I went to an old friends funeral today : Alan Riley . It was a beautiful and sad experience but a lot more hope and joy I noticed rather than sadness . The vicar was brilliant : thank God for the Church of England what would we do without it. He said just the right things . Several Richmond friends I had not seen for years were there, including old school friends , of course I was still at school when I met Alan in the pub , different times , and that was really good. Alan was a well liked man. We all went back to the Comrades Club in Richmond from Darlington and had a reception there and it was very cheerful by that time although a couple of people still were a bit teary . I was a bit teary at the Crematorium when I thought about the first times I met Alan in 1972. I'd like to thank Nic Jones Alan's friend from when they were 6 for organizing everything . What shocked me today was I met a lady who was part of our partying scene at the time (mid '70s) and we had a great and in depth chat about kids and getting through life . She'd been married since the late '70s. I hope to keep in touch with her. Her daughter is going to York Uni this October studying Physics and Clifford will (hopefully ) be in York Uni in her third year (2013). I dimly remember a very straight up and down young lady between 1976 and 1980 but I still can't quite picture her . A beautiful but thought provoking day and it was great to meet a lot of Alan's musician friends who seemed to know a lot about me as well. RIP Alan Riley.