Phil's
main birthday present from Steve turned out to be an afternoon in a
sporty little helicopter along the south coast of our adopted Devon and then
back across Dartmoor. We first hit Lyme
Bay at Sidmouth, before turning west to fly over the series of coastal towns
which became more and more familiar as we approached Torquay itself.
Phil concentrated on taking pictures for the hotel website as the pilot
tried to get as close to the Haytor as he could. As we were directly
over the car park, a square white shape - a bedsheet - could be seen spread
out. And there was writing on it. Phil started to thank Steve
(through the headsets we were wearing) for the best birthday greeting he had
ever had, and was trying to get a shot of the message when Steve demanded
the camera off of him and told him to actually read what was written.
Which turned out to be "Will You Marry Me, Phil?!
Phil said .... well after 10 years
together what did you think?
The rest of the trip was a bit of a blur,
although luckily Phil remembered to get the camera back and take the
accompanying photos!
Back home, we started to work out the
practicalities. The law in the UK changed on December 5th 2005 with the
introduction of the Partnership Act so that,
from that date, we could 'register our intention' to get married (although the
earliest appointment we could get was the sixth, given the popularity of the
changes in Torbay). We were able however to book a slot at Oldway Mansions - the
registry office for Torbay - and applied for 11:00 on Saturday January the
21st 2006... |