Tag Archives: coventry

Glorious autumn – for one day only

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Stormy sky above Aldeburgh last weekend

Decided to go to Coventry on Wednesday, because it was forecast to be the only half-decent day this week. Didn’t start out too well, but in Coventry after a good drive the sun was shining and everything was glorious autumn. Andrew was in good form, and Julia came over to The Langleys to have a chat with us while I was there (I had remembered to phone her while en route, and fortunately she was free). The house seemed in better nick, especially Andrew’s room. After Julia left, Andrew and I went to Friday’s for a steak lunch. He had a gigantic sundae intended for two. Afterwards got some petrol and checked the tyres, which were strangely very low on one side. It may be that this was the cause of a problem with the automatic levelling of the headlights, because when I was on the way home, halfway across the Fens, the levelling suddenly sorted itself out, and has been OK ever since *touches wood*.

Journey back was not good. The A14 was solid after the A1: I realised just in time and turned north up the A1 before skirting north of Huntingdon and reaching the A141. There was another hold-up at Chatteris (heavy traffic at roundabout), but I thought I was making good progress when I reached Nordelph to find that the road to Downham Market was arbitrarily shut. No advance warning. Using my vast knowledge of the area 😉 I eventually located the totally unsigned alternative route via Barroway Drove.

Weather took a nose-dive on Thursday, with high winds and rain, but I managed to get to Paston in the evening for a trustees’ meeting. Slightly nervous journey home because wind was very strong, but no problem. Earlier Dot had become trapped in the Longwater shopping complex after the southern bypass was closed by an accident and traffic was gridlocked on the exit road into Norwich. It took more than an hour to clear, but fortunately Dot spotted that she could get back on to the bypass instead of travelling into Norwich, as most drivers were doing.

Today still very windy but dry, and I walked into the city to buy Dot’s birthday present, plus a couple of books, while she took the car for a valeting by some non-English and therefore very hardworking guys off Aylsham road. Great job!  She then had a meeting with head teacher friends in the city, and I went to Morrisons to restock an empty fridge. When Dot got home she was excited by a piece of furniture, so we drove up, caught its owners just before they shut up shop and bought it. It is a corner unit in oak which will hold our television and a few other things. It will be delivered next Friday. A bargain, I have to say. Well, I don’t, but I will. As I had just paid our house insurance for the year, it turned out to be an expensive day.

Goats, piano and a cold cathedral

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Wisteria flowering in our back garden for the first time in a quarter of a century

The warm weather persists. Today we are in the mid-20s: one of those warm, calm summer days we don’t see enough of. We’re trying to resist the temptation to hurtle out in the car, on the grounds that everyone else will be doing the same. Still, we might venture a walk later on. We had expected Andrew to be with us this weekend, but he was not well enough to come. In fact when Phil and I went to Coventry yesterday to move some more of his stuff from Gareth’s to The Langleys, we found him to be in a sad state, and although I was intending at first to bring him back with us anyway, the longer we were with him, the worse he seemed, and in the end we decided it wasn’t practical, either from his point of view or from ours. It was sad to see him so fearful. We did manage to get quite a bit of his stuff moved, including three or four storage cubes which have given him more space in his room to accommodate it. I tried to get him to select what he wanted to bring, but he wasn’t able to do it, and eventually I had to make the decisions, while Phil, with a lot of help from Gareth – Andrew’s former carer, who is talking of moving to Portugal to rear goats – shifted the heavy stuff. Phil and I left for home about 4pm, but because of heavy traffic and a couple of diversions didn’t get to Norwich until 7.30pm. Admittedly, we had a meal on the way …

