Dot on one of the more remote paths at Hever Castle.
The plumber did sort the leak out, but he discovered that we need a new stopcock. Meanwhile, we have bought a new 48″ TV (Samsung 4K), a BT YouView replacement for our Humax box and a Sony CD player. We managed to get them all home from John Lewis in our car, though it was a much tighter fit than I thought it would be. It’s a taken few days, but I now have them up and running, together with our Apple TV, though the day-to-day operation is far from smooth. It goes without saying that we are not using any of them to their full potential, or even correctly.
The whole operation was so all-consuming that we totally forgot that we had tickets to see Brian Patten at Halesworth on Sunday before Dot had arrange to have an evening meal with Jessie, Roger and Debbie. Clearly Brian Patten couldn’t compete. I offered the tickets on Facebook and rang a couple of people, but sadly they went to waste. Still, we had a good time at North Walsham. Jessie’s cousin Margaret and the Vicar of Suffield came round to discuss family history, with particular reference to Lacey Pike, who was killed at Gallipoli. I was able to contribute a small amount, but not much. Lacey was Dot’s grandmother’s brother, unless I’ve very much mistaken.
As I write Dot is in Hull with Barbara, training some teachers there in Philosophy4Children. After she left yesterday (at about 3pm) I walked up to Revelation with a heavy bag of secondhand books, then continued to the church hall, where I found Carrie and Sophie. I was able to retrieve some cash from the safe and remembered at the last minute to check the meters: I need to speak to British Gas at some point soon.
From there I progressed to Halfords and bought a digital tyre inflator, which I felt we needed, and then proceeded home via the Riverside Path and The Close. Pretty tired at the end of all that. I found I’d done over 4 miles in the day. So I cooked myself a pie and watched Norwich lose 6-2 to Newcastle without looking at all bad, and Ireland and Scotland lose in the rugby world cup quarter-finals, the latter because of a very bad refereeing decision.
I forgot to mention that last Thursday, in the midst of my electrical challenges, I went up to the Theatre Royal to see Martin Laurance’s new exhibition (Dot decided to give it a miss). Very good selection of pictures; if I hadn’t just bought a television, I might have been tempted. Ran into Rupert Mallin, who was in rude health, and on the way out poet Hilary Mellon.
A chilly and wet day today: a foretaste of autumn. But most days are still warm and summery; so we can’t complain. Yesterday afternoon we had drinks in the garden with Anne, who departs for a Mediterranean cruise on Thursday, hoping not to be confused with Libyan migrants. In the evening Dot and I went to the cinema and saw Trainwreck in the company of a largely young and female audience. We guessed we were not the target market, but it was nevertheless a very funny and rewarding film, with some wonderful dialogue.
Earlier in the day we extracted a large amount of bedding, mainly in the form of duvets and pillows, from the loft, spruced it all up a bit and took it to the Jubilee Hall (next to St Luke’s on Aylsham Road) for the benefit of some Congolese people who are gathering there in preparation for the funeral of two cousins who drowned in Thorpe Marshes nature reserve. The boy, aged 11 was called Bonheur and lived in The Lathes. The church gave his family £200 on Sunday toward expenses surrounding the funeral.
Later on Sunday Dot and I went to Walpole Old Chapel, near Halesworth, for the annual poetry reading. It was almost too well attended, because the reading started at 5pm and didn’t finish till well after 8.30pm. I was scheduled to read last, which – viewed in pop music terms – has to be good. It was a bit of a marathon, though, despite the half-time drinks and cake, and by the time I got to read it was not only extremely chilly but also nearly dark. There was only one light in the chapel. Still, we hung in there, despite the counter-attraction of a bird that got in and couldn’t get out, and I got a pretty enthusiastic reception. They even laughed at my jokes. I read three newish poems: After Sun, A Train Approaches and Proof of Heaven.
Elliott makes himself at home in the garden
Proceeding backwards, on Saturday Sam and Lucy came round with Elliott, and went into the garden, where Elliott had a great time pulling flowers apart and transferring stones into places they shouldn’t be. Dot got out David’s old train set and a tractor, both of which Elliott played with and then departed with. Meanwhile Norwich City scored their first win in the Premiership, beating Sunderland 3-1 away.
Earlier last week the main event was the arrival of Adrian and Clarissa by boat on Wednesday. We had a call from them while Dot and I were at Jessie’s in North Walsham. I was on my way to a Paston assignation, but Dot was on her way home after visiting Peter at Cromer for some p4c film editing. Dot dropped in on Adrian after she got back – as did Roger, who also been at North Walsham – and I completed the party when I arrived back from the Paston event. Good to see them: they had Menna’s three girls with them – Maddy, Olivia and Isabel. All delightful, especially Maddy, the oldest.
