2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends, I have just send an old friend of mine a Christmas letter. He and I met in the early 1990s in Egypt whilst on holiday. Over gin & tonics on the top deck of the Nile boat we struct up a friendship. Somehow we ended up as the detective duo Hercules Poirot & Captain Hastings. We still keep in touch with Christmas news


For this year I thought it would be fun to base my Christmas News on the letter I have just sent to Poirot...................... 








Dear Poirot,


Thank you for your Christmas card last year. You have an excellent memory as one would expect, – you remembered my 65th birthday! Yes I am now collecting a pension! Gosh! Time has flown by since we last worked together in Egypt back in the 1990s.


I guess you are wondering what investigations I've been undertaking since our last case together on the Nile in Egypt. Well here is a brief summary of this year's report: –


In January I had a case with a software company in Sweden. I made a visit to Gothenburg and to Karlstad where the company is based. I investigated fully their need to expand their operations in the UK and then provided them with some advice and guidance. It was great nice going back to Sweden in the winter – the River estuary at Gothenburg was partly frozen over and going inland to Karlstad one was reminded how different the winters are there to here; lots of snow piled either side of the road and freezing cold evenings down to -15 or even -20.

My second case in January took me to the Cape Verde islands. This time I took my secretary (not Miss Lemon but Carol, my wife). She has made an excellent replacement and has a wonderful memory for detail which, as you know, I don't have. We visited three of the islands, firstly to Santiago, which was set up as a colony by the Portuguese in about 1460, and later raided by our swashbuckling pirate friend Sir Francis Drake. We then went on to Mindelo, which used to be a coaling station for the big steamships. Finally we went on to Sao Antao (Saint Anthony) island. This is a very mountainous island with beautiful views, both through the rugged interior and out to the western side.

In my second case I was assisted by my cousin Ian Ient. He arranged a reunion of Ients at Wendy's pub in Bedforshire. What a great day it was on Friday 5th March. Wendy & Alan hosted us. The lunch was super, what a charming pub – and we were so lucky to have such sunny weather. I met with Sandra, Rita, Wendy, Ian, Robert, Alan, Zoe and David. I had only met Ian Ient before.

A further case took me and my secretary to Singapore where we visited my son, James. He is in business there. We were there nearly for 2 weeks. We made the obligatory visit to Raffles and had Singapore slings. Raffles makes you feel quite colonial. But of course today Singapore is a major hub of business and commerce. James has made a success of his career there and is CFO of a Swiss broking company.

At the end of April my brother George & I made a trip to Yorkshire to attend the funeral of my sister-in-law, Dolly. A very sad reason for making the trip but it brought the family together. 

The most significant event of the year was nothing to do with my investigations and required no help from me! Carol's daughter, Genevieve gave birth to a lovely boy, Roscoe in June. Since then Carol has been very much occupied with Genevieve and this dear little boy. They visit us often. He is a smiley little chap, is very good-natured and eats like a warrior!

April, May, June & July was taken up with very enjoyable visits and trips. I took my grandson, Tom, dry ski slope skiing; he proved to be an adept skier. Our very good friends Dave and Liz, from Australia, made a visit to Sussex and we enjoyed walks over the South Downs and meals in pubs. In July I took my grandson Tom on an adventure activity week to the YHA at Okehampton in Devon. He is excellent at rock climbing, gorge scrambling and archery etc. We were lucky enough to meet up with a friend he made there the previous year, Imogen. They played a lot together and went swimming at the local swimming pool.

Also in July, I had the opportunity of joining the men's group from our local parish church (not that I'm a churchgoer) on a very enjoyable cycling trip over five days in Normandy, France. We had an excellent crossing from Portsmouth and enjoyed a dinner in the restaurant on board which would be hard to beat anywhere. The cycling was tough going, both because they were fitter than me and the weather was rather wet. However, the group really enjoyed themselves and it was good comradeship, especially over the lovely French meals we had in the evening. We visited Arromanches-les-Bains which was one of the first beaches to be landed on at the D Day landings on the 6th June 1944. By midnight that day the British 50th Division had landed 25,000 men! At Arromanches you can still see the Mulberry Docks off of the sandy beach. Carols father was a mechanical engineer in WWII and worked on the design of these giant concrete & steel docks that were floated across the channel. 

We also visited Bayeux and whilst I was there I went to look at the cathedral. It has an interesting connection with Thomas-a-Becket. One of the major doorways into the cathedral was built shortly after he was murdered by Henry II’s knights in 1170. It commemorates his journey to England from Normandy in a coracle and his troubled relationship with Henry II. It depicts a summit he had with Henry to resolve their differences in Northampton and then his final murder in Canterbury Cathedral. This is all illustrated in carvings over the south door. The guide book for the Cathedral describes the doorway and Thomas-a-Becket's history (was he Thomas of Amboise?) which seems to be at odds with the conventional history but that is not for me to sort out. There is a connection between Normandy, Thomas-a Becket and with my town of Lewes. It maybe myth or legend or truth, I don't know but it is said that the knights who murdered Thomas made the trip from Normandy to Lewes, (which was then a significant Norman stronghold and a port), before going on to Canterbury. They then returned to Lewes and it is said that in one of the ancient houses they laid their swords on the table in the kitchen for the servants to clean them of the blood. This house is still in existence. It's an ancient building called Anne of Cleves,  being one of the houses that Henry VIII gave to the Cleve family as compensation for sending Anne back to Holland.

