Duncan & Mandy's Website

Stuff about us!

| HOME | FOOT |

We are Mandy, Duncan and our daughter Michelle. We live in Wiltshire, England.

Here's a brief bit about each of us followed by a few pictures of some of our favourite places. Also see our annual newsletter to see what we have been up to since 1990.

Mandy

I became hooked on genealogy but never seem to find enough time to do it justice - all those loose ends that need sorting. This lead to taking photographs of local parish churches which in turn lead to constructing our website. Now when the sun shines I get itchy feet, wanting to go out and take photographs of churches. What a great hobby. Roll on retirement!

Another hobby I enjoy is singing; I belong to a choir - see Swindon Scratch Choir website for more info.

Duncan

My main interests are family history (hence this site), computers, and sports - particularly cricket and football. Yes, I'm one of those very rare breeds - a Swindon Town supporter (or should that be sufferer). I've worked in computing since leaving school (yes they did have computers in those days and no they weren't still using paper tape!) which has been handy when designing this website.

Michelle

Michelle spends all her time dancing, just stopping occasionally to eat and sleep. For 13 years she was a pupil of the Judith Hockaday School of Dance and Drama in Swindon, starting when she was five (learning ballet, national, tap, modern and jazz). During her time at JHS she passed nearly 60 dance examinations, took part in 17 shows at Swindon's Wyvern Theatre, The Bowl in the Town Gardens, Wootton Bassett and Bournemouth's Wintergardens Theatre. Michelle took part in Dance Festivals (competitions) travelling to Rugby, Bournemouth, Bristol and the Cotswolds, along with other competitions in Paignton, Manchester and London. JHS's staff taught Michelle to dance and gave her the opportunity to perform in shows; how lucky Michelle is to have found such talented, hard-working and dedicated people.

After leaving school Michelle spent two years studying full time on Swindon College's Dance Foundation Course (ballet, jazz, contemporary), at Swindon Dance.

In September 2002 Michelle moved to London to join the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance (at Brunel University). We hope her dance teachers are as proud of her as we are. In July 2005, as she graduated, Michelle performed her own choroegraphy - Rhythm Sux - in the School's show. A reporter from Dance Europe watched and wrote about the show in the next issue; this included a piece about Michelle which was probably the best review she will get! "The piece I enjoyed most was Michelle Ball's Rhythm Sux - a short solo which she performed to excerpts from K'nama. Much of my enjoyment was in response to her sense of rhythm, which bounced off every square inch of her epidermis. She moved with needle sharp precision, neat feet and fabulous energy. Combine that with her extraordinary musicality and she definitely got my gold star."

Michelle has now finished her professional training and is looking for full time employment in the dance world. Until her 'break' comes, she has been keeping herself fit, volunteering her choreography skills for a local youth project and in a local school, and, to pay her bills, working in various branches of New Look. We will be pleased to hear from anyone who can offer Michelle employment as a dancer.

Here are a few photos of her in costume (much to her embarrassment of course!).

2005

[Photo Paul Biggs *]
Feb 2000

Tap
[Photo Paul Biggs *]
Feb 1999

National Duet - Russian
Here winning 3rd place in All England Finals in London, July 2001
Also five 1st places,one 2nd and two cups at other festivals

* These photos were taken by (and copyright owned by) Paul Biggs of Performance Photography, 3 Paddock Gardens, Longlevens, Gloucester GL2 0ED, Tel. +44 (0)1452 532201, e:mail mailto:cotsarts@yahoo.co.uk
His photographs should NOT be copied without his permission. We have copied these photographs with his permission - thanks Paul.

Other Stuff

Due to Mandy's dread of flying and sailing, our holidays need to be accessible by land. This has never stopped us enjoying our holidays because Britain has everything!
We particulary enjoy our holidays in North Wales. We have a favourite hotel, Henfaes Hotel, in Criccieth and have been returning there since 1993; we quite often see the same guests year after year, so we're not the only ones who find the hotel particularly friendly and welcoming. And as for the locally made Cadwallader's ice-cream - pure heaven in a cone!
We like nothing more than to drive into Snowdonia and walk, not too far! on the side of the mountains, away from people, phones and cars. Here are a few shots of our favourite places in North Wales.

One of Criccieth's two beaches, showing the Castle

Snowdonia

Towards Llanberis

One of the many waterfalls on Snowdon

HOME Contact Us Errors Family Surnames Introduction Lea Family Main Index Rabbits Xmas Newsletters Your Photo TOP
This page was last updated on 8th July 2007.