Dot and I completed our nap hand of Norfolk and Norwich Festival Concerts on Wednesday and Thursday. Dot had been at Overstrand on Wednesday morning, but got back in time to take the bus up to Castle Meadow and walk the rest of the way to the Assembly House for a piano recital by Reinis Zarins, who journeyed from Prokoviev to Liszt by way of Schoenberg, which made for some surprisingly hilly scenery. Amazing technique. I was a little surprised that the hall wasn’t full, but the Roman Catholic Cathedral was packed for our final concert of the festival, billed as Tallis in Wonderland (see what they did there?). This was a group of six singers – British, despite their name,  I Fagiolini – who used a rather innovative approach to 15th and 16th century music. Unaccompanied voices, but a lot of strange presentation, particularly running round the church and singing from different individual positions, with additional words and singing from loudspeakers. I found the concert annoying at first, but eventually liked some of the ideas and movement; however, the overriding feeling was that it was very, very cold and I wanted them to get to the end as quickly as possible. This was made worse by the fact that it had been a warm day, and so no-one was wearing heavy clothing. The temperature inside the cathedral must have been about 15 degrees colder than outside. Felt sorry for the performers, who had to do it all again later in the evening. Felt even sorrier for the people who were going to come to the second, and presumably even colder, performance. Suggested on Twitter that it should be renamed Tallis on Ice.

We walked briskly home afterwards and snuggled up in front of the television for an hour or so. Earlier in the day Colin had come to re-lay a bit of our drive, which was cracking up. He discovered that our downpipe didn’t go anywhere except under the drive, so he changed plans (after discussion) and eventually – after discovering a gas pipe – went for a kind of stone-filled soakaway covered by pebbles. We are thinking of putting in a semi-circular water butt to solve the where-will-the-water-go problem. Meanwhile we now have a large soil-filled, wood box for vegetables in the back garden – but the really big news is that our wisteria has flowered for the first time in 26 years! It has got together with some honeysuckle and looks really good.

Succession of rainbows

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One of many rainbows seen on the way home to Norwich from Coventry.

It’s 10.15pm, and I’ve already put my watch forward for BST, so it seems quite late. Dot has not been well today: it started as a dizzy feeling, then her head was very heavy, and now she has a bit of a sore throat and has gone to bed. I’ve been feeling a little odd myself, but then I am a little odd.

The theatre on Thursday night was enjoyable. Because it was rainy, we drove up and parked just after 6.30pm, then wandered into the Mall – bumping into Simeon Care and a friend of his on the way – and then back to the theatre for a leisurely drink. The play was Enjoy, by Alan Bennett, which was brilliant, especially in the hands of Alison Steadman and David Troughton: at times eye-wateringly funny. The ending was a bit artificial, but you can’t have everything.

Yesterday Phil drove me to Coventry for a meeting with Andrew’s care worker and a couple of other people from social services. This went very well, but it was supposed to include Andrew, and he had gone out about ten minutes earlier – despite being told not to – and never put in an appearance. If I had been on my own I would probably have waited another half hour or so, but Phil was keen to get going, and I could see his point: there was every chance Andrew wouldn’t return till around 6pm. Don’t yet know when he got back (I possibly never will), so I’ve written him a letter and sent him a few photos from the holiday. We got home about 6.20pm after taking a detour to avoid a long stationary queue on the A11 between Barton Mills and Thetford. Quite a bit of rain on and off, and a succession of rainbows on the way home.

This morning after posting off Andrew’s fees (I had forgotten to take them yesterday) I went into Norwich to buy a couple of birthday cards and a book for a friend’s birthday, as well as a copy of The Times, in which Holly’s wedding featured prominently. Beautiful picture and a good article too.  I have a famous goddaughter.

23 April 2009

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Grandson Oliver watching Norwich v Watford at Carrow Road and looking worried – justifiably, as it turned out, because although Norwich won that one 2-0, they are now in a desperate situation.

Lovely summer weather continues. On Tuesday Lisa came round (with Blossom) to talk about the poetry walks. Since then a message from Lucy seems to indicate that she expects two walks each day, and not one – and that we’re expected to be there the whole day as well. I don’t think either of those things will be possible. Meanwhile I’ve arranged to go out with Lisa to Paston on the 29th to reconnoitre the planned walk(s).

