The day had begun wet, dull and gloomy. So Peter had decided to explore the old country house.  On the ground floor he went through one room after another, finding out all sorts of interesting things, like clocks, vases and ornaments.  He went upstairs and looked in more rooms.  He went down two steps, then up five more. A door was in front of him, ajar.  He walked past and found himself in a large, spacious, rectangular room.  All the furniture, except a wardrobe, was covered with white dust sheets, so it was the wardrobe which stood out.  Peter looked at it. It was a tall, squat, wooden wardrobe. It had panels in its doors and a large mirror on one large panel. Peter tried the door. It opened and the wardrobe was full of fur coats. Peter stepped inside. 

 He pushed his way past the coats to feel the back. But soon they ended and Peter found himself a staring out on a bright, gigantic world from the top of the hill.  There was a large forest to his left above which strange birds swooped and wheeled. To his right was a broad valley, crossed by babbling brooks and streams. Behind him were tall, formidable looking, snowcapped mountains. In front was a wide plain, a wood, some tall hills, and then the blue green sea, dotted with islands and crests of waves.

 Peter noticed that there was a stone  staircase leading down the hill, across the plane, over the streams on stone bridges, and behind the hills. It was covered by pictures of dragons and other monsters, as well as unicorns and creatures like fauns  and dryads.

 Peter went down the road, across the daisy covered plain, and over the bridges, until he reached a crossroads.  He stood in the middle and looks down each road. The first one, he knew, lead to the hill and the wardrobe, but he did not know where the other three lead – they were surrounded in mystery.  Peter wondered for a while and then chose the right hand road. He walked down it, gazing all the time at the paving, the butterflies, birds and flowers. The road turned and led towards the hills by the wood. Now Peter saw that the road lead to a rocky cave. By the cave sitting on a large boulder in the sunshine was a faun.

 The faun had an iced drink by his side, but when he saw Peter he jumped into the air, nearly upsetting his drink. "Hello!" he said. "Hello!" replied Peter.  There was a silence. Then the faun said: " Would you like to come down the mine?" "Yes, please", said Peter.  So they went down into the mine.  All the way the faun  was explaining that the road ran through the hills and to the palace by the ocean, and that they would see something that Peter would like. By now Peter had noticed that there was a strange radiance coming from ahead.  Then, as they turned a corner, Peter saw the reason and gasped. 

 The cave they were standing in was enormous, and looks more like a pleasant grove than a cave. There were trees laden with bunches of diamonds, rubies and other precious and semi-precious stones, and it was these that caused the radiance.  While Peter was contemplating the site, the faun  had taken two chests and was now putting diamonds into them. He gave one to Peter. Then they walked around the cave and looked at the jewels on the trees, until they came back to the place where they had started from. 

 Peter said he must go, taking with him his chest of jewels. He thanked the faun and they walk together back to the wardrobe. "Come agin to Belletonda", said the faun.  Peter said he would, said "Goodbye",  and stepped inside.  He pushed his way through the fur coats and stepped into the room. Next time he came he would meet the faun and go down the other roads in Belletonda -  The land on the other side of the wardrobe door. 

This was Richard's account of receiving his prize for essay writing from the Lord Mayor, His essay was entitled 'Two Sides of a Door';

'Rachel Dyson, Tracy Kelly and I went to the Town Hall on the 5th June. We sat in the front row of some seats in the Lord Mayor's Parlour. An attendant announced the arrival of the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress. We all rose. The Lord Mayor asked us to sit down. He said he would speak as he felt and showed us a book he had won 54 years ago. He asked us to pass it along and look at the fly-leaf.

Then he gave out the prizes to the four schools. He received kisses from the eleven girls and as I was the only boiy there I became worried. However, the Lord Mayor shook my hand instead. He asked us whether we wanted the book signed "F J Balcombe" or "Fred Balcombe". We all decided on "Fred Balcombe". Our book was the the Guiness Book of Records.

After the prizes had been given a photographer from the Manchester Evening News asked the Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress and the eleven girls and me to go on to one of the staircases to have our picture taken. He asked the Lord Mayor to hold his book while we looked over his shoulder. He took five photographs. Then we went back into the Parlour for orangeade and cakes. I looked at the Lord Mayor's chain and Tracy showed him her father's name in the Guiness Book of Records for 4 DSMs. It was an experience I shall never forget.'  

Richard loved parties! "It is fun!" So we jointly hosted a few parties at his grotesque-style decorated apartment. The backroom of his 180 m2 apartment on Singel 56 in Amsterdam, was a the perfect setting for any party: A large dining table could easily sit 10-12 people, the 4,5 meter high ceilings covered in paintings, mostly 18 and 19th century landscapes and portraits, tigers on the floor, statues next to the big sofa.

Guests all dressed up for the theme of this murder: A 1987 stock market crash murder in Manhattan.  Girls with big hair, shoulder pads, bright make up and boys as Wall Street yuppies and their bosses.

Richard cooked a five course dinner and I asked if I should help but he had it all figured out, "O, it is easy, I make canapes, then a soup, we have beef, and then port and cheese, then coffee and chocolates." Easy, like that, he kept surprising me. All courses with matching wines of the wine auctions at Chambridge. He loved to buy wines at auction, 1954 ports, 1970-s Pomerol, wonderful bottles, one better than the other. He also danced the tango. All in one day, just like that.

He kept surprising everyone with his many talents.

Each guest played the role of their invitation, crashed stockbroker, photojournalist, bored wife in a mega penthouse etc.etc. And I remember, at the end of the dinner you had to raise suspicions, when Peter Biloen said: "I think I did it"

Half way the soup, the moustache of Per was in his soup, one guest more steady in his or her role than the other, we had such a special and fun evening.

I like to share this party memory as the holiday season is nearing, Richard loved to meet people, host parties, dance, attend parties and in so many pictures on this site he is in costume. He had a large pile of coustumes in his basement, that if you did not yet dress up you could find things in the box.

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Richard lived in Amsterdam from 2000-2002/3 in a large apartment Singel 56-Bel. He planned to stay for a few decades and was slowly renovating, part by part, room by room. In total 180 m2 over two floors, frontroom, backroom.

The paintings were good portraits, usually with an unknown sitter. He loved to solve the puzzle. Where, who, when.