Today the whole road was on the move. At least the people I know in this block of terraced houses.

Some people were on the move to places they go to almost everyday, like Sue and Don heading out to work. Others were heading out to places further afield. Ram and Krishna were off to India, a last minute decision, which, now they are both retired they can now do. Martin and Fhai were off to Thailand.

We’d arranged to leave early and made it in good time to Heathrow which was just as well as due to a computer failure the check in desks were grinding to a halt. It seems ages ago that I brought them here when Joanne was barely walking, held in my arms as we watched the bags disappear down the belts. Now they are seasoned travellers with Joanne holding dual nationality.

We had a coffee while we waited and then, all too soon, we headed to the departures gate for those last, awkward farewells. Richard rushed off with a case full of teddies while Martin and I said goodbye. As I started to walk off Joanne hugged me and said, “I’m going to really miss you” which summed up how we all slightly felt.