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BVYM  (British Vegetarian Youth Movement)

      Both of my future wives took part in this walk.  I had already met Dilys a number of times at various parties and socials, but I had only met Christine once before at this time.  Well during the second round of the gruelling walk I held Dilys’ hand in encouragement for practically the whole 15 miles.   This was the start of a relationship which came to an abrupt end cause she did not go on the BVYM  French holiday to Brittany, whereas Christine did.     It was not long after that holiday that I did my second proposal which was accepted and nearly a year later we married in Winchmore Hill Friends meeting house with a LARGE reception made up of 50% BVYM, large family (both sides) and a few other friends including 6 children from the school I taught at who were in my class.

      Christine was also on the BVYM committee and we did quite a lot for BVYM, holidays parties etc.  We eventually moved up to Bicester in a temporary rented council house before buying a 100 year old end of terrace town house in Banbury.    We continued our BVYM activities including having Christmas holidays at our house for lonely veggie youngsters (Youngsters who lived with non veggie families and couldn’t stand looking at  a turkey carved up any more) and young families.   To two of these events came Dilys and her husband  (We had been to their Wedding not so long ago, and she had been to ours.   So we were in the almost unique position of having been to each of our weddings!).

        Christine & I then moved to Mablethorpe to run a small Veggie Guest house.  I got job teaching at a boys' grammar school in Boston.

          We did a lot of improvements to the house to run it as a guest house, and we grew a lot of our own fruit and veg in our ¼ acre plot.  The house was originally a three bed bungalow, but previous owners had turned it into a 7 bed roomed house by converting the loft into 4 bedrooms.  We changed a few things round and added a shower room upstairs and a fire escape (which I built myself) from the shower room.

         We did get a reasonable number of veggie holiday makers in the three or 4 years we ran it.  We also continued our Young veggie Xmas holidays for a couple of years.  These were always great fun.

          But it was during this period that stresses and strains of works and not really being compatible, that our marriage fell apart.  This was a terrible blow to my personal feelings. Also I am sure to Christine, to whom I bear no real animosity, and we are still friends  (I hope).   I know it upset Tim my son greatly, as it came to him as a shock.  One reason I wasn’t happy at the break up.   I never meant or intended , to hurt anyone and I  know Christine didn’t want to either.  But that was the way it was.  This happened at the same time that I moved down to Esher to teach at Claremont Fan Court school  (Run by Christian Scientists).   Tim & Christine stayed in the guest house till it sold and eventually moved to Chester where Christine became warden of the Chester Meeting house.

       After a while of trying to sort out my life I joined a Veggie dating club and began meeting  single veggie ladies.  I had three quite close affairs, but none of them worked out, though I have kept up with one of them  for Xmas card/birthday card times only.  After a few years, after I had left teaching, I became a book salesman.    Then one Christmas (1987) I had the usual Card from Dilys, well it wasn’t usual, it contained a short note from Dilys saying her marriage had broken up.  I started writing sympathetic letters to Dilys and she responded in kind, it became, to me, fairly obvious that the old flames had been reawoken.  She was in Scarborough and I was in Kingswood (Surrey)  but her parents lived in Raynes Park (London)  and we managed to meet up there once and I persuaded her to join me at Vegan camp in Summer 1989, which was held in Kent.  Dilys shared my double tent( YES  we had separate compartments!  We both believed in no sex before marriage) and her boys had their own tents.   I had started going to Vegan Camp no 3 in Goathland, (yes the village near Scarborough that is used for the famous ITV series)  taking Tim for his holiday every year.  Vegan camp pictures for all years are in the   club  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vegancampuk .  And you can see some VERY interesting pictures there.  Anyway after that summer I decided that Dilys was the one for me  and got a job selling books in schools in North Yorkshire and moved up to Scarborough.  After two years of separate houses and having given ourselves TIME we got married  in May 1992.

Vegetarian /Vegan

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If everyone who ate animals would only eat half of the animals  they eat, there would be enough land to feed every living human being a full and healthy diet

Email:   Chris

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