The following morning they came up for coffee and biscuits before departing for the city as Dot left for the dentist. They had a packed programme. In the last two days they had to get the boat back to Potter Heigham, via Breydon Water, visit Yarmouth (don’t ask me why) and call in on Jessie.
The Paston event mentioned consisted of an informal trustees’ meeting with food (mackerel pate) in the rather chilly garden of the Ship Inn at Mundesley, followed by tea and coffee at Lucy’s. She is not too good, since her last-ditch cancer treatment provoked an allergic reaction. It is hard to say how bad she is, because she always seems to come back strongly, but she didn’t feel well enough to proceed with Rob, Peter and myself to Bacton village hall, where we met the Bacton Historical Society with a view to their helping us in our NHL bid. We got an encouraging reception, and enjoyed a 40 min tape of Bacton people reminiscing about previous times. It was much more interesting than it sounds.
So I have managed to reach the age of 70, struggling across the line after eating and drinking too much over the weekend. Yesterday was my birthday, of course, and we had a celebration at church after my sermon on the beheading of John the Baptist. Dot made a delicious chocolate cake and bought champagne. She invited several people, only one or two of whom could come: Vicky and Paul and Maryta (the latter for the celebration only). Really nice to have so many people wishing me well.
I got texts from David and Chrissy in Italy, and in the evening Dot and I went to Cafe Rouge in the Chapelfield Mall with the Robinsons. The restaurant was fairly empty, except for our dentist and his wife, but the food was excellent: I think this type of food is my favourite, especially the way they do steak and chips. We had a free bottle of bubbly too. Hope this restaurant doesn’t go the way of the previous one on Exchange Street. The service was also excellent.
The previous night had been Roger’s 55th birthday party, at Jurnet’s Club. The atmosphere and food were first class, though we didn’t know many people. The music was pretty loud (though good); so both Dot and I found it difficult to conduct conversations. I spent much of the evening listening to Jude, but I practically had to sit in her lap to hear what she was saying. She is apparently being threatened with legal action by a woman in a wheelchair for suggesting it might be helpful if she (the wheelchair woman) brought a friend to the Red Hat excursions to look after her, in view of her disability.
Also spoke to Fiona, George and Debbie (apparently Roger’s new girlfriend, though he’s known her a long time) and surprisingly, Kim Pummell, with whom he went to school. She works as a secretary to various Archant executives, and used to arrange my company cars for me. Meanwhile Dot was having similarly difficult conversations with men I didn’t know.
Earlier in the day I went to a farm at Aylmerton to assist Peter Stibbons with some filming for the Paston DVD. He was already being assisted technically by Paul Damen, but I was found a role as sound man. I also read one of the letters in costume. The location was Tony Colman’s Park Farm (no relation), and because of an anomaly on the map I found it hard to find. Still, better late… Lovely sunny spot. Most of the re-enactors were there.
On Friday the gas man came to service our boiler and discovered we needed a flush-through. I am awaiting a phone call to arrange this. Nice bloke. In the evening we went round the Hendersons for a light meal. No flush-through required.
On Thursday I had taken Joy and Phil to the doctor’s again. It was their 40th anniversary on Sunday and they managed to get to church to celebrate, which was quite an achievement for them, as they find it hard to walk far nowadays, and both get tired quickly.
This week has turned rainy. Joy is worried because the 23rd (when they plan to go to Southampton) is forecast to be 29C. I tried to persuade her that no-one can make accurate ten-day forecasts, but she remains concerned.
Happily, Linda did turn up and we had our hair cut. Pretty exciting. The next day we drove down to Burston to have a very nice lunch with artists Annette and Mike: excellent bread cooked by Mike, among other tasty things. It was a bit of a rush, as we then had to drive into Diss to see their shop – Designermakers21 – before racing back to Brooke, where Dot had to attend a feedback session at the school, earlier than expected at 3pm.
The shop was impressive though a little chilly, and Dot bought a cushion and candle shade. It was even colder outside. We dropped Mike off at his home and then Dot drove up to Brooke, arriving about eight minutes late, but only a minute or two after they’d actually started. However, she was in such a hurry that she left the car with me right outside the school gates, forgetting that I had had wine for lunch. Magically, I managed to park it without committing an offence.
On Friday Dot was out much of the day, but returned in time to greet the Hendersons at about 6.30pm. We had a drink, then supper at Prezzo’s, which we finished just in time, as Maryta walked out in protest at the language from an adjoining stag do. They came back to ours for coffee.
Yesterday I walked Dot to Carrow Road, where she was disappointed to see Norwich City lose to Brentford (1-2) and afraid of being labelled a bad-luck charm. She has certainly not been fortunate in the matches she’s seen this season. She now has to decide whether to continue to have a season ticket next year.
