Tim and Joanne's Wedding Poems

During the service at the Weybridge registry Office, Tim's mother Christine read out a poem she had written for this special occasion. It is transcribed below.

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE

Tell her you love her every day,

Kiss her good morning and goodnight,

Keep faith with her throughout the years,

Sharing happiness, joys and tears.

Tell him you love him every day,

Kiss him good morning and goodnight.

Keep faith with him throughout the years,

Sharing happiness, joys and tears.

Be true to each other in word and in deed,

Let each others' happiness be your creed,

Whatever happens in your future life,

Stand together as husband and wife,

For no one else can take from you,

A love that is steadfast and grows ever new,

For love that is patient and always kind

Will unite you in heart and in mind.

As you embark on your new life together

We your parents and friends share your happiness too,

Our good wishes and love will surround you always,

Not just on this happiest day of days.

Whilst Noel read out the following poem as part of his 'Father of the Bride speech'

Love

by
Roy Croft

I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am when I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what you have made of yourself,
But for what you are making of me.

I love you for
the part of me that you bring out

I love you because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
being a friend means, after all.

The rest of the poem is quite long you can find it on the internet but I thought that it made an awful lot of sense.

Tim and Joanne's Wedding 7th November 2009

Well, for the last few days we have been gearing up for the wedding of Tim and Joanne and finally the day has arrived. The sun was shining as Joanne left to have her hair done, then after a light snack for lunch we all headed off to the Weybridge Registry office for the formal part of the day.
The service was about 30 minutes long and was in a very nice room which easily allowed the 30 people who attended space to see the action. We then went outside for photographs in the sun, Yes the sun was shining all day and the temperature was around 13C, not bad for November.
Following the official part of the day we all departed to the Hurtwood Inn Hotel which is located approximately 25 miles away in Peaslake near Guildford. This is a beautiful part of the country and the Hotel is surrounded by rolling hills filled with sheep.
The reception was quite small just close family and friends, making for a lovely intimate occasion. The Hotel did a sterling job in keeping the event running and provided a lovely buffet which we all enjoyed.
The speeches were opened by Tim and then Joanne followed by David, Tim's elder brother who said that it was impossible to find any faults with Tim for him to expand on. Noel then did his Father of the Bride speech which had humour, facts, more humour and then an initiation for Tim into the Groves very special 'Parrot Club'.
As this was always going to be a quiet and private function Noel had some tricks up his sleeve including T-Shirts for the men with old photos of Joanne as a Brownie and Tim in his Robin Hood outfit, both photos were taken when they were about seven years old. Noel also had two shirts which were covered with other photos of Joanne at varying ages,these were worn to great effect by Noel and Michael.
In the evening a few other friends arrived for a quiet drink in the private room and the event finished about midnight when everybody was getting a little tired.
On Sunday morning we all left the Hotel around 11.30 and then Joanne and Tim were heading off to Dunster in Devon for their honeymoon for one week.
We wish them well in their new life together as man and wife.

NB. All wedding photos are on the Phanfare Picture Blog, so follow the link to
http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/4432050#imageID=85879007

The Albert Hall

Joanne was participating in the Cancer Research Charity function being organised at the Albert Hall last Saturday with 1600 other Choir members and musical support from Grime Thorpe Colliery Band and Brighouse and Rastrick Band.
Prior to arriving at the Albert Hall we did a little shopping in Kensington and then went to Whole Foods to have a look round and then decided to have a light dinner in the pasta restaurant. A starter and main course for us both and a nice bottle of wine all for £ 37.00 was not bad and NO tips!!
The Albert was pretty much full for this event and as we had left it a little bit late to book our tickets we were located very close to the British Airways 747 flying over the top of the building. The huge organ was magnificent if not a little loud as it easily outplayed the 1600 voices as times. The Bands were great and really excelled when they played tunes that they new very well and not the songs picked for the occasion.
Perhaps the excess heat of the building which tends to rise and partly affected  my views a lilttle but to it was such a shame not have more well known tunes than they did as both the choir and the band excelled with the well known more popular pieces. I understood it took three years to organise  this concerty which may have been due to the conductor apparently keep changing his mind over the songs to be sung and favoured some from his Yorkshire home rather than those well known in the rest of the country..
A number of people werre being treated for heat by the St Johns Ambulance and so I am not sure what happened to the air conditioning, or perhaps there is none, in this beatifull building where so much has been spent on renovation.

As it was Halloween there were many parties obviously taking place and there were lots of late teens and early to late twenties dressed up for the evening and perhaps it was all these ghouls that stopped the underground running efficiantly. Standing on the platform to hear the announcments of the parts of the tube network not running that night, makes me worry how they will cope with the Olympics!!!

We have been so busy!!!

