The building work at the St James Centre finally complete, our flat on the ground floor of John Lewis now had a big picture window that looked out on to a massive plaza. Of course, a corollary of this was that anyone who walked past could peer into our sitting room.
Before long we were hosting streams of friends who ‘happened to be passing’. Many were from the #EdCM era: NP, DTJ; KJ; AC; DJ; WB; SC… We served drinks (tea, coffee and red wine), played videos of past parties, danced, and generally enjoyed ourselves. Best of all, AC played the double bass, and the rest of us showed our appreciation by circling round him. We were so overjoyed (and relieved) to be reunited once more.
I left the room when KT rang the doorbell. She had come to seek advice on photo books: should she order soft copy or hard? Then she invited me on a cycle ride to Luce in Dumfries and Galloway. I jumped on my bike and followed her – in shorts and a vest top, but no helmet and no hi-vis clothing.
We cycled on and on and on – and then it started to get dark, but KT would not turn back. I eventually persuaded her to stop and she agreed that we should find some accommodation for the night. This was impossible due to the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Not a single bed and breakfast or hotel was open.
We ended up breaking into a village hall to spend the night in accommodation last used by the Brownies.
Dreamaticus 