The day was not spoiled, however, as we then travelled to the Banningham Crown for an excellent meal with Roger and Jessie. The pub has been much extended, with new car parking and paths, and the staff are as pleasant and welcoming as ever. The pump where Dot’s mum used to sit and eat crisps in the 1920s while her father was in the pub is now incorporated in extra eating space, where we happened to sit. I had Guinness and steak pie, followed by a superb pavlova, which had a predictable effect when I went to bed, and made for an uncomfortable night. Lovely evening, though.
Today is slightly milder, but not a huge amount. I took the morning service, with Howard preaching, and we had four children present: Beatrice and Benjamin, with their mother Ruth; and Amy and George, with their mother Vicky and her mother Helen, down from Yorkshire. All good. We had thought of going for a walk this afternoon, but in the end it didn’t happen.
Feeling very down and tired, which is not the ideal start to a new year. Slept very little last night, stirred myself just enough to get Dot a cup of tea at 7.20am before she left for a P4C session at Heather Avenue, then lay awake till after 9.30. Eventually had a bath and crawled downstairs about 11.30am. Cannot work up enthusiasm for anything.
We did have a lovely time with David and the children, managing to do something every day. Last Tuesday (the 30th) we visited Jessie, and on the way there I dropped off and delivered a cheque to Rob Knee, having a brief chat with him and Penny before walking the rest of the way. Cold but moderately invigorating, I seem to remember.
On New Year’s Eve we had a pizza and drink at the Hendersons’ at lunch time. In the evening Roger came round for a meal, and the festivities included the mandatory quizzes – including two very hard photo quizzes from the children which took us up to midnight. There was a brief concert from Queen on TV, with their new (very good) lead singer.
On New Year’s Day, after something of a lie-in, we all went to see The Penguins of Madagascar at the cinema, and I only dozed off once or twice. It was actually quite reasonable, and the children enjoyed it.
The next day Birgit and Joe came round in the morning, and after a light lunch we headed for the Maddermarket to see The Borrowers, which was really excellent, making light of the obvious problems in staging. The actors were superb, and it was just the right length. By accident we got five seats behind each other downstairs, and this caused some concern until it became clear that the adjacent seats were not going to be filled, and so David and the children were able to sit together.
On Saturday Richard, Maddy and Darcy came round both before and after lunch at Prezzo’s, and when they departed in late afternoon, David and the children packed and headed home while we did a bit in the house.
On Sunday we woke to a frozen street, and it took me some time to get the car going. Even when it did it insisted on telling us that the tyre pressure was wrong: not sure yet if this was a result of the cold, or if there is indeed a genuine problem. A visual check revealed nothing obvious.
Rather an odd morning at church, or maybe it was just me. Eleanor, who was presiding at Communion, had a bad cough and so Dot distributed the bread while I sang. Phil was away, as were several other people, but we got a few from Carrie’s group there, plus a Latvian couple who wanted to have their baby baptised. When we left, Anna and a helping group were solving a problem with one of the curtains.
I had a quick look for a stopcock, which Stuart has been writing e-mails about, but couldn’t see anything obvious. Back home I tried to get the new Apple TV to work (David kindly bought it for us at Christmas), but after some partial success failed almost completely. On the plus side, we can now watch YouTube and see Flickr on the TV.
Right on schedule, the weather has turned wintry: it is, after all, Bonfire Night tomorrow. Happily the cold conversion was preceded by some unseasonably mild weather, during which Dot and did some tidying up in the garden. But yesterday I ventured into the city with some cheques (accompanied by Dot on a different mission to Dipples and Jarrolds) and a very dark sky presented us with some unpleasantly chilly drizzle.
Ah well: all good things come to an end, they say, and I have also come to the end of my Find-my-Past credits. They warned me their time was running out, so I had a blitz, during which I discovered some stuff about my cousin Brenda, who turned out to be older than I thought, and then a little about my grandmother’s family. I have now decided to abdicate from FMP and stick to Genes Reunited, where I have my Family Tree.
Further speculation about the past occurred last week, when Dot and I went with Judy to a talk at the Quaker Meeting House on fossil evidence for the Flood and a young Earth. It was interesting enough to get Judy and me to a debate two nights later (Friday) at the same place, where the original speaker debated with a vicar who championed Evolution. I had some sympathy with the former speaker, but I don’t think he quite understood that the Bible wasn’t written in English and that references to well known figures could be to legend rather then history. The other guy was more appealing but his dependence on statistics and consensus was not terribly convincing. As always, they didn’t really answer each other’s points.
Why was Dot not present at the debate? She had a ticket to watch Norwich City beat Bolton, about which there was no dispute.
Between these ventures into the past Dot and I had a meal with Angela and Rodney at Prezzo’s, who were understaffed and hard pressed. Still, the meal was nice enough, and it was a pleasant evening, catching up on Auntie Ethel’s latest confusions.
