Hello, good morning and welcome

...as Sir David used to say. Actually, he probably still does on Al Jazeera.

My half-baked resolution 12 months ago about producing a minimum of one piece of worthwhile blog each week during 2010 came to nought. I think it's probably less to do with lazyness than the fact that I already do a lot of expressive [and, to a limited extent, creative] writing in the online teaching work I do, so I feel less need to put finger to keyboard on a blog - at least on any regular basis. The other thing is that my faltering stream-of-conciousness output can usually be scrunged into 140 characters or less and so gets pushed out through the Twittersphere. This isn't necessarily a Good Thing, but it does help explain the absence of much >140 characters on here.

We'll see how it goes during 2011 - in the meantime, for those who may be interested and whom The Skerratt Clan haven't yet inflicted their yearly report on...here's what we got up to during 2010.


Hello again

I’m writing this on the way back home from Helsinki having left an icy and snowy Finland at an unearthly hour on this bracing December morning. The reason for my early start was that, this evening, as has happened on each of the last few years, I’m due to have dinner with friends and family at a local National Trust property - Little Moreton Hall. It’s an old Elizabethan black and white timbered building that opens specially around Christmastime each year. Tramping up the drive on a cold and frosty evening to a warm fire, well prepared local food and good company is always a great start to Xmas. Much better than wrestling with retail websites and waiting for the payment to clear before the browser freezes.

OK - to business. For me, mercifully, another interesting and entertaining year work wise. I toyed with the idea of ‘spending more time with my family’ over the summer but, not surprisingly, Robyn and Mark were keen to talk me out of that. Then the University told me they’d like to become an Enterprise Reader and so, without fully understanding what one of those does, I thought I’d give it a whirl. It seems that one of those does more or less the same things that I have been doing for quite a while now anyhow, and for the same money, but with a little less of the admin. and paperwork. So that’s just fine with me.

The online training units that I mentioned in last year’s letter [come on, pay attention now please] have proved to be really successful and I’m delighted for our partners who market the things for me, and for each and every one of the participants who vote with their credit cards and put so much effort into completing each programme…many of whom then come back and do another course too. Continued teaching on the off-campus MSc programmes and some European Commission work in Brussels and Luxembourg kept me out of mischief for the rest of the time, together with a few visits to Southampton Solent Uni. as external examiner for their undergraduate geography programme.

I went down to Cornwall on a couple of occasions to begin work on setting up a 3-year knowledge transfer project (which, for those who know me well, may seem a little strange given the duration of the project and the relatively meagre knowledge they know I possess). Fingers crossed that the funding comes through and we can make it happen - not least because the partner company is located only 30min. away from St. Ives - a favourite old haunt from my teens. The downside is the 6+ hours rail journey each way. Other visits to the Southern Tyrol, Finland and Denmark during the year have been interesting and informative. As a friend reminded me last night, I’ve now been travelling to Finland for over 20 years - scary! Where does that time all go?

I was so proud to attend Mark’s graduation from year 1 of his apprenticeship scheme with Network Rail in the summer. Rob and I made the long drive down to Portsmouth and we all had a wonderful day. Then, just last week, I loaded my mum into the car and off we went up to Rob’s [post-]graduation award at Manchester where she received her Masters in Planning. Great venue, lovely atmosphere…and, to celebrate, we shared fish, chips and peas from the best chippy in Cheshire when we got back home. She won’t tell you she got a Distinction - but I will.

Other things I saw and heard during 2010; Michael Frayn’s play Copenhagen all about Niels Bohr and Heisenberg [who, as all us scientists know, was probably right]; a fantastic fun night out with Robyn in the West End to see Mamma Mia (it’s a great show - if you’ve not seen it, go and enjoy); the great singer/songwriter Paul Carrack (so good, in fact, I went twice); the English Chamber Orchestra & the legendary guitarist John Williams; Don McLean - yes, we all sang along drinkin’ whiskey and rye; Crowded House - who always create such a great atmosphere at their gigs; Mark Knopfler - who played like the genius he is; Jackson Browne - who gave us an evening of wonderfully crafted songs and sweet music; Crosby, Stills and Nash - who, again, played and sang so beautifully, and The Hollies - who make all of their back catalogue sound as fresh and as melodic as when I first heard their records all those years ago. Once again, Jools Holland and his Band are set to round off the year in fine style next weekend…as long as the promised snow and ice don’t materialise and render the M6 impassable that is.

As for interesting people, there were talks and book signings from/by Newsnight’s Gavin Esler; the Coalition’s Vince Cable; the House of Lords’s Shirley Williams; the magically brilliant Derren Brown (he called Robyn up on stage to help with a trick…and she couldn’t figure out how he did it even from that vantage point) and comedians Paul Merton (+ a few of his chums) and John Bishop, both of whom were really great value. Tomorrow night sees a date with Tim Minchin and, as last year, I won’t be taking my mum to this one either. Now a word or two from the more important members of Team Skerratt:

Robyn says:

January 2010 saw the start of the second semester of my postgraduate course in town planning at the University of Manchester. In June I moved out of my flat in Manchester and back to Stoke. I spent most of the summer writing my dissertation with the exception of an enjoyable holiday to Morocco in July. I submitted my dissertation in September and shortly after this I started a work experience placement at Shropshire Council for two months in the planning policy team. I left Shropshire at the end of November and began a month long placement in a planning department of a large property company in Birmingham. The New Year will see me looking for a permanent job in planning. I will let you know how I get on in next year’s instalment...

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year,

Robyn x

…and Mark says:

Hello! I'm currently working for Network Rail as an apprentice Engineer working track side on Signals and Telecoms equipment. Really enjoying my job but it's not very nice when you’re outside in the cold repairing equipment. If you’re in the Stoke area on the train and it's delayed, its not my fault.... I promise. Still going to Portsmouth every few weeks for training and will be for 1 more year. Hope that you have had an excellent year and the New Year is even better.

Taz, of course, wishes everyone a happy Xmas…as long as she is allowed to join in the fun by knocking baubles off the tree, sharpening her claws on the presents under the tree and chasing imaginary mice around the tree.

So…wherever you happen to be, we all wish you a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Well said that family!