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These are old News Articles - see here for latest News The Baldock Reunion (12/11/2002) London City hosted the first Baldock reunion in over a
decade last month. It was a successful occasion, ignoring Mike and Katy's 3
hour lateness. Good thing John was there (more or less) on time. Long Lost Cousins Found! (09/08/2002) I was surprised to receive an e-mail from Sam Baldock who
I have not seen since roughly 1988. His brothers Oliver and Justin
Baldock will also be in contact. How's Mike Baldock doing at Uni? (12/07/2002) Mike Baldock (23) is studying Social Geography at a
University in London. At the end of his second year Mike says: Peter Talkington's Tragic Death (20/05/2002) Peter Talkington, husband to Patricia (nee Jones) (already
deceased) died on Thursday 9th May 2002. He was famous in the Baldock and McCloy families for his wonderful cooking, Pedro's Bistro was the name we gave to his kitchen. He was also a keen gardener, walker and traveller of the world. He was excellent in the use of English - beat us all hollow at Scrabble and the crosswords. He also loved photography and keeping in touch, He would often travel hundreds of miles only to say hello and then go all the way back again. No-one will forget the distinctive smell of Peter's fragrant pipe which he smoked religiously, ultimately the pipe and Peter were one. He never forgot a birthday or to send anyone a Christmas card. Peter will be greatly missed.
The Second known unition of Baldock and
McCloy!! I was mailed by Pauline
Gibson, she had found a relative through the site (Elizabeth
McCloy, who most of you know as she has done a lot of work on the
site) - it was discovered that Elizabeth McCloy and Pauline Gibson
shared Gt Gt Gt Grandfather Stewert McCloy. Stewert McCloy's daughter,
Janet McCloy, married Charles Brooks, and their daughter, Jessie Brooks,
married William Baldock in 1890! Letter from Jamie Baldock in America We got a bus to New Orleans quite early in the morning and arrived a couple of hours later, having been entertained b a rather attention loving bus driver for most of the journey. This very Southern black guy kept chatting to us through his microphone, joking and flirting and making general commentaries. On arrival we found ourselves surrounded by towering skyscrapers. We were told that the first Mardi Gras parade of the day was just about to begin, so we walked the half hour to the French Quarter, which is a beautiful section of the city. The streets there are narrow and the buildings small and colourful, there are lots of bars, cafes and restaurants. There are a lot of balconies – something which plays an important part in the Mardi Gras celebrations as you will find out shortly The French Quarter must usually be a nice, mellow part of town, a peaceful sort of place. But yesterday it was seething with crowds and the pile of empty plastic cups and beercans on the streets was rising fast. Even when we got there, we already noticed a few strings of beads being hurled through the air. Most curious it was – but we hadn’t seen nuttin yet … We gathered that there was a parade passing a nearby street around 1pm so we got some beers and took our places on the pavement in the lively crowd. Once a beer was down our throats we began to feel a bit more connected with our neighbouring spectators. Teams of policemen strung up wire barriers in front of us, to prevent us getting onto the road and then they cleared it of all traffic and wandering people. And finally the first floats appeared. The crowd went wild. Each float was pulled by a farmer’s tractor and was impressively decorated with some theme. On the floats stood people in dazzling costumes often with masks on, throwing strings of shiny plastic beads into the arms of us, the onlookers. Well it was a very infectious frenzy of battle for the beads. We would not have imagined we’d get so carried away by it – and I am sure you would have too if you had been there. We have proudly brought home not 2 not a handful but 74 shiny, multicoloured strings of beads which between us we wore all of the afternoon and evening yesterday. There was not one soul walking in the streets who didn’t have at least a couple round their necks. (Now the mystery of these beads we’ve been seeing everywhere has been unveiled) Apart from these fantastic floats there were also lots of marching bands from local schools, playing some great rhythms on their drums and some good harmonies on the bass instruments. And there were some lines of dancing girls and cheerleaders. It was so lovely to watch. And most of these artists had hilariously serious expressions in contrast with everyone else, especially the marching soldiers. I guess they are not allowed