grandad kit

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

This evening I went for a run, just around the streets where a live. Not a big run for me, about two and a half miles. Usually I run about five or six miles. When I was younger, I used to run the marathon, which is twenty-six miles. Some people run even further in races, but 26 miles was enough for me. Now I don’t run more than half a marathon, which is 13 miles.

All these distances must seem a long way to you, just a little lad, but I can tell you that in a few years’ time you’ll be running miles and miles at a time, better than me. Don’t be put off by any distance, no matter how far. There’s a saying “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Starts with a Single Step.” The man who said it was a very famous man, a man from China. He was called “Chairman Mao.” Mao was his first name, and he was called “Chairman Mao” because he was the chief of all China. There are more people in China than in any other country of the world, so it’s a very big country and a very important one too. Grandad has been to China, so I’ll tell you all about it one day.

Before Mao became Chairman of the Chinese people, he had to fight a lot of battles. Many times his life was in danger, but he was a clever man and very determined, so he always managed to get away from his enemies who wanted to kill him. Now at one time Mao found himself in the south of China with a small band of followers. He knew that in the north of China, hundreds of miles away, there was a much bigger army of people who were on his side. But split into two, Mao’s soldiers were not strong enough to beat their enemies. Mao knew that if he could join his two armies together, the small one in the south with the large one in the north, he would have one big army, large enough to win.

But how could he join his two armies together. Inbetween Mao’s two armies were the enemy army, who had control of all the middle part of China. They were in charge of all the roads across the country from south top north and from north to south. Mao was a clever man. He thought very carefully about his situation. If he marched from the south to the north, he knew his enemies would catch him. And if his other army marched from the north to the south, he knew that would be captured too.

Can you guess what Mao did? He went round, right round the huge country of China. Instead of marching for hundreds of miles, which would have been hard enough, Mao decided to go a much longer way round, which meant walking for thousands of miles. Mao and his soldiers had to walk because they didn’t have cars or lorries enough to take them all. In any case, they needed to be able to hide in the trees and the woods if the enemy came near, looking for them. But at least, by going the wrong way round, Mao knew that they would be able to go around the big enemy army with all their guns and tanks.

That’s when Mao made his famous saying. Lots of his people were frightened. They said, “marching thousands of miles is too far for us. We’ll get tired and hungry. We won’t be able to go that far.” But Mao, who was a very wise man and a great leader, said his famous saying, “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” And it’s true of course. So when I run a long way, whether in a race or when I’m just traing, I don’t think about how far I have to run. I just think about the first bit. Then, when I’ve run the first bit, I think about the second bit and run that. And so on, and so on.

This great journey by Mao and his followers is famous all over the world. People call it “The Long March.” Although many people did drop out along the way, and some even died, Mao eventually reached the north of China. He joined his two armies together and defeated his enemies to become Chairman of the Chinese people, Chairman Mao. Mao was in charge of China for many years. I’ve got to tell you that when Chairman Mao got older and older he wasn’t as wise as he had been when he was younger. In the last few years of his life, he became a very cruel man. But that can happen. Very few people are really good all their lives. But Moa did a lot of good for his people, especially before he got old, and the Chinese people still remember him as a great leader.

Lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Have you ever wondered how letters and parcels get from one part of the country to another in one day, even though they have to be taken hundreds of miles, say from London where you live to the North of England where I live? A lot of people joke about it, but it’s a fact that millions of letters and parcels are posted one day and delivered to the addresses written on them the very next day. To do that, they have to travel through the night by train or on a lorry.

Most letters are posted in a letter box. You know what a letter box is. A letter box can be tall and round and stand up by itself, or it can be small and flat in a wall. Either way, every letter box is red and every letter box has a slot where you put the letters in. I bet you’ve done that, although your Mam or your Dad would have to lift you up to do it. Every letter has to have a stamp on it, a proper stamp bought at the post office, or the postman or postwoman won’t deliver it!

