ooh, my ears are still ringing, the party was as noisy as I feared. There was a semi-quiet room where I spent most of my time drinking cider with berries and lime (never tried that before), but I didn't get to meet many future relatives until after midnight when some guests started going home and the music was turned down a bit. Never mind, everyone seemed to be very impressed with jno jnr, saying how caring and how proper and formal he is - it turns out that three weeks before surprising Lucy with his proposal, he asked her father's permission to seek her hand in marriage. For heaven's sake, how formal is that??
Father was at the party, though he left mother long ago and has a new, younger wife, who was also there; however mother says she no longer wishes to kill him.
The bride to be has already booked wedding and reception, even though it's a year away, and some of the decorations too... she says she was lucky to get them as people usually book more than a year ahead these days. Golly, life is becoming very organised these days, isn't it?
And we all had a nice brunch on the town square this morning before returning home. So really quite a pleasant outing, and the train fare was less than £10 return, so it didn't break the bank.