Allan and Debbie's Family

Note: this page was written by Allan with input from Debbie.

Well, here we are near the canal in Milton Keynes. Vicki and David have grown up and left home, we've both given up work, and together with our two dogs Molly and Telford we're really enjoying our new-found freedom. How come I seem to busier than ever before?

We've just celebrated 30 years of marriage; take a peek at the pictures of our celebration party.

Our latest phase of life really started in July of 2003 when after more than 35 years of ever-increasing frustration I persuaded BT to let me go. Over the years I'd watched people being paid huge amounts of money to leave the company; but every time I asked for the same I was told that my department was earning lots of money and they were far too busy to let me go. Debbie had already been able to give up work, and we really wanted to spend more time together, so a new strategy was called for; I had a big argument with my boss and he was so keen to get rid of me that he agreed that BT would pay me to leave and also pay my pension from age 55. Pausing just a few seconds to sign the paperwork, I joined the ranks of the unemployed and we sailed into the sunset. Or to be more precise, Debbie and I disappeared on our boat and didn't return home for nearly three months including a couple of weeks on the River Thames and a couple more on the Rivers Trent and Soar.

Back home for the winter, and having to be a bit more careful with the money now that we had no income at all (I wasn't quite 55 yet!), the time was spent on more domestic pursuits such as a spot of much-needed decorating, and planning our 2004 boating expeditions. This time we were away for about 5 months, visiting such diverse places as Birmingham, Peterborough, Cambridge, Bedford, Gloucester, Bath, Hampton Court and Oxford; read all about them on our Canal pages, as well as our more recent trips all over the country.

So then we came home again. Having reached the grand age of 55 I am now officially a BT pensioner. With only a pension to survive on, our days of truly exotic holidays are probably past (but we've got some great memories of places like Alaska and Antarctica - see our Holiday pages) but when we added everything up there was just enough left for a quick trip to the sunshine in January 2005 - so we took a cruise down the Nile in the New Year, and of course I've put all the pictures here on the website!

Our son David was living with us again when I retired. He'd got a degree in Physics and Business Studies at Aberystwyth then worked behind a computer screen in Milton Keynes for a while before getting bored and going to Australia for a year. But he came back after 9 months because it felt too hot to be Christmas, and was living in our spare room while looking for his ideal job (ie one that wasn't in an office) so that he could afford to buy a house of his own. Now he works at Hanslope, lives just up the road from us in Oldbrook, drives an Alfa Romeo and rides a Honda 600. For a fuller version of the story, read David's page.

Our daughter Vicki lives in Peterborough with Lauren her very grown up 6 year old daughter. Lauren was in a great hurry to enter this world, and when born prematurely she weighed just one teaspoonful more than a packet of sugar (2lb 3oz). She and Vicki were rather ill for a while but all was well in the end. Vicki works for the transport company Norfolk Line where she enjoys telling truckers where to go. Lauren meanwhile is a very determined young lady; still quite small for her age but determined to stand tall and enjoy the world; she started at her "real school" last year. Again, you can read a fuller version of the story on Vicki's page.

So how did we get here? Read on ...