On Sunday, in the absence of Nicholas, en route to Aspen, I led a joint service at the hall. This was because St Luke’s had given the day over to a kind of installation in which people read from the Bible for 24 hours and there was a brazier outside (not sure why). After the service Dot and I went along to hear Judy read from one of Peter’s letters. Our service had 14 Augustinians joined by ten from St Luke’s, and Howard speaking on All Souls, All Saints and Hallowe’en, and suggesting we should pay more attention to All Saints Day.
In the afternoon Dot and I visited Jessie after calling in at a gloomy cemetery to drop off flowers – almost literally, as there was not much space for parking and we were late for Mason Villa. Roger was also with Jessie, and I talked to him quite a bit about his recent America trip and about the flow and power of showers. Nice afternoon. Sad news from Phil about Sam and Lucy, who is still very unwell. Phil and Joy have just spent two weeks with them.
Between July 10 and 28, Dot and I were away from home. This is just on the edge of what I find comfortable in the area of being away from home, but well within the boundaries of time I feel comfortable in Scotland. There’s a paradox for you. Ah, well. It went a bit like this:
Wednesday, July 10
Drove to Glasgow. Started cloudy and cool but became warmer – very warm on arrival. So warm in fact that Dot backed into a parked van. Don’t ask me why. Van escaped unscathed. Drive up pretty good, the only hold-up being at Elveden, where a car had broken down. Stopped at Cambridge Services, M6 Toll, Carnock Richard and Westmorland Farm Shop, then again briefly so that Dot could drive on approach to Glasgow. Couldn’t see any way to get on to M8 going in right direction (east), so went off and came on again, which worked well. Tried to follow Premier Inn directions, but went astray near the Cathedral; enlisted the help of Google Maps on my iPhone, after which it was a total doddle. Nice hotel with welcoming staff. I had a steak, and Dot lasagne after watching Test match highlights. Brief walk to river afterwards.
Dot back at her birthplace – 24 Waterside Road
Thursday, July 11
After quite a good night’s sleep had a reasonable breakfast, then headed out in the sun to Dot’s birthplace – 24 Waterside Road – which we found without much difficulty about a mile away. The road is still there, bordered by the River Clyde, but the houses look a bit newer, though the area is clearly still less than affluent. Took pix of Dot on her second appearance in the Gorbals, then we crossed Ballater Street (and the river) into Glasgow Green, a beautiful park containing the People’s Palace and the Winter Gardens, where we had an ice cream and visited a museum with some wartime memories of the area.
We then walked across the park and up to St Andrew’s in the Square, where we picked up a tourist bus which took us across town and via many noteworthy landmarks to the Kelvingrove Museum. Here we had tea and a sandwich and looked at a lot of excellent pictures, plus a Rennie Mackintosh room, and got very tired. Undeterred we headed out again, following directions that surprisingly turned out to be right, up the hill to the university – a very wearing walk in the sun – and the Mackintosh House there, where we joined a guided tour. This turned out to be very interesting, despite an irritating American who kept trying to turn it into a private question-and-answer session. While waiting for the tour we popped into the adjacent Hunterian Museum, which had pictures by Whistler next to somewhere we could sit down. After the tour we caught the tour bus again (one ticket for two days) and headed homewards. During a convenient break I managed to get some cash from a machine, then we continued to the stop where we originally boarded before walking the last half-mile or so (bit more so, in fact) back to the Premier Inn and some iced fizzy water.
Friday, July 12
Another hot day, and my 68th birthday. I have been an adult for 50 years, or half a century, whichever seems longer. After breakfast we walked to St Andrew’s in the Square and caught the tour bus to George Square.We then walked to John Street, where we spoke to a friendly guy in the city hall about Dot’s search for her birth details. He wasn’t able to help much, but referred us to the Mitchell Library for voters’ lists for 1945. Dot decided she didn’t want to spend a lot of time doing that, so instead we walked through the city centre to Sauchiehall Street and the famous Willow Tea Rooms, which turned out to be not only famous but lovely and not packed out. We both had tea, and I had a strawberry tart. The design was amazing; great atmosphere. After a couple of purchases in the shop downstairs, we got the bus again and walked back to the hotel from our usual stop.
After a brief respite with iced fizzy water, we got directions from the receptionist to Pollok Park and the Burrell Collection. This didn’t work out perfectly, largely because Dot mistook the end point on the map for the beginning, and vice versa. However with the help of the atlas and Google maps we eventually made it. Pollok Park is stunning, and so is the building housing the Burrell Collection (though the eco-friendly roof doesn’t work and is leaking in places). I was not too impressed by the temporary exhibition, but the permanent exhibition upstairs was interesting (I liked Baudin and Ribot), and there was some lovely work by Rodin, including The Thinker. Good cafe too.
Lasting impressions of Glasgow: the wideness of the roads, the slowness of the traffic lights, the way all the exhibitions are free – oh, and the friendliness of the people, especially those in our hotel.
