Tag Archives: cromer

Obviously I can’t reveal who did it

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We like to catch these new shows early.
We like to catch these new shows early.

Another busy period. I started writing this on a train to London on Monday, where we went to catch The Mousetrap, which is a kind of role reversal, I guess. Reverting to chronological order…

Last Tuesday was Amy’s 11th birthday, Dot was in Hull and I was in the city, paying in cheques and buying Amy a silver Parker pen. In the afternoon I went to a PHS trustees’ meeting at Rob’s, after which I dropped in a thankyou card to Jessie, thanking her for the meal on Sunday.

After a brief lull on Wednesday, Dot and I drove to Coventry on Thursday to see Andrew, who’s still in hospital at the Caludon Centre. We were with him for just under an hour. He seemed pretty disengaged and under strain, but I’ve seen him a lot worse.

We then drove on to Caddington, arriving in time for a quick meal and a handover of Amy’s presents before David went to his history group. We then played Dixit using Amy’s new extension cards – a great game!

On Friday I roused myself to go with David to take Oliver to school in Aylesbury, leaving at 7.30am. Oliver read all the way, finishing off A Cuckoo’s Egg – a story of computer hacking that I read many years ago and have forgotten. Later Dot and I took Amy to St Alban’s for some shopping and a meal at Jamie’s. Amy didn’t really like what she ordered but didn’t make a fuss: she’s very considerate. We got her some bread to supplement her sauce, which she did like. Got back to Caddington as David was leaving to fetch Oliver.

We drove home at 6pm because we’d agreed to feed Ellie’s guinea pigs (before we knew about our Coventry/Caddington trip). Got back at 8 despite dire warnings from our satnav about a major hold-up. Happily it melted away just in time.

Bit of a kerfuffle at church on Saturday when Stuart got worried about hirers (a church plant) making too much noise at the hall. Called in to check on the way to Cromer, but nothing was happening. Got worse later, apparently. Ran into Phyllis and vicar David, who had rushed down from the Enneagram session check what all the fuss was about. Conflicting reports about what happened next, but apparently one local resident was very upset, and since then storing of excess equipment has proved impossible to handle; so they’re probably going up to St Luke’s. Good luck, St Luke’s.

At the Cromer History event I saw re-enactors Diana and Lisa, as well as Peter. Small hall, lots of people – even more earlier, it seems. Very wet day.

On Sunday after church we went to the Hendersons’ for lunch, which was delicious, and heard about Uganda. At home, saw some of US Grand Prix, but too tired (because of putting clocks back) to see the end. However, it came to my attention that Hamilton won and is world champion again. When we eventually saw the highlights yesterday, it turned out to be quite exciting.

London worked out well. The hotel (hub by Premier Inn in St Martin’s Lane, was extraordinary: lots of technology but not much space. Our room was tiny, taken up mainly by the bed, but everything worked well and of course you don’t go to a London hotel to stay in the room. Comfortable and clean, anyway. We went for a walk and took in some of the National Gallery before heading to Brown’s for a pre-theatre meal, where I was extremely impressed both by the efficiency and by the quality of the food.

The Mousetrap was fun: well-acted first half especially, though the second act was barely credible. Obviously I can’t tell you who did it. Interesting theatre in that you walked straight off the street across about ten yards of entrance hall and into the dress circle. Very good seats; the ice cream was good too. Not sure why three large people left at the interval. Maybe they were uncomfortable, but surely you’d want to know who did it.

Not a great night’s sleep, but my fault, not the bed’s. We went up the road to eat. for breakfast because Dot wanted a croissant. I had sandwiches. After that we went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw quite a few portraits, notably several of those used by Simon Schama in his TV series, which was interesting. After that we checked out from the hotel and took a tube, catching the 12.30 from Liverpool Street, which was pretty good going.

As coming down, we were in first class, and this time Dot didn’t spill her coffee. We were home by just after 2.30pm, and too tired to do much. However, we did take our old TV and DVD player round to a guy in Churchill Road, who seemed appreciative.

This morning was miserable, and I got wet checking the car tyres (still not happy with them). Later we went to Morrisons and bought much food. Traffic was horrendous. I walked home and got back about a quarter of an hour before Dot. Spent quite a lot of time on writing three pieces for Parish Pump, on Slavery, Refugees and In Flanders Fields.

