After the Bristol project I plunged into teaching physics at a seedy grammar school in Camberwell, South London and the following April was married to Janet (neé Arnold) - we had met at Cambridge Young Friends (Quakers). I led the Polish Work and Study Project in Poland in 1964(?) which was run on lines very similar to the Russian projects.

In 1966 we applied to teach English in China through answering an advertisement on the back of the New Statesman. We were all set to depart in July 1966 with our luggage packed and ready to go to the docks, when the whole enterprise was put on hold because of the ^Óglorious proletarian cultural revolution^Ô which was then sweeping through China. I taught for a year at a comprehensive (all-ability or non-selective school) in Peckham (South London) and a year later we went to teach at a Quaker School in Kenya, now with a daughter aged two and a son, six weeks old.

We stayed in Kenya for four years, returning with four children, two having been born there. I taught for two years at a new comprehensive school outside Leeds in the north of England. In 1974 I joined an examinations board and we moved to Newcastle upon Tyne (the real North of England) where we stayed until 1985. We were active members of the local Quaker meeting during this time and served on various committees locally and nationally. In particular I was ^Óat the table^Ô of the Yearly Meeting from 1981-1990, acting as the Yearly Meeting Clerk for the last four years.

In 1985 we moved to Manchester, my work continuing to be with school examinations which were going through huge upheavals at the time (which made the work very demanding). In 1992 I took early retirement from examinations, this being made easier by an amalgamation of two examining boards. From 1993-1999 Janet and I were the Quaker Representatives in Belfast, employed by a joint Committee of English and Irish Quakers. This was by far and away more interesting than examinations, so I will describe the work we did in a little more detail.

The main focus of our work in Northern Ireland was in addressing the conflict there through identifying and, where possible, removing gaps in communication between opposing groups and between the community and state institutions. Relationships with the security forces and the state were coloured and largely determined by the underlying community tensions, which also affected perceptions about basic human rights issues. Although the issues of equality in housing and employment have largely been addressed over the years, these matters remain important and we participated in the continuing debate. After the first cease-fire in 1994, we were actively involved in the parades controversy and the policing of parades. Following an interest in one specific dispute, we acquired a substantial knowledge and experience of the parading issue and contributed significantly to the discussions, which resulted in new legislation and the creation of the Parades Commission. We built up relationships with senior police officers and civil servants and enabled them to meet individuals and groups who would normally be reluctant to engage with them. We built up good relationships with many senior politicians and civil servants in Dublin and London as well as Northern Ireland, and were from time to time able to facilitate useful meetings.

In particular we came to know Mo Mowlam quite well who says we helped her to hit the ground running when she was made Secretary of State for Northern Ireland after the 1997 Labour election victory.

We left Northern Ireland in the summer of 1999 and moved to our present house on the edge of the small market town or Richmond in North Yorkshire. I am now serving on the Central Committee of Quaker Peace and Social Witness and am Chair of the Trustees which look after various Quaker properties and charities in the Wensleydale.

Alan Quilley