I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Bernard.

I was very fond of him and used to thoroughly enjoy seeing him with Bernie and the family, either on his trips to the England to see his family and my parents (Barbara and Godfrey in Preston, Lancashire) or on my regular trips to Toronto with family when I was a child, or on a couple of occasions on my own in my twenties.

We shared a similar sense of humor and I would always enjoy the banter and stories of old times when Godfrey and Bernard were together with their pals. Bernie and I always used to refer to Bernard and Dad as "Ye Olde Men". Whenever we met up on either side of the pond it wouldn't be long before Bernie and I would give Ye Olde Men the slip and head off for some adventure, which often involved getting up to no good! I'm sure in a similar way that they had done with our grandparents.

Their shared experiences are very much a part of my formative years as my parents would regularly reminisce about the good times they had in Canada. They would all regularly take off north of Toronto where their gang including my uncle Bernard and Lola Hanson were in their element. I remember it was Bunny Hollo that always seemed to bring back the fondest memories, there were many stories of camping and canoeing, simple pleasures and freedoms which always sounded wonderful but have a particular attraction now in the middle of a pandemic.

I have attached a few photos which were taken in 1982 in Bunny Hollo one of Bernard with the canoe, another one of Bernie, Steve Hanson and Bernard standing with Bernie's MG and one of myself and Bernie.

I haven't been able to ring as I don't have any contact details any longer however here are mine:

tim@itworksrec.co.uk

+44(0) 7788 665250

Rest in peace Bernard

Tim Bashall