Dunelm1's Blog

Geoff and Jean were married on December 5th 1970 in St Peter’s Church Belfast at the height of the troubles! 50 years on and now, thankfully, on the way down from a pandemic. The hotel, Chester Park, where Geoff and the wedding guests from England stayed, was subsequently blown up twice by the IRA. Lucky escape you might say !

We met as a result of us both winning American Field Service Scholarships to spend a year living with a family and attending American High School – Geoff in 58-59 in Tennessee, and Jean 60-61 near Chicago.

We lived in Hampstead and Swiss Cottage, London before moving to Cornwall in 1972.

After the wedding reception, we left for the airport to fly to London en route to Tenerife. On arrival at Gatwick we found a collection of friends from London gathered for another reception. After a number of drinks, the time flew by and we ended up running across the tarmac to the plane where the ground staff were preparing to remove the the gangway! So we relaxed in our plane which was a de Havilland Comet IVC pictured here.

It was an interesting journey, to say the least, as during dinner the lady in front of Jean reclined her (broken) seat, spilling red wine all over Jean’s going away outfit. They were a farming couple from Scotland, apologizing profusely, and we ended up good friends during the honeymoon and for some years afterwards. The calming effect of a large number of celebratory drinks was much needed, as we had 2 aborted landings because of fog or low cloud, and landed the third time to raptuous applause and great relief.

Our hotel San Felipe looks the same, especially the sky, but as a result of various takeovers, now has a much longer name, and that was our home for 2 weeks. 7th floor on seafront in 5 star comfort! Most of the island was deserted, unlike the present, and the airport was in the middle of the island – hence the fog!

We had a wonderful time and met up with some great people who had been on the plane or staying at our hotel. We all got stuck in the lift after a party one evening. I had chosen to walk up and then had the job of asking reception for help late in the night. In those days no-one spoke English so the one Spanishword I will never forget is el ascensor. Eventually a man from the lift company freed them and it certainly gave us something to laugh about for the rest of the time there. We did all the usual things – Mt Teide, a bull fight, island tour and lots of food and drink. Fortunately we only found out the second week that we were on full board and could feast on the beautiful garden buffet at lunchtime as well. No photos of that, although in my case it would have needed a very wide angled lens!

Two happy bunnies returned to educational psychology and dentistry.

After the brief historical resume, we can reveal what happened on the actual day December 5, 2020

A fairly grey morning and we never stopped! There were so many callers with flowers, plants, cards, etc. and the postman came loaded with cards and parcels as well. We were surprised and honoured to receive so many beautiful and appropriate presents! The phone was busy as well.

Julie arrived from Tedburn St Mary and we then had a family Zoom for an hour, with John and Olive in Philadelphia, Lucy and and family in Melksham, Wendy and family down the road (!! ) and brother Alan and his wife Judy from Cambridge, Julie, and the celebrated couple.

In the evening we gathered for a glass of champagne at home with Julie, Wendy and Paul, before setting off by taxi to Edies Restaurant in Carlyon Bay where we had an excellent evening with lovely food and the odd glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

Wonderful and pretty waitress but may be in need of a few photography tips! Wendy took this last one below.

Thank you to everyone for your generosity and friendship. And now for Christmas………….