Now for parcels, it’s much the same, except that it’s not just the Post Office that delivers parcels. There are lots of other people doing it, not working for the Post office, and one of them is a friend of mine. Today I’ve been helping him collect some parcels and bring them to his depot – that’s a garage where his vans go. When all the parcels from round about have been collected and taken to this depot, then they are loaded onto several vans. Each van goes to a different part of the country, depending on where the parcels are for.

Then they go to another depot where another van (that’s a lot of vans, isn’t it!) finally takes them to the homes or the factories waiting to get these parcels. Some of these vans travel all through the night, like some of the trains do. Of course the people who drive the vans and drive the trains at night have to sleep during the day. How would you manage, sleeping all day and getting up at night when everybody else was asleep?

Lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Grandad got home late last night after a long train journey from London to the North of England. Usually the journey takes less than three hours, but this time it took nearly five hours. That’s because there were problems on the train tracks and the train had to go slowly and carefully.

Fortunately, everybody in Great Britain all got an “extra hour” during the night. This is when the clocks “go back” one hour, so the day has 25 hours instead of 24. I bet your Mam and Dad decided to have the extra hour in bed this morning, and I also bet that you got up at your usual time and made them wake up! This is what your Mam used to do when she was a little girl! She was always wanting to do things.

Today Grandad had to get back to work, writing his books. In my books I like to have lots of photographs from lots of people, but I have to write to them to get their permission to put their pictures in my books. Usually they say yes, but sometimes they will not say yes unless I agree to pay them some money. If it’s not much money, I don’t mind, but if they ask too much money, I have to tell them I can’t afford it and I won’t be able to put their pictures in my books.

Today was a lovely day. The sun was shining, but it was still quite cold. Autumn has finally arrived – it was late this year – and Grandad has had to start sweeping the leaves off our path. We have trees in our garden, and in the Autumn the leaves turn brown and fall onto the path. So I sweep them up, but next day there are more leaves on the path and I have to sweep them up as well. This goes on for weeks, until Winter comes and all the leaves have fallen from the trees, leaving the branches sad and bare. But then, when the snow comes, the snowflakes settle on the branches and make them look like something from fairyland.

Although it was cold, Grandad went out on his bicycle today, just for a short run. I won’t have any more races now until next year, and in any case I am still sore from the crash I had on my bike all those weeks ago. Since I had the accident, you can be sure that every time I go out on my bike I am very, very careful. I had just one little fright today. A horse was trotting down the road when its rider suddenly decided to turn the horse right in front of me. I was a little worried, because a bicycle can scare a horse and make it jump about and you could get kicked. But the rider was in control of his horse, and stopped it while I rode past. I got back home from my bike ride safe and sound.

Lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Grandad and Nana Ann had a day out in London today. We really enjoy going out together for the day, as most days we are miles apart and busy working. Today we went to Walthamstow Market and had a great time. You would love going there, with dozens and dozens of stalls selling all kinds of things, usually very cheaply too! Walthamstow is in London, not many miles from where you live. We’d love to take you there one day.

It’s not only all the things that are being sold on the stalls, there are the shouts of the market traders. A market is not like a shop, where you go in and ask for what you want. A market is usually in the open air – although it can be inside a special building called a Market Hall – and mostly there are stalls which are tables with covers over them. The covers are there to keep off the wind and rain and keep the market traders warm and dry. After all, they have to stand there all day, selling to the people coming past.

The biggest difference between a market and a shop is that on the market the traders are all shouting out what they have to sell and how cheap it is to buy from them. A lot of the stalls also play loud music, so you can imagine there is a lot of noise all the time. So many people from different countries go to the market, with all their differently-coloured clothes, the whole market is colourful and exciting.

First we went to see where Nana Ann’s grandparents used to live. Do you know,
Nana Ann’s grandparents were married nearly one hundred years ago! The house where they lived in Walthamstow is still standing, so we took photographs of it. Nana Ann’s grandparents used to run a café, and Nana Ann’s mother had to help her parents in the café, even when she was a little girl, not much older than you. Every day, before she went to school, she had to write out the meals on the board outside the café, telling the people what there was to eat. And if she made one mistake, her mother would wipe it all out and tell her to start again! Wasn’t that cruel?

