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I recently spent a week in Bahrain together with my wife, Chris, and close friends Peter and Grace Russell.
We had all lived in Bahrain almost 40 years ago. Peter and I taught at the RAF All-Age School in Muharraq.
Peter was single and lived on the RAF base and Chris and I lived with our young family in Manama, near the Gulf Hotel. Grace came later. She was in the RAF and came to Bahrain to work as a midwife at the hospital and, in due course, met Peter and was eventually married to him.
After such a long time away we found very few things that we recognised but the old RAF hospital was still there.
This is where our daughter Anna was born. It was also where Grace delivered the last baby, Peter Jensen, on the airbase before the British forces withdrew. I wonder where he is now? Grace was very pleased to find the maternity wing was still there but now serving the needs of the local population.
So how did we find things? We expected substantial changes but were still amazed at the amount and quality of the developments.
The new buildings in Manama delighted us, especially the unusual architecture of some of the high-rise buildings.
There seemed to be much better housing facilities for the local population and we didn't see any of the houses built out of palm fronds that we called barousties.
We had vivid memories of donkeys everywhere; they were widely used for personal transport and pulling refuse and delivery carts.
A lot of people used bicycles and there were few cars so the roads were fairly empty.
Now, there is a distinct rush hour and the traffic around Manama is typical of almost any British city.
The increase in the provision of tarmac roads has been way beyond expectation.
In 1970 the area south of Awali was empty desert. On New Year's Day the RAF station organised a car safari to the southernmost tip and there was much pushing and digging when vehicles became stuck in the sand.
Now at Sakhir the marvellous Bahrain International Circuit has been constructed. We were fortunate enough to be taken on a tour around the splendid state-of-the-art facilities there and will watch next year's opening F1 race on television with much greater interest.
Initially, we had found it difficult to find our bearings because land reclamation and high-rise buildings has altered the outlook so much. The apartment where we were staying in Jufair has been built on reclaimed land and the Gulf Hotel, which was a few minutes walk away from our original house and surrounded on three sides by water, is now quite a way from the coast.
We eventually located the old mosque that was near our house but, alas, the house has long since been replaced by a larger dwelling. We did think that we recognised the trees that were in the garden.
On Fridays we sometimes went to see the horse racing. Some of the older girls from the school in Muharraq often rode the horses and the last race was occasionally a camel race.
Today, the horse racing continues but is much more sophisticated and there is a smart new track with a grass surface.
We visited the new golf course - in our day it was oiled sand but now the browns have turned to greens.
We were able to use the private beach at Zallaq. There were little tables and at about 11am coffee was served. We had other sports facilities at clubs in Manama including the British Club, which is still in existence, and at the two camps at Muharraq and Juffair.
We went in search of dhow-building but failed to find any. It would be a pity if this ancient skill has died out. Perhaps, we were looking in the wrong place. Certainly many of the old crafts were well represented in the National Museum, as was the long history back through the realms of time as far back as Dilmun.
We were very impressed with this very modern museum.
We also visited the World Heritage site at Qal'at al Bahrain, the ancient harbour and former capital that we knew as the Portuguese fort.
In the intervening years much more has been excavated and secrets of the past revealed. The interpretative centre places the discoveries in context and was well worth several hours of our time.
On this trip we were accompanied by David and Sara Axtell who live in Bahrain. Sara was a former pupil of mine in Nottingham and a friend of my daughter. It was good to meet up again.
What hasn't changed much?
Well, the souq is much as it was, the small colourful stalls are still there and the hustle and bustle of a timeless trade remains as exciting as ever.
I had a pair of trousers made to measure in 24 hours just as I had 40 years ago.
We missed the old fish market which Chris used to go to but the facilities at the new market are much more hygienic and there seemed to be a much greater range of fish for sale.
Despite all the changes we still found Bahrain a wonderfully warm and welcoming country.
Writer's fact file
Name: David Ditcham
Age: 68
Address: Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK
Occupation: Retired teacher
Link to Bahrain: Taught maths and science at the RAF school in Muharraq, 1970-71
Married to: Christine
Children: Patrick and Anna. Anna was born in Bahrain
