Annual News 2025

"We took our main holiday this year in Bavaria, making several visits to the village of Icking where my grandparents spent 3 years in the late 1930s, in hiding from the Nazi regime. My grandmother returned after the war, having a bungalow built to spend her retirement years there from 1952 until her death in 1970. Throughout my childhood we visited Granny in Icking, taking our holidays there, meeting her neighbours and the landowners, the Bachmann family. The Bachmanns still live there now and we had a lovely reunion with many of them, involving numerous cups of coffee and delicious cake." - Miriam

When we learned that Icking has a street named after Else, Miriam's grandmother, we had to go and see it. We were especially impressed that the local council had placed a short biography on the signpost. At the far end of the street we met the owner of the local B and B, Ulrike, who had heard Miriam's mother come to speak at an event in the village some years ago. We had brought with us some copies of Else's book “Ich stand nicht allein” (meaning: I did not stand alone, an indication of the support and help from Germans who risked their lives during her three years of hiding during WWII). Ulrike was delighted to accept a copy.

Else's biography - in brief, and in German

"One evening we went for a meal in Icking’s only restaurant (which certainly wasn’t there during our childhood), which provided unforgettable views over the Alps with the river Isar in the foreground. With us that evening were the editors of my grandmother’s books, Erich and Morita. We had the opportunity to visit their lovely house, part of which is also a museum, in Pöcking, near the Starnberger See (more coffee and cake!). Morita edited my grandmother’s earliest books so has known her since the 1940s, and probably knew details of Granny’s life better than we do!"

The Starnberger See is a lake large enough to have a boat service connecting the many villages around the shore. We took a short, one-hour round trip of the northern end of the lake, sharing the water with yachts, paddle-boarders and swimmers.

Our most strenuous visit was a walk from Kranzbach up to a peak at Elmauer Alm, spurred on by the prospect of the restaurant at the top. Although still in the foothills of the Alps, mountain scenery was all around us, made all the more attractive by the sunshine.

The base for our stay was the old town of Wolfratshausen, not far from Icking. One of our generous hosts, Hansi, took us to a small museum that she and some others had helped to establish. The suburb today called Waldram was originally built during the Nazi era to house munitions workers, but after the war the US Forces turned it into a Jewish settlement; later it was used to house German refugees from Eastern Europe (Hansi herself escaped from East Germany in the 1950's). The Badehaus, the home of the museum, was once a Jewish Mikvah (bathing house).

We want to say a special thank you to Micaela, Johannes, Daniel, Hansi, Erich, Marita and everyone else who helped us with everything from providing cake to getting a puncture repaired!

There are more photos of our visit to Germany on this page.

In early January my mother Hanna was taken seriously ill into hospital. A week later she died peacefully, never having recovered consciousness following a severe stroke. She was 102 and had lived an extremely full life. Just two days before her final illness I had visited her with a friend and we had had a normal conversation. The nursing care she received in hospital was very good. I and the family were able to visit freely, and did so at least once daily. The funeral was attended by around 50 people, including members of the family who came over from Berlin, and there were several others able to watch online, some of them abroad. Her oldest friend Ruth Shire, now aged 104, wrote a tribute read by her daughter, an indication of her ability to make lasting friendships.

Clearing Hanna’s flat and having it completely refurbished, getting it ready for sale by the end of this year, sorting through her paperwork, manuscripts, books and belongings has taken a lot of my time and that of my brother Steve who has dealt with all the legal and financial side of things.

In the week after Easter we spent a few days on tour with Miriam's choir, the Phoenix Singers, staying just round the corner from the Menin Gate in Ieper (Ypres). The area saw some of the heaviest fighting, and consequent loss of life, of the First World War and memorials to the conflict - in particular, cemeteries - are everywhere.

The choir had the opportunity to sing at several venues, including a rain-soaked Tyne Cot Cemetery, and most notably at the nightly ceremony at the Menin Gate. I recorded their vocal arrangement of the poem "In Flanders Fields" and made a short video which can be viewed here.

More photos of our visit to Belgium can be viewed here.

I have had extra opportunities to practise Spanish thanks to the regular attendance and help at church events of Nancy, who comes from Argentina. In November we met up with our friend Walter, Anglican bishop of Bolivia, when he came to visit churches in Birmingham. Week by week, Kings Heath Spanish Club contributes to my progress - poco a poco.

We have become regular competitors in a Christ Church team at quarterly fundraising quizzes in aid of the People Against Poverty charity. Although the quizmaster is a longstanding friend, she doesn't give us any clues. Our performances have been as variable as our team name, which changes according to the personnel.

At the end of the year Miriam is “retiring” as a helper at Christ Church Lunch Club, which Hanna attended regularly in her last years. She has, however, joined the kitchen team at Toddler Group, helping serve snacks twice a month. The recent launch of the Toddlers Instagram account has forced me to up my photography game - a special challenge when we can't show photos of the children, though I am used to working under that kind of constraint.

In Granny's footsteps

Hanna Cooper 1922-2025

In Flanders fields

Christ Church

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