Before

 

 

Obviously my name is Paul Buckingham.

 

I practised as a solicitor, mainly in connection with commercially related matters and tax until I retired in 2003 - when I was in my mid-fifties.

 

Although much of life as a solicitor concerns admin, you do get to use your grey matter on most days.

When I retired, I thought that I should keep my brain reasonably active and so decided to indulge one of my long-time interests - philosophy. I joined a philosophy discussion group and I also started to put down in writing some of the ideas that had been going round in my head for some time.

 

About a year later, I decided to try to learn Italian. In connection with that, I write short pieces which I translate into Italian - with more or less success. They are listed under the heading 'A Point of View' and deal with life, the universe and everything. My Italian teacher is fortunately very patient with all the errors I make. Some of the (corrected) Italian versions are also on this site.

 

I live with my wife in a small country town in Warwickshire which, fortunately, is within a reasonable distance both of Straford and Birmingham, so that we have easy access to the theatre, concerts and the opera.

 

For a long time, my wife and I have been involved with France in one way or another (originally through our twinning association) and now have a number of friends there and speak French reasonably well - despite a very unpromising start at school.

 

After

 

My retirement presentation

 

		We let out our place in Normandy. The house is not far from Falaise and about an hour due south from the Normandy beaches. It's in a lovely area called the Suisse Normande, with its beautiful rivers, hills and valleys
		The house has 4 en-suite double bedrooms, an orchard and views of the countryside, whilst being only five minutes walk from the centre of the village, with its restaurants, bars and shops. For details please look at our website, bprops.co.uk.

We also let out a holiday property in Padstow, Cornwall - the town where Rick Stein has his famous 'Seafood Restaurant' and runs cookery courses.
Our house is in the main part of Padstow, but is newly built (2003) and so has all the comforts you would expect, including 3 en-suite double bedrooms. The web-site to look at again is bprops.co.uk.

We often go over to stay in Annecy, France.  Annecy is in the Alps and takes its name from Lake Annecy (or vice versa).  The lake is about 8 miles long and 1 mile wide.  Annecy is a town of about 50,000 people, with a beautiful town centre which dates back to the middle ages.  For the French it is a very popular holiday destination as it is very pretty and well located.  It has canals running through it and you can take cruises on the lake. From it you can drive up into the Alps. Mont Blanc is about an hour away. There are various attractive towns and villages around the lake and in the mountains.

My e-mail address is paul@paulbuckingham.com and I should be pleased to hear from you.

Paul Buckingham