to smile… After the parade which consisted on 33 floats altogether, we followed the sea of people back into the sidestreets. Here some more substantial bead throwing had begun from the balconies. Those privileged enough to have got their balcony positions seemed to be enjoying teasing the people passing below. We saw a couple of girls persuaded to show their naked breasts in return for some of their bead offerings. Also some exhibitionists on the balconies happily did a bit of tit-flashing in return for plastic projectile deliveries from below. By this time, Criel and I were well-enough laden with over-rated jewellery to feel it unnecessary to transcend our modesty in such a way. We did however pick some tempting fashion accessories from the floor to add to our collection – until we realised that this was not actually part of the game. No. The beads had to be caught during flight to have the real value. Well this Mardi Gras madness continued increasingly as the sun set and it got late. And the people got more and more drunk. And chests were bared more frequently and more willingly around us. We’d never seen anything like it. At one point we escaped into a nice bar where a live jazz band were playing – that was superb. Later we even had a little Salsa dance in a doorway from where some Latin tunes were emerging. We were quite tired when 10.30 arrived and it was time to head back to the bus station. Lent is nearly upon us. JAMIE BALDOCK Contact From Teddy Baldock's Grandson 16th February 2002 I had a second Teddy Baldock direct relative contact me, he gave me Teddy's life story and more pics. A New Baldock 23/11/2001 Joshua Brandon Baldock was born at 1:30am on
the 20th November 2001 weighing 6lb 7oz. It was a quick labour and
everything ran smoothly and Josh is very healthy. Jamie Baldock Married 23/11/2001 Jamie Baldock married Criel er... recently. (see engagement report in the old news archives). Wedding Photos (towards bottom) A New McCloy! (16/04/2001) Sam and Laura McCloy are pleased to
announce the arrival of Elen Francis McCloy who came into the World on
April the 3rd weighing 7lb 14oz. Mother and Baby are doing well; Father
worn out and knackered!! Jamie Baldock getting Married! (22/06/2001) CRIEL AND JAMIE'S ENGAGEMENT How is it that I suddenly find myself living in Mexico City, so far away from all of you in England, that green and misty isle where I was born? Has a spell been cast upon me, that a path so suddenly swerving should seem so straight? Indeed, I am comfortably committing my future to be bound with that of Criel Merino, the Mexican Man who has won my affections. I still wonder what magic it was that played with my perception that fatal moment on an evening in October, in a cafe in Jericho, Oxford. I was out - quite sober - having an ice-cream with my housemates, when a creature sitting near us caught my attention. Whether it was his posture, his facial expressions or some light which burned in the depths of his dark eyes, I cannot say, but I can tell you that from that moment I was unforgettably struck by the man. It was as though I already knew him: he seemed so familiar, and yet there was an element of depth and mystery in him which powerfully intrigued me. Much as I tried to concentrate on the conversation at my table, I kept getting distracted, finding my eyes meeting his (by some kind of weird magnetism). Well, that was our first meeting: through eye contact. During the following weeks I (gleefully) sighted The Man on several occasions walking through Jericho, where I lived (and where it turned out that his office was). In November 1999 our paths crossed again more closely, once at the Barclays cash point (jolly romantic, eh?), where we spoke for the first time and later again as I was leaving a shop. It was then that we made our first date - to go Salsa dancing together during the Christmas vacations. I immediately felt at home with Criel (although I still can't pronounce his name properly!) and we have been inseparable ever since. In April 2000 he asked me if I would consider moving to Mexico with him, where he had a job lined up. That was really the "proposal". No ring, no flowers, but a serious proposal none the less - as Mum was quick to spot. He had just finished his D.Phil, I was finishing my degree. Since I couldn't think of a better plan, I soon agreed to go with him to Mexico. We left in July, and have had a very promising first year here. Now we have a date set for our wedding: October 6 2001. It will be held in my old village church in Lane End, with my family, just as I have been wanting it to be. We are not certain in which country we will be spending our long term future - but we plan to spend it together.
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