A tale of two counties

Today is apparently 'Yorkshire Day'!

 If you were to do a search - you would find that

The date chosen for Yorkshire Day is August 1st  and that it is

'a modern celebration - started in 1975'

So much for the 'history' of Yorks. Day! 

Let's cross over the border of the Pennine chain which is also called the 'backbone of England'.

"Lancashire Day commemorates the day in 1295 when Lancashire sent its first representatives to Parliament by  King Edward I of England to attend what later became known as The Model Parliament".

It would seem that the Yorks. lot are some 670 years late in adopting the idea.

Lancashire's observance of their day is a lot older and has a ceremony attached.

The Lancashire Day proclamation is read out by town criers throughout the county on 27th November:

To the people of the city and County Palatine of Lancaster

Greetings!

Know ye that this day, November 27th in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Fifteen, 

the 64th year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Lancaster, is

Lancashire Day

Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of Her Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn, Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians.

Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this day shall ever mark the people's pleasure in that excellent distinction - true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.

GOD BLESS LANCASHIRE
AND GOD SAVE THE QUEEN,
DUKE OF LANCASTER.

Incompetence writ large

It has got to be a sign of my age that I grow more annoyed and frustrated by acts of incompetence.

Being tech savvy is fine, but what annoyed me the other day was civil servants hiding behind a computer answering mechanism. There were 3 phone numbers for the local Council that ought to have served my purposes. Try as I might, all I heard was the same automated message telling me people were 'busy'. Cynical me decided they could not all be so busy, more probably the answering system was taking the strain.

I turned to the Internet, found the webpages and the complaints page. I duly filled in the complaints form and submitted it. Next, I received an email with the complaint ID number, only to learn that it could take ten working days for a reply.

Later, I received a voicemail, someone from the Council relying to my complaint, yet unable / unwilling to give her name. She also proved that she had not read the complaint email properly.

What caused all this annoyance and frustration?

Hospitals send a patient home with ready-filled injections to be administered daily for 30 days. All well and good. Now try getting rid of the sharps box and its contaminated contents.

Do the hospitals take them? 
What about the G.P. surgery or the local pharmacy?

No!

Prescribing a series of injections is the easy part, disposing of them afterwards is the bug-bear.

Eventually, the G.P. surgery phone the 'collection team' and your name / address are added to their list. Weeks pass, no-one arrives. Neighbour mentions that she has sharps to be collected and tells the guy that next-door need a collection. 

What happens? Instead of collecting the sharps box, a new one is delivered! This happens again. The sharps box is still awaiting collection four months later.

Back to the female that left the voicemail message...

Thinking positively, she has said the sharps box is to be collected (today). Then spoils the good impression by saying a calendar of deliveries will also be delivered!

mf aka more follows

The dogs let on that someone had come to the door even tho' no-one had rung the doorbell. I raced to the door to find a letter pushed thro'. Noticing a white lorry, I rushed to get there before it left. Fortunately, I was in time and Tony left the diving seat and came round to find out the problem.

Cutting a long story short, he'd been tasked with delivering a letter / calendar of collections!

I explained the situation, we both looked at the letter and found a phone number. I said I'd ring up and tony said that guy's on holiday! He understood the problems we'd had. Then, he took away the full and empty boxes, promising not to call again! Even if 'they' add us to his round, he'll remember and not leave any empty sharps boxes here. He made another promise to see 'them in the office' and get them to take us off the list.

Phew!

non pc

As a former colleague would have called it, 'the whited sepulchre syndrome'.

Some are lucky enough to pass thro' the working side of life without much trauma. I'm not saying there's is a charmed working life; far from it. They experience trials and tribulations that rock the proverbial boat...but not to the same extent.

What's brought on the negativity? Article in a newspaper about a 10-year anniversary.

Ten years ago there was an horrific murder of a young Christian lad whose life had been full of promise. Youths from the same school decided to do what they'd call 'have a laugh, a bit of fun'. It ended with an axe embedded in A.W.'s skull. Today, ten years on, one of the murderers has applied to have his sentence reduced. Imagine the effect that has on the family of A.W.

The news report printed images of both of the murderers. 

It has brought back memories for the family and the friends...and schoolteachers. 

What about the non pc? Folk seldom realize these 'miscreants' spent time in school and some hapless folk came across them in the classroom for several years.

