The Gerrard Chronicles 2003 - January

Ken receives many enquiries from the web site & one strange Alpine request came in January. He answered with strong caveats about the difficulties of the route & discovered that the questioner intended to use the climb in a book. After a meeting over lunch with maps & subsequent discussions which included Ken writing a version of the chapter as an example, an agreed timetable for events in the book was reached. When it is published, you will hear here.

Tony Baldry, the Tory MP for Banbury is in the Baldry Family History Society that Ken runs & invited him for tea at the House. They had an interesting chat strictly under Chatham House Rules but nearly missed each other because of an anti-war lobby. As Tories go, Tony is ok.

End January is ski time & Michey & Alan had persuaded us to join them in Mayrhofen. While they pigged it in a chalet, we stayed in the posh Kramerwirt, parts of which were 450 years old but this is a cheap resort, so some noisy embarrassing English oiks were staying there. Generally, the light was bad, so this was not much of a success, although the skiing is extensive. The Old Town is enchanting but the new part rather loses the plot.