On August 28th 2016, OC John Ashley (Dolphin) took 'Whit' and his daughter Mary Kennedy for lunch at the posh Epicurean restaurant in Edgbaston, to celebrate his 91st birthday.

John's wife Jessica came along to meet Whit for the first time. He was in good form, looking forward to the imminent birth of his first great grandchild.

Whit succeeded in getting John through both his Eng Lang and Eng Lit 'O Levels' in 1961, before going on to do the same for actress-in-waiting Julie Walters at a school in Birmingham.



After lunch the four of us went back to Whit's house in Harborne for a strawberry ice cream dessert course, prepared by Mary. 

Mary herself was nominated for a BAFTA award for her work as sound supervisor on a wildlife series called Supersense, at BBC Bristol.