WE recently enjoyed a holiday in your wonderful town, my husband Dave returning to his homeland after seven years. It was the first time that I and our three children had been outside Australia.

We enjoyed the most wonderful experiences imaginable and have extraordinarily happy memories of our holiday. Everyone showed us great friendship and hospitality and we were impressed with Bury, its market and shopping complex.

There are no pubs in Australia quite like those in England. Dave especially loved your fish and chips, which are in a class of their own, and I fell in love with your pies and pasties - so much so that I ate one almost every day.

We visited London, Chester, York, Wales, Haworth, Stratford and Birmingham, just to mention a few, and I was overawed by the history which was so prominent everywhere. This was especially interesting for me as I teach history. To see those castles and cathedrals, which go back hundreds of years, is an experience beyond words and I am now able to give my students first-hand information about these places which before were only pictures in books. I am the resource now.

Until this holiday I was totally oblivious to the fact that I had an accent. In England we were the odd ones out. However, some people were excellent at saying "G'day mate".

Overall, our holiday was one which has changed our lives. We view everything a little differently now. We will return one day but in the meantime we live with fond memories and the knowledge that we share a special part of the world so far away.

HELEN FREARS,

Victoria, Australia.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.