I came home to the sad and in some ways tragic news that my neighbour Raymond - known to those of us who'd been in this road for ages as Launchpad had been found dead alone in his house. He earned the name Launchpad from his previous neighbour after building a vast concrete base for.....well something - and three years later it was still a vast concrete base so we all speculated as to what it was and came to the conclusion that he was building a nuclear launchpad - and the name stuck.
Why tragic? Well, because he was so incredibly bitter and lonely espeically since his cousin (who he lived with when I first moved in) passed away and even more tragic that if anyone would befriend him or try to help him he would drive them away by being nasty and vindictive.
A lasting memory of him was when on a trick or treat evening he threw a bucket of water at the kids who dared to knock on his door - he really was the original Grumpy Old Man.
Rest in peace Raymond - although I suspect wherever you are you are having a go at someone!
Ian for taking that route and showing me how beautiful it is. He is himself a Yorkshire man so knew how wonderful 'Gods country' was but hadn't been back for a long time. We found a pub literally on the Derbyshire/West Yorkshire borders called the Dog and Partridge and has a local pint and a ploughmans.
Pippa
