Four Funerals and a Wedding. Yes, I know it’s the other way round in the film, but it sums up life of late, in that I have been to quite a few funerals since I last went to a wedding , until this week that is.

My good lady wife and I were invited to the wedding of my godson Matthew and his lovely new wife Danielle, at Bredenbury Court near Bromyard. What a lovely day it was.

The weather was kind enough to allow outdoors photos although a bit chilly but it is February after all, with the rolling hills of Herefordshire, and the Malverns in the background. The wedding ceremony was very romantic, the venue was excellent, the company was top class, and one or two did get a bit ‘squiffy’ but why not, it was a celebration.

WE wished the happy couple heartfelt congratulations and good luck for the future, and were pleased to have been there to share their day.

I do have to say at these events one generally puts on a pair of shoes not worn that often, and one lady sat on our table for the reception had the good sense to don a pair of slippers. We were all very envious.

Having said all that, it is with sadness I report the death of a good friend Richard Shaw, very well known in the area. A former high-ranking policeman I got to know Richard as the chairman of the Worcester Cricket Society and he was also chair of the Battle of Worcester Society.

For me always a kind and thoughtful man and his knowledge of the Battle of Worcester was I suspect second to none.

He was a font of knowledge and once told me that more men died at the Battle of Worcester than perished in Normandy on D-Day. Like me he was always surprised and frustrated that the city did not make more of the battle, the last major conflict of the English Civil War.

RIP Richard, a true gent.