2002 Christmas letter

147a High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire.  WD17 2ER

edwardf@watford.gov.uk     edfordham@cix.co.uk     07974 950 512

So 2002 fades into the background and soon we will be anticipating the end of 2003 and the start of 2004.  I wonder if the passing of time and the way it seems to get faster is an age thing… I guess only time will tell.  :-)

The whole year seems to be something of a blur really – I’m sure I will finish this catch up and find I have missed out all the significant bits.

We saw 2002 in on the New Year with friends Maz and Alex (Sutton) and Jamie, Robin and David (Wimbledon) and then almost directly off to Gerald’s birthday party in Paris and then a few days in Cologne (Koln) – the coldest city I have yet enjoyed!

I started the year with a clear intention in my mind to find a change of job – I had worked for the Liberal Democrats in Somerset and the South West since 1999 and I was clear that it was time to move on.  I was not prepared to give a commitment to stay until the next General Election (prob 2005) and felt it was only right to hand onto someone else to steer the campaign forwards.  But I had no clear offers or ideas…

March, April and May are always dominated by the Local Elections for me and this year saw me in Swindon and, of course, Cheltenham again.  It is pure delight to report that Cheltenham election night was very special and the Conservatives lost 10 seats to the Liberal Democrats which gave us control of the Council…

The May elections were to produce the career shift I was looking for, but I did not realise at the time.  It was only whilst in Edinburgh on my best friend’s stag weekend (Chris Lines) that I learnt of the forthcoming advert for the Head of Office for the newly elected Liberal Democrat Mayor of Watford, Dorothy Thornhill.

By the end of July I had been interviewed, grilled, offered and had accepted a new job – essentially as a political advisor and civil servant in the new Lib Dem administration running the Council in Watford.  The move is completely the best thing I have done.  It has moved me out of front-line party politics into the heart of local government.  I find myself living outside London, but so close as to be in London and have a great flat right in the Town Centre.

Leaving Somerset was timely for me but of course meant leaving good friends and some of the most stunning countryside… but I remind myself it is not a long journey and I just have to make the time to visit.

May, having been kicked off with great local elections, was topped on 25^th by the wedding of Chris and Catherine in Sedgefield – it was a great weekend and a very special day…

July was exciting for Russell’s 25^th Birthday – we hired Kilve Youth Hostel (on the North Somerset coast) and invited 24 close friends down for a party – barbeque, food, cream tea, rounders on the coast and fireworks.  The latter proved exciting beyond expectation as it caused Freyha (Chris and Catherine’s dog) to bolt and we had to send out a search party – all ended happily and the party was considered a great success.

4^th October finally saw a holiday in Ibiza and thence onto Barcelona where Russell was starting a three month language course at Don Quiote School.  This has provided magnificent excuse for me to visit Barcelona three weekends since then.  It is a great city and I suspect will see further vists this coming year… well I hope so anyway!

Of course, I still don’t drive, don’t write to friend often enough, and always have a backlog of messages on my mobile phone.  The only real change is a bizarre and compulsive enjoyment of a local gym – I try and go three mornings a week (@ 7am!) – I feel fitter and have now found myself enjoying it.