In August we had a further case which took us by train along the south coast to Brixham and Dartmouth. It was like going on one of our old cases, Poirot. This was especially so at Paignton. Here we boarded the steam train that took us to Dartmouth and a very enjoyable few days investigating properties, restaurants and pubs in that lovely estuary of the River Dart. I also found out something about Brixham where we stayed for a couple of days. This was the place where William of Orange landed , soon to take over as King of England in the peaceful revolution.

August also found us in Portsmouth visiting my nieces, Lovely! Also in August Denis and Ann visited us in Lewes - a very nice weekend showing them around our ancient town!

In late August, a new case took us to Scotland by overnight sleeper to Inverness. We had a very enjoyable stay at my second cousin Karen's house. Really this is an annual pilgrimage to see my cousin Dennis and enjoy the lovely atmosphere and company at Karen and Clive's house. Clive keeps me busy with outdoor activities such as log cutting and land clearing on his smallholding.

A very pleasant reason took us to Windsor in September to meet up with my cousin Ian (and his wife Sue this time) again but this time to meet cousin Meredith who had just flown in from the USA en route to Italy. 

My last main commission for the year took me back to Singapore, this time on my own. My mission was to help my son James in his new business. He still remains a director in the broking business, but he and his colleague have decided to start up a recruitment company. I went out there to help them and to give them some advice from my experience being in business over the years. It's tough going for them. He has six staff and the operations director Steve is doing an excellent job. Whilst there, James and I went off to meet up with one of my old Ericsson colleagues, Hans, in Jakarta. We stayed at his villa with him and his wife Claudia. 

It was great meeting up but sadly my trip to Singapore and Jakarta was marred by me suffering from shingles. It had started before I went out there but knowing that there is very little you can do about it I thought I might as well proceed with the trip. Whilst I was in Singapore I had a course of acupuncture, which I believe helped clearing it up. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't return. On this trip I had the pleasure of meeting James's fiancé's family.

In later Autumn, Carol and I had a couple of little trips to celebrate her birthday and to remember my mother. Firstly, we went to the Spread Eagle Hotel in Midhurst, Sussex. A wonderful hotel, where I used to take my mother’s to celebrate her birthday when she was alive. We had lovely food and were looked after royally at the main dinner by the maître d'  - 'Franck'. [it rhymes with plonk, his speciality]. Franck is from Normandy, France. We enjoyed the swimming pool and did a little shopping in Midhurst for Christmas. Later on in November the second trip was to Hampton Court. Carol had always wanted to make a second trip. The first one being in her childhood. We stayed overnight nearby and had a lovely meal in a cosy pub with an alcove table just to ourselves. We spent the next day wandering around Hampton Court, absorbing history and looking at the lovely rooms and paintings etc.

Our pre-Christmas was with our dear friends in the Grumpies at the Juggs, Kingston. Great fun!

In the lead up to Christmas I've made two trips up to Cambridgeshire to see my son Adrian & his wife Julia and my grandsons. On the second one we gave my grandsons their Christmas presents and had a lovely Christmas dinner.  Carol and I took time out and went to see the beautiful cathedral of Ely. We were lucky to visit there on a sunny day. The light shining through the beautiful stained-glass windows gives us a unique insight into how magical the cathedral must've been to the people of the Middle Ages. Ely itself is a lovely mediaeval town still keeping lots of independent shops and a marketplace. A place to remember for a further visit.

When are now in the last few days before Christmas. Carol and I have arranged a Christmas party for a few days at a lovely hotel here in Sussex – Deans Place. There are 16 of us in the party. Her two sisters are coming with their families – from Scotland and Hong Kong. Carol's daughters will be there. Other relations will also be there, including Carol's ex-husband! My son James from Singapore will join is for the 23rd and 24th. The whole event should be great – the hotel is in the lovely picturesque village of Alfriston in the South Downs, National Park.

The big event we are looking forward to and one which I've been preparing for is the wedding party for my son James and his soon-to-be wife Niki. They will marry at the registry office in Singapore on the 22nd December and then fly to the UK. After visiting my ex-wife and myself, various relations and friends will gather at an hotel in Hampshire on 27 December for a wedding party to celebrate James and Niki's marriage. Wonderful! What a super end to the year.


Yours


Captain Hasting


Post scriptum - in May we travel out to Singapore to join James and Niki at the Chinese wedding celebration along with properly about another 200 people!