Tag Archives: bishop

Having the Bishop of Norwich for lunch

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Dot, David and Chrissy on the boundary at Beechwood while Oliver played cricket
Dot, David and Chrissy on the boundary at Beechwood while Oliver played cricket

With rain promised for the rest of the week, Dot and I felt we had to take advantage of today’s sunshine and warmth; so after lunch we headed for North-East Norfolk. Once clear of the tourist hub of Wroxham we headed for the hamlet of Briggate, where we parked adjacent to Weavers’ Way. From there we walked across fields to Worstead and back – a round trip of about four miles. Quite pleasant.

We are now home and preparing to have two friends from church round for a meal as part of our “have two friends from church for a meal” project. Well, not exactly, but the church as a whole is trying to get to know each other better, though I suspect our congregation already knows each other better than most church congregations.

Yesterday we had the Bishop of Norwich for lunch. I suppose that could have been better phrased, but I sort of like it. It was basically a joint service at St Luke’s, at which Dot and I assisted with the music (Phil was a late withdrawal). Six hymns (three completely new to us) with Steve on lead guitar and Angela on keyboards. Also Dot and I (with help from Steve) did a couple of my songs during communion.

The Bishop did an excellent sermon and was even better on answering questions afterwards. We had a bring-and-share lunch that was more than adequate, and then those who were left (the Bishop having departed with Nicholas) had a shot at an exercise designed to reveal who was interested in doing what after Nicholas left for America. I suspect that “reveal”is not quite the word.

Working backwards, on Saturday we celebrated Anne’s birthday belatedly with an excellent meal at the King’s Head in Brooke. I had fishcake with egg, duck breast and a lovely dessert consisting of Malibu brûlée and mango sorbet. Very moreish.

Julia and Allan came for an evening meal with us on Friday. Dot did her latest lamb dish, which is delicious, and we had a made-up starter involving those little salmon thingies, grapes and toast, with strawberries dipped in chocolate to finish. Then we imposed our holiday pictures on them, but they didn’t seem to mind too much.  Earlier in the day I had been rushing up to the bank in Magdalen Street to find out why a church cheque had bounced (they had neglected to amalgamate our two accounts as promised) before heading to the market to buy the strawberries.

Which brings us logically to last Thursday. In the morning I went by bus to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital for a chest x-ray, which must have taken all of 15 minutes maximum (including waiting time), and in the evening we attended the Assembly House for a piano concert by Evelyne Berezovsky as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. She was hot, and so was the Music Room. I had to rip off my jumper during a break between pieces, and other customers were also wilting.

Still, it is always worth visiting the Assembly House, because the toilets are first-class. When I say Evelyne Berezovsky was hot, I mean of course that she was a stunningly good pianist. I hope that’s clear.

Crabbing, climbing and table tennis

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Amy with crabbing net

And so we emerge from a hectic week…into another one. Dot is already out visiting schools, and I have a visit to the dentist tomorrow and to the doctor on Thursday. The latter doesn’t sound much, but it looms pretty large. There is a root canal involved.

I was in the sunny city, paying in church money, on Wednesday, when Dot called me to say Oliver and Amy wanted to come to us a day early. Naturally, a plan was quickly devised, and with Dot busy finishing a PIB (pre-inspection briefing), I set off to meet David halfway just outside Newmarket near Snailwell – a spot identified on Google maps. All went well, except that halfway there the warm and sunny day evaporated into heavy rain, and I realised I hadn’t brought my anorak or taken my guitar out of the boot. No worries, however: the rain turned back into sun before we met, and there was plenty of room for the children’s luggage.

We had a great three days with the children, despite a bad weather forecast. On the Thursday we went to Sheringham, where it was mild enough to have a picnic on the beach after Oliver and I had climbed Beeston Bump (calling in at Fred’s caravan on the way and finding Liz in situ) and Dot and Amy had done some shopping. We also did a little crabbing, and after I retired defeated, the children “teamed up” with another family, who had bait. As a result, Oliver netted one.

Oliver at the summit of Beeston Bump

We then drove (as a result of a miscalculated and rash promise made earlier) to Winterton, in time to have a quick game of hide-and-seek in the dunes before the rain started, and a few drops quickly turned into a downpour. We repaired to the cafe for refreshment and then rushed wetly to the car. We had taken Dot’s car for a service earlier in the day, but it was now too late (and too wet) to fetch it; so I left it till the next morning. The next morning was also very wet, as was the whole day, and we spent most of it in the house or garage, where Oliver showed an amazing aptitude for table tennis. As he’s very competitive, this wasn’t enough for him: he wanted to win every game too. Meanwhile Amy made a den under the table and did some cooking indoors. We finished the day off with a 6pm meal at Prezzo’s: the children are a real joy to take out – or actually do anything with.