'Whited sepulchre' - a reference to staffroom discussion of the failings of several head teachers...one of whom earned the epithet...

'I see no ships...There are No Problems'.

endings and beginnings

Not for me, but for two friends. One I've known for a long time (since the 1970s) and another who's been part of my OU friends for not quite so long. 

Jock, won't mind me calling him that as it's how I knew him at first. Everyone called him Jock and that's how I was introduced to him. 

In the intervening years he qualified as a teacher, taught in various C of E schools and became Head of a Lancashire Junior school.

Teaching is one thing both friends have in common, and junior school teaching at that. Both retire from teaching this year and I wish them both the best of every good thing retirement can bring, 

Arrival

Roses

History challenge

Going along one of the genealogical byways, I came across the Abbott family, of Blackburn.

This has opened up another area of investigation; this time concerning the town of Blackburn. Doing my usual forage around the internet; I came across an area called Mill Hill. The area is still there but has changed beyond recognition.

As its' name suggests it was a factory area. 

The cotton industry began in England in 1774 when Parliament reduced duty on cotton fabrics from sixpence to threepence a yard. Suddenly, there was an incentive to produce cotton fabric (sixpence a yard was prohibitive). Manufacture in the Blackburn area is disputed; some claim 1774 and others 1776.

Mill Hill became a calico printing area (1794). Apparently, Mill Hill was in the township of Livesey. 

John Abbott in the 1881 England Census was a lodger in 

20 Mill Hill A Common Lodging House

Name	Age
John Wilkinson	47
Margaret Wilkinson	32
Emily Ann Wilkinson	2
Cornelius Driscoll	50
Richard Ward	44
Richard Dickinson	31
Elizabeth Dickinson	39
William Heaton	40
Henry Heys	36
Joseph Pickup	48
William Ashworth	39
John Marsden	46
James Graham	28
William H. Harwood	28
John Dunn	26
Robert Scholes	50
John Abbott	30
Jonathan Wade	36
John Cheetham	50
John Grimshaw	36
W. Edward Briggs	26
Henry Richardson	33
Andrew Grimshaw	36
Mark Rawsthorne	40
Jeremiah Riley	68
Bridget Lonsdale	35
Margaret Parkinson	40

What stunned me at first was the number of people!

Time to do more research...

June in bloom

Clematis in flower

Foxgloves have appeared this year.

The next stage of honesty's cycle.

No words can tell of the rose's beauty

Looking back...

I 'follow' several genealogy, family history pages on social media.  My investigations have led me to find 'family' in Lancs., Yorks., Derbyshire, and more recently Suffolk.

Maybe I'm lucky to have a wide-rage of general knowledge, sheer curiousity...

Recently, I've come across folk that appear to have far less nous.

I learnt my research skills courtesy of the O.U. which I must admit does give me an advantage. Coming across some massive on-line etext sites has also been a bonus. Old books have been transferred to etexts and when out of copyright are free to download.

Hence, I've built up a collection of Parish Records, Archaeological studies and books about various counties. 

Have listed a few, and there are still more to be found...

"The Old Halls and Manors of Derbyshire".
"Old Halls in Lancs. & Cheshire 1837".
"The Parish Registers of England".

The latter was a good find, it is a history of Parish registers which details the problems encountered by those doing the recordings. If you take the trouble to read, you'll find out about the difficulties in record preservation, social problems and political 'interference'.

"In larger parishes it was occasionally arranged, after the injunction of 1558, to keep two separate books for registration purposes, the one for baptisms, and the other for marriages and burials."

Cox, J. Charles (John Charles), 1843-1919. The parish registers of England (Kindle Locations 403-404). London Methuen. 

Then, there's problems with deciphering handwriting and the fact that for many years they were written in Latin.

Some entries were brief, but those of the wealthy tended to be more elaborate.

The Civil War and the Puritans had a deleterious effect on the records. 

The widespread disturbances during the Civil War, and the ejection of so large a number of the Episcopal clergy from their benefices naturally brought about considerable irregularity in the keeping of the register in not a few parishes, and occasionally resulted in their entire cessation.

Cox, J. Charles (John Charles), 1843-1919. The parish registers of England (Kindle Locations 270-272). London Methuen. 

from 1669 to 1695 is because the parishioners could never be persuaded to take to see it done, nor the churchwardens as ye canon did require, and because they refuse to pay such dues to y e curate as they ought by custome to have payed.

