Robert Ian Hawdon

I was born on the 26th February 1990 (10 days late!) at Hexham General Hospital, 7:45 PM I weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz. I had lots of brown hair, a round face and of course like all babies big round eyes. I spent the first night of my life in the hospital nursery while mum got some well-deserved rest. Dad had been there too and when everyone was settled he went home to phone lots of people and tell them of my arrival. Next day I was brought in a cot to the ward to be with mum. Dad came with flowers and lots of good wishes from people -I slept most of the time, only waking up for food! Later my Auntie Marion, Uncle Gordon and cousin Mark came to see me bringing presents and a large balloon to tie on my cot. Over the next few days all I did was cry, eat and sleep. (Gosh I was selfish!) On day five I came home. Dad was able to be at home for about 10 days to help mum and me get settled. We had lots of visitors, cards and gifts and life was much more hectic than before at 42 Antonine Walk. Over the next few weeks and months I changed quite a lot. I went to lots of different places, met lots of people and began to take more notice of things that were going on around me. Time flew past and I began to eat proper food, crawl and cut teeth. I also began to talk. (And I haven't stopped since!)

Before long it was Christmas and although I don't remember it I have watched myself on video; it looked like I had a great time ripping paper off parcels and eating the tags.February soon rolled round and my first birthday I had all my little one-year-old friends and their mums to my house for a party. Lots of noise and lots of mess! A toddle truck and bricks was one of my favourite presents. After excitement of my first birthday things returned to normal, I went to two toddler groups, had my injections and had many visits to parks and the sea-side. Mum says that we also visited lots of coffee shops.

In the summer we went to stay with gran and grandad in Ireland. We went on the ferry the car was loaded up with all my stuff. I loved the ferry and ran around the deck with dad chasing me. I had a lovely holiday and was spoilt by everyone. Roll on Christmas number two, it was just as much fun as the first and again I have watched my antics on video lots of times and had a few laughs as well. There was a lot of snow early in 1992 I have photo's showing me being pulled along on a sledge I looked as though I was having a great time. I enjoyed my second birthday -especially the food! Mum made a number 2 cake with two candles for me to blow out and again I had great fun with my friends.

As I grew I began to get into lots of mischief. (I suppose all toddlers do!) I put zinc and castor oil cream on mum and dads bedroom wall, carpet and bed also all over my hair. I got my head stuck through the stair rails; I poured flour and sugar on the kitchen floor and walked it through to the living room. One day I even tried to get through a cat flap in a neighbour's house. (All part of growing up and it must have given people a few laughs!) Dad was working overseas at the time and we had lots of little holidays when he was at home. We often went to Scotland to stay with friends and had some great times. On my third Christmas dad was not at home but gran and grandad came to stay with us and mum video taped as much as she could of what was happening so dad could see it when he got home. Dad did phone us to say "Happy Christmas" -it was strange hearing his voice and not being able to see him. We had another Christmas dinner when he came home in January. Just after my third birthday the suitcases came out again. We were off on our travels once more, this time to Germany to stay near Cologne for almost three weeks.

Germany

In 1993 (age 3) I went on holiday to Germany, I was really excited because I'd never been on a big family holiday before (well never out of the U.K.) and I was going on a ferry overnight. I don't remember much about the journey but I've been told that I fell off the top bunk in the cabin because I forgot where I was. Mum told me to "be careful" but too late I had already fallen. No damage I'm pleased to say; dad gave me a packet of raisins to take my mind off it and it did the trick at the time although I can still remember it to this day. We arrived in Holland early in the morning having had our breakfast on board. Fortunately dad knew the route and so we were quickly on our way through Holland and on to Germany. We stopped for lunch at a nice café where there was lots of strange food. We managed to find something that I liked and before long we were back on the road. In Germany we stayed in a large flat on the outskirts of Cologne. We had to go up and down in a lift, which was great fun; I wanted to do it all the time! There was a lovely play park close by and I spent some part of every day there. When we went shopping I was always given some cold meat to eat by the butcher to keep me quiet while mum was finding what she wanted. The bread was strange, it had nuts and seeds in it but it was good. Most days, if the weather was fine we went out and about exploring. One day we took the train to Cologne, mum and dad had a great time visiting all the "touristy" places, but to be perfectly honest I don't remember much about it at all. On another day we met some friends and went for a walk along the river near their house and had some lunch in a splendid out door restaurant -dad ate raw meat with a raw egg on top. (Yuck!) Later on I went to the house -on my own- and had some ice cream. (Yummy!) It was while I was in Germany I had my first taste of beer and I pulled a face! We all laughed! One night dads friend Jeff came to see us and said "Ian, would you like to see my Scimitar (the car)" "Is it like my dad's?" I asked "Yes, Only better" he smiled. It was quite an adventure, the car was in an underground garage, which was huge, and I'd never been in such a big room. The car was great. Time seemed to pass so quickly and soon we were getting ready to go home. Nothing eventful happened on the return journey on the ferry and although it was nice to be home I missed Germany and have lots of photos to remind me of my time there.