Saturday, July 13
Woke latish following a bad night. After breakfast discovered that David and the children were already on the road and ahead of us. Left at 10.40 and got on to the M8 fairly easily. Journey was straightforward despite some slow drivers on the A93, and we met David at Braemar at about 1pm. Lunch in Fife Arms, then drove to Ballater, arriving at The Coyles around 2.30pm. Very big house. From hot in Braemar, it became chilly at Ballater, with very low cloud. Bought food, played cricket in garden, bought fish and chips and watched Test Match highlights after eating it. For my birthday David bought me three books and two films, Amy gave me a lovely key ring she’d made, and both children made me beautiful cards. Dot had trouble with the washing machine, but it made sense eventually.
Sunday, July 14
David up early to meet Chrissy (and Roger and Barb) at Edinburgh Airport. D and C arrived in Ballater just after midday, R & B half an hour later. After something to eat and various items like shopping and cricket we walked round by the river and spent some time on the stones. Very warm today. C & B joined us by river and we walked remainder of circle. Interesting meal followed by watching England beat Australia (just). All shattered. Bed quite early.
Roger, Barbara, David, Chrissy, Amy at the far end of Loch Muick
Monday, July 15
“Short walk” (Barbara Murray) round Loch Muick in pleasantly warm weather. Actual distance 7.6 miles. Struggle for Amy and for Chrissy, still battling jet lag and developing sunburn. My hay fever from yesterday disappeared. Beautiful walk, in fact. Afterwards drove to Log Cabin for drink and snack – probably a bit too far, but very nice when there, as always. Fish and chips later – I had egg and chips. Spent rest of evening talking and looking at photos, and deciding what we’ll do the rest of the week.
Tuesday, July 16
Cloudier, but warm, though with some light rain in afternoon. Drove to Balmoral, had food then visited ballroom and guest cottage. Sheltered a while from rain then climbed up path, but didn’t get far because Amy was not keen. Dot and I had extra cup of tea while Roger, Barbara, Chrissy and Oliver visited Crathie Church (Amy and David resting in car). All visited Distillery and I bought a baseball cap, then drove home by southern route. David, Oliver and I went up to Monaltrie Park to play cricket. Lovely meal, but I had violent diarrhoea afterwards. Soon got over it. Watched some Twenty Twelve followed by The Trip, with Coogan and Bryden.
Oliver and David on Craigendarroch
Wednesday, July 17
Warm and dry. While Roger and Barbara walked Seven Bridges and the others went to the river, Dot and I went into town and bought me some binoculars (birthday present) for £170, a top and scarf for her and some meat for supper. Had drink and muffin at cafe, sitting outside! In afternoon I played cricket with Oliver, David and Roger while others went to river again, then – after a brief break – Dot and I, Roger and Barbara and Oliver climbed Craigendarroch. David met us on top, having started later and gone a long way round. We all returned by another route I recommended, despite much doubting by others. But it worked well. After supper watched more Twenty Twelve.
Thursday, July 18
Even warmer. Got up fairly early to climb Craigendarroch again, thinking I’d lost my binocular lens cap up there. But it was found by Dot in the house while Oliver and I were on the top. Nice walk though, especially during those moments when I could breathe. Later drove to Linn of Quoich, where Amy got stung by a wasp but otherwise things went well. Had late lunch at Fife Arms, then drove home, pretty much exhausted, except for usual suspects, who immediately went to the bookshop.
Amy gets to grips with the stream
Friday, July 19
No reduction in warmth. Five of our number set off under blue skies at 7.55am to climb Lochnagar but had to retreat from the ridge at about 1pm, feeling exhausted under the hot sun. Meanwhile, Dot, Amy and I played storytelling using Dixit cards, then went to the little bridge off the Corgarff road to play in the stream (at least, one of us did). Idyllic spot. Managed to receive a call from Coventry about Andrew as well as a couple of texts from David to say they’d turned back. We eventually drove back to Spittal of Glen Muick to meet the Lochnagar party as they arrived, rather tired in the sun. Good achievement, though – especially by Oliver. Fish and chip supper.
Saturday, July 20
Still very warm. everyone pretty tired, so had a quieter day. Mooched around town, including Larks Gallery and cycle and sweet shop before arriving at new corner cafe for very good lunch. Later in the afternoon Barbara, Roger, David and Oliver walked out on cycle path towards Cambus O’May while I took Dot, Chrissy and Amy there by car. Very crowded, boys jumping off bridge etc, and distance was more than I had thought, so Dot, Chrissy and Amy started walking back. I found a layby where path came to road and amazingly proved to be almost exactly where the two parties met. All hot, so I gave lefts home in shifts to all except Barbara, who hurtled back on her own, setting a new world record for a cross between walking and running. In the evening had a fantastic meal at the Glen Lui. Drinks outside followed by meal in room on our own, and excellent service. It doesn’t get any better.