At dinner time, Nana Ann’s mother had to come home from school and collect dinners to take to the workmen where they were working, if they were too busy to come to the café. With all this work, Nana Ann’s mother was often late for school and go told off! But, working in the café when she was a little girl did help her, because when she grew up Nana Ann’s mother got a job as a cook, so she was able to earn her own money.

In the afternoon Nana Ann and Grandad went to the pictures, not just to see any old film, but to see a special film that was on at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in London. That’s where all the big films are shown first. There were crowds of people who had come to see the film stars and other famous people who were coming to watch another film there. We saw the film and really enjoyed it, although it was nearly three hours long! It was a foreign film, made in Egypt in their own language which we don’t understand. To help English people understand the film, the words in the film are made into English and are shown in letters at the bottom of the screen. So, although the actors in the film are speaking in a foreign language that we don’t understand, we could read the words in English at the bottom of the screen.

You have a relation, a second cousin who is a little girl called Karen. She is two and a half years old, a year younger than you. A few weeks ago, she and her Mam and Dad moved to Switzerland where the people there speak French and German. So little Karen is going to grow up speaking three different languages, English, French and German, as well as her little brother or sister who is expected to be born next year. Nana Ann and I both think it is a marvellous thing for Karen and her little brother or sister to be able to live in another country while they are children.

Your Mam I know speaks French very, very well. After all, she used to teach French in school and perhaps she still does. I think she also speaks Spanish – Nana Harriet does. Nana Ann used to live in Germany. She speaks German very well. Aren’t they all clever? Grandad is not as clever as them. Grandad speaks a little French and a tiny bit of German, but that’s all – as well as English of course!

Because we’ve been so near to you today, Nana Ann sends her special love to you.

Lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Grandad is in London right now, writing you this blog in an internet cafe, not far from Kings Cross Station where my train came in this morning. Nana Ann is still at work right now, but when she finishes work she will come to the cafe and we will have some tea. I've been to two places in London today. First I went to City Hall, which is where the Mayor of London has his offices with all the people who work for him. Do you know the name of the Mayor of London? It's Ken Livingstone, and he's a very important man, practically the boss of all London.

City Hall is a very unusual building on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite the Tower of London. The Tower of London is a very old building, like a square castle with a turret at each corner - that's four turrets in all. The Tower of London is where bad people used to be locked up, a long, long time ago. Some of them had their heads chopped off. One way of getting into the Tower of London from the river is to sail a boat underneath a low archway called "Traitors Gate." Traitors were people who had done something very bad indeed, like try to kill the King. Most of them had their heads chopped off. Remember, this was a long, long time ago. We don't do that now in Great Britain, but very bad people now have to go to prison for a very long time, sometimes for the rest of their lives.

Do you know the legend of the Tower of London? That's a story that says that if the Royal Ravens (they're big black birds like large crows or rooks) ever leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall - that is, Great Britain will be captured by another country. Now that's just a story, but just in case it's true, one of the Beefeaters has the job of looking after the Ravens and making sure thay all have enough to eat. By looking after the Ravens and making them happy, these birds will not fly away.

The Beefeaters are soldiers in very old-fashioned uniforms.They don't carry guns, they carry pikes which are like spears. In the olden days, soldiers like the Beefeaters used to fight with swords and spears - and bows and arrows - because guns hadn't been invented then. Now the Beefeaters carry their pikes just to show what it was like to be a soldier all those years ago. The Beefeaters' main job is to guard the Crown Jewels, which are kept in the Tower. The Crown Jewels belong to the Queen. She has so many jewels she can't wear them all at once. So the ones she doesn't use, she keeps them in the Tower. These jewels and crowns and so forth are made gold and silver and diamonds, so they are worth a lot of money. That's why they have to be guarded.

