Meeting Good Friends

~ beetleypete

Regular readers will know that I often mention my friend, Antony. He sends me interesting video clips, and as an accomplished photographer, he also took the photo on my ‘About’ page. I have known him for a long time, since we both worked as EMTs at the same ambulance station in London, then much later he came to work alongside me for the Police in that city. He still lives there, and still works in the same job.

In 2014, we attended his wedding to Natalie, on the south coast. Then in 2017, Antony and I (with Ollie) had a walking holiday in the Lake District which was later the subject of many photo posts on this blog. But given the distance, we haven’t seen each other since, despite keeping in regular contact by phone and email.

On Thursday, Antony and Natalie were returning from a trip to the north of England, and had arranged to stay the night in Wells-Next-The-Sea. As this is only a short drive from Beetley, we could meet up, enjoy a coastal walk, and then go to a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, Julie hurt her back badly on Monday, and was unable to come. Nonetheless, I was delighted to see Antony and Natalie, and we did go for that coastal walk, followed by a very nice meal and a long after-dinner chat.

(I’m on the right, in case you didn’t know who was who.
The photo can be greatly enlarged by clicking on it.)

As they were not leaving Norfolk until almost 2pm on Friday, they suggested meeting at Holkham Hall that morning. With Julie still unable to walk properly, I went with Ollie, and we met in the car park of that impressive house. https://www.holkham.co.uk/

We then had a long walk around the extensive grounds, happy to have more time to catch up on those five years. Although Ollie had to remain on his lead, he seemed to be delighted to explore somewhere he hadn’t been for a long time.

Then it was time to say farewell just after 1:30pm, hoping it will not be another five years until we meet again.

86 thoughts on “Meeting Good Friends”

  4. Its great to catch up with old friends in person, it sounds like you had a grand couple of days 🙂 I’m looking forward to travel restrictions easing a bit more so we get to see some old friends again. A video call only goes so far.

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  6. I remember five years ago when you went with Anthony on your hike to the Lake District. Back injuries aren’t fun — hope Julie is feeling better. Friends! They become more precious the older one gets.

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  7. It’s nice when you have the feeling of familiarity again even after a long period of not seeing.
    Good friends are special.

    I hope Julie is better. I wish you all the best. Greetings Irene
    PS: I finally got my second vaccination.

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    1. He is looking forward to retirement. But he’s a lot younger than me, so has to wait a while yet.
      Meeting up with old friends is real gold. Better than binge-watching box sets. 🙂 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. So nice for you to catch up and it looks as if you had decent weather. A friend came to see me just before the world shut down, the first one to visit my new home. Hadn’t seen him for many, many years, but it was as if it had only been days. You never lose the feeling for special friends. Best wishes to your wife and her back…that can be painful.

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    1. Thanks Yeti. I did have dry weather both days up at the coast. By contrast, it poured with rain where we live in Beetley, only 16 miles south of where I was. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  22. These are the best friendships, when both parties truly make an effort to stay in touch, even when you can’t meet that often! Especially since a lot of friendships deteriorate already when just a few minor things shift.

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    1. Antony is still working 12-hour shifts for the Police, GP. He is considerably younger than me, and some years away from retirement. Once he is no longer working, we can hopefully meet up more often.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. I know when I finally connected with mine, I thought, “How could I let so much time go by?” I don’t want other good people I know to feel that too. Agree to meet up half way and make a vacation out of it!!

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    1. Thanks, Themis. They are the closest coastal places to where we live, so we have been there many times. Best avoided in late July and the whole of August though, as it becomes almost impossible to park the car. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Lol, yes, that‘s what I found when visiting in the last week of July! 😀 I think the only reason why I found a place to park my car in Wells was because I visited early in the morning and the sky was overcast going on drizzly. (And in Holkham, because I got there shortly before closing time … with the same sort of weather.) I‘m still glad I went, though.

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