Cox, J. Charles (John Charles), 1843-1919. The parish registers of England (Kindle Locations 507-509). London Methuen. 

Bruhaha

Social Media and the news media have been agog with some disturbing news from Leeds. 

Folk rush to opine using knee-jerk phrases which are then 'answered' in similar thoughtless fashion.

To read their rushed words, you'd think nothing untoward ever happened and that Mr. Chips is still teaching and all places are just like his.

Assaults make the headlines, but just like the proverbial iceberg, there's more underneath.

The problems one faces depends to a large extent on where and in particular the social background of the area. When you find that the new 11 year old transfer comes complete with parole officer, or a girl is known by the police because hers is a family of shoplifters, organised by the father who takes them to various shopping centres... 

A former colleague once referred to a pupil as a 'murderee', someone likely to be murdered because of their behaviour. Indeed, the lad first made the news mainly for his antisocial behaviour tormenting a local disabled man. Duly warned by the police, the lad went back to his ways, until the time that his victim struck back. He literally put an end to his tormentor. 

In most circumstances the adult in the classroom has no say over who enters and takes part. Lads and in some cases lasses might appear on transfer, but, they are not the 'wanted' signings but those that have run out of chances elsewhere. They make a new start and except for slight hints, some appear to have become 'model citizens' because they are no longer with their old peer group. They leave and you think nothing of them, until there are news reports. Two former students 'downtown' clubbing get into a disagreement. But, later that night one follows the other homewards and stabs him to death. Then, you find out that the one murdered was in your form and the other came into school on transfer.

Another time, a pupil is absent, but you are warned not to investigate as the 'powers that be' know all about it. Local news sheds light on the lad's disappearance. He'd stolen a car and was razzing round the area, until he reversed and hit something. The something turns out to have been a toddler. Now, the condoned absence is explained. The local area are understandably 'up in arms' about the incident. Therefore, the police have helped to move the lad and his family to a place of safety.

After long years in retirement, the old days spring to the fore. There's another murder and both people were known to you. Former pupils are now murderer and victim. This time the news spreads like wildfire because the assault was not only unprovoked but the weapon was a machete! Campaigns launched against violence in the local area hit the headlines and you realise you taught other members of the family.

Months later, the court convenes and out of interest you follow it in the news. Some people are charged with hindering the police in their enquiries...it comes as no surprize to recognize some of the names.

Forward to June 2015, the local newspaper has a report of another murder. It's some teens of years into retirement, yet, once more both murderer and victim stir up memories from a career in teaching.

News - no, broad-sweeping generalisations

Chatting online, as you do, a subject came up that I decided to muse about.

Technology and the over 60s.

Thinking back to the 1980s when computers strayed out of the geek world and into everyday life. 

1985 the ubiquitous Microsoft launched its Windows operating system.

In school it was the Science Dept. that began to explore the new toys, at home.

the BBC B made its way into schools, in 'penny numbers'. There was one in the stockroom - must have been 1980-81 as I went to Ormskirk for weekly 'training'.

What a laborious process, so much effort, so little achieved. It was the start of modelling using computers.

This was where you might say that Geography was ahead of the game.
One name springs to mind -

In the mid 1970s, Pete Daniels (author) and tutor in St. Kaths' Geography Dept. introduced students to the 'world' of geographical modelling.

1990s the beginning of the www World Wide Web.

The Dept. charged with learning and then instructing schoolchildren in the use of computers was Commerce. The reasoning being they used typewriters anyway.

Mrs. Fitz. and Mrs. B. did a magnificent job of coping with various models and styles of computers throughout the 1990s. 

Other depts. were allocated one computer each! It fell to me to store one in the stockroom. Oh the distractions caused by lending the dratted machine out and storing it again. 

But, that was nothing compared to the disruptions when the classroom had the back of the room equipped with computers, monitors and ONE printer. In a dept. of 11 staff, there was only 'yours truly' with any tech knowledge!

Dear Auntie Beeb

I beg to differ when you opine about the 'problem' of older folk being unable / unwilling to use tech...there's lots of us that can and do use it very well!

Feb 1920

From the 'Burnley news'

The Clitheroe Castle and Grounds have been offered to the Corporation for £9,500 and a meeting of ratepayers is to be held next Wednesday evening to consider the question of purchasing the property as a War Memorial.

