I would say that this was one of the busiest days Peter and I have ever had. I think had we crammed any more into the day, both Peter and I would have combusted. And that would have been a dramatic - but rather messy - way to acknowledge World Alzheimer’s Day.
We started in the morning with an interview with Mike Liggins (Liggo to his friends) from BBC One - Look East. Mike had interviewed us almost exactly three years ago, coinciding with the release of “Slow Puncture”. He and camera man, John Fairhall, did an exemplary job of filming, interviewing and keeping to our tight schedule. They managed to condense the interview into almost three amazing minutes and, having seen how much material they gathered during the hour they were with us, I am staggered at the seamless way the feature was stitched together (you can watch this by going to the media tab on the website and clicking on the link). Unfortunately, Liggo chose to cut the part of me telling East Anglia that one of the things Peter remembered about me was my affiliation with Arsenal and his newfound ability to shout "Gooner" at every passing Arsenal fan but I guess that’s his artistic right to do so.
As soon as the interview was done, Peter was bundled (willingly) into the car, clutching the sandwiches he had made for us both (note to anyone who likes a cheese sandwich: Peter’s portions are generous!!) and we sped into Ipswich to the studio at Radio Suffolk. As you can see from the picture of the traffic cone, no expense was spared in allocating us a parking space.
I thought the interview with Sarah Lilley was excellent. It seemed to flow and there was a good fusion of humour and gravity. As always, Radio Suffolk’s interest in Peter’s story is hugely appreciated and it's always lovely to get a bear hug from Johnnie Wright. We posed for photos but there was no time to bask in our media glory as it was off to SECKFORD GOLF CLUB (no idea why this is capitalised, that's just how the link came up) to give a talk to the dementia well-being event.
Liggo also popped in to complete the filming on his story. I particularly like the photograph of me trying to work out how a microphone works and Peter trying not to laugh. The event at Seckford was well attended by organisations and members of the public and thanks go to Wendy Chard from Home Care in Ipswich, Felixstowe and Woodbridge for pulling this all together.
I’d like to offer a special thanks to Tony Pennock, the general manager of the Club for taking us out in a golf buggy (just for general information: it’s tight squeeze for three). Peter was able to reminisce about the work he had done on the land and the trees at Seckford and it transpired that he and Tony knew many of the same people.
We left the event with the offer of three additional speaking gigs and a sense that our contribution to raising awareness on World Alzheimer’s Day had been significant and impactful, certainly in Suffolk and hopefully beyond.
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