Going back to City Hall, this is a very new building and very unusual. The outside is mainly made of glass, and the shape of City Hall is like the top of a giant banana, leaning over. I call it "the little gherkin" because it's a bit like the big gherkin, the name of another new building near the Tower on the north bank of the River Thames.

The other building I've been in today is the British Library. This is a another new building, not made of glass but made of brick and stone. You know what a library is - it's a place that has lots and lots of books. Now Grandad and Nana Ann have lots of books, hundreds and hundreds. But in the British Library, which is near Kings Cross Station, there are millions of books, millions and millions of them. The reason Grandad goes to the British Library is that there are many rare and unusual books in the British Library that you can't find in the shops. So when Grandad wants to see a particular book, say to find something out, he has to go to the British Library and ask the people who work there to find this book or that book. The British Library has nearly every book that has ever been written, so it's a good place to go.

Nana Ann will be here soon, so I will sign off now.

Lots and lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Grandad was on his travels again today, but not very far. First I went to a place where they sell my books, to make sure they kept some on the shelves. If my books are not on the shelves, the people will not see them and they won’t buy them, which will mean I won’t get any money! Then I went to the railway station to get my tickets, because tomorrow I’m coming down to London. Sadly, not to see you, but to do some work and see Nana Ann who works in London all the time, well, Monday to Friday at least.

Then I went to an office to see a man about some work, then I went to a factory to see another man, also about some work. This man’s factory makes lots of smelly things with smelly smells, but nice smelly things with nice smelly smells. What they make in this factory are powders and sprays that some ladies like to put on their faces (and other parts!) and hair dyes. These things all smell like different kinds of perfume, but there was so much of it, the smells were very strong!

Coming back home I saw another lovely rainbow, just like the one I told you about. In fact, it was in almost the exact same place, except this time I was driving in the car instead of riding my bike.

Today I got some more pictures to put in my new book. You’ll see it one day, and I bet you’ll like the pictures. They are pictures of all kinds of lorries, some of them crashed! Tomorrow I’ll tell you about what I’ve been doing in London.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Check my blog for October 6th 2006 “I see a rainbow” via Archive 2006-10. gd.

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Today I was back in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, which I must admit is my very favourite city. I do like visiting London where you live, but Newcastle is very special to me. Whenever I go to Newcastle, I always try to get down to the quayside next to the River Tyne and look at all the wonderful bridges there. Today I’ll tell you about just one of the bridges which cross the River Tyne, linking Newcastle on the north bank with Gateshead on the south bank. This is the most famous bridge of all, the Tyne Bridge.

The Tyne Bridge goes high above the river in one great big arch, that’s round like part of a circle. Underneath the arch, but still high up, is a flat part that carries the road across the river. You can see the cars, buses and lorries driving across the bridge from one side to the other. The road is held up by strong and straight, upright iron bars that join the road part to the arch at the top. The arch is very strong. It has to be, otherwise the road and all the cars, buses and lorries would all fall into the river!

At each side of the bridge there are two tall stone towers. These towers hold the bridge in place and stop it from sliding back and forth, in other words, the towers make the bridge stand still. But the cleverest part is right at the bottom end of each arch, rather like the end of a rainbow, except that it doesn’t move when you go towards it. Each end of this huge bridge, which weighs thousands of tons, rests on a pin. No, not a little pin such as you might use to pin a picture to the board, but a gi-normous round steel pin. You can see the end of each one quite clearly, they are big and round. These pins take the weight of the end part of the bridge. Why are they round like pins, even such great big ones? That’s because the bridge goes up and down, only a tiny bit, too small for you to see. So the pins at each end allow it to go up and down, even just a teeny weeny bit, and then go back again without anything cracking or breaking.

There’s another bridge, exactly like the Tyne Bridge, with a big arch just the same, and that’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. This bridge in Australia, half way round the world from Great Britain, was built by the same people who built the Tyne Bridge, that’s why the two bridges look exactly alike.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

My letter today is called “North Shields Fish Quay.” First I need to tell you what that means. North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, near where the river flows into the sea. Guess what? On the south bank of the River Tyne, opposite North Shields, is another town called – South Shields!