 Reading on a month later...
They had raised £8000.

But..

The newspaper report now says they were aiming at £15,000.

Mill workers agreed to contribute a minimum of 5 shillings per member for the next 8 weeks.

The Castle and its grounds became the town's war memorial, originally for WWI and later for WWII, and finally for all servicemen.

Look across from the Castle to another prominence, and you find it surmounted by the Parish Church.

No wonder the town has streets named Castle St. Castle Gate, Parson Lane, Church St. and Church Brow.

Silver surfing?

There's a site called 'Silversurfers' which is most nostalgic. 

Below is one of the pix they shared.

The games folk played, memories from the 1950s.

Top right - hopscotch, played many times - all that was needed was chalk for the grid and something to throw on the designated square. I always wondered where some folk got the huge lumps of chalk from to draw the grid.

Middle row left - lads played footie, girls played rounders.

Everyone played leap-frog. Yes, lads played conkers, but so did girls from time to time.

Two-ball - any wall would do, or maybe a door! Staring with two balls (tennis balls) we tried adding extras, 3-ball was common.

Definitely an active childhood at any given opportunity. 

Grammar school did not have a 'playground', but it had several acres of grounds. Providing we were allowed to walk on the grass, we'd walk throughout the lunchtimes. Usually we walked around the outskirts of the hockey pitches. We must have walked miles in our lunch hour, chatting as we went. The only area out of bounds to everyone except sixth form was the 'quarry' a small disused grassed-over former quarry.

Those as they say were the days.

Niggling

I have had a query niggling away at the back of my mind for most of this week. Online news is great for catching up with 'what's on' in the highways and byways of distant memory.

The old market town of Clitheroe, Lancs. was the focus of the niggle. I read that the so-called Castle Museum (and my personal bone of contention) has a 'new' display. Obviously, at my age I reckon to know more about clogs and clogging than younger folk. One of the younger folk 'organises' museum displays. Apols for sounding rather meow. The latest display purports to be about the town's history of clog making.

Could I remember the names I needed, I could not! My mind teased me with memories of various shops, so I did some research. There's no need to spend £££s when you know how to do research. I also contacted someone who still lives in the area and is older than me. She had a discussion with her husband and came up with the names of three local shoemakers.

• Dan Lord
• Sowerbutts
• Richard Turner

I remember Lord's shop, they sold Clark's shoes and you had your feet measured for width and fit in a wooden device. (Shoes always had to have growing room).

Richard (Dick) Turner was special. His shop window displayed hand-made clogs and pictures of his work in Africa.

Richard was the last Mayor of the old Clitheroe Borough Council, from 1972 to 1974, and one-time champion shoe repairer of All England.

 The original shop was opened in 1910 by his father.

Time for another quote, this time from a Dalesman publication -

“In 1962 a doctor in the south of England visited Burnley at the suggestion of a colleague, Grace Ingham, doing leprosy work in Africa. He sought someone who could make a clog sole from the block. A newspaper appeal reached Richard Turner, son of a clogger and himself a seatsman who had taken into shoe repairing such skill as to be voted ‘Britain’s Champion Shoe Repairer’ in 1951 and 1961. As a result of their discussion, Mr. Turner went to the Oji River Leper Colony on the River Niger, Biafra, in January 1963 and for six weeks gave basic training with his stock knives to the lepers, using the plentiful local wood. A type of wood-soled sandal was made to replace the rubber-tyre shoes the lepers wore.

Those native African patients needed something to support their injured feet. Dick gave them lessons in his own time and at his own expense, teaching them to shape wood and fasten uppers to them. Bisana and zigba replaced alder and beech. I have since been in touch with Dr. Felton Ross of the All-Africa Leprosy and Rehabilitation Training Centre at Addis Ababa, who praises Dick’s work. He told me that, due to the acute difficulties of foot disorders, a sandal type of clog, very similar to the modern Scholl’s sandal, is preferred and is very helpful in healing foot ulcers.

Mr Turner … made a film of what he saw. When shown locally on his return, it made £200 for LEPRA. Two years later he went to Uganda on a similar mission with his stock knives. Those knives will never wear out, though they do require sharpening….

Dr. Ross, working with them in Biafra and Ethiopia, has reported on the paediatric value of what we may call clogs to his patients.”

