Tag Archives: paul

Far Cry gets street cred

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Heading off for Caddington later today, before staying the night there and then catching a flight to Nice for our holiday in  Montauroux. Before that the piano tuner will arrive and do his stuff, no doubt reflecting simultaneously on the forthcoming Norwich v Ipswich playoffs and the SNP clean sweep of Scotland in the General Election. With a few votes still to be counted, the Conservatives have managed to get an overall majority – to everyone’s surprise. Resignations of Miliband, Clegg and Farage imminent. Resignations of a few pollsters would also be appropriate.

Our constituency, Norwich South, ousted Lib Dem Simon Wright and gave a huge majority to Labour. When we voted there was, for the first time in recorded memory, a queue at the polling station.

There were other big events this week. On Monday evening our band, Far Cry, performed at the Bicycle Shop cafe as part of Julian Week, and it all went pretty well, with some people from church (Carrie, Judy, Mary…) giving us moral support. Quite a nice number listening. Great to be able to sing my own songs to an actual audience who didn’t have to be there and weren’t performing themselves.

Emily and Lawrence helped us a lot, not least with street cred and the electrical stuff. Lawrence also recorded it, but was dubious about the sound quality. Between rehearsals and the actual event we had a light tapas meal upstairs, which was very good.

Next day we both went to the Archant coffee morning – together with Brian and Tricia and Maryta and Paul. Something of an EDP subs and spouses takeover. Robin had an eye appointment, so couldn’t make it.

The same day Naomi came to stay the night. Always nice to have her around: she had to see someone at UEA the next day; so she left around 12 and so did we, to hear a Julian talk at the library. Had some trouble finding where it was because they had switched it, which meant we were slightly late (and annoyed), but it was a good talk by Sheila Upjohn about how the Julian manuscript had survived in view of its “heretical” insistence that God loves us anyway. It involved some nuns in Cambrai and a few well-placed supporters.

Eleanor was in the audience; we had a chat afterwards.

Yesterday I went to see Paul, who thought I was someone named Kim (clearly my phone voice is not what it might be). I went mainly to ask him about a woman called Irene, but he couldn’t remember anything. However, while talking to Phil on the phone afterwards, it turned out that he did know an Irene, and it may turn out to be the woman Joy’s uncle was asking about (connected to Surrey Chapel way, way back). We shall see.

I was ringing Phil because he’s introduced me to a singer called Malcolm Guite, and I was giving him my reaction. He’s pretty good, actually.

Rattling around as usual

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Fireworks at the Castle, as seen from Aspland RoadFireworks at the Castle, as seen from Aspland Road

As I sit here writing this, my wife is mixing with Royalty. A governor of Little Plumstead Primary School, she is meeting Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex) as he visits the school as part of a Norfolk tour. She was panicking slightly as she left because she had just received an e-mail saying that all the parking places were booked and she should park at the church. She wasn’t sure where that was, but no doubt it all turned out all right.

The weather has remained fairly wintry – or at least autumny. I guess it will remain so till about next May. Not sure humans were ever meant to live at these latitudes. Things have been quite hectic, even without the royalty.

Last Saturday I secured an appointment with my uncle Paul and delivered a version of our family tree that he had requested. Needless to say, he didn’t remember requesting it, but he remembers very little nowadays except who people are. When I rang him to arrange the visit, my cousin Stephen was with him, and I had a quick chat with him. He was very upbeat, despite worsening MS. After a pleasant half an hour, I left Paul to his Wiltshire Farms meal and the opportunity to examine the tree. I’ve had no feedback yet, but he was very appreciative of all my efforts. I said I had enjoyed doing it, which was true.

In the evening we visited another Paul – Henderson of that ilk – who was singing in the Philharmonic at St Andrew’s Hall at the time. Good programme: Debussy’s La Mer (orchestra only), then Lloyd’s Mass, which was excellent. Afterwards Paul and Maryta came back for coffee as the rain beat down, and I drove them home.

Another busy day on Sunday: first the Remembrance Communion at church, led by Howard and with Eleanor officiating and preaching. Reading of the names was emotional as always. Phil had called off both church and the Seagull because of work pressures; so in the afternoon Dot and I drove to Aldeburgh to see James Knox Whittet’s exhibition of sonnets and pictures relating to Islay. Although we missed the opening, we were there in time to see James and his wife – and sample some Islay whisky.

