Tower and Town, September 2017

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Family News

Ruth and Neil Hodgson's daughter, Sarah and Lawrence Wood were married at Rockley Manor on July 22nd. Sarah is now an editor at Adam Matthew Digital in Pelham Court, the groom works in London & they have made Reading their home.  Family came from far and wide but her cousin, Captain Tom Berry, missed out because he was on duty with his Marine company.  Ruth had a busy weekend arranging the wedding and her father, Peter Berry's, 90th birthday.

Val Pinker called her life memoires ‘Only The Pink Bits’ because most of her life she has lived in the old British Empire shown in pink on world maps. It was published in 2015 and is on sale in the White Horse Bookshop. Val’s family urged her to read it for them and her daughter, Ianthe, goes to her flat in Castle Court and is gradually recording it.

Our sincere sympathy to Anthony and Margaret Dobie on the death of their son, Simon. He was part of a large, caring local family with uncles, aunts and cousins on both sides. He was a successful business man and an enthusiastic and high achieving sportsman, especially in football and golf. He loved the natural world. Having grown up here he went to Tennessee after his marriage to Katherine. They restored and lived in a house which is on the National Register of Historic Places with their young daughters, Claudia and Evelyn. Our thoughts are with all the family, especially Anthony and Margaret, his sister Helen and brother Paul.

Martin Harrison died in June. He came to Marlborough College in 1957. He spent the war years on a farm in Cornwall, then school at Whitgift, Croydon, and Brasenose College, Oxford before National Service with the Department of the Scientific Adviser to the Ministry at Bomber Command. He and Anna were married in 1966 and spent a year in USA before coming back to the College where he taught Physics, coached games, ran the Air Corps, was Chapel Warden, organised groups of pupils to visit a school for disadvantaged children, was a Samaritan and helped in the Technology Centre. An able sportsman himself he enjoyed outings with his sons to live matches and always encouraged his six grandchildren in their exploits. He is greatly missed by his family  and in the town where he worked  within St Mary's Church, stewarding at the Jazz Festivals, singing in choirs and Riverfly monitoring for ARK

Audrey Peck