Well the last week or so has been so busy you cannot believe. Quite a number of house guests as well. Vickie my ex pa who now has a great job in the company came and spent an evening with us and it was great to talk over old times. Noel has been working quite hard on the Pandair Reunion which took place on Friday 23 October with about 65 people attending and I am glad to say it was a great success based on the huge amount of feedback. If you want to know more about this function check out the following web pages http://pandair.blogspot.com/
Roger and Sue our friends who we stayed in Spain with came to spend two night and also another friend Brian and also Jan from Holland who had failed to make a Hotel booking and so we almost had a full house. Saturday morning entailed a great walk to Walton Bridge where the five of us, Noel,Jen, Roger, Sue and Brian were joined by John and Lyn for a breakfast at the 'Josefs' Cafe. A good breakfast was had by all. WE got back to the house around 11.30 as Joanne was arriving for her day of tripping the light fantastic in readiness for here forthcoming wedding. Saturday night we had a BBQ for about 14 including us, thank heavens it did not rain, and it was a really great night indeed with mulled wine and Indian snacks followed by to much steak, BBQ'd leg of lamb, pork ribs and sausages and rather a lot of wine. Boy were we slow on Sunday and thankful for the extra hour it provided. Although our guests helped us partly clear up the previous night there was still a bit of sorting out to do and the great job of cleaning the BBQ grills for the winter. An afternoon of football on Sky and we had an early night. Noel had a lunch with ex business colleagues in Egham and perhaps overdid the wine a little but a great time was meeting people not seen for many years. A necessary trip to the Charlton dump with all the garden rubbish, the leaves have started to fall and so we will have to go every week for a while. Jennifer and Joanne spent time on Tuesday evening decorating the wedding cake whilst Noel watched the football. On Thursday 29th as the weather was bright it was pretty much the last chance to close down the caravan for winter and put on its cover to keep it clean over the long months. Noel purchased a couple of years ago,a small trickle charger for the Leisure battery which needs to be kept charged to enable the security tracking system to stay on and this also need to be fitted. And now we are pretty much up to date and we are having some venetian blinds being fitted in the Garden room today which hopeful should finish this room from a decoration perspective. Phew it has been busy. On Saturday we are going to the Royal Albert Hall where Joanne and many others are taking part in the 'Festival of Sound and Voices' in aid of Cancer Research. The following is the description of the concert from the Albert Hall website

"The tri-annual Cancer Research UK Festival of Brass and Voices brings together the collective sound of one thousand five hundred male and female voices from around the UK for an evening of traditional and classical music. The theme of the festival follows closely the format of the Last Night of the Proms, where audience participation is included in such pieces as Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory. The choirs will be accompanied by the fantastic Royal Albert Hall organ and two prestigious award-winning champion bands, Grimethorpe Colliery, made famous by the film Brassed Off, and Brighouse and Rastrick, who will be well-remembered for their chart-topping record The Floral Dance. The whole proceedings, including the musical direction, will be under the baton of William Relton, formerly General Manager of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The event, we feel sure, will live up to the standard of all previous festivals, ensuring a most memorable experience for all who attend. This year's festival at the Royal Albert Hall will hope to raise £100,000 for Cancer Research UK, so join us for a truly wonderful evening!"

So we are looking forward to a great evening.

Thursday 8th October- A nice day out and then Oh Bloody hell!

The day did not finish as it started out. Today we left around eleven in the morning for a country side drive up to St Davids bay and an on to the Cathedral and all the beautiful out building including the rectory. The Cathedral is a very interesting building as it is built on the side of a hill and however built it must need a new set of measuring equipment as when you are standing inside the building the floor is sloping the the left and the main supports seem to lean outwards and the general affect can upset you balance. This is not to easy to show on a photograph but take my word for it as it is quite a strange feeling. Its a beautiful old building with a magnificent organ which has be totally renovated. The roof for the building is made out of wood and the design is very different to what you would normally expect to see. The rectory has has also been refurbished and there is a nice little cafe selling some nice hot food where we decided to eat. Adrian and Joyce had a glass of un-blessed plonk with their lunch. We then to the road up to Fishguard and from there headed back to Milford where we arrived around 5 pm. We were just sitting down to enjoy our evening before before heading off to the pub when Joanne called to say that she had dropped my pills from the pharmacy in to the house and noticed water on the kitchen wood floor. Oh my god what is this. It appeared that either the Water Filter valve or something was leaking. So after due consideration we decided to head back home as the last thing we want is a flood in the house. The journey home was slow although we were able to contact the plumber who visited straight away and resolved the matter and it appears there is no damage. It is a big shame that we had to leave Milford as we were planning to re visit Tenby and take some photos and also continue exploring this part of Wales. Adrian and Joyce will still be there until mid November and so we hope to find time to visit again.