Shut out of exhibition

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Dot, with the University Broad in the background
Dot, with the University Broad in the background

I am writing this while listening to Norwich City getting hammered by Manchester City: 4-0 down after about half an hour and apparently unable to get the ball in their possession at all. Bit worried about Dot’s mental state.

Earlier in the week things went rather better for her. On Tuesday she went to an orchestra party and had a great time playing some tunes by sight. Meanwhile I was cooking for seven.  I say cooking: it was soup from a container, but it went Ok, with the help of a pineapple from Judy and an upside-down apple cake from Bridget.

On Wednesday we had our hair cut, just in time for me to walk to the Norfolk Record Office to hear Dr John Alban speak on the Fastolf letter. Very good stuff. Saw Judy and her friend there and said hello to a couple of NRO staff. Got back just as Dot’s accountant was preparing to leave.

On Thursday we were determined to have some time to ourselves; so after an eye test at Boots (varifocal glasses on order)  we went to Presto for lunch then deposited some cheques in two banks before getting a bus to the UEA to see the Masterpieces exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre. However, strike action by university unions had led to the closure of the centre. Not sure what I’ve done to hurt the university unions, but then strikes rarely affect the people they’re supposed to. Instead, we went for a brief walk in the university grounds and over to the hospital before getting another bus home (from the university).

Yesterday turned out better than expected, so we drove to Cromer to have lunch at the Bella Vista restaurant – which did indeed have a beautiful view of the pier and seashore. The food was pretty good too. Before reaching the restaurant we ran into Rupert and Shirley in the car park, where we bought some flowers on the way back – after a walk along the front.

From Cromer we drove to North Walsham cemetery, catching a glimpse of Jessie on the way (Dot got out of the car and had quite a long chat). Got home in good time for tea and watched four episodes of Breathless on TV. After two good nights, I had a very bad one.

Paston expert put on spot

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Wensum Park, during a walk on Monday
Wensum Park, during a walk on Monday

OK: we found the missing photographs for Jessie – old ones with nurses on them, among other things – but Jessie wasn’t able to identify much when we called in on Sunday afternoon. Roger was also there, and we gave him a lift up to Ray’s on our way home (he was delivering something and then walking back).

The concert on Saturday was extremely good, and we had excellent seats. Colin Dowdeswell was conducting, and we had a chat with his wife, who vouchsafed the alarming news that the Hendersons are moving back to Norwich when Paul retires next year. We knew this was a possibility, but it seems to be firming up.

Visited Geoff in hospital on Monday: pushed him in a wheelchair to the quiet spot over the road and had a longish talk, partly while Sophie was talking to an authority figure (not sure who she was) about arrangements for Geoff’s discharge, maybe in a week or two. He is much, much better, but they are both stressed about what will happen when he has to leave.

Busy day yesterday: I was at Cromer just after 10am for my appointment at the hospital, which took place on time. It turned out to be a minor  operation: a more major one (sigmoidoscopy) is due to take place fairly soon in Norwich, but this is purely precautionary: the doctor said he didn’t think there was a problem. Feeling more or less OK.

Got back to Norwich in good time, though the weather was so beautiful I wished I didn’t have to. But I wanted to hear Karen Smyth talk about merchants and medieval literature, and I’m glad I did. Had a longish talk with Angela, who is now in charge at Dragon Hall, and a quick exchange with Karen, who embarrassed me slightly by calling on me as a Paston expert when someone asked a Paston-related question afterwards. Fortunately, I was able to answer it (it was about Bromholm Priory),  so perhaps I am. Hard to believe.

Had to go to Morrisons afterwards to buy food for the Tuesday Group in the evening, where David A played a talk by John Donoghue about beauty, which was inspiring.

Dot has been out and about a lot, and is “fighting off something” (not me). She was coughing a bit in the night, so I hope her fight succeeds, and includes me.

After trying to find a way of sending my steam train video to Dave Evetts, I have had to admit defeat (file too large). Pity. While waiting for my appointment at Cromer, I wrote most of a poem called Age of Steam, which I have now finished and am pleased with. Have just finished reading a superb book called The Misogynist, by Piers Paul Read. Beautifully written, with a nice ending.