North Shields mostly is high up on a cliff, apart from the bit next to the river, and that’s where the Fish Quay is. Remember, North Shields is very close to the sea. Quite a few fishermen still live there and have their fishing boats on the river. The fishermen take their fishing boats out to sea to catch fish in their big nets, and when they’ve caught the fish they bring them in their boats to the Fish Quay beside the River Tyne at North Shields. Then they take the fish out of their fishing boats, in wooden boxes, and lift them up onto the Quay.

Then the people who want to buy the fish come along and look at all the fish in the boxes on the quayside. They tell the fishermen how much they will pay for the fish, and if they agree the price, the fisherman are paid for the fish that they have caught. Then these other men and women, who have bought the fish, take them to the fishmongers to sell to as fresh fish. They also take them to all the fish and chip shops, cafes and restaurants all over the land to be cooked and eaten by the customers who go to those places to have a meal.

Next to the Fish Quay is the ice factory to make the ice that keep the fish cool and fresh. If there was no ice, the fish would very quickly go stale and smelly and unfit to eat. It would be wasted. So when the fishermen go out to sea, they take a lot of ice with them. Years ago, before there was an ice factory, the ice used to be brought in ships from Norway, right across the other side of the North Sea. Norway is a country that is quite near the North Pole, so there is a lot of ice there. You can imagine it was very expensive bringing the ice all that way, and a lot of it would be melted by the time it got to North Shields. So the people of North Shields decided to build the ice factory where they could make their own ice, and not pay the Norwegians a lot of money for it.

It was a lovely day today. The sun was shining, and as I stood at the top of the cliff at North Shields, I could see the town of South Shields, which is on a low hill, just across the river. Although I’ve told you that the River Tyne at Newcastle upon Tyne is not as big as the Thames in London near where you live, at North Shields and South Shields, where the Tyne flows into the sea, it is just as big as the Thames is in the centre of London.

Looking to my right, up-river, I can see all the shipyards where lots and lots of great big ships used to be built. Unfortunately, no more big ships are being built beside the River Tyne, but there is one big ship there right now, being repaired. There are still lots of cranes along the river, to lift things in and out of the ships being repaired. The sun is shining on the water (the surface of the river is quite smooth today) and it looks very beautiful.

Still looking upstream, I can see the ferry boat crossing the river, taking people from North Shields to South Shields and from South Shields to North Shields. Looking the other way, to my left, I can see the two piers on either side of the River Tyne just as it joins the sea, so between the piers there is open water where the ships come in and out. On the end of each of the two piers is a small lighthouse, and you know what they are for – to guide the ships coming from the sea into the river at night.

Also to help guide the ships coming into the Tyne are two buildings that look like lighthouses. They are both painted white, but they are square in shape and neither has a light on top, so they are not lighthouses. One is high up on the cliff and the other is low down, next to the river. If the captain of a ship is out at sea late at night when it is dark, and he wants to sail into the River Tyne, he can line up these two buildings and know he is on the right course and won’t crash into any rocks.

Grandad went down some very steep steps to the river to see what was going on. It is half term now, and all the children are off school. There were lots of families on the quayside, enjoying the sunshine. Some were eating fish and chips – that’s what most people do when they go to the seaside – and some were eating ice cream. Grandad loves ice cream, but I try not to eat too much of it in case I get too fat, but today I couldn’t resist and had an ice cream myself.

Some men and a few boys were fishing from the quayside. This is not the same as the fishermen going out in their fishing boats and catching lots of fish in their nets. These men were catching fish by rod and line, just one fish at a time, standing or sitting on the quayside and waiting for a fish to “take a bite” of the bait on their hooks. Sometimes these men are there all day, and don’t catch a single fish! But they enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

Down at the bottom of the steps is a giant Wooden Doll, about eight feet tall. This is like a figurehead that sailing ships used to have at the front of their ships. Usually the figurehead would be a woman, a mermaid or a fierce warrior queen, and sometimes a man, an admiral of the fleet. There are still some big sailing ships crossing the oceans, with very tall masts. Every few years a great number of these sailing ships come to the north east coast, to Newcastle further south to Hartlepool. They have what they call the “Tall Ships Race”, but mainly it is an adventure for lots of young people from all different countries who learn what it used to be like in the sailing ships of old when ships did not have engines to drive them along, just sails. Nana Ann has seen the Tall Ships and she was thrilled by them all. It’s an amazing sight, dozens of sailing ships with very tall masts along both banks of the river.