Yesterday Phil drove me to Coventry for a meeting with Dr Saad about the severity and nature of Andrew’s illness. We were able to persuade him that there had been no sudden deterioration, but it was a long-term problem, with the same continuing symptoms. Afterwards we took Andrew out for a drive – first to Corley Rocks (after going completely the wrong way when we asked him to direct us: his “that way if you want to; I don’t mind” wasn’t tremendously helpful), then to Memorial Park and a quick look round where we used to live – Beanfield Avenue and The Chesils. We ended up at TGI Friday’s for a full meal just before 5pm and then dropped him back at The Langleys just after 6pm – checking that his new stereo turntable was working OK. Brief chat with Halina, then an easy drive home across the Fens. I say easy, but Phil must have driven about 350 miles during the day. Arrived home before 9pm, feeling pretty tired. Dot had had a good P4C afternoon at Horsford School and had had a clean-out in my study.

I should mention that the plumber came and fixed the bath drainage pipe. All household fittings and equipment are now working properly, but Dot is at the dentist. I am due there tomorrow. I had a blood test first thing this morning, which has become such a familiar thing to me that I can almost look at the needle going in. But not quite.

17 October 2008

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An atmospheric picture from the Paston weekend: clash of centuries? Second right is Martin Laurance, whose terrific images went with a couple of my poems in the Paston book. Tonight Dot and I went to Rupert Mallin’s big show, Pleasurance, at the Art Factory for the Private View, and Martin was there. He has given me one of his full-size prints, which I will have framed. Annette and Mike were also there. I bought one of Rupert’s small pictures and one of his mother’s. Also there was a former lecturer from City College, Roger Whittaker, who I worked with in the past. He and Dot spent some time putting the educational world to rights. They seem to be pretty much on an identical wavelength.

Earlier today went to see Mr Sethia and took a catheter, which he admitted didn’t actually have a hole in it and functioned as a pipe-cleaner, which was what I had maintained previously. Also discovered that I had probably been putting it in too far and irritating the bladder. I had actually asked the nurse if I could put it in too far, and she said no. He wouldn’t give me antibiotics for what I thought was a urine infection and said it might be just a minor inflammation. Personally I would have gone for the worst case scenario, but that’s probably because (or why) I’m not a doctor. So I am left unmedicated over the weekend, hoping that he’s right. My next date with him is in March, so he must think I’m doing OK.

Yesterday Dot and I took Andrew back to Coventry after I’d taken him to Winterton in the morning. The previous day had been very wet, so we couldn’t do much other than buy him some clothes. Winterton was very pleasant, but with a chilly wind. I had a quick brush with some near-quicksand, but nothing too frightening. The journey back saw Dot at the wheel, and we stopped for a drink and dessert at Thrapston, then tried for a Little Chef on the Coventry bypass, only to find it was closed. We went by a very circuitous route to avoid rush-hour traffic and eventually ended up at TGI Friday’s, where Andrew and I had very nice steaks. Dropped him off just after seven and returned by my special route avoiding the M6-A14 junction, but tried a short cut too many and ended up driving round the lanes of Northamptonshire in the dark. Still, nice lanes, and eventually we located the A14, which turned out to be where it always was. And as it was evening, it wasn’t plagued by lorry drivers with one brain cell pulling out and taking ten minutes to overtake each other.

17 May 2008

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This is an arty picture of my cousin Ann, taken through a Celtic cross in Cringleford graveyard, where I had taken her to see Frank’s grave. All being well, she is now back in Liverpool after a fairly busy week here – most of it in beautiful warm weather.

I am radioactive at the moment, having just had an injection at hospital in preparation for a body skeleton x-ray in about an hour’s time. This is the second of two tests to see if my prostate cancer has spread. Unfortunately it means we have had to delay our trip to Caddington. We had meant to go straight there from the hospital, but I discovered that I shouldn’t be close to children today. I can imagine what Oliver might think of being asked to stay two metres away from me, so we’ve decided to travel down after they’re in bed, which is a pity, but the best solution, I think.