Traditionally, in Lancashire, a toddler's first footwear was a pair of clogs.

In days gone by...

Clitheroe M.P. 
Sir William Brass
Donated a turret from the Houses of Parliament to his Clitheroe 'seat' and it was placed in the Castle gardens.

For decades it was in a beautiful rose garden. In the 1960s the turret was surrounded by a pond to 'keep it safer'.

Now it is in a wilderness of gravel, but is to be refurbished. It is known as the 'Pinnacle Project'

 This was taken before the area was 'laid bare'.

Only a B/W photo but hopefully it gives an impression. 

Beds of roses with climbers gracing the garden walls.

The water around the pond used to be crystal clear, with a couple of small fountains.

Good news day!

For a while now a click of the mouse friend has been counting down the time left until retirement. That happy news has been boosted by an announcement today.

I friend I have known for a long, long time (since we were teenagers) has been Head of a Lancs. C. of E. Primary School. He's always been a very hard worker. Then, today brings the news that he's been granted early retirement! I am so pleased for him, he deserves to have a long, happy retirement. 

Taken from the school newsletter

Staff Changes in September – Retirements

I would like to let you know that there will be significant staff changes from September.

 After 38 years of teaching, 20 at this school, I have decided that it is time to change direction, so I am letting you know of my retirement as headteacher at the end of the Summer Term. The Governors were informed of my decision earlier this week and the process to find both short term cover for my role, and a permanent replacement headteacher has begun. I am sure that the Governors will work hard to find the right person for the job, with guidance from the local authority and the diocese. I am also sure that there will be time for goodbyes later in the term.

End of another era

This colourful set of new builds belongs to Liverpool University.

They are across from the original Archbishop Blanch school. I put 'original' as in time all things do pass. There's a brand new build further away from the city centre, a brown-field development.

The OU have been using ABHS for over a decade and both students and tutors have enjoyed going there. It was a better venue than the Arts College where not only were we not made welcome; parking was 'impossible'. 

Edited
Today 16th May was my final tutorial with 'my' tutor. Three of us turned up and were joined by the tutor.
Suffice it to say - I'm really glad I went to ABHS last Saturday (by mistake) as that tutor helped his students and I far more than the guy this week. Many thanks Dr. Pete you did a sterling job and allowed me to make a good start last Thursday. If I'd waited any longer I'd have been in a right pickle.

After all those happy years, it's all change. The OU asked places to tender bids to host tutorial sessions from Sept. 2015. ABHS lost out to Hope Uni which is a lot further out of town.

This is taken from the grounds of ABHS looking more towards the city's 'learning zone' Liverpool Uni and RLHT

The tower cranes in the background are where the massive modernisation of the hospitals is taking place. One large area containing the Royal Liverpool and incorporating St. Paul's Eye Hospital and the Linda McCartney Trust.

Goodbye ABHS, I've enjoyed going to tutorials there.

Hundreds

as in the Hundreds of Lancashire...

The 'red rose' county was composed from six Hundreds (areas of cultivable land).

From North to South they were
Lonsdale
Amounderness
Blackburn
Leyland
Salford
West Derby (largest area)

Fortunately, Lancashire Uni. have a website of Historic Lancashire Maps.
To someone like me, it makes good reading, looking at the changes over time. Some places kept the same name, others went thro' several versions.

Lancashire Day, (Nov. 27th) commemorates the day in 1295 when Lancashire sent its first representatives to Parliament in the time of King Edward I of England, 

The further back you go, the more complex it becomes. Not only are the names of the Hundreds taken from local places, they are also connected with church parishes and bishoprics. This can make genealogy 'interesting.'

Looking back thro' the Bleasdale family, the first problem being not only is it a surname, it's also a place name. As with other parts of the county, the area was designated a 'forest' meaning the King's hunting ground. The surname is still found mostly in Lancashire. 

Quote
 Bleasdale, 1228.

Although now in the parish of Lancaster, owing to its inclusion in the forest, Bleasdale has remained in the hundred of Amounderness, and was probably once within Garstang. It occupies a hilly country, divided into three main parts by the Rivers Calder and Brock, which rise near the Yorkshire border and flow south-west through it.

Take into consideration the seeming 'plethora' of Bleasdale men with the Christian name 'Thomas' and it becomes even more confusing. 