We followed this with fish and chips next door at the Galleon (also excellent) and a brief walk on the seafront in the darkness before heading north to Lowestoft. Dot remembered where there was a Morrisons garage and so we were able to save some money on petrol (we had a voucher). We arrived in Pakefield early and so drove down to the harbour and got a drink at the Harbour Inn, which was unexpected and pleasant. Then on to the Seagull, where we rehearsed for a while. Very few people present; so I got an opportunity to sing three songs and read two poems. Dot accompanied me on two of the songs, but declined on the third.

When we set off for Norwich I left my glasses behind. After searching exhaustively for them at home on Wednesday (after managing without them for a couple of days, assuming they’d turn up) I e-mailed Ian, who not only had found them but was about to travel to Norwich; so he dropped them off yesterday afternoon, while I was out but Dot wasn’t.

Travelled to North Walsham on Monday for a meeting of the Paston Trustees, during which Lucy outlined plans for yet another grant bid – this time for a project that had to be completed by the end of March next year. I pointed out the ridiculously short time frame, but to no avail. She is bidding for the money.

In the early evening Naomi arrived to stay for a couple of nights while she completed some work at the UEA. She planned to leave at 8.30 the following morning, but it was after 9.30 before she appeared. Still, all apparently went well. In the afternoon I had my urology appointment at Cromer. They were running nearly an hour late, and none of the expected things like x-ray and scanning happened. I had a flow test, which was OK, and a bit of an examination, but failed to convince the doctor that anything was wrong. So no change there, then.

Yesterday we took the MX5  in to the garage because of a rattle that I had been worried about for some time. I went for a run with mechanic Wayne (nice bloke), who diagnosed it en route as a loose caliber pin sheath (not sure that’s the right word) on the left front wheel. We left it while he packed it with grease and made sure there was no risk of anything going wrong when Dot travels to Liverpool in about ten days. When we picked it up again in late afternoon, it was much better: Dot also got some new mats, which were remarkably cheap, given the cost of everything else with the name Mazda on it.

While the car was in the garage I paid some cheques in and then went to see The Pity of War, a short piece written by and starring David Newham on the friendship between Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen and including (of course) some of their work. While waiting to go in I bumped into Sue and Roger, and sat with them. Also said hello to Trevor Burton, another ex-colleague and actor, afterwards, as well as congratulating David.

Unfortunately, though, I had to rush off, because I had an appointment to meet Joy McCall and Nick Gorvin at 3pm to discuss plans for my Iona book, which Joy insists on financing. First time I’ve been to her house, which is impressive – especially the Garden Room. All specially adapted so that she can move around freely in her wheelchair. Also met her husband Andy for the first time and was able to check that he didn’t mind his wife spending her money in producing a book for me. He didn’t.

After some deep discussion and a brief chat about the book, I have agreed to make it thicker so that it can be perfect bound. Joy insists. I think Nick is a bit bemused by the whole thing. I suppose I am really.

Back in the tree again

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P1130104This is a historic day. From 10am St Stephen’s was closed to cars and, no doubt, even more traffic chaos will ensue elsewhere in the city. I popped out and took a bus to the top of the street three days ago and took the memorable picture above. Well, more historic than memorable.

Apart from that, not much physical activity from me in the past three days, but I have been putting quite a lot of effort into researching my family tree, having been nudged into it (see last post). Last time I saw my uncle Paul he said he would like me to do him a tree; so I have been trying to put together something coherent. Obviously you can’t get an entire tree on one sheet of paper; so I’ve compromised with several sheets and a couple of pages of notes. Will deliver tomorrow, having spoken to him (and Stephen) on the phone this lunchtime.

The research was interesting and sometimes exciting but mainly frustrating, because of course all the old records which could have included valuable information don’t. For instance, the omission everywhere of a mother’s maiden name is not helpful. Didn’t these people realise how interested so many people would be in where they came from? Oh no, they didn’t. Why should they?

Anyway, I’m now back to my great-great-great-great grandfather on my father’s side, which I suppose is something, though the earliest two generations are slightly speculative. They make sense, though. Nothing really too thrilling, though. About the most exciting thing I’ve discovered is that my great-grandmother was a servant at a chemist’s in Regent Street when she was 26 and unmarried. This also revealed the answer to the question of why she got married in London, when her home was in Northamptonshire and the groom’s home was in Huntingdonshire. So a small triumph there.

Meanwhile the weather has turned very wintry, not encouraging me to go out, though Dot has been to many different schools this week. Naomi has asked if she can stay with us for a while, and I’ve said yes.

