Some days I love Warming Up. It has a strange power to reconnect. I'll write about something or someone and then days, months or years later I will get an email that reconnects me with what I have discussed. Occasionally it's a bit weird, as in the case of the
Timbertop Aparthotel, but usually it's fun.
Today I got an email from the dad of
Angus Ashman (and there's a link to click back to on that entry to read all about our car door opening escapades). He had clearly read my blog and brought me up to date with his son, who lives near Bristol and had two children, the eldest of whom is 18. He works as a building Inspector and also runs a pub. Mr Ashman sent me some photos too, which clearly demonstrate that Angus has not stayed frozen in time as an 8 year old as I had hoped. But he looks like a nice man. I don't think I would have recognised him if I passed him in the street.
A few hours later, after my appearance on the Mark Radcliffe show on Radio 2 (a great show, Mark is an excellent DJ and interviewer and I was delighted to be asked on the show as I had really enjoyed listening to it on my way up to Liverpool the other day), Angus himself emailed me. A friend of his had been surprising him with details of his early life in Cheddar and finally revealed where he was getting the information. He had been particularly amused by me calling Angus a "non-car door opening pussy". Angus had forgotten the incident (not surprisingly when he came across so badly) but had been pressing family members for memories of me and was just wondering how to find out more about me when I came on the radio. So he emailed me to fill me in what he'd been up to for the last 31 years (and how terrible that you can know someone that you haven't seen for that length of time).
He is a charming and funny man, who unlike his old schoolmate has a proper adult life with proper adult children and without Warming Up I would never have heard from him again.
Good on Angus. I forgive you about the whole car door thing. If I am ever in the area I'll pop in for a pint! And if you're ever in London you are welcome to come and inspect my building - that's not a euphemism.
