Like many friendships, I'm not quite sure where ours began.
It was the school year 1975/76 and I'm fairly sure that Ian and my brother Derek started out as friends.
I vaguely remember that we were all invited to tea at Ian's home and thereafter Ian and I became "bestest friends!"
In September of 1976 I started attending a weekly boarding school in Exeter, some 80 miles from home. This meant travelling to Exeter on Monday mornings and returning home Friday afternoons for the weekend.
Amazingly, our young friendship continued to grow, a fact that I am extremely grateful for.
Many of my school friends found that the routine of boarding school meant that they lost touch with their friends at home.
Ian and I grew up together sharing interests in music, all sorts of games, outdoor activities etc. Take a look at Blindo's Wet Weekend Page.
We were into go-carts, which we made from scrap wood and scavenged pram wheels; painted with any old dregs of paint we could find dumped on the Common.It was the lack of choice in our finds of dregs that lead to our fastest ever cart being painted in a wicked design of white background and fiery tongues of licking flames!
It's just a shame the only paint we could find for the flames was a very girlie pink!
Ian was and is still, able to play with anything mechanical so it wasn't long before we started to put bicycles together and began exploring the common land, humps & hollows in our local area in what we termed Treking!
Eventually we would cycle for miles, exploring the New forest and even cycling to Wareham loaded with tents etc.
I remember that camping trip so well.
Having found a site just outside Stoborough, Wareham, we set up the tent and each set about cooking our evening meal.
We both had a single burner gas ring which stowed away in our rucksacks. I remember opening a tin of beans and sausages into my billy can and setting it on the burner to warm.
I was looking forward to the tin of rice pudding to follow, but with just one ring, I'd have to heat both courses before putting on some water to boil for a mug of tea.
I'd just finished eating the first course When I noticed that Ian was already slurping a mug of tea!
When I asked how he'd managed to boil water and heat his meal, he announced that he'd eaten his beans and rice pudding cold from the tin!
I had to remind myself that he was from Bournemouth, where strange people live!
As we grew older the challenge of chatting up girls drew us into voluntary work for a local charity group, helping out with their Summer Play Group.
The group was for Disabled Children and their brothers and sisters, but it was the girls that volunteered to help that made it worth while!Even if they were mad on Shakin' Stevens, hey Ian?
We organised 3 sponsored events to raise funds for this charity.
A Swimmathon, where several teams competed to swim the most number of lengths in a 2 hour period. The only hinderance being that all competitors had to swim in fancy dress.
Ian dressed up as a take-off of Freddie Star's Hitler. (See Picture Above)
Both Ian and I were into the CB radio craze that swept the Country at the end of the 70's, early 80's, so it was logical for our next sponsored event to be a 24 hour Modulation on CB radio.
We were lucky to have enough contacts to keep chatting through the whole 24 hours! How many times can you say, "1 9 for a copy?"
Our last sponsored event for this charity was in 1983 when Ian, my father and I undertook a sponsored walk on Dartmoor. Despite going well prepared, I don't think any of us had been so cold, hungry and tired before.
Apart from a night near the edge of the Military Firing Range during which we felt sure the next shell was going to land on our tent, and a couple of odd incidents involving calls of nature and the German Students who kept appearing at the wrong moment, the walk was a great success.
As we got older it would not be unheard of for the odd pint or 12 to pass our lips, as the picture above shows.
Following our rapid exit from full time education, Ian found a make-do job with a local bicycle shop and I started work for the Health Authority at Hillcrest, a unit for adults with Learning Disabilities.
After 6 months or so Ian also came to work at Hillcrest.
We were both working there when I married Mandy, Ian being my best man, of course!
Ian met his first wife, Sue, while working at Hillcrest and they soon moved on to bigger and better things. Last updated on 1 January 2012
It's sad but we both had our lives to lead and families to care for so we lost touch for some considerable time! About 14 years!
However, as can only be the case with two friends that have so much in common, following Ian's divorce, we re-established the links and have been in touch ever since.
I'm pleased to write here that Ian found a lovely young lady called Karen, who has since become Mrs Baxter, and both seem extremely happy. 
The picture above was taken whilst we both worked at Hillcrest and had taken a group of our patients out on a day's ramble along the Dorset Coastal Path.
Ian has this knack of never being far from "a couple of scoops" as he put's it.
I'm no great philosopher and don't feel the need for a belief in God's, Karma, the white rabbit, copper bangles, the Yetti, UFO's, rubbing on seaweed for boils! However, I do believe in those I love and trust and have this deep knowledge that all I ever need do is pick up the phone to call upon the strength of our friendship and I sincerely trust that Ian feels the same way.
So I'll raise a Glass to you mate and wish you all the best.
Cheers!
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Copyright: R J Moore 2008-2012 all rights reserved.