Sunday, July 21
Four left early (6.15am) for Edinburgh airport. Roger’s car had a flat halfway down the road, but fortunately David had a usable pump, and the tyre stayed up for the journey. Hot again, and we did very little except go to the shop for some food – on the way home as David arrived. Later emptied bottles at car park. Not much else: Froome completed win of Tour de France, England hammered Australia in Ashes and Mickelson unfortunately won the Open after Westwood led going into the final day. But he and Poulter came joint third. Dot and I switched to Murrays’ bedroom and a double bed.
Cyclists Amy, Oliver and Dot pause at Cambus O’May
Monday, July 22
A little cooler at first, but sunny and warm later. The five of us remaining hired bikes (£42) and rode down the old railway track to Cambus O’May and then Dinnnet and back – a total of about 15 miles. By the time we got back, Dot and I were quite sore and Amy was flagging (not surprisingly). She did pretty well. Three hours in all – followed by lunch at our favourite corner cafe. Watched bit of Wreck-it Ralph with Amy but kept going to sleep. Managed to keep awake during Dixit, tea and a showing of The Hobbit, but really pretty shattered by the end of the day. Not sleeping too well, for some reason.
Tuesday, July 23
The weather broke, with low cloud followed by rain and eventually a thunderstorm. By that time we had arrived back in Ballater after visiting Glen Shee cafe with a view to taking the chair lift. That proved impossible, of course, but Amy got to touch a cloud, so that was all right. Drove back via old road to Braemar, then over Crathie-Gairnshiel-Ballater road. Played games in afternoon, then Dot and Oliver and I went to La Mangiatoia to book for diiner. Got booking for 6.30 and had another excellent meal.
Wednesday, July 24
Warm weather returned, and David and the children sadly left. We had a walk in town first, a little shopping, mainly of the window variety, then lunch in our favourite corner cafe. Simultaneously two men arrived to lay vinyl in the en suites, three hours early, so we left them to it. Eventually (after our early lunch and after David left) the caretaker Mr Campbell also turned up, as did a gardener; Dot and I left them to it. We drove up to the Lecht and walked up a path to the top on the right-hand side: great views and a ridge walk with minimum effort. Back to the Log Cabin for a snack and then drove to a layby on the road to Gairnshiel, where we took a pic for a Spanish couple and read a bit, before moving into the valley by the bridge for a further read in the evening sun. Good shelter. Then home: watched Looper (one of my birthday presents from David): very clever and enjoyable film. Followed by watching last two episodes of Twenty Twelve. Still funny.
Thursday, July 25
A bit cooler and with some rain. Got up latish and notified caretaker that the vinyl-layers had left two sliding doors unsecured. He came later to fix them, while I was buying newspaper and a present for Oliver. He, his father and sister were meanwhile making good progress homeward and arrived at 2.30pm. By this time we were in the Fife Arms, having travelled to Aboyne in the hope of happening on some 3G and checking where the Boat Inn is. But it was very wet and dark east of Ballater so we headed for Braemar. Got free WiFi in the Fife Arms, so Dot caught up with her e-mails at some length.
After a snack we looked round some shops and then drove up to the duckpond, staying for a while before heading home. On the way stopped by forbidden bridge near Keilloch and saw a deer by the river’s edge, also three heron(?) in the air. In the evening met Ella and David at the Boat Inn at Aboyne and bought them supper. Ella in good spirits, but David didn’t look well, though he was bright enough. They knew many of the people there, of course, but the landlady asked me if I was local, which is a first. She had only been there three weeks.
Dot under a cloud on Capel Mounth
Friday, July 26
Mainly warm and dry with some showers. Had breakfast at cafe in high street, then drove to Loch Muick, making a picnic first. Walked up the path to Capel Mounth and reached a plateau after two miles. Sat down to eat lunch and it started to rain. Black clouds, so finished quickly and retreated fast, but still got fairly wet. Not cold, though, and quite fun. Drove back to Ballater and did some packing before getting fish and chips (I had egg, bacon and chips). Then watched a DVD we’d seen before before finishing tidying up.
Saturday, July 27
Started warm and bright blue, and remained so for most of the drive south to Killington Lake, near Kendal. Dot drove to just south of Glasgow (including a brief return to Ballater when I realised I’d brought a house key with me), then I took the wheel the rest of the way, popping in to Gretna to refuel. From Ballater to Scottish border was just over 200 miles. Diverted briefly to Shap, but having found nothing of interest returned to M6 and stopped at Tebay, “the best service station in the UK” – an accolade I would not disagree with. Had meal and lingered in shop and with ice cream, then continued to Killington Lake.
