From Kittens to Empire

From Kittens to Empire chronicles 1979 to the Summer of 1981, covering the latter two terms of 2nd Year Juniors and all of 3rd Year Juniors, 4th Year Juniors, and the Summer holidays that followed. It is the period I remember most strongly, and where we went from having two kittens to having one cat, after the theft of Tiddles, and Tandy's growth to adulthood. We went on a second holiday in a hired motorhome, this time to Cornwall, and a holiday on a farm in Pembrokeshire, then bought a Bedford Buccaneer motorhome which would be the main focus of most holidays over the next few years. Grandma and Grandpa had moved to Oundle, whilst Uncle Colin and Aunty Mickie first had my cousin Geraint, then his brother Howard. Nan and Grandad in Biddulph, and Aunty Beryl and Uncle Dave there would continue to be a big part of our visitation, but after Aunty Olga's death in 1977, our 1978 holiday to South Wales, where we had visited with the cousins in Bryncoch, would prove to be the end of that era. Mum's cousin Margaret married Mark, and the wedding reception was one of the most fun evenings of my life, whilst we would also visit happily with my Mum's Aunty Margaret and her lovely husband Uncle Arthur. At school, I went from Mr Moon, to Mr Sutton, to Miss Allen over those 3 years, and greatly enlarged my pool of friends, all to the good.