Your Mam is a very good sailor. I hope she has already taken you sailing, at least in a small sailing boat. I know she has been the captain of a large sailing yacht, sailing out to sea. My granddad taught me to sail, so perhaps one day I could teach you – although your Mam is a lot better sailor than I am. I can only sail on rivers and lakes, not right out to sea like your Mam. Isn’t she clever!

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Today Grandad went running in the park in the dark, but I’ll tell you about that later. During the day I was working hard, getting this book ready for printing. It’s going to take at least two more weeks to get it ready – there’s a lot to do. Today I had to speak to a man in Switzerland, and then to a man in Canada. When it’s morning here in Great Britain, it’s the afternoon in Switzerland. And when it’s afternoon here in Britain, it’s morning in Canada! That’s something to do with the sun going round the earth, but it’s a bit too complicated for me to explain it to you right now.

Now I don’t think I’ve told you that your cousin Michael, his wife Jane and their baby daughter Karen, have all gone to live in Switzerland. They used to live near London, not very far from you, but Michael has a new job in Switzerland and they are all going to live there for a few years. Karen is two and a half years old, almost a year younger than you, and she is going to get a little sister or brother early next year, so there’ll be a family of four of your relatives living over there.

Switzerland is a beautiful country, with mountains and lakes and lots and lots of snow. Your cousin Michael used to live in London, like you, and every holiday he used to come and stay with us in the North of England. He enjoyed coming to see us, and we enjoyed having him. Usually he brought another boy with him of the same age, but later on, when he was a teenager, he would bring his girlfriend instead!

When Michael was about six or seven years old, he was staying with us one summer when I told him that there was still some snow lying on the tops of the fells near where we live. Fells are high hills, but with grass and heather on them, not like mountains which are mainly rock, and rounded on top, not pointed like mountains. So Michael said “I’ve never seen snow, what is it like?” Living in London, he had never seen snow except in pictures and videos. So Nana Ann and I took Michael up “on the tops” as we say, high up in the fells or moors as they’re sometimes called. And, although it was summer, in various hollows in the ground and behind walls where the sun doesn’t shine, there were still banks of snow. So when he saw the snow – and this was the first ever time for him – Michael ran over and jumped right into this pile of snow. He kicked it, he rolled in it, he threw it up in the air, he tried to make snowballs (but this very old snow wasn’t very good for that) and really enjoyed himself.

Later on, when he was bigger, Michael went on holiday to Switzerland and went skiing in the snow there. Last year he went there again with his wife Jane and baby Karen. Karen was too young to go skiing, but she really wanted to. I expect she’s started to ski now.

As for Canada, when your Uncle Norman was a young man he went with three of his friends to Canada. They hired a car and drove from one side of the country to the other, that is from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. You can see them on a map or on a globe – that’s a round ball with a map of the world on it. Now Canada is a very big country, I think about three thousand miles across. I am sure it took them at least two weeks as they saw every part of the country.

Now what did I say at the beginning? Oh yes, Grandad went for a run in the park in the dark. Well, I did go for a run in the park in the dark, and enjoyed it. I think it’s only the second time that I’ve been running since I had that crash on my bike about six weeks ago. But I’m nearly better now. I went to the hospital again today and they said I didn’t need to go there anymore, just do my exercises and get fully better at home. I don’t go cycling at night, I think it’s too dangerous. Even if you have lights on your bike, a car or a lorry could still run you over. So I just cycle in the daylight, and I’ll go for my next ride maybe tomorrow or the day after. I hope you have a tricycle and go riding on that every day, but only around the house or in the park with your Mam or Dad there to look after you.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Dear Tom

I am your other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure.