Ann and Jim meet Paul

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Ann ventures into the Yare, enticed by a dreadful compulsion
Ann ventures into the Yare, enticed by a dreadful compulsion

My cousin Ann and her husband Jim from Liverpool have been with us since Monday. They arrived at about 1pm, roughly ten hours before Dot got back from her successful P4C visit to Essex and Kent. I’ve been feeling pretty mediocre, but no problem in carrying on – not that we’ve done much. They seem very happy to do a minimal amount, but perhaps that’s not surprising , as they’re 75 and 87 respectively. Suits me! I have booked a urology consultation at Cromer in November.

On Tuesday we went round to see Paul, but he was out; so we drove on to Earlham Park, where we had an ice cream after sitting by the river bank. Ann actually paddled in the Yare  for a while, as she can’t resist water, apparently. The situation would have been idyllic had it not been for a number of rather ugly dogs and their owners frolicking in the vicinity.

Later I walked down to the Rivergarden pub at Thorpe for the launch of Trevor Nuthall’s new history of Thorpe St Andrew. He gave a nice talk, and the book turns out to have a lot of information on Thorpe Hall, a former Paston seat – which is what I had hoped. Also present were EDP photographer Denise Bradley, unbelievably a grandmother now, and Nick Williams from St Peter Hungate. Among others.

On Wednesday all four of us walked up to the Castle, hoping to see the Birds exhibition, only to discover that it had just finished. So we looked round generally, had a light lunch and bumped into Caroline and her two brothers. Some drama as a woman collapsed in the cafe. I overheard a member of staff observe that the person dealing with it had two speeds: stop and slow. It did seem to be a long time before she was dealt with.

Dot left early to do some work at home, and I took Ann and Jim round the pretty way over the Julian Bridge – “pretty” being a totally inapt description of the approaches to it, which are still in a disgusting state.

Yesterday we did manage to find Paul in – I had phoned to fix an appointment the day before, but he didn’t respond to our ringing the bell and knocking until I phoned him from outside, and he still claimed not to be able to see us from the bedroom window. However, once he came down we had a good chat for about 45 minutes; so it was worth while.

Earlier we had gone with Dot to Whitlingham, where we had a short walk and then a snack from the cafe. It was very hot again, but once more the setting was spoiled by a huge number of dogs, many of them just as ugly as the ones at Earlham.  Dot walked part of the way home as part of her exercise, and the rest of us continued to Paul’s.

In the evening we went to Oaklands for a carvery, which was a bit of a curate’s egg. Possibly 5pm is not a good time to catch the food right. Coincidentally (or not) I had diarrhoea during the evening, but that could have been a plum that had gone off. I also wrote most of my sermon for Sunday.

Today I went for a blood test, and experienced a world record, in that it was early. That just never happens. Dot then went to give Sam and Jessica Vesey some P4C experience as part of their home schooling: I was due to go to the UEA with Rob, but Karen was unwell; so it was postponed. Instead I took Ann and Jim for a ride on the route they will have to take to reach the A11 tomorrow and then dropped them in the city. They still have not found their way home. Dot is in the city with Anne. I am due to go to Halesworth this evening to read some poetry.

7 December 2008

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Granddaughter Amy in her ballet outfit, performing a few pas de deux ou trois while staying with us last weekend, and looking stunning while doing so.

My second cousin Jeanette and her husband Graham left us on Friday by train for Liverpool, arriving at my first cousin’s there by early evening. Before they left we had fish and chips after a visit to the Rosary to see some family graves. The previous day we visited Paul and had a really good 90 minutes with him. He had a lot to tell Jeanette, most of which I’d heard before, but I did discover that my mother had been desperate to have a child (I was born eight years after they married) and made herself ill over it. I had always thought that they deliberately put off having me till the war was over. Jeanette was impressed by Paul, who is in his mid-eighties and still extremely fit and healthy.

I also took Jeanette and Graham for a drive round a few key spots, including our cottage at Yelverton, taking in my grandmother’s former homes at Queen’s Road (demolished), Hall Road (still there), Caistor Lane (changed out of all recognition) and Poringland (hardly changed at all).

I stayed in yesterday, writing a sermon on John the Baptist for this morning. I think it was too long, but three or four people said they liked it. In the afternoon yesterday I proof-read Dot’s website and completed the Ambient Wonder material – or would have done if the laminator hadn’t wrapped film around itself. Tried to fix it this afternoon, but couldn’t even get it open. I think it’s had it. I will get a new one tomorrow.