Bill would never be heard to say No to a plan or to a project.

When Booze Cruises were invented in the 1990s we were amongst the first to cross the Channel with the aim of liberating hundreds of 'stubbies' - some of which we'd drink sat on top of the plastic covered dung heap on my allotment along with Adrian - or box loads of French wine and loads of smelly cheese that fragranced the car on our return journey to the UK.

We sailed from Newhaven to Dieppe and had no plans for a destination. At each road junction or roundabout we 'tossed a coin' to decide whether we'd turn left, or turn right. We finished up in St Valerie-sur-Mer.  We found a hotel for the night and I'd requested, in my best grammar school O-level French, a twin-bedded room for the night 'avec douche'. I left Bill to check out the room whilst I went to bring the car around with our luggage. When I returned I found Bill rushing out of the hotel shouting "I'm NOT sleeping with you". On a more sober check of the room we found that the two beds could be separated and the entrance door hid the door to the loo and 'douche'. All was well and I can confirm that Bill and I never shared the same bed - ever !

On the same trip we searched for a place to eat. Bill always was impressed by the offer of a free half-bottle of wine. This drew us into a restaurant near the docks/marina. As I walked in first I noticed that it was frequented by men only. Believing it to be a gay-bar I tried to back out, but Bill was pushing me forward into the bar with a typical quip -  "they have scented New Blood".  As in the days of the News of the World newspaper - we refused their (sailors) offer and went elsewhere for our meal. The adventure ended with us back in the UK illuminating the South Downs with my headlamp dip beam as we were well loaded with 100s of bottles of wine and beer. We had many overseas trips liberating beer and wine ... but we used a minibus as it could carry so much more ! Such good times Bill that lasted through the decades to 2021. We miss you Bill - there are so many more stories to tell all of which are full of Bill's humour, the telling of tales and the offer of yet another beer.