To begin with Thomas Bleasdale m Elizabeth Hannah Wilson 1912

Thomas born in the nearby village of Chipping. 

Looking on the Lancashire online parish clerks webpages for Chipping gave a number of Baptisms at St. Bartholomew, Chipping.

Now comes the next complication, unlike the Church of England, which has masses of parish records easily accessible online...

If the family were Roman Catholic, it requires using Census records instead as R.C. records are not freely available online.

1891
Thomas Bleasdale  Son Single 0 1891 - Chipping, Lancashire, England

Thomas Bleasdale      Head Married 32 1859         Farmer Chipping, 

See, here's the name problem already!

Assuming it's Thomas b 1891 that married Elizabeth Hannah Wilson.

The search continues...

Social media

Chatting this morning with a friend of 40 years, as in we have been friends that long. We began to reminisce about when we worked at the same place. Naming no names, but the place had ended up only scraping 1 star from OF$T£D long after we retired.

Today, I found out the place has been taken out of Local Government remit and as of Feb. 2014 became an 'academy'. This led to me having a look see online to find out more. Suffice it to say, only some half dozen of the present staff are folk I remember.

Next, by following a train of thought, I looked to see if I could find out anything about folk that I remembered. Social media led me to a page about LJB. Since the page is set to 'worldwide' it's freely accessible.

Here she is, and if I might opine - looking older than me, especially as she's 10 years younger.

Take a look at your own privacy settings on social media. Unless you want everything accessible by all and sundry? Might I suggest you alter the settings to make things a tad more private.

Of course, to keep truly private - never ever post anything online.

What is Truth?

Recently, thro' the good offices of social media, a reconnection was made with someone from schooldays.

Jenny was always fascinated by archaeology, myths and legends. Now, some hm 40+ years later, she's a published author and expert on myths and legends in Lancashire. She pursued her archaeological studies and apparently had a long, successful career as an archaeologist. 

Why write about her?

The reason being that a Lancashire paper has published a story including 'Dick Turpin'. This has upset my friend from an historical standpoint. There is no evidence that the highwayman was ever in that area.

Being a bit of a news story 'magpie' and as TMA avoidance, I looked into the story to find out if there was any truth to be had. Several websites later, some purporting 'authenticity', I turned to newspaper reports of the time, 1739.

What a treasure trove indeed!

The Newcastle Courant 21 April 1739 gives a full account of the trial in York Castle of one Richard Turpin, also known as John Palmer, or Paumer. There you can find not only the details such as him appearing before - 
The Hon. Sir William Chapple, Kt. Judge of the Assize, and one of his Majesty's Justices of the Court of the King's Bench.

The jurors - Calvert, Waddington, Popplewell, Lambert, Wiggin, Wade, Simpson, Smeaton, Thompson, Frank, Boyes and Clerke.

It also states that Turpin for five years past 'robb'd on Epping Forest'.

No connection the Lancashire at all! 

best intentions

We waited all day for the first visit from the District Nurse team but no-one came. That was last week.

Today ought to have been visit #2 but we had no idea fi or when. It was with great relief I opened to door to June, a lovely person.

Having reassured her that being dog owners for some 30+ years we'd keep our canine companions and her separate. 

Then came a nice surprize - the wound from the hip replacement op had healed well, so well that June said it looked more like 6 weeks post-op, not two.

Another surprize - we'd expected to see a raft of staples, but there were none. There were steri-strips that had done the job instead. 

Happy people! No bothering with staple remover.

We chatted about how well the recovering was progressing. I mentioned that we had 3 sets of unused staple removers and would June like them. Also, I showed her a couple of unused large dressings, so she happily took the dressings and scissor-like removers with her. I know dressings, especially hospital ones are dreadfully expensive, so it was good to know they'd be of use to June.

It's been a peculiar few years, with D being x-rayed and treated for osteoarthritis of the knees. He's had injections in both knees and tried all sorts of pain relief. Then, by chance he met a particular surgeon who noticed the problem was not in both knees but in one hip. 

Now it is a fortnight since the successful hip replacement, and the pain has altered totally. No longer the excruciating never rid of pain including referred pain leg-knee-hip. Now it's let's look forward to a much better way of life, free from referred pain, free from 24 hour pain. Counting down to when he can stop using crutches and when he can resume driving again.