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2008 - July 25th - Friday

JH met Sonia S on Ray Mill Island: on 22 May 2007, JH, Ann, and Elizabeth had met Steve Spencer, RBWM’s Officer for “Outdoor facilities”, at a little Opening Ceremony for the rebuilt shelter [towards the cost of which JH had made a contribution]; Steve took photographs which included the other two occupants of the shelter, Maia, Sonia’s daughter, together with Livia, Maia’s Nanny.  Steve had thought it a good idea to ask Maia’s mother if she was in agreement with the photographs being submitted to the Maidenhead Advertiser; Sonia was quite happy for any photos of her young daughter to be published; furthermore, she had telephoned JH to say that she would be pleased to met JH on Ray Mill Island for a chat and a cup of coffee, when JH was next visiting the Island.


 
 
Sonia had told JH on the phone that, since her daughter and nanny had met JH in May 2007, she had had another baby, Thea (pronounced with a ‘T’) now 3½ months old, and so mum was not gadding round the world – to do with her Job in the Service Company, Serco – but was on maternity leave.  At about 3.00pm, by the café on the Island, JH accosted a lady with a rather large baby in a pushchair, who proved to be 13/12 old, and so JH decided she would refrain from accosting any other mum with a baby, so as not to make such a mistake again.  Sonia did, of course, greet JH (who was engrossed in a book) without hesitation, so there was no difficulty at all about her picking out JH from the crowd.  However, Sonia had not brought Thea with her, because the baby had had one of her immunisation injections that morning, and so she was left at home c/o dad, who was briefly home from his gadding about the world – in his job which was something to do with an international organisation to do with the environment. 

JH and Sonia had a most pleasant conversation:- we recapped on JH’s associations with Maidenhead, and JH’s delight in still visiting her childhood ‘stamping ground’; we talked about the rebuilding of the shelter on Ray Mill Island; JH explained that – as the plaque on the shelter states – she ‘. . . has happy memories of childhood and schooldays spent in the Thames Valley . . .’ and was able to, and really wanted to, make this gesture of remembrance.  Furthermore, JH did tell Sonia about the visit of Kathy’s niece, to the Island, where the Hipsey Family Name was spotted on the plaque:- so JH explained the story of a different sort of donation to do with water somewhat different to the water in the Thames at our feet!  JH suggested that, as Ann would be coming over to attend the Family Reunion to be held in Steeple during August 2009, that we should rendezvous in Ray Mill Island again next year – possibly with the Skinners, and Louise: you never know, there might be a possibility of one of the Hipsey Clan bombing round the M25 with everyone in a car!  [Addendum: this did not happen - Ann was asked by JH nearly a year beforehand but thought she could not fit the trip in to her tight schedule, Kathy and Ralph did not stay in their tent as they were both really in need of a proper sleep in the bed in a chalet, and Louise (the previous visitor to Ray Mill Island) was busy with the children and Bill’s 80th Birthday Party – so JH did not mention the matter again - especially from her own point of view after suffering from people-exhaustion!]