Wednesday 7th October- Lets go sightseeing

The weather was a little brighter today and after Adrian had received his brand new garden shed, we need to hold an opening party soon, we had a snack lunch and then all headed off for a trip around the coast.
The views over the estuary were quite magnificent and the amout of ships tied up was quite interesting. We stopped for a coffee and a cake in a small cafe in a sea side town before heading back to Milford with a side strip to Haverfordwest to visit the Homebase and Wickes stores for some reading lights that Noel and Jen are looking for.
It was Fish and Chips tonight from the local store and they were cooked to order and the fish size was extremely good and the quality was excellent. This evening Adrian had booked tickets at the local Civic Theatre where a good travelling reportry group were performing 'She stoops to conquer'
The play was well done but perhaps did not suit all our tastes but it made for a very pleasent eveing indeed.

Tuesday 6th October- What a grey day

It was a grey sky that we looked in too first thing in the morning but that did not put us off. Adrian and Joyce had some jobs to do and so we headed off in the rain towards Tenby which had been recommended to us by Adrian's son Anthony.
Tenby is a bit like Salcombe, where my sister lives, in that clings to the hillsides and overlooks a small port. There are some lovely beached surrounding Tenby and it must be very popular in the the summer.
We did a long walk around the town but as the weather was very dark and grey Noel did not bother taking photos which he now regrets. The town has lots of different and interesting shops which were mostly private owned and managed and not to many of the chains. The little streets and houses were really quite attractive and although there were a few fish and chip shops it was a very nice town.
We had a light lunch as Jennifer is still pushing her diet, got to be sleek for Joanne's the wedding, and then finished off walking around the town as it started to drizzle with rain. Time to leave as we we walked along the main sea front road back to the car park the heavens opened and the rain came sideways from the sea and we both got drenched. By the time we got back to the car water was running down inside Noels trousers let alone outside. Nothing else to do he took off his trousers and sat in his damp underpants which was not a beautiful site.
Turning on the car heather we headed back through the countryside to Milford where upon parking outside, Noel had a choice of walking in his underwear back to the house or putting on sodden trousers and so he chose the former and no doubt upset the neighbours
In the evening we went with Adrian and Joyce to a pub the Adrian uses in a place called Johnstone which is not far from MIlford and there we had a nice dinner although Noels fish was not spectacular and Adrian was right to suggest not choosing it. Better luck next time.
But it was a very pleasant day and we plan later in the week to re visit Tenby and take some photos

Monday 5 th October, We are off to Milford Haven

We planned to visit Adrian and Joyce in their home in in Milford Haven which is about 250 miles from Weybridge. The journey down to Milford was uneventful although when we left the rain was pouring down but as we drove further West the weather seemed to improve.
We arrived in Milford Haven around tea time and got settled in the and then went for a walk along the front overlooking the sea and you could see the Ship Terminals where bulk oil is offloaded and refined in to vehicle fuel. We stopped in a bar for a glass of wine before heading back for an evening of discussion and a few glasses of wine.

All good things must end!

The few remaining guests gathered for an early breakfast before heading off. Adrian and Joyce are heading off the South West of France for about ten days whilst some of the American continents had an 0600 hours start so as to reach Brussels Airport for the their mid morning flight back to the USA.

Jennifer and Wanda and I had a cup of coffee and then we headed back to our room and finished packing before leaving for home. The weather was a little brighter today and quite windy and we reached the Port of Dunkirk about 90 minutes before sailing time which gave us enough time for a cup of coffee.. The Channel was smooth and we stayed mostly in the Club lounge and listened to our IPods.

The traffic from Dover was not to bad and we arrived home at 5 pm and desperate for a cup of tea.

In reflecting on the weekend we had a great time and it was really nice to meet so many nice people. Guests had come from Thailand, Vietnam. Florida, Netherlands, France, Scotland and of course the UK group. It all made for a lovely weekend.

Oh dear it’s raining in Bruges

It rained overnight and was quite grey in the morning. We decided to make another attempt to go for a boat ride and we were successful although it rained again and trying to see out of this mall boat with umbrellas up was a bit of a challenge. The tour lasted about half an hour with our Belgian student guide who tried to make some English jokes, he actually asked us to name a famous Belgian, and the only answer we could come up with was 'waffle' As we got off the boat it started to rain again which forced us to go directly to a cafe for a life saving Cognac and coffee and watch the world go by for a while.

There were mixed views on where to go to lunch but as Jen and I were still full from a large English breakfast we decided to take a miss on lunch and wait till later. We walked around the town in areas not previously visited and took some more photos before deciding to have a 'Bratwurst' and a shared pack of chips with mayonnaise in the town square. AS the weather was quite grey and really not suitable for more photographs we headed back to the Hotel and ended up watching the Italian Grand Prix before having a quick siesta.