High winds and rain lead to abandoning walk

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Captain Oliver on the rocks

Dot had a bad night on Monday, with much coughing, but she was determined to get to Morston Hall in the evening. Roger drove us so that I could have a drink or two, and the meal was as always excellent, exceeded in quality only by the service. Dot survived well enough, though her throat is very sensitive to vinegar at times like these, and she had one attack (and a much worse one earlier in the day). It is now Friday, and she is almost better. She is preparing a meal tonight for Roger and Barbara (who are in Essex again during the day) and Anne and Philip, who are joining us at 7pm.

We had another first-class meal yesterday, though I made a tactical error which made it rather less special for me. It was at the Ship Inn, Brancaster. I led with a “small” caesar salad and then went for fish and chips which, although very tasty, was far too big a portion, and I had to leave most of the chips and omit the sweet. The others made more judicious choices and raved about it. Once again, the service was first class, and there were vows to return.

Originally, this had been planned as a light lunch to precede a Walking event from Holkham – part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. But the weather was so atrocious, and both Dot (especially) and Roger so below par, that in combination with Barbara’s sensitivity to to any temperature below really hot, we were persuaded to abandon the idea. This turned out to be the right decision in so many ways. Exceptionally high winds and driving rain would have made the walking awful even if we had been fit, and it would have been a big rush to get there after the Ship. So that was all good, then – which reminds me, we have already got through both series of Twenty Twelve on DVD, much to the Murrays’ delight. Last night we started on Dollhouse.

The weather generally has been fickle. On Wednesday Roger, Barbara and I had a long walk in the morning while Dot rested, and we took in the Rosary, Lion Wood, part of Mousehold and a large proportion of the Riverside Walk, plus the Cathedral loos and St Andrew’s Hall. It amounted to over six miles. Dot was keen to go to Cromer in the afternoon, so after lunch we set out despite a bad forecast, and got to Cromer just as it started to rain. We bought some fruit and vegetables on the way to the pier, but by the time we reached the sea front the rain was coming down in a quite determined fashion. We had a brief shot at the museum, but in the end I went and got the car and picked them up from in front of the church (traffic through the town was as always awful), driving home through driving rain.

In other news, I have had a couple of e-mails from a Jennifer Lenton in Australia who asked me about my family history. As a result of information she supplied, I am now led to believe that my great-great-great grandfather was one Thomas Lenton, who died in 1806 while working at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and who is related to the said Jennifer. His son William seems to be the one whose tombstone is in Folksworth churchyard. Some more research needed there, though once you get back to 1800, sources are few and far between.

Arrangements for rebuilding our living room are now sorted out: furniture removal Monday, asbestos removal Tuesday, rebuilding ceiling Wednesday; redecoration the following Monday. Sounds like a barrel of laughs.

Digging for water

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Tackling a leak outside our house.

Fortunately for Norwich City manager Paul Lambert, his team won last Saturday (1-0 against Middlesbrough). Dot was in the stands, so I wouldn’t have liked to be in his shoes if they’d lost. She doesn’t go often, but Jonathan had a spare ticket. I didn’t go, because I had a poetry reading at Cromer, as part of the COAST festival. The Paston travelling exhibition had a small room in the Garden Gallery, next to Mary Jane’s renowned fish and chip shop, which was unfortunately a bigger attraction, especially as the weather was cold, wet and windy. Still, we had a good time: I read a couple of poems, and Jo did a really lively talk in the absence of Lucy (in hospital again with a serious infection). Caroline was also there. She has just won the EDP-Jarrolds East Anglian Book Award for poetry, which is well-deserved. She’s a very deep writer. I myself have just entered another couple of competitions and am getting back into the habit of writing poems, which must be good.

On Monday I performed my first function as a Paston Heritage Society trustee and attended a meeting in the parish church between the PCC and PHS members. Very strange atmosphere and extremely cold too. I had my maximum winter clothing on, and it’s still October. The meeting went off well, though, and there was a general feeling of agreement about the way things would go – except of course for the pews. I sometimes feel that removal of pews is the main theological issue facing churches in the 21st century. Someone is always against it. OK, it’s not theological. I don’t know what it is.