Here it soon started to thunder and lightning quite enthusiastically, and eventually rain poured down extremely heavily, confining us to our room. We took advantage of a brief lull to go and get a muffin and tea, despite finding the restaurant largely flooded. Returned to room with umbrellas and extra tea bags, awaiting promised accelerated downpours overnight. This was our 45th wedding anniversary, and one of the most memorable.
Later on the 22nd, I walked up the hill and along the path to Ilfracombe, which opened up to give nice views. Met the craft shop crew on the way back, and later in the day we all went to Woolacombe again. It was cooler and windier than before, but still pleasant enough for me to go into the sea with Oliver and Amy as they did some surfing: Dot hired an extra board for Amy, and I quite enjoyed myself.
Afterwards we took everything away from the beach hut and locked up, but it was too late to deposit the key, so Dot and I dropped it in the next morning, reclaiming the deposit. We then continued down the coast to Croyde, where I had spent a holiday as a child, but nothing rang a bell. It wasn’t far, but it was a very slow journey because of the narrow roads. When one queue met another queue, things got tricky, especially when there was a bus involved.
In the afternoon we all went down to the cove as the tide went out and made our way quite a good distance along the beach, looking for paths between the rocks that avoided deep pools. Amy took on the role of tour guide for a while, and Oliver took lots of photographs. He has a good eye for an effective picture. On the way back I took a different route and ended up having to jump the river, wall to wall.
In the evening we all went down to the Grampus for a meal, preceded by some outdoor table tennis. The food was exceptionally good: Oliver and I had steaks, and Roger had a second slice of banoffee pie. Very pleasant pub, to be recommended, which I did in the Daymer Cottage Guest Book.
Elegant Amy, at ease in any situation
On the Friday it rained as we packed up the cars, but it eased off as we left, about 9.45am. It was a bank holiday weekend, so the traffic was predictably bad, but we managed to stay together for the first services on the M4, where we had lunch and said goodbye to David and the children. We still stayed more or less together, though, until they left the M25 at the M1 junction. The M25 hadn’t been too bad (though it was pretty solid going the other way) until then, but it was getting worse as we reached the A1, so I took that route, up to Baldock and along the A505 to the A11. We managed to keep moving well enough until we reached Barton Mills, where there was a queue leaving the roundabout, so we took the normal evasive action through some nice Suffolk countryside and arrived home around 6pm.
On Saturday we decided to go to the Maddermarket for a production of A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie. This was remarkable in that it is the first time I have been to a play at the Maddermarket that was badly acted; it was pretty amateurish all round, and it was hard to know where to pin the blame. The director? Key roles? On the bright side, I ran into a couple of ex-Archant library people: Maureen Green and Frances Pearce. Had quite a long chat with Frances, who now lives in Aurania Avenue, behind my childhood home in Brian Avenue.
Yesterday I led the service, and Howard preached about the nature of holy places (everywhere). Unfortunately Dot had developed a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed in bed. However, she managed to come with us to the King’s Head and Ali Tandoori in the evening, with Heather and Simon, and we had a really good time.
Today Dot stayed in bed till late, but then got up, though she isn’t much better. The sore throat is less severe, but she’s developed a cough. Barbara and Roger have been visiting her sister and are just back (6.30pm). I cleaned the car out, getting rid of most of the sand, and did some food shopping. Also caught up with email backlog and the post. Now I will get us all some tea.
Venta Icenorum: the diggers dig, and the archaeologists look on, while in the background an expert amateur tries to explain it all to visitors
It’s Bank Holiday Monday, and we’re awaiting the arrival of the Robinsons, with whom we intend to play pitch and putt later on. It’s a dour, grey day, but according to my invaluable rainradar site, it’s not going to rain in Norwich, so we should be OK. Plenty of rain over the last few days: on Saturday I took a walk to deliver a chess cheque to Mike Read and it poured down at the only point there was no shelter. I can’t remember the last time I was so wet outdoors – so wet in fact that when Dot rang and offered a lift, I declined on the grounds that I couldn’t get any wetter and might as well complete the walk. Which I did: an unusual experience, and strangely the rain stung my eyes. Even more strangely, my tennis shoes proved to be completely waterproof. Fortunately it was not cold.
The previous day it had rained pretty much incessantly, which put paid to any ideas Dot might have had of entertaining the Higbees in the garden. Still, we had a very pleasant cooked lunch indoors. Yesterday we did start outdoors – at Roger’s house in Paine Road, with the usual suspects: Jessie, Philip (for a short while), Ray and Janet and their daughter and son-in-law. When the cloud darkened menacingly we shifted indoors for a buffet, at which I showed commendable restraint, if I might say so. We walked home in the gathering dusk across Mousehold, summiting St James’ Hill, where some unspeakable vandals have removed the view plaque dedicated to R H Mottram and had a good go at defacing the plinth as well. Colourful evening sky, which no-one could deface. Dot showed a good turn of speed in her trainers. (We had gone part way on the bus on the outward journey.)