We all met up in the bar, apart from those who had left the group to head home, and as people were getting a little jaded a few of us stayed in the Hotel and had a snack in the cafe. To be honest we were not sure what qyulaity the food would be but the salads were great although the homemade chicken pie was more of a chicken vol-a-vent but still tasty. Once more we retreated to the bar for a few nightcaps and eventually headed off to bed.

Bruges is a nice town and its a shame so there were so many tourists there as it changing the style of the shops and making the restaurant prices expensive. Compared to the prices in Spain last week Bruges is defiantly very expensive to stay there .

Sightseeing in Bruges

We spent the day walking around Bruges and taking photographs. The market was quite large and had an interesting display of cheese and other fresh food including a number of vans selling cooked chickens and ribs. There were of course many other market stalls selling clothing, plants and animal baskets and toys.

Some of the group met up at 1600 hrs to go for a boat ride around the canals but they were full and so we wandered off to do some more sightseeing. The town is quite beautiful and the architecture is stunning in places and although the place was teeming with tourist it was possible to get away from the crowds and visit some of the older part of town. The old Churches and also the Convent where you can go to get away from the sins of life and there is little chance they would let me in. Tonight is the Banquet in the Hotel to be held in the historic ruins which are under the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Adrian and Joyce hosted the opening cocktail party before we all sat down for a huge buffet dinner. The dinner choice and quantity was far too much our group even though it contained Lobsters, Crab and many other delicacies.

It was a lovely evening and finished around one o'clock in the morning and although some people went on to the Irish Bar next door the Groves went to bed.

What a lovely day

A tour of the First World War sites

When arriving at the Hotel yesterday we had seen a pamphlet outlining a tour of the First World War historic sites and so we decided to take an organised tour rather than flounder about looking for something. So at 0945 'Jacques' our tour guide turned up and it would appear that only the four of us were on this particular trip. Jacques was an excellent guide and had an enthusiasm which rubbed off on us and it made the complete morning with him very interesting indeed. He has previously become involved in the BBC series 'Who do you think you are' where Eamonn Holmes researched his past and his grandfather who died in Belgium in the Great War..

We went first of all to Essex Farm which was an advanced field dressing station where the injured were brought to dress their wounds, the conditions were so bad its quite difficult to contemplate. From there we wntr to Vancouver Corner to see the Canadian Memorial where there is the 'Brooding Soldier'. During the tour he explained how the Germans used gas to kill thousands of Allied troops and the death process was appalling where the gas made you drown in your own liquid caused through inhaling

The following link explains more detail. http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/firstgasattack.htm

We then made a visit to the Tyne Cot Cemetery where not only Allied troops are buried but several Germans as well. This is an impressive site and very well cared for. We understand that there about 160 cemeteries containing First World War victims and hundreds of thousands of Allied troops died, and for what??

On to Hill 62 in Sanctuary wood and the trench museum. The Belgian countryside is very flat and the troops used to distinguish the various small hills by they metre height about sea level and so Hill 62 was 62 metres above sea level.

The trenches are not quite how they were in the museum and of course in the winter they were wet and muddy and extremely cold. This was a very interesting morning and well worth the expense of a knowledgeable guide.

http://www.ypres-fbt.com/

After lunch we headed of to Bruges where we arrived mid afternoon . It was planned to be a free day but we met several people in the bar before dinner prior to leaving for a quiet dinner for two. The restaurant we found was very good food and we would go there again.

And so to bed

Ypres

We left home around 0900 hrs to connect with the Norfolk Lines vessel to Dunkirk. The vessel was comfortable but there seemed to bve a complete shortage of staff as there was no chef on board according the serving wench in the restaurant.

We arrived in Ypres at the Araine Hotel which is quite nice and then went for a walk around the town to get a feel for the place. We had dinner??so to speak, Adrian and Noel had the 'Croque Monsieur' which should have contained Gruyere cheese and ham and a Béchamel sauce. This one contained mostly two large slices of bread, a breath of cheese and a smell of ham, but we did have some chips. In the evening we went to the Menen Gateto watch the 'Last Post' played and the laying of wreaths. It was a solemn but beautiful short service and only lasting about twenty minutes. The Corby Male Voice Choir were there and sang one song whilst the 'Hells Angels' group who support a Hospice also laid a wreath. Ypres is a nice little town that was completely raised to the ground in the First World War and then completely rebuilt in the original style some years after the war had ended. It's amazing that the town did not get it did not get severely damaged again during the second world war.

After the ceremony we went to a little bar that was decorated with hundreds of religious crosses and statues and had a couple of beers.