A scimitar

Going to School (do I have to!?)

Just before starting school in September 1994 I went to Anglesey on holiday, we had a busy time visiting lots of interesting places and everyone came home feeling like they had had a real holiday. On the morning of my first day at school {Heddon-on-the-wall first school} I put on my new school uniform: a pair of grey trousers, a blue polo shirt and a blue sweatshirt with the school logo on. Dad took a photo of me. Then we set off for school. I was a little scared and a bit excited but mum said: "All your friends will be at school, they will be looking forward to seeing you." My teacher was called Mrs Mounsey and she met all the new children as they were coming into school and showed them where to hang their coats and put their lunch boxes -if they had them. In my class there were 32 children, some reception and some year one. The first day was spent finding out where things were and how to behave in the classroom. The best bit about that day was meeting up with my friends at playtime {Scott George Byron and Sarah}, and of course going home. That night we went out for tea as a special treat. At that time the teachers at the school were: Mrs Mounsey, Mrs Robson, Mrs Kirtley, Mrs Wilks {Head}, Mrs Knowles and Mrs Hindmarsh. The secretary was Mrs Henderson and the caretaker Mr Muse. Mrs Amos was the classroom helper, I remember she always had a smile on her face and helped everyone if they got lost or anything. During the week we did these activities: Colour, cut and stick, role-play, number work, watched T.V., sentence stands, writing (didn't like), technology, PE and assemblies. Getting changed for PE was fun as people kept losing socks and things. I enjoyed having a packed lunch each day although I usually didn't finish it, as I was too busy talking! The most memorable event which happened in my first year at school was the Christmas Nativity Play- Hosanna Rock. Our class took the parts of the animals and I was a sheep! (Yes, you've guessed it, we've got the video!) Another highlight of the year was the day the photographer came to school. Each class had a class Class Photograph 1995 R/Year 1 photo taken and an individual one. If you had brothers or sisters you could also have a family group photo.

Towards the end of the year we had sports day. I remember that it was pretty boring because each person only had one thing to do and the rest of the time you had to sit and watch. At the end of the year it was sad to leave my class but I was looking forward to meeting my new teacher. In the following years life at school became more interesting. We did lots of different things like, taking part in the Proms at the City Hall, going to the Hancock Museum, visiting Thompson House, exploring at Arbeia (a Roman Fort) and lots more that I can't remember. My time at first school was a happy one, thanks to the friends I made and the teachers who taught me. While I was in year three I had a couple of trips to Holland, which I shall tell you about next.