David arrived at lunchtime on Saturday, after being held up because the police had shut the southern bypass after a fatal accident. We had roast beef for lunch, and Oliver did his best to beat Daddy at table tennis when Daddy wasn’t tackling my computer. I popped up to St Peter Hungate at 3.30pm to check that the afternoon session with the visiting viols was going OK. I spoke to Lucy and Jo, both of whom seemed very ill, but didn’t hear the viols, who were taking a break. I went back at 5pm for the rehearsal with Rob, Caroline and Kay, and it went well, so I returned home to say goodbye again, picking up the poetry books I’d forgotten at the same time.

I also went and picked up a music stand from the church hall, at the same time replacing a notice which had either blown off or been ripped off, or both (the wind had been very strong the day before). The evening performance –  Heroine of Hungate – took place as David and the children were driving back to Caddington and Dot was cleaning up the house: it did go well, but the audience was very small – only a dozen, including relatives and friends. Hilary came, as did Catherine Mapes. I blame the poor publicity because the viols messed us about (no, we don’t want to perform; yes, we do; no, we can’t do it in the evening….)

Felt totally shattered yesterday morning, but had to leave at 9.30 for the Archdeacon’s Visitation at St Luke’s and a combined service and bring-and-share lunch. Worship music went well, and Dot and I were able to sing three of my songs for the Communion service. The archdeacon, the Ven Jan McFarlane, did a brilliant sermon about writing people off by labelling them: it sounds fairly ordinary, but she did it exceptionally well and brought in all kinds of other stuff.

In the evening our family’s hobnobbing with the senior echelons of the Church of England continued when Dot went to the commissioning service for the new director of Norwich Youth for Christ and met the Bishop, with whom she’s pretty chummy. She pleaded with him not to become Archbishop of Canterbury, and it would indeed be a big loss for Norwich, though probably brilliant for the country at large. I have a great admiration for him (as you probably noticed). She really enjoyed the service, at St Andrew’s Eaton, which I had given a miss in the hope of getting some rest – almost certainly a bad choice. I make a lot of them.

22 June 2009

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Business going well: Philosophy4Children partners Barbara and Dot are pictured getting down to some serious planning in the kitchen. On the same day (last Tuesday) I went to the Voicing Visions exhibition private view at Wymondham, where it was displayed in the picturesque Becket’s Chapel and looked striking. Not many poets there, and I knew very few people. Spoke to poet Hilary Mellon for a while, then, briefly, sculptor Ann Richardson. Left early to get back to Tuesday Group meeting: only two people made it – Matt and Bridget. Dot experimented with side of salmon. Good result.

Saw the consultant on Wednesday, and he was very reassuring. Got in more or less all I wanted to ask and came away feeling quite happy, though I was distracted enough to drive over a kerb in the car park. Later discovered the operation will be more expensive than I thought, but decided to go ahead. Now have a date of July 9, which is again longer away than I’d hoped, but hopefully early enough to recover for the holiday in Scotland starting at the end of the following week. Mr Sethia said recovery should be very quick. From the operation, not the holiday.

Went to another art exhibition private view on Thursday – this time the Norfolk and Norwich Art Circle, at the Cathedral. Got ticket from Dot’s friend Sandra, a former head teacher. Hilary Mellon and David Holgate were there; strangely enough they knew hardly anyone and we spent some time chatting. Also saw “my” artist Sandra and her husband, and Dot accosted the Bishop, who not only remembered her but seemed to remember me too, which is pretty amazing. We are very pro-Bishop. The pictures weren’t bad, but I think the quality at the Twenty Group was higher generally. Of course, they didn’t have the Bishop. Or the Cathedral.

Dot had a big day on Friday – giving a couple of talks to a conference of prospective head teachers at Diocesan House. The rehearsal went well, and apparently so did the real thing. She got excellent feedback. She can be really inspirational when she gets going. Or even when she doesn’t.

On Saturday we picked up the real salmon, which turned out to be about three times as big as the rehearsal one on Tuesday. Bit of a problem (a) getting it home (b) getting it in the stove (c) getting it to church. Salmon are notoriously reluctant to go to church, preferring to swim against the stream. But it went down really well after the grand St Augustine’s get-together service on Sunday, which was again a big success. People had been invited from the various groups attached to the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre, and there must have been about 100 there, most of whom stayed behind for food and talk afterwards. One of them was Beryl, who we used to go to Paston with about 20 years ago and hadn’t seen since. Spent a great deal of time washing up, then went to see Jessie. Roger and Jude were there: first time we’d met Jude. Liked her very much: closer to our age than his, but very young and lively. Seems like a lot of fun. While we were there David rang to wish me a Happy Father’s Day!

