Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hamish agreed - but only if his 'O' Level results were good enough to gain him
entry to Watford Grammar School for the sixth form. Set a goal he wanted to
achieve, Alex would make sure he delivered. His exam results were good enough.
'Watford Grammar was a superb school and Alex excelled there. He really settled
in and got very good results in sixth form. I remember meeting one of his teachers
on the main street in Watford when I was with Alex. I said that he must have his
hands full with this one. He'd replied: “On the contrary, Alex is one of our most
gifted pupils.” It just showed he could work when he wanted to.'
Almost as soon as he entered Watford Grammar School, he joined the London
Mountaineering Club and frequently went on weekend meets to Snowdonia in
Wales. 'There was one very nice couple who were kind and sympathetic toward a
penniless teenager. I used to drop him off somewhere near the motorway on a Fri-
day night, and pick him up again at God-knows-what hour on Sunday evening. It
set the pattern of things to come. He always expected me to be there when needed.
He was a selfish devil that way.'
Jean paused, looking at the black coffee she was holding. Then she looked up at
me sitting across the dark living room. 'Well, you all were, weren't you? You boys
always expected everything to happen for you.'
I sat swirling my own coffee, admitting it was true. The tension was immediately
broken by laughter as Jean launched into a new story.
'I remember one time when we were at home with some old friends who had just
driven down from Scotland. The phone rang, and it was Alex: “Please Mum can
you organise some cars and come down and pick us up at Liverpool Street Sta-
tion.”
'Well, we quickly finished dinner and I asked one of our guests if he would take
his car as well. I knew there were four climbers with bags to pick up. It was an aw-
ful journey in - our friend got lost. When we all eventually arrived at Liverpool
Street Station, there was no sign of Alex. Hamish spotted a pub across the road
and there they all were.
'Hamish asked him: “Why weren't you at the station looking out for us?” Alex
said: “Because I knew you'd know we'd be in the pub.” And then the next day we
had to go back to get you.'
I had forgotten. Returning from Afghanistan, Alex, Terry King, Howard Lan-
cashire and I set off together from Poland by train on the last leg home. During the
farewells in Warsaw, we'd forgotten to eat and had had far too many Vodkas. We
reached Poznan, a scheduled twenty-minute stop, so I jumped off to get some
bread. I arrived back on the platform to see the train vanishing down the line. The
lads were left to get home via East Germany without passports. I had them all in