Holland

Part 1

It was Easter 1997 when I was in year 3 (age 7) that we went by plane from Newcastle Airport to Schipol Airport just out side Amsterdam for the first of our two little holidays to Holland. Although I had flown on a plane before this was the first time I had had to change my watch {one hour forward}. The flight was good and we had breakfast on board, which was great. When I got off the plane I thought, "Wow, this looks just like England," then I heard people talking and quickly remembered exactly where I was. Mum said, "did you realise that those people were speaking single Dutch!" then chuckled. I looked at her blankly and so she explained what she meant. By this time we were going through passport control and on our way to collect our luggage. Dad was waiting for us. The airport was huge! I could have got lost if mum wasn't with me. (In fact I think mum nearly got lost herself!). We went to this to this little holiday house for two weeks. One the first night we looked at the comet "Hail Bop". There was no TV -well so we thought until I went to my room and on the lower bunk there was a TV. The next day we moved the TV to the living room I was surprised that there was no BBC or ITV but there was Avro 1, 2 and 3 (Dutch TV channels). In the house there was a shower room, kitchen, hallway, 3 bedrooms and a living room. Out side there was a shed and a swing. One day dad had been in the shed and came back saying, "Ian I've found a bike lets see if you can ride it with out stabilisers for once," I had never ridden a bike with out stabilisers before. I had butterflies in my stomach. I was really scared and what made it worse was that on Dutch bikes you must pedal backwards to brake. (I fell off a couple of times! But I did get the hang of it in the end) There was a funfair close by which we visited a few times; the best bit was the water slides. (Dad and I got really wet!) As it was Easter time mum wanted to see the famous spring garden "Keukenhof". It took 2 hours to get there but it was well worth it in the end. I was amazed at how many different types and colours of tulips there were. While we were there, we climbed up the inside of a windmill, the view was lovely. Another day we went to Emmen Zoo where the animals live in conditions as near to their natural habitat as possible. We were there all day because it was so big. To get to Emmen we went by car then to get in the zoo itself we had to go on a bus. (A "bendy" bus!) I kept a diary while I was there and thought I'd lost it when our suitcase got lost at Amsterdam. Thankfully it turned up the next day. Home again -maybe I will go back sometime.

Part 2

Little did I know that my wish would come true because that very summer I went again. This time we stayed in a house which had a big lake at the bottom of the garden and a canal at the front. The weather was brilliant and we were able to take a little motor boat (which belonged to the house) onto the lake each day. We also had the use of a small yacht. One evening we took the motor boat along to a restaurant and ate outside When we came home it was dark and there were no lights on the boat. Dad was working most nights so after he had a few hours sleep we were able to go out and about. One day we took the train to Amsterdam and while we were there we went on a canal trip. It was a great way to see the city, we even saw the house that Anne Frank was imprisoned in during the Second World War. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit it. Another day we took a trip to Alkmaar, a town famous for its cheese market. It's an old town with lots of narrow streets. When I was there I bought some wooden clogs, I found them strange to walk in. I swam in the canal and jumped off the boat in to the lake, it was quite pleasant even though there were lots of reeds to get your feet tangled in. We were also able to fish from the back garden and off the edge of the boat, but we always threw the fish back, because they were too small to eat! Dad always took me to his recording truck (where he worked [he looks for oil and gas for petrol companies]). Once when I was there a train went past and showed up a false reading on the equipment. I was even allowed to use the radio and give instructions to the people with the dynamite. As usual the holiday flew by and before we knew it we were packing up to go home-always difficult as we had to try and pack the presents we had bought as well! I have never been back since but would love to go again as I had two magical holidays there with lots of great memories.

After That…

Since my trips to Holland there have been many new experiences in my life-some good, some bad (and some ugly!) I still live a 42, Antonine Walk, Heddon-on-the-Wall. I have grown lots but my general appearance hasn't really changed. One of the first was a visit from my Australian cousin -Leanne. I had never seen her before and I was really excited to meet her. I do Karate in Heddon and I've been doing it for two years I have slowly worked up to a purple belt. This table shows the order of belts…

In the millennium year I went to the Millennium Dome in Greenwich. The whole school went by train, which left the Central Station at 7:03AM and didn't arrive back until after midnight. (What a day!) I've had a trip to Ford Castle with school this year where we learned new skills and it was a good opportunity to get to know more about the people I went with. Over the past few years I have become very interested in how computers work and spend lots of my free time on them. In school I am now a computer technician and hopefully I along with some friends help keep the school computers running. Also I learn the piano -I am grade 3 and my teacher [Mrs Thompson] hopes for me to do my grade 4 next year. Also this year I did the 21st Cancer Run and I got round in 48min 15sec. I got a goodie bag at the end. I'm in year 8 at the moment (2003) at Richard Coates Middle School Ponteland.Soon mooving to Ponteland High School. Some of my friends at school are -Matthew Mongahan, Daniel Brain, Mark Chambers and Thomas Bullimore. In 2002/2003 I am had my auntie Lyn, uncle Greg and cousins Leanne, Ammanda and Lesley from Australia to spend Christmas with us.