I retired March 2022 after working as a software developer at the National Trust for the previous five years.
I loved working for the Trust and indeed now volunteer for it as a guide at Avebury manor.
My last project for them was to create a temporary CMS for their marketing systems while they found and implemented a more permanent solution. It was only supposed to be used for a few months but due to delays in the main CRM replacement project all of the other sub projects were delayed meaning that it was still in use when I retired for which I was a bit worried about as it was my last piece of work for them and I wanted it to be good. It turns out the CMS was still in use in December this year and I have been told that there have been no problems with it so I do feel a little proud that I left on a success.
I started my retirement with a rush of things I wanted to do, intending to do everything I had always been wanting to do.
I wanted to spend more time with my family and indeed have to some extent but not always easy to see them as its a fact that I may have plenty of spare time, my family does not have loads of spare time as they have work, school etc. But I have seen more of my youngest grandchildren as I pick them up from nursery on Fridays which is great fun but more tiring than a 40 mile bike ride!
I joined the National Trust as a volunteer room guide at Avebury manor, working usually one day a week. Initially I spent my time as a room guide but more recently have become a guide on their 'Lost' tour which explores a couple of rooms in the attic of the manor and we talk about the items found when doing some restoration to the ceiling below where we found 6 inches of dust dating back almost 400 years. We also talk about lost stories and also lost beliefs that have been part of the manor since it was built in the 16th century. The tour is in a couple of basically empty and dilapidated rooms and yet we still keep the visitors engaged for a full hour.
I also volunteer as an Usher at two local theaters, usually just a couple of times a month and I really enjoy it, again its a bit like tour guiding, lots of mostly enjoyable interaction with people. I also get to see some great shows, particularly music shows which I love.
I also volunteer helping an incredible naturalist Colin who for the past 20 years has put up, recorded and maintained over 600 bird boxes in the local Parks and Council spaces in the area. The Boxes attract Blue Tits, Great Tits as well as Nut Hatches. The year started with putting up 30 new boxes in Queens Park, then at the end of the year we spent our time, cleaning and recording data from the bird boxes ready for the coming Spring. When we clean the boxes we find all sorts of things including lots of spiders, bee nests, leopard slugs, hornets. We even find some roosting bats which we leave undisturbed
I have continued to cycle regularly, mostly using my gravel bike which I find is a perfect bike for almost everything I do. I do have a Mountain bike and also a Touring bike which I restored a couple of years ago and its quite nice to ride these occasionally but I find myself always returning to the gravel bike. No major rides this year, quite a few 40-80 mile rides on the Gower, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire hoping next year to do the King Alfred Way with a friend, I have done most of it in parts already so it will be nice to put it all together.
I have also been doing some water sports, swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, body boarding.
I gave my swimming a boost when I went again to the Scilly Isles for a week in the summer, the previous year I took my paddleboard and really had a great time in the waves. This year I did not take it as I decided to concentrate on swimming and swam everyday which improved my swimming greatly, I also met a swimming club who were there for a long weekend and they encouraged me hugely. I have also swam in the Thames a few times where I have found some nice places to get in easily.
I bought a new Kayak, perception 11, which is the perfect kayak for doing everything I want to do, lakes, rivers, coastal etc. In truth I wanted a sea kayak but living in the middle of the country my use of it would be very limited. The Perception is perfect and have had some good paddles in it but not as many as I would have liked and indeed will try to use it more in 2023.
Paddleboarding has been my main water sport and I have really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, I tried it as an alternative to kayaking as it is easier to transport and have loved it. I have taken it on choppy seas, rivers, lakes etc. and I get so much enjoyment out of it, its so relaxing and yet when on the sea it can be quite challenging. One of my best memories was in the summer during the heat wave I was down in Studland I paddled out on a sea that was a perfect millpond, when I was well clear of the beach and on my own, I just sat on my board, eating my lunch, perfectly at peace with the world. I hope to do a lot more paddleboarding in 2023, I would quite like a lighter board to make it easier to transport in a pack but will see.
Another sport I wanted to have a go at was body boarding. So I got a decent board and some fins and gave it a go, have had a great time so far and look forward to improving more next year. I have just bought a new wetsuit to replace my very cheap 20 year old wetsuit that I have been using as I found in October the constant flushing of water through the suit as I went through the waves to the rollers, then lying on top of the board waiting for a wave I just got so cold that I got hypothermia and started to go delirious, fortunately I caught a wave and ended up tumbling onto the beach shivering and unable to stand up, fortunately someone saw I was in trouble and helped me out and walked me to my van where after an hour I recovered. An interesting but hopefully not to be repeated experience.
I had planned to rest from sport in December and on key I caught a real bad cough that turned into bronchitis and laid me up through Christmas, over most of it now and indeed feel quite well and eager to get outside again in the new year.