Pyers was born on 1 June 1939. He was sent to Horris Hill (1948-52), Charterhouse (52-57) and Trinity College Cambridge (57-60) where he gained a 2.2 in Natural Sciences. He married Camilla Salvesen in 1963. They have three children, Jeremy (1965), Donald (1966) and Jessica (1974), and currently have 7.5 grandchildren. Now retired, his working life was spent as a patent agent in private practice in central London, and he finished up as senior partner of Stevens, Hewlett & Perkins. He has been a magistrate for 20+ years, and his main interests are mountaineering and contract bridge. Here is his account of a cruise he and Camilla took in 2002.

There was a full moon on 6 February. We got up at five to find a cloudless sky, dawn breaking, the bulk of Cape Horn (400 m high) with its two lights 8 km to the North; no wind and a calm sea - not what you expect.

We had one problem getting there. Swan Hellenic flew us out with European Airtours (flight EAF 475), who had not been to South America before. Our elderly plane stopped to refuel at Caracas, then set off South for two hours before circling repeatedly over the Amazon and finally returning to Caracas. It appeared that a flight plan had not been finalised before departure (!), and that Peru had refused us permission to overfly them, possibly because they thought we were Egyptian Air Force!

Schedules on our cruise were surprisingly tight. As a result of our delayed arrival at Valparaiso, our first stopover at Castro had to be abandoned. No matter. We spent several days cruising gently down the Chilean Fjords in light winds and warm sunshine - what a contrast to the conditions encountered by H W Tilman, described in 'Mischief in Patagonia'. We did a detour into a fjord where a glacier calved small icebergs into the sea - ice-blue, sunset-pink with the Paine Towers jagged above.

There were 30-odd bridge players. One afternoon as we started, the organiser said: 'In a couple of hours we will be passing below the snout of a glacier. Would you like to stop so that we can look at it?' 'No, play on', came the reply. As we passed through this superb scenery, Pyers bid and made seven no trumps, vulnerable, doubled and redoubled.

Through the Magellan Strait to Punta Arenas, flat and dry. As Pyers wandered through the streets, he was accosted and kissed on the cheek by someone who proved to be our next door neighbour from Litlington. (We did know she was in South America, but had not expected to meet). Then round Tierra del Fuego to Ushuia, where it was hot and still. While Pyers did a mountain trek, Camilla rode in a catamaran along the Beagle channel encountering dolphins, sea lions, fur seals, Magellan penguins, and a great variety of seabirds.

The Falkland Islands were cold and wet with penguins. Douglas Hurd was on board and had been lecturing about the war and Margaret Thatcher, so there was much interest in the battlefield sites. Then 1000 miles North, with albatrosses swooping over the waves, to Montevideo, and finally Buenos Aires. There we dined with Tim's lawyer friend Maureen Williams (gloomy about the state of the country), who proved to be a good friend of our prospective (if they ever move in) next door neighbour Jeremy Carver.

As a cruise ship, we found Minerva 11 just about ideal. A well-equipped and comfortable cabin with a balcony. Excellent food and random seating, so that at every meal we encountered new and interesting people. Lecturers included a politician, diplomat, bishop, broadcaster, bird man and marine biologist. A good mix of relaxation and activity. We shall cruise again, probably on Minerva 11, but not soon - many were doing several cruises back-to-back.

We finished with a tour to Iguacu Falls, less water than Niagara, but gorgeous scenery, more beautiful than Vic falls. We had monkeys and toucans playing in the trees outside our bedroom window. A final day at Rio de Janeiro. What with standing in queues and being counted on and off buses, we have become somewhat institutionalised, but hope to recover.

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