Thanks Dad for all the things you gave me, especially a love of nature, of gardening and home brewing. These experiences with you have been underlying influences in my life and made me very much who I am.

As a boy I loved collecting fruit or other things from the garden or the hedgerows. I also remember trying to help in the garden but as I was so young I can imagine that I wasn't much use. There was a memorable time when getting compost from the heap you cut through a snake with the spade. The two parts went darting around, the head hissing.

There was always a glass demi-john of wine bubbling away in the cupboard under the stairs, and even the odd bottle of ginger beer popping when the pressure got too much. Wines ranged from delicious elderberry to more experimental projects made from onions or oak leaves. I tried them all and sometimes had a little too much!

Thank you Dad for these moments and many more, too numerous to mention here but memories treasured by me.