Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. My thanks to everyone who has supported Bear Alley over the past twelve months. A special thanks to Jeremy Briggs, Richard Sheaf and Steve Winders who have all contributed columns at various times when I've had my nose to the grindstone trying to hit a deadline. Thanks too, to those folks who have shared their memories of their work and the work of their relatives with us, especially to Charlotte Fawley and Karenina Bennett who have been good friends of the column. John Herrington, Jamie Sturgeon and Victor Berch also deserve a pat on the back for sharing their hard-earned research.

Everyone who has commented, shared information, sent in corrections or dug deep into their collections and taken the time to send scans... every generous action is hugely appreciated. I hope everyone has enjoyed the results.