Happy Birthday Matthew

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Originally uploaded by Phil Haygarth

Matthew is 8 today - here are some pictures of the dude to start the festival of celebrations which will last the weekend! The link now includes pictures of the aftermath of the football birthday party at Meadowside in the sunshine on the 28th. Wow birthday parties for 8 year olds are manic things - we are shattered!

Carry on camping....

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Originally uploaded by Phil Haygarth

We just got back from a fantastic 2 nights in Cornwall with the Bol, Bell and Chadwick families. The weather was not ideal but we soldiered on and had great fun, with a camper van/tent commune, watching the Netherlands match supporting Roland and some hi jinks repairing tents in the middle of the night! A weekend of fun ended with a calm pint of Doom Bar overlooking the Doom Bar at New Polzeath - just when the sun came out. Pics here from me .....
Pics here from Tom

A very happy father's day

Today I have had a joyful day with my family. I was spoiled with scrambled eggs in bed this morning courtesy of Matthew, after which we went to the seaside at Crackington Haven and played in the waves. The only slight downer is I dropped my camera in the surf so there are no images to show you - you'll have to believe me! What a lucky Dad I am!

Dancing, cycling - and a new job

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Originally uploaded by Phil Haygarth

This week has been a milestone week as on Monday I started my new job at Lancaster University. The job is a Professor of Soil and Water Science and Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainable Water Management - a great new challenge for me. The only temporary rub is that until late summer, when we will all move, I will be living a weekly commuter lifestyle which takes me away from the family. However, the bonus is that I temporarily stay with Mum and also I was able to easily visit baby Elsie on Wed night. This weekend, once home, we got Helen going on a 'new' bike and Angus partook in a lovely country dance with his class mates outside South Tawton school - follow this link for the pics.

Half term camping in Cornwall

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Originally uploaded by Phil Haygarth

We sneaked in a couple of nights camping at the Little Bodieve campsite near Wadebridge last week. It was a great family time for us, with the simple pleasures of camp sites with the boys enjoying cycling all over the site and Helen being highly sociable in the play park. Angus also made friends with some Ginnie pigs. Other notables was a moments surfing at Polzeath (a first for Angus), some crazy golf and the campite pool. Some pictures here....

Farewell North Wyke

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Originally uploaded by Phil Haygarth

After nearly 15 happy years as BBSRC employee at North Wyke, this week I said goodbye to 'Grasslands'. North Wyke has been great to me and I will always have many happy memories, but it is time for a new challenge (I start that on Monday - more about that next week). I worked with some great colleagues and made some long term friends (some of which accompanied me for lunch recently - see pictures here). Although I will continue to collaborate with people at North Wyke, the last couple of weeks I have been saying my formal 'goodbyes' as an employee, which culminated in a lovely send off 'cream tea' on Tuesday. David Chadwick, my long term friend and colleague made a terrific presentation speech and I was given a lovely John Christian painting of Dartmoor, a 'This is your life at North Wyke' photo book of my life through the years and a signed North Wyke photo card. I was touched to see some past colleagues turn off to mark the occasion, which included Andy Fraser (who made the trip from London) and Tim Harrod who presented me with a humorous 'IGER's Tiger Flies the Nest' Okehampton Times spoof. Happy days - thanks everyone.