Scuba Diving

In 2009, Lauren and I had a 'try dive' whilst on holiday in Cyprus.

For me it was a revelation, making me think "Why have I never done this before?!?!"

In November, 2010, I booked myself a week in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to take the PADI Open Water course and become a qualified diver.

You can read about my diving experiences here - There's a lot to cover!

Sounds and Motions - Music and Tech reviews.

Skiing

We love skiing. We always used to say that when we won the lottery, we'd buy a place in Kirchberg, Austria and wintering there.

I started skiing when I was about 22, Mandy about 5 years later and Lauren, our daughter, has been skiing since she was 2 on and off!

Ryan joined us for some of our skiing holidays, but was never as enthusiastic.

As the skiing in southern England is a little limited, we've skiied in Austria, France, Canada, East Coast USA, Bulgaria and Italy More.

Where Are They Now?

If you went to Ferndown Upper School in the period 1975 - 1979, drop me an E-Mail..

Some of the names I recall from then are Michael Richardson, Simon Marlow, Tim Matthews, Clive Bartlett, Tony Rodwell, Brian Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell, Sarah Crocker, Wendy Price, Kay Anderson, Paula Hard, Vanessa Thomas. If any ring a bell with you, drop me a mail.

Thrust SSC

The British have a wonderful attitude to achieving seemingly pointless, but technically amazing things. Possibly the most notable example of this is our love for breaking the Land Speed Record.More.

Our Name

The Saxby name is not that common, but, equally, it's not one of those super rare names.

There was a character called Bert Saxby in the Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever and there's a cricketer and singer (In a band called Arnold, I think) named Mark Saxby.

You can read a bit more about the Saxby name here.

Travel

Most people like to travel and we're no exception.

We used to spend most of our holiday and money on skiing holidays, but we like to visit interesting places for our summer holidays. We don't really enjoy lounging on beaches, so we favour active or city breaks.More.

Fencing

For many years, the idea of fencing appealed to me. Not the chance to keep myself away from the neighbours' prying eyes, but the tactical game of attack and defence using blades known as Foil Fencing. However, it took many years before I found a local place to take it up.

I'll be honest, the clashing of blade against blade was great fun and fencing allows one to vent a little agression without encountering the kind of 'martial arts' minority who think hurting people is the fun bit. More.

Mandy's trip to Machu Pichu

In June 2002, Mandy satisfied an ambition by making a trip to Machu Pichu. She treked along the Inca Trail on a trip organised by the National Deaf Children's SocietyMore.

Who are we?

We are (unsuprisingly) the Saxbys. I'm Mark (meaning - Warlike!) Saxby, my wife is Mandy (meaning - Lovable!!!). Our daughter, Lauren (meaning - Laurel crowned!?!) and son, Ryan.

We now (2024) have two grandchildren, Zara and Joey, as well.

We live in England in Fleet, Hampshire. which is OK.

 

Holiday reviews

Some of our summer holidays have been spent boating on the Shannon River in Ireland, on a cottage on a dairy farm in Carmathenshire, Wales, in a villa in the Algarve, a flying visit to California, camping in Venice (well, ok, near...), caravaning in northern France and on a road trip around the Western US.

More recently we've visited Amalfi, Madeira, Cuba, The Azores, Jordan, Andalucia, in Spain and the Lake District and Isles of Scilly in the UK More.

Mark's School Cruise in the Med, 1976

I resurrected some of the horrible 110 format slides (and a few 120 format ones) I took on a school cruise I was lucky enough to go on back in 1976.

The pictures and report are here.

Links