I was thinking of travelling over to Coventry “on the way” to pick up my jacket and glasses, which I foolishly left there yesterday, when Phil and I went to a case conference for Andrew and shifted a bit of his stuff from Gareth’s. (I was feeling a bit off because of a swelling in my groin which is a bit mysterious, so didn’t have my mind on what I was doing.) I didn’t realise I’d left them until I got home. But Halina is going to post the glasses to me on Monday, and in the meantime I’ve bought a pair of reading glasses from Boots, which I haven’t quite got used to yet…

Yesterday’s journey wasn’t too bad, though the good weather had ended with a vengeance and there was quite a bit of rain, as there is today. Traffic was heavy on the way back, and we went across the Fens, which worked out well. We got back about 7pm.

Bit of a break there. I have now had my bone skeleton x-ray, which consisted of lying under a camera for about 20 minutes, then having to have a re-x-ray of my pelvis area because it hadn’t come out quite right. All totally silent, and not an unpleasant experience. They aren’t allowed to tell me the results, but I got a positive feel from the nurse (if you see what I mean). I could be completely wrong about that, needless to say. They may be trained to give positive feels.

While Ann and Jim were here, and while the weather was still summery, we did a bit of driving around. On Wednesday we all went to Reepham, where Ann and Jim went for a walk while Dot and I had our hair cut. Afterwards we all had lunch in Kerri’s, then, while Dot drove to North Walsham to see her aunt, the rest of us went home (those paying close attention will have spotted we must have taken two cars to Reepham). At home Paul came round to see his niece, then I went to the hospital with Dot for my MRI scan. Again, not an unpleasant experience, but very noisy. I was given an injection to relax my muscles, and then laid on a table that went into a huge tube. The scan is by magnets and is very loud – almost as if someone is outside trying to get in. I had to wear earphones, and there was supposed to be music, but it was practically inaudible. It lasted about 35 minutes and, strangely, I actually felt very peaceful in there.

On the Thursday it was still sunny but the wind turned very chilly. In the morning I took Ann and Jim on a tour of some spots which might have been familiar or interesting or both. We took in our grandmother’s house in Hall Road, and the ones on Caistor Lane and in Poringland. It turned out that Ann didn’t know the Poringland one. Her family had left for Africa in 1948, bef0re my grandparents moved there. We also looked at Tuckswood, and the two houses in Brian Avenue where I had grown up. We called at Venta Icenorum and had a short stroll, then had coffee at Dunston Hall Hotel before going to Cringleford and visiting Frank’s grave (and taking a quick look at his bungalow there).

Home for lunch, then we all – with Dot – went to Yelverton to look at our old house and on to Woodbastwick, where we parked by the river and walked to Cockshoot Broad: the boardwalk has been extended rather nicely. Also called at Ranworth and bought some ice cream before heading home in time to pick up Ann’s pictures from the chemist. In the evening Dave Hall came round to beat me at chess: I made a mess of the late opening. Had quite a long conversation with him.

While Phil and I were travelling to Coventry yesterday, Ann and Jim visited a cousin at North Walsham – whose parents coincidentally lived next door to Dot’s parents in Northfield Road – then another relative (I think) at Eckling Grange, Dereham. We had given them the option of staying an extra night, but they called to say they were on their way home and had reached Sleaford.

8 November 2007

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Dramatic action picture of Oliver being chased by a dinosaur. You can see the terror in his face.

Meanwhile, I have just returned from the chiropractor, who told me my back would probably be a bit sore tomorrow but should improve over the weekend. As it was extremely painful before I went, this wasn’t as bad news as it might have seemed. It does seem to have eased a bit at the moment. I see him again on Monday, shortly before a 90-minute stint with the dentist. O happy day!