Today took back borrowed wine glasses to Sainsbury’s and bought some fruit. Watched Pakistan slaughter Sri Lanka in final of world 20-overs competition, and England women win comfortably against New Zealand (recorded, of course). Then Dot went off to Gillingham for a governors’ meeting, and I am thinking of walking up to the chemist’s to pick up some pills. Weather over the past few days has been quite warm but showery, with plenty of cloud cover. But it did feel really warm for a moment or two in North Walsham cemetery yesterday.

25 June 2007

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Just a shot of my favourite flowers, taken in Suffolk a few weeks ago. Pictures of last weekend’s activities at Blakeney not yet available.

Arrived at the Manor Hotel fairly early in the afternoon – amazingly the first to arrive, but quickly joined by friends Alan and Rosemary. Booked in: we had a first-floor room with a view of the estuary and a four-poster bed. Actually it wasn’t just a view of a four-poster; it was an actual bed. Also a small entrance hall with table, and a walk-in-and-hit-your-head cupboard.

The other three members of the party arrived as we were unloading and after a pause for thought and recuperation, most of us went down to the Blakeney Hotel for tea and scone. Why the switch of hotels? The Blakeney has a first-floor lounge with a fantastic view out across to Blakeney Point and very tasty scones. That’s not a view of tasty scones but actual tasty scones.

The forecast for the Saturday had been pretty appalling, so we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves walking throught the Cley Marshes nature reserve in pleasantly warm weather after parking at the new visitors’ centre. We did the three-mile round trip first, taking in the shrinking shingle bank and a new hide. Apparently the shingle bank moves inland a metre a year, but it felt quite secure, though small. Saw lots of interesting birds and flowers. A twitcher showed us a spoonbill through his telescope: we also saw loads of avocet, some redshanks, oystercatchers and lots of other less unusual things with wings. Towards the end we saw a couple of marsh harriers, which were pretty spectacular, and some penguins. OK, I lied about the penguins. We had tea/coffee/ice cream at a ramshackle hut at the end of Beach Road which seemed to double as a library or secondhand book store. Apparently it will be replaced in spring 2007. So the notice said. Whoops. As it wasn’t there, I took a picture of it.

Walked on into Cley village where Dave found a great little tea shop: West Cottage, which had the proud boast that spring tides came up to its wall. So lots of fun there in spring. Nice light meal – I had egg mayonaise roll – but the sky was turning black. When we reached a pottery shop it started raining and looked to have set in. So after a while I took an umbrella and walked back to the reserve for the car. This was further than I had anticipated – about a mile. As I was approaching it, the lightning and thunder was getting so simultaneous that I was worrying about possible damage to the umbrella from a lightning strike, but happily this didn’t happen. I did get pretty wet, however, and after picking up the other three Dot and I drove home so that I could change. Dave and Julia stayed optimistically at the visitor centre in the hope of the sun breaking through.

After leaving the hotel in dry clothes, we found really black skies inland of Blakleney and wrote off the rest of the day. However, magically, when we got to Cley (about two miles) the outlook seemed much brighter, and we all walked out again to a group of three hides in the middle of the marsh. It was from the second one that we saw the marsh harriers.

Back in Blakeney, we repaired yet again to the upstairs lounge at the Blakeney Hotel before returning to the Manor Hotel for the evening meal. In between Dot and I made one more brief trip out to try to find some barn owls: we had received some directions from a twitcher earlier. No sign of them (we were probably a bit early), but it was a delightful little walk in warm evening sun. The evening meal was excellent, and we had coffee etc afterwards as usual, spending much of the time boasting about our grandchildren.

After breakfast yesterday the others headed for home, possibly via Holt and Burnham Market, while Dot and I drove up to Wiveton Downs – another delightful spot new to us, only a couple of miles south of Blakeney. Walked around a bit, but it started raining, and so we got back in the car and drove to Kelling in search of a gallery that a photographer exhibiting at Blakeney had recommended to us. On the way we called at Salthouse Church, where there was an exhibition by Sally Lawford: unusual ideas, and the church was very atmospheric.

The Stable Gallery at Kelling was also interesting: Dot and I were the only ones there apart from the woman in charge, and we ended up having tea and cake, as well as buying a chair for the downstairs loo. Don’t ask.

Back in Norwich we went home, then walked to the Bishop’s Garden for a writers’ event at which InPrint had a stall. Bit of an in-crowd, but quite fun despite the indifferent weather, and at least there was only a smattering of rain. Rupert, Lisa, Tonia there with families. Also met Nick Caistor, Tessa West. Dot decided the look of PVM boxes should be improved and volunteered to help. She’s right: it needs doing.