Reunion 2001

When? Friday 15 June - Sunday 17 June 2001

Where? Iain's house, Bath, England

The 2001 Reunion was a brave departure for the four ex-habitees of 10 Roper Road. Having previously held gatherings in historic Cambridge (where half of us lived) and historic Canterbury (where we had all previously lived), Reunion 3 was to be held in the glorious and, some might say, historic city of Bath, where only one of our number (Iain) resided. Initial plans involving the other three meeting in London and driving there together were soon abandoned, in favour of Andrew and I driving there and Stuart train-ing it.

The respective journeys were completed with little trouble or hassle (save for the truck carrying logs that drove ahead of Andrew's car - the threat of rolling logs crushing us to death was a constant worry, if not terribly realistic. Oh, and I almost choked to death at Sainsburys). We turned up woefully behind schedule thanks to my attempts to avoid motorways and getting totally lost in Bath city centre. However, we eventually found Iain's place, and there partook of cans of lager and Iain's excellent pasta cooking in the back garden. After watching some classic epsiodes of The Young Ones, and agreeing that Bottom was far superior, we retired to various areas of padding we touchingly called 'beds'.

Saturday we awoke to find the weather had taken a sad turn for the worse. In fact, it was pissing cats and dogs. Having put off our traditional 'Julie's Cafe'-style fry up for as long as humanly possible, we set off to the city centre anyway and followed our noses. Our collective nasal instruments led us straight to what was, I am reliably informed, a "fit bird" at a nice sort of cafe. Birds aside, four rather delicious brunches were had, and we set forth to "do" Bath. At this point, much to the regret of Stuart and Iain I'm sure, Andrew and I's historical training kicked in and we sped off to look at cathedrals and suchlike. Below, we re-enacted the coronation of the very first king of England, that nice chap Edgar. He was crowned here in 973 AD I believe.

After a quick shifty inside the Abbey, we took a city tour on a big red bus, and learnt lots of interesting things about Bath. However, as I've completely forgotten what these were, I shall swiftly move on. We did however get to glimpse the famous Bath Crescent. Why it is so famous, no-one quite seems to know. Anyway, despite the initially off-putting cost, we moved onto the far more famous Roman Baths, from which the city took its name. No-one could fault the museum for lack of information; in fact it was all a bit much really, and I was quite pleased when we had finished and could hand back that damn handset thingy. Nevertheless, it was very interesting and worthwhile, and made me feel less guilty about wasting the remaining weekend playing football.