It is a tremendous honour for me to propose the toast to the Bride and Groom. Traditionally, at weddings, the men do all the talking, while the women are expected to be smart, sophisticated and serenely silent. Those of you who know me will admit that I am not terribly smart or sophisticated - and Les tells me that I am never silent - so I am happy to strike a blow towards becoming a 21st Century woman and propose the toast today and I would like to thank Les, Helen and Jeremy, Diana and Joe for their encouragement and support.
There is, of course, another tradition about this toast - that the person who proposes it should have a fund of stories about the childhood and early youth of the Bride and Groom - to entertain the guests - and to embarrass the Bride and Groom. I want to set Helen and Jeremy's minds at rest on this point and assure them that this is one tradition which I will not be trying to break today.
February has always seemed to me the worst month of the year - it's cold dark and miserable and people get the flu - but good things do happen in February. Helen (like a few other people here) was born in February, Jeremy was born just 16 days later in March, and now they have chosen to brighten February 2002 for us by getting married today.
Most people will know that Helen and Jeremy met in their first term at Clare College Cambridge in 1991 - and they have been good friends ever since - although romance has only blossomed in the last four years or so.
So what were they like, back in 1991, as freshers? Let's look at Jeremy first... He was the first child and elder son of Diana and Joe - and he spent the first few years of his life in a little village in the Cotswolds. Anyone who knows Jeremy well will know that he loves being outdoors, walking or cycling, and no doubt his early years helped develop this love of the country.
Diana told me that as a little boy he was sometimes able to reduce tension and escape punishment because he had a happy knack of saying something which made her laugh - and we all know that Jeremy today has a lively sense of humour - a useful attribute in life!
I am told that he was a lively normal boy - who showed musical ability at an early age and started to learn the trumpet at about the age of 9. I understand that at Secondary level he organised a highly successful Brass Group - and it was Jeremy's inspiration to invite the Brass Quintet here today - to enrich the Marriage Service and to entertain us later on.
At school, Jeremy's main hobby was the Hiking Club - and I hear that he actually clocked up an amazing 500 miles. (Incidentally the man who inspired him to such heights was a teacher aptly named Mr. Walker).
As he went up the school he was obviously bright and destined for University, and he set himself the goal of Clare College because his uncle (who is with us tonight), went there in the previous generation and had outstanding success there.
But if we met Jeremy for the first time now, what would we discover about him? I think we would soon be aware of his outstanding ability and interest in the computer. Certainly he won a special niche in our affections by installing our computer, so that we could send and receive e-mails while Helen was in America. It is Jeremy, who, after lengthy discussions and planning with Helen, designed and created all the wedding stationery, which you have all seen.
What else have I gleaned about Jeremy? I know that following his father's example he is a fanatical supporter of Oldham Athletic Football Club - and at Clare when following a match he got so excited when they scored a goal that he leapt up and smashed the light fitting.
I also know that Jeremy is passionate about tea. Whereas most young wives are told that the way to their husband's heart is through his stomach, I think that Helen has already discovered that one way to Jeremy's heart is through a tea-pot.
So Jeremy met Helen in 1991 - but what was her childhood like? (Now here I am on much firmer ground!) Helen has an unusual background. She is an only child to Les and me but at the same time a fourth child for Les, and I think it is fair to say that she has gained advantages from both of these positions.
Certainly she has in many ways "bridged the generation gap", because not only has she a half sister and two half brothers (who are here today) but she also has 5 nephews and 2 nieces, all of whom are much more like cousins and friends than nephews and nieces.
What do we remember about her? We remember a little girl with an interesting turn of phrase, who as a toddler, at her second Christmas was absolutely convinced that robins have red vests.
Like Jeremy, she was able to avoid trouble with a sentence. I remember one occasion when I was getting cross and said something like "You know this won't do, big girls don't do this kind of thing", to which she replied "But I'm only little inside".
Also like Jeremy she was obviously musical - and took to the piano, recorder and clarinet as well as the school choir, with enthusiasm and determination.
In fact as a child, Helen was an enthusiast about many things... Brownies and badges and later Guides, singing, dancing, the Youth Orchestra, embroidery, competitions and puzzles, Sunday School, swimming (as long as you didn't have to get your face wet), drawing and making things. (A few people here will remember a strictly non-functioning drinks machine created out of a vegetable rack, a car windscreen washer and a lot of determination)... and then there was the Gym Club. Helen didn't really have great aptitude for athletics or gym but got into the team by dogged determination and practice.
Unlike Jeremy she was not much interested in hiking at school, although she has in later years taken to jogging and keeping fit, and while in Boulder one of the highlights was doing a half marathon. We know that she now has a comfortable pair of walking boots - it seems she has perhaps found another route to Jeremy's heart!
From a very early age it was clear that her main interest and passion was numbers and "sums". We remember that when she couldn't go to sleep as a little girl she would say "Give me something to think about". We would say something like "See how far you can count in 3's or 7's" or something similar and everything would go quiet. Then after a while a little voice would announce "I've got up to 4,396, what shall I do now?"
So her passion for Maths developed, and she made it to Clare College, Cambridge, her ultimate ambition - and there she met not only Jeremy but a whole group of friends who are with us today.
When we look back like this, since they started out as nervous and anxious Freshers, both Helen and Jeremy have come a long way, in every sense of that phrase. They have each become PhDs and moved on to research and in Helen's case lecturing - both gaining experience and maturity in varied ways and places.
They have managed to conduct a lot of their courtship at a very long distance - while Helen was in Boulder and Jeremy in Bristol - and more recently with Helen here in Leeds and Jeremy in Durham or London.
And now they are at a new starting point. Today they are Freshers at Marriage, and we wish them well. And now it's almost time for me to stop - because I am very aware that Jeremy must have been warned that with time most girls grow like their mothers - and I don't want to frighten him to death!
But there is one more thing I must do. Before I propose the toast I must fulfil a promise made to my father, who happily is here today. I promised that I would pass on to Helen and Jeremy the wise advice which he gave to Les and me over 30 years ago in his toast to the Bride and Groom. It was "Never let the sun go down on your anger". I leave that with them.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Please drink with me to the health and great happiness of Helen and Jeremy...