Frank Montgomery's Personal Pages
Summary of 2015
Dear Friends and (mostly ex)
Colleagues,
Wishing
you
a
Merry
Christmas
and
a
peaceful
New
Year.
A
year
ago I
had
a go
at
track
cycling:
a
taster
session
at
the
Manchester
velodrome.
Great
fun.
2015
got
off
to a
bad
start
when
my
sister
had
a
seizure,
caused
by a
brain
tumour.
She
has
since
had
surgery
and
is
very
much
on
the
way
to
full
recovery.
We
were
all
very
impressed
with
the
excellent
treatment
she
received
from
the
NHS
at
the
Southern
General
Hospital,
Glasgow.
I
was
also
most
impressed
by
her
fortitude
and
practical
attitude.
In
March
I
was
back
in
Morzine
for
a
week
of
superb
skiing.
Somehow
I
managed
to
fall
off
a
chairlift
(at
the
bottom
end),
something
I've
never
done
before.
Luckily
the
only
thing
hurt
was
my
pride!
Later
in
March
I
was
genuinely
surprised
and
delighted
to
receive
the
Certificate
of
Merit
from
the
Chartered
Institution
of
Highways
and
Transportation.
There
was
a
partial
solar
eclipse
on
20
March,
and
I
decided
to
go
as
far
North-West
as I
could,
to
get
a
better
view.
Perhaps
unsurprisingly,
Fort
William
was
covered
in
cloud
at
the
crucial
time,
and
annoyingly
the
skies
cleared
about
10
minutes
later!
Hillwalks
this
year
included
Settle
-
Catrigg
Force
on
14
March
with
ITS
staff
&
friends,
a
rather
damp
&
cold
traverse
of
Ingleborough
with
the
same
group
on
24
April
(the
day
of
the
annual
3
peaks
fell
race),
and
a
lovely
walk
from
Pateley
Bridge
to
Brimham
Rocks
on
18
July.
But
my
main
expedition
of
the
year
was
in
May
when
Steve
Hammond
& I
hired
a
car
to
drive
to
Ullapool,
to
climb
some
of
the
wonderful
mountains
of
the
far
North
West
of
Scotland.
In
June
I
had
a go
at 'indoor
sky-diving'
in
Manchester.
Not
a
prelude
to
the
real
thing,
which
is
beyond
me!
Cycling
trips
of
note
this
year
included
a
72km
round
trip
from
The
Hague
to
Gouda
on
my
brother-in-law's
Dutch
bike
to
see
stage
2 of
the
Tour
de
France;
a
171km
trip
up
Wharfedale,
through
the
forest
of
Langstrothdale
and
back
by
Ribblesdale
and
Airedale;
and
a
six
day
trip
to
Belgium
including
the
war
graves.
The
8pm
ceremony
at
the
Menin
Gate
in
Ypres
was
very
moving.
But
the
year's
main
cycling
adventure
was
my
32
day
trip
to
Spain. The
original
plan
was
to
cycle
to
Lisbon,
and
I
had
pre-booked
accommodation
all
the
way
there
from
Bayonne
(SW
France)
where
I
was
dropped
off
by
the
European
Bike
Express
coach
from
Leeds. On 29
Aug
I
cycled
for
102km
not
realising
till
too
late
that
the
temperature
was
40
degC.
The
next
day
was
110km
in
about
32
degC,
and
a
lot
hillier
(1362m
height
gain).
I
nearly
collapsed
with
dehydration
at
the
end
of
that
day,
so
let
the
train
take
the
strain
for
the
next
two
days,
getting
me
to
Valladolid,
where
on
the
advice
of
my
travel
insurers
I
went
to
the
excellent
University
Hospital,
where
I
was
kept
in
overnight
on a
drip.
I
then
had
another
three
days
recuperating
in
Valladolid
while
the
insurance
company
translated
my
discharge
sheet
and
eventually
decided
that
I
was
OK
to
continue.
I
had
had
to
cancel
the
pre-booked
accommodation,
but
luckily
only
lost
the
deposit
on
two
nights.
Regretfully
Lisbon
was
now
out
of
my
sights,
but
instead
I
headed
North
then
West
following
the
Camino
via
Astorga
to
Santiago
de
Compostela.
From
there
I
took
a
coach
trip
to
Finisterre,
then
took
my
bike
on a
coach
back
to
Leon,
then
cycled
North
through
the
spectacular
Picos
de
Europa,
eventually
reaching
Santander
and
the
ferry
back
to
Portsmouth.
On
30
September
Derry
O'Leary
and
I
attended
the
funeral
of
Bob
Stead,
our
former
classmate from Leeds
University 1978-79. Bob leaves
his
wife
Diane
and two daughters,
one
of whom is currently studying
for her
PhD
at Leeds. As
well
as
the
funeral
in
Yorkshire,
there
was
a
simultaneous
service
in
the
village
in
Norfolk
where
he
had
lived
before
retirement.
Both
services
were
very
well
attended,
a
testament
to
the
respect
and
affection
that
Bob
engendered.
In
December
it
was
good
to
meet
up
in
Leeds
with Hien
Nguyen,
a
former
PhD
student
of
mine,
who
is
now
Dean of
the Faculty
of
Transportation
Engineering
at
his
University
in
Vietnam.
This
year,
I
have
made
a
donation
of
one
pound
per
recipient
of
this
email
(250)
split
between Practical
Action and
Maggies
Centres
Best
Wishes
Frank
Montgomery
PS
If
you
wish
to
be
removed
from
this
email
list
for
future
years,
please
let
me
know.