The cold weather continued into Tuesday, when we had to host the Tuesday Group at the last moment because Vicky wasn’t too well: she’s having a hard time (baby due early December). Small group but a good discussion on using our gifts. People who don’t normally say much had an opportunity to speak because people who normally do weren’t there. Not Vicky, since you ask.

Weather turned warm suddenly on Wednesday, which was good timing as we had our hair cut. Huge difference in temperature: both Dot and I went out with too many clothes on and got back sweating, if you’ll pardon the expression. Yesterday and today a bit chillier. Sue and Roger came round for lunch yesterday and we had a great time putting the world to rights, talking until about 6pm. Recommended David’s website expertise, and showed off our Apple TV, which Sue was much taken with.

In the evening I finally booked a man to put in a couple of radiators in mid-November, though I’m still a little uneasy, as I always am when we have something big done. As I speak, May Gurney on behalf of Anglian Water are digging up the road outside, which doesn’t comfort me at all. And as usual the recycling stuff hasn’t been collected. Dot is probably en route from Beccles having given a lift to one of our carless church members to visit her niece, who coincidentally is the former head teacher of David’s primary school. Who’d have thought it?

2 May 2007

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A typical Norfolk loke, this one is not far from Felmingham, on the troad to Antingham. There is a possibility that it’s the famous Bunny’s Loke, down which I cycled with Dot many years ago and which features in my story Realm, about a missing girl. However, Dot is not at all sure about this: she wasn’t with me when I took the picture.

It was a chilly day, and I was assessing a trainee in Cromer who has now completed her NVQ portfolio. My visit on Monday this week – quite a different sort of day, sunny and quite warm, but with a brisk NE wind – was my last, and I “celebrated” by finding a part of the town I didn’t know existed. Intending to have a game of putting, I discovered it was shut, so I continued up the cliff path and found a beautiful walk up to the lighthouse and the golf course. Masses of bluebells, and great views across the stormy sea and back to the town, where the church tower dwarfed everything else. I returned back through some woods. Very refreshing.

Dot was spending a day at Salhouse school delivering Philosophy for Children with Barbara – returned quite tired and went to sleep while I played in the John Swan rapidplay tournament at my chess club. I scored 3/5 and was equal fourth out of 14. Lost my first game, then won two and drew two.

Yesterday a guy came round from the estate agent’s to value the house – not that we necessarily want to move, but just to see what it’s worth in case we do. Discovered that our next door neighbour is trying to sell. The B & B market has taken a big hit with new Travelodges in Norwich. We haven’t got a value yet, but will no doubt hear from him in due course. She was given £275,000 but doesn’t believe it. Nor do I.

Last weekend was busy. On the Friday night we had two couples round for a meal – excellent time, but got to bed very late. Then on Saturday we went to South-East London to visit the Hendersons, who we had only seen briefly for a couple of years. In the evening we were their guests at a choral concert (Stravinsky and Haydn) at Blackheath Halls, which I enjoyed a lot and got a poem out of! The school chair of governors and his wife came back for coffee. He was tall, and she wasn’t.

We had a relaxing Sunday, just talking and (briefly) walking, catching up on news. The journey back through the Blackwall Tunnel was surprisingly easy, despite the ludicrous speed cameras and equally ludicrous speed limits. I can’t see any excuse for a prolonged 40mph limit on a three-lane dual carriageway with no pedestrian access. What actually happened was that I tried hard to keep to the limit, because I knew about the cameras, whereas the locals who knew where the cameras where came hurtling up behind me, overtaking on both sides, and then braking sharply for the cameras. I was the hazard, getting in everyone’s way because I was sticking to the limit.

The unrealistic limits actually lead to people driving faster where they can get away with it. A sensible 50 or even 60 would command a lot more respect and compliance, and would certainly be safer. I really don’t know why people can’t see that. Is it just dogma?

Today is pleasant – sunny and warm. We are in the middle of a spell of very nice weather which I suppose I should be making the most of instead of writing a blog. So later Dot and I will go into the city and have lunch, probably at Cafe Italia.