A highlight this year was a guided trip to India in the spring with my elder daughter and son.  It was the only continent I had not visited in my professional life. The focus was the Darjeeling light railway – I am a railway buff.  We spent three days amidst the hurly burly of the Calcutta followed by a long train ride across the Ganges plain to Darjeeling and a trip up the mountain railway on a precipitous track that is also a road with houses and shop frontages. Amazing.

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This was topped up (literally) by a visit to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Not only was this stunning in terms of scenery but as a cultural experience of a country with restricted access to tourists situated between India and China and with a king and unique system of religious (Buddhist) governance.

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The trip was a break from my daily work supporting and promoting the civic role of universities in the community which I am writing up in my autobiography. As part of this endeavour, I tripped getting off the plane in Newcastle returning from speaking at a conference in Paris and severed my Achilles tendon. Three months in an orthopaedic boot and unable to drive made life difficult. This alongside the fight making the case for civic universities have delayed submission of the manuscript to my publisher.

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Hands on community roles have also kept me  busy  - as a trustee of Tyne Rowing Club, of Newcastle Cathedral, Tynedale Church and Community Partnership,  Wylam Institute Community Association  in the village where  I now live to be close to my daughter ,  membership of the Parochial Church Council in Riding Mill where I used to live, and recently as advisor on the future development of the Minsteracres monastic retreat estate. I am also a member of a group campaigning to protect from flooding our weekend cottage in Low Hauxley, a small village on the Northumberland coast. Going forward this community work may become more important for me as my academic activity is curtailed due to the negative impact of financial pressure on the work of universities with society.

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My three kids are each supporting me with their different skills in management, counselling and IT. My son-in-law is a great mate living nearby maintaining my Victorian Terrace house beside the River Tyne.

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It’s been a pleasure to see my eight grandsons aged 8 – 23 prospering, with the eldest graduating this year with a first-class degree in civil engineering from Northumbria University and others crossing academic hurdles - and passing driving tests!  Also to have had great social weekends with my friend Anne from Riding Mill. So, all in all, a busy and challenging but nevertheless rewarding year.

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