The back probably got worse because I drove to Mansfield on Tuesday, then on to Hull and back home on Wednesday. Why Mansfield? you may ask. Was it because my grandparents used to live there? No, it was because the Premier Inn at Mansfield had a room spare at a fairly convenient spot between Coventry and Hull. Quite comfortable, too.

I’d called at Coventry to take some property from Gareth’s house to Andrew’s new home – mainly clothes and photographs. Andrew seemed very well. I also retrieved a letter to him that explained he’d left some stuff in the hospital safe, which may explain where his building society book is.

After assessing the reporters at Hull I spent a bit of time down on Hessle foreshore, on the banks of the Humber under the bridge – a spot I’d previously visited when I took David to have a look at Hull University, probably 17 years ago. Very beautiful sunset to accompany my cheese and onion sandwich.

Drove home by the shortest route over the bridge and via Lincoln and Sleaford, which was pretty dire as far as queues and slowness were concerned – not to mention the thousands of speed cameras in Lincoln – but it still got me home quicker. Stopped thirty miles short of Lynn for a Little Chef mushroom omelette and chips.

Today Dot has been at a head teachers’ conference at Mangreen, just outside Norwich. Weather is very unpleasant: quite bit of heavy rain and unrelentingly dull and wintry. My computer was offline for most of the day, but I managed to persuade it to come back eventually.

Almost forgot to mention the most significant event of the last couple of days: the Ballater cottage is being sold after 17 years of its being a home away from home for us. I think we’ve stayed in it almost every years since 1990 or 1991. David and Vicky stayed there with us; so have Anne and Philip and Roger and Barbara. What will life be like without it? Certainly a major change.

11 August 2007

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Yes, it’s France again. This is the branch line from Cabourg to Deauville, taking to the road at Dives.

Meanwhile another busy week. On Monday, Andrew’s birthday, I went to visit him and possibly take him out, but he was the worst I’ve ever seen him. Very sad. I had a long talk with him, but nothing seemed to make any impression. He was tired and frightened.

I drove on towards Hull, stopping at Corley services for a bite to eat and then at Nottingham to see if I could catch the Evetts in. But no, so I carried on to a Travelodge on the M18 (Doncaster North), where I had booked a room. Quite nice, but the kettle didn’t work. Went for a walk in the evening and then had fish and chips, which was adequate: tasty but chunky. Spent the rest of the evening catching up on reading – I had taken the precaution of loading the car up with newspapers and magazines I hadn’t had time to tackle.

After breakfast the next day I drove into Hull, arriving 40 minutes early for my 11am meeting. Had to wait in Reception, but eventually met with three trainees and did the induction. Went quite well. Left about 1.30pm: the journey home was tedious in the extreme – road works and dithering drivers all the way. Took four hours.

On Wednesday we had the carpet cleaned – had to get up early and move the furniture out because Dot had injured her back. This now seems to have cleared up. In the evening attended an Ambient Wonder review which I can’t say I enjoyed, possibly because I was very tired. Good pizza, though.

On Thursday, after lunch at Park Farm, I drove to Yarmouth to watch the penultimate day of the British chess championship. Was there for about four hours, most of which I spent watching the four top boards, which were on demonstration. But also spoke to a few friends and watched some other games. Repeated this yesterday for the last day but left before the end. Watched a nice game by Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, a Georgian “Scot”, in which she demolished Simon Fowler to take the ladies’ title. A Danish “Scot”, Jacob Aagard, took the British title on 8.5 out of 11, after he beat Glenn Flear, who left his king too exposed. The only person who could have matched him, Stephen Gordon, was held to a draw by Tony Kosten. Fascinating to see so many peple whose names are so familiar and whose games I have played through in the past. Good also to see so many young girls doing well. The website is at http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/british/2007/

Today – the spell of good weather continuing – Dot and I went to Reepham to get our hair cut and then on to North Walsham. Left flowers at the cemetery and then visited Jessie and Frank.