Earlier that day we got a surprisingly large congregation (nearly 20) at church, where I found myself leading, preaching and interceding, with Dot on solo violin. A couple of new people who I hope weren’t put off!
I’ve sent off for a marriage certificate for my grandfather and the enigmatic Ms Steele, just to confirm that it happened. (It didn’t – see later posts.) And in other family news Dot and I have seen the DVD of Sam’s Nativity extravaganza, Who’s the Baby?, which was very good on the scripting and acting front, though the production values were not brilliant, unsurprisingly. The only criticism I would make is that it went on a bit too long. He certainly has a good ear for dialogue, and is a pretty good actor too. Nice to have access to so much acting talent.
Earlier in the week the assistant pastor at Surrey came round at mended our table leg, which is the sort of thing you want an assistant pastor to do. And Dot and I popped out to Caistor to have a look at the excavations, which end this week. Not terribly impressive, to be honest. We overheard a couple of archaeologists discussing which ditch had been dug by Atkinson in the 1920s (it had all been covered up subsequently), and it occurred to us that this was not something that should really have been detaining them. We did learn some interesting stuff though: apparently the town is much later than I thought (probably about 300AD), and by no means densely inhabited. They’ll be turning in their graves…
This is Dot’s cousin Roger in typically relaxed style, pictured at Jessie’s last week. Another family meal looms on Sunday, when quite a large number of people are due at Angela’s at Dereham to celebrate Ethel’s 85th. This was supposed to be a sort of a secret, but the cat has been let out of the bag by someone who shall remain nameless. As the nameless person’s husband is in hospital with pneumonia again, she can be forgiven. Dot has been at Ethel’s this afternoon, calling in with presents on her way back from Yarmouth, where she has had her first school visit as diocesan school support officer, followed by lunch with her friend Anne. She is keeping pretty busy: a long afternoon yesterday was spent with Barbara preparing for next Tuesday’s head teachers’ conference, including a visit to the venue – St Luke’s Church Centre.
This morning I got over an appallingly shoddy loss at chess last night by going for a walk that turned out to be nearly four miles. It started innocently enough with a call at the sorting office to post a letter for Dot, but then got out of hand. I walked up through the Rosary, down the steps to Cintra Road and down on to Thorpe Rod, left and up the hill again via Stanley Road and Harvey Lane, then through what was Pinebanks and down a footpath back on to Thorpe Road and up to the River Green. I sat on a seat for a while in the sun – the weather was really mild compared to what it has been recently, people were feeding ducks, geese and swans, and it was all pretty idyllic really. I then went really mad and walked up to Whitlingham Lane and over the rail footbridge on to the river path, where I noticed that work on the third Whitlingham Broad was far advanced. All we need now is a bridge over the river from Thorpe to Whitlingham. Someone … Anyone? A couple of pretty ramshackle vessels were moored there, and an old man had got a fire going on the bank. Not sure what for. I returned to the main road and caught a bus back to the station, feeling I had earned my favourite cheese and onion sandwich, which I bought from Budgens.
The rest of the day I’ve spent writing some liturgy for our Tuesday group. Sort of experimental, based on a book we went through for Advent and Epiphany. I had a phone call from Annette last night saying there had been a radio programme about the Paston book, following a page of publicity in the EDP, and as a result we had sold another four of the big hand-made books at over £1000 each. It would have been nice to have had this news the day before, when 15 artists and poets met at Cringleford to discuss the future of the project. The meeting was at poet Adrian Ward’s rather splendid house, and was followed by an InPrint meeting, which didn’t last long after I’d persuaded everyone to admit that they didn’t really want to apply for a grant to do stuff they didn’t really want to do and didn’t have time for. So we shall proceeed with the Paston project, producing more work, hopefully, and maybe running some more workshops. I’m not too bothered about the workshops, but Annette, Caroline and Lisa are keen. Fuller story on InPrint website.
Before the Cringleford meeting, Dot and I went to Martin Laurance’s exhibition at the Grapevine on Unthank Road – a splendid gallery which will be home to a Paston exhibition from March 29. Martin is a superb artist and worked on the Paston project (he used a couple of my poems for collaborative pieces). The private view was pretty full, and Rosemary, the librarian from Archant was there. So were Annette and Caroline, and so were some other Paston people, though I didn’t see them. They had probably already left by the time we got there. Dot and I only had a few minutes there because we’d been to church (I had been preaching on the conversion of St Paul), and Caroline gave me a lift to Cringleford so that Dot could take the car home. Later Dot picked me up and we gavc Lisa and her two children, Dash and Blossom, a lift to their place in Pottergate.
This afternoon Phyllis Seaman from church called unexpectedly with a gift of some windfall cooking apples. I love stewed apples. It’s my one weakness. No, it’s really one of many.
