The gang!!

The gang, left to right Caroline, Jo, Garth, Jacky and Ali

This blog records some of the more colourful events of 2005. In a 'cast of thousands'!! five of the six leading lights are shown here celebrating Jo's birthday at Caroline's flat in Mornington Crescent (Camden London).

The sixth leading light is Lucy.

Quite a lot of 2005 was spent getting

used to the idea of having a grandchild.

As this shot shows it was not hard work.

Ali, Lucy and Jo. Jo is more

interested in the football, as usual!!

Below, Lucy with Ali and Charlie 'doing lunch' at the Royal Southern Yacht Club

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Caroline gets in the Lucy act, firstly, intrigued by her laying on the floor ......... the second waiting for the local steam train to arrive at Alton station.

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Jacky and Lucy doing a spot
of painting in the office



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Garth and Lucy study a video

of the local Watercress Line

"choo choo trains".

Ski ing in sun but -25 degrees C

Skiing over Christmas and was notable for cloudless skies and resulting - 25 degrees C (at night) 'Fellow in yellow' makes first appearance - in front of the Italian side of the Matterhorn.

The 'SAS' pair is G and J with zero skin showing in temperatures way below zero despite the sun.

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The lift operators get creative........... Charlie and Lucy get to grips with 'the slopes'.

Mixed feelings in Amalfi

Pompeii, Vesuvius, Amalfi, Sorrento and Capri would seem to be a pretty good combination
for a week away but mixed weather and too many people spoiled the plot. The first shot shows Pompeii (when you've seen one ruin you've seen the lot!!!) with Vesuvius behind.



What could have been a pretty
decent view from a restaurant over
Amalfi spoiled by rain.








Sorrento from above - on a good day.













And the classic view of Amalfi on the
seemingly almost vertical hillside

Iceland and two continents

In July Iceland turned out to be even more spectacular than we had expected with 'lava scapes'
'icescapes' and a wild variety of colours and shapes.

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The two 'lava scapes' below show the join between the North American and EusroAsian tectonic plates. The first shows a string of volcanic fissures along the line of join.

The second shot shows G and J standing astride the join at a point where it is only 18" wide!____________________________________________________________________
There was water water everywhere in almost every form and temperature imagineable. It shot out of the ground as a geyser (at Geysir the origin of the word) ............

..............poured over cliffs as with Gullfoss (rainbow falls) the key objective of the trip........

...........and seeped out of river banks with a

myriad tiny falls

or kept your hands warm with

steam vents by the road side.

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Salisbury Managed Offices

The Salisbury managed offices continued to prosper. The external shot shows the Portway
Centre with full curtain glazing after 100% conversion to offices.







The internal shots show the modern open 'head office' environment which tenants enjoy.
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From Elizabethan pile to Oasthouse

From seven acres and a house dating back to the 16th century we moved to a light airy converted oasthouse - in open farm land - so we didn't lose the sense of space.

Picnic at Glyndebourne

In June a little culture, with .............. at Glyndebourne. Here we are 'picnicking'
between acts.

Jo back from Oz

In June Jo came back from 'Oz' where she seemed to have had quite a good time!!

Snow in the Sahara

In February we went to Morocco for some winter sun and instead found snow. The first shot shows snow on prickly pear cactus, the second the underside of a truck which had
skidded off a high pass in the Atlas and the third, a village
which hadn't seen snow for twenty years.

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Random images of Morocco, a shoe shop in the
souk in Marrakesh, a bedouin tent on the edge
of the Sahara and silhouettes of us camel riding
in the late evening.

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In Marrakesh we did the usual desert stuff, dressing up as water sellers -'fellow in yellow' on the right and camel riding - lady in white on the left

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May 2005 Eurostar and Bruges

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Mainly because we had not been on Eurostar we spent three wet days in Bruges and a dull day - in both senses of the word in Brussels. The "Fellow in yellow" is just visible in the gloom of the Brussels Town Hall shot and a little more apparent on a canal in Bruges

January 2005 Treasure Isle Hotel sold

Treasure Isle Hotel sold







2005 began well with the sale of the Treasure Isle Hotel in the British Virgin Islands after
three years of 'commuting' to obtain planning permission for redevelopment. The view is
from the top of the site over Moorings marina and out to Sir Francis Drake Channel
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Treasure Isle Hotel - the site

Permission was finally granted
for 40 new villas, 100 hotel
rooms plus a 300 seater
conference centre for the
yellow edged edged 7 acre
hillside site and a 50 berth
marina in the purple edged
waterfront section.
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Modern but local

The same architect who designed Bransons Necker Island worked on Treasure
Isle producing a modern design but retaining a West Indian feel as the impression of the new conference centre and restaurant area show.

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