights.  However, a quick rewrite of the programme the night before enabled a contingency plan to swing into action – I am nothing if not prepared for summer.  But that’s what British days out in the country are all about, and at least it gave one of our party an opportunity to try out her new purchase:

We all took a Nene Valley steam train into Wansford, where Jayne and her girls served up a delicious home cooked lunch in our own exclusive dining car – tastefully decorated by Susana and myself whilst the rest of the party were despatched up to Yarwell Junction and back by train.  Here’s useful tip for you – when you accidentally knock the head off one of your carnations that are going into the vases, simply selotape the thing back on.  Can you see which flower it is in the picture?  Shows how effective it is, then.

Lunch over, we boarded another train heading for Peterborough.  Thanks to the generosity of General Manager Chris Rees and driver James, me Mam boarded the footplate of the class 14 locomotive at Ferry Meadows and took control of the loco to drive us to Peterborough, her favourite surprise of the day.  She suited the peaked cap remarkably well, and is she the only person in Britain to have managed to avoid being clad in a hi-viz jacket for 75 years?

Duties were not over yet; train Guard Robin then explained the duties involved in his job before Mam was given the green flag and whistle and allowed to give the ‘Right away driver’ to James as the train departed.  Don’t forget to jump back on yourself!

We left the train at Ferry Meadows to return home after a coffee in the café overlooking the lake.  Despite the appalling weather everyone agreed that the country park is a lovely place to visit, and indeed a return excursion is being planned for the next family regrouping down south in July.

Meanwhile we all returned to Grantham for a special dinner at Kings Hotel.  We had an even larger party for this as more friends joined us in the evening.  Susana had organised a beautiful cake that rounded off a very enjoyable weekend before the Sunderland contingent left the next morning.  

I’m delighted to say that Mam loved every minute of her birthday treat, and it must be said that the weekend would not have been possible without contributions from many people who worked behind the scenes during the last six months to make sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible.  Despite numerous problems and alterations along the way – from coping with the unexpected weather to the breakdown of the booked steam loco on the railway, everything was done to ensure that the end result was delivered in a smooth and pleasurable manner, creating a very special atmosphere on the day.

Thanks must go to the following:

Bob Currell of Poshboatz – we will return!

The Nene Valley Railway – everyone on duty made our day very pleasant and enjoyable.  I must mention Chris for organising the footplate ride despite having to cope with a failed loco and sorting out a replacement; James the driver of the replacement loco who gave Mam the unique experience of a cab ride down the line; Jayne and her girls for the fantastic lunch and all the help with setting up our dining car; Robin the Guard for entrusting the ‘Right away’ to his new trainee, and ticket inspector Eddie who was dragged up and down the train by his new recruit complete with her helium balloons as she explored every carriage.

Susana at the Kings Hotel for arranging all the accommodation, our private function room and the birthday cake – not to mention decorating the dining car at Wansford.

Ken Bruce for reading out the dedication that will be heard one day – your work was not in vain!

All at Belton House for the warm welcome and help with planning the trip, and finally – everyone involved who kept all the secrets without letting anything out of the bag and ensuring that the events unfolded as one surprise after another.

After all that I’m knackered - next year it’s McDonalds in Silkworth.