Now I promised you another story, but I can’t think one up right now, so I’ll tell you about Basil the homesick horse. It’s a true story. Do you know what homesick is? It’s when you are away from home and you feel sad and want to get back to your own home and your own family, especially if you have been away for a long time. I’ve already told you about homing pigeons and how they can find their way back home from hundreds of miles away, even from across the sea in France. Cats and dogs are the same, they can find their way back home as well if they get lost. Now it seems that horses can find their way home as well, or at least Basil the horse can.

Let me tell you about Basil the horse. Basil is a very handsome beast. His skin is coloured a lovely tawny brown. Basil in fact is brown all over, except for his mane and tail, his feet and his nose. A horse’s mane is the hair down its neck, just like the hair on your head. The mane is something you can actually get hold of, if you were riding a horse without a saddle or bridle – that’s the leather straps that go round a horse’s face. Basil’s mane and his lovely long tail are black, with thick coarse hair. Basil has white coloured hair on three of his feet, with black hair on the other one. It looks like Basil is wearing three white socks and one black sock! And down his nose on his handsome face, Basil has a white stripe. Oh, and he has beautiful brown eyes.

Now Basil is a Welsh cob. That means he comes from Wales, or at least his parents or grandparents did. Welsh cobs are stocky and round, not tall and thin like racehorses, but they are very clever, as you will see. And Basil is eighteen years old, which is very old for a horse, but it means he has had a lot of experience of life and knows a lot of things.

Now Basil belongs to a little girl called Emily Evans. I say little, but Emily is twelve years old and a lot older and bigger than you are. But don’t worry, you will grow up to be twelve one day! Now Emily and Basil live in a little village in south Wales. Emily looks after Basil, feeding him and grooming him – that’s keeping him clean and tidy – every day. And of course she rides him every day. At night Emily sleeps in the house with her Mam and Dad, while Basil sleeps in a stable nearby.

Not long ago, Emily decided to take up the sport of show jumping, that is riding a horse and having the horse jump over fences. Of course the rider has to stay on the horse, and the idea is to jump over all the fences without knocking any bits off. Lots of boys and girls like to ride their horses in show-jumping competitions, and Emily was no exception, especially because Basil is a very safe horse to ride.

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough room near Emily’s house to practice jumping over fences with Basil. What they needed was a big field with these special fences in it. Emily found a field she could use, but it was three miles away. If Emily had to ride Basil three miles there and three miles back every day, it would take a long time and both of them would be very tired, and it would also be a lot of bother to put Basil in a horse-box every day and get the car to pull it there and back. So it was decided to put Basil in a new stable next to the field with the practice jumps, so he would not have to taken there from Emily’s home every day.

So Emily’s father Lyn Evans took Basil in the horse box, towing it with his car, to Basil’s new stables three miles away. Imagine his surprise when, early next morning, Mr Evans got up to see Basil back in his old stable again, next to the house! “I’m sure I locked Basil in his new stable, so how did he get out?” asked Mr Evans, “and in any case, even if Basil did get out, how did he find his way back, and in the dark too?”

But that’s exactly what this clever horse Basil had done. First, he used his teeth to lift and slide the bolt back and open the stable door. Horses don’t have fingers, of course, but their teeth are very strong. Even so, Basil must have been very clever indeed to find a way of opening the stable door. But what he did next was even cleverer. Although it was dark, Basil knew exactly which way to come home, even though he had gone that way only once before. He crossed a busy road and went the right way at fourteen different turnings. Wasn’t he clever?

One last thing. The first time Emily rode Basil she fell off and broke her arm. A lot of children would have been put off by that, but Emily was determined to get better and get back to riding. Even though, while her broken arm was getting better, she wasn’t able to ride Basil for six months – a very long time – Emily still looked after Basil and they became very good friends. If you look after an animal, a horse, a cat or a dog, they will always be your friend.

Lots of love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann