Tag Archives: snow

Gentleman rose grower Peter Beales dies

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Peter Beales and his sister Rosie earlier on in his career

Another busy week, despite the snow restricting our movements. Now, at last, the white stuff has gone and been replaced by rainy but much warmer weather. Today is around 10C or more and Dot was “sweltered” on returning from a brief foray to buy a frame for a photo of Ethel (for her birthday later this week, when she is 89, and not 90, whatever she says).

It is a week, however, that will be remembered mainly for the death of Peter Beales, rose grower supreme, Dot’s cousin and all-round gentleman. He succumbed to pneumonia on Saturday afternoon (26 Jan), while Norwich City were going out of the F A Cup to non-League Luton Town. It is four months since his wife died. A sad loss, and a shattering blow to his children, Richard and Amanda.

We received the news from Amanda in the evening. Earlier we had been at Jessie’s after visiting the cemetery (Dot’s Mum’s birthday is also this week). While there we listened to the Norwich City debacle on radio. Later Dot was in deep telephonic conversation with Angela about how to break the news about Peter to Ethel, but in the event she took it without flinching. We visited her yesterday after a drop-in at the supermarket, and she was in good form.

Last Wednesday, with plenty of snow still on the ground, I met Elizabeth McDonald at the Cathedral Refectory to discuss her contribution to the Paston event at Dragon Hall in May. She’s doing a PhD on Books the Pastons Read,  and so will fit in well with the literary theme. Later I drove up to the doctor’s in Dot’s car (because she was using mine) and almost got it stuck outside the house, such is the unsuitability of rear-wheel drive to snowy conditions. Strangely when I returned it shot up the hill with no trouble.

I had had to pick up pills from the chemist as well as call in to the doctor’s to register myself for making online appointments – the latter prompted by my having to cancel Thursday’s appointment, when I accompanied Rob to the Norfolk Record Office in place of the injured Lucy.  But I leap ahead. Also on the Wednesday I went to a meeting of the King Street Cultural Quarter, with whom we’re collaborating slightly on Dragon Hall. Quite amusing to witness the same kind of meeting the PHS has, but without the need to get involved. They are in fact in a worse state following the sudden resignation of their chairman and the reluctance of anyone to take over.

The meeting at the NRO next day was far more civilised – although Dr John Alban, the curator with whom we have been dealing, is also stepping down (retiring) at the end of March. We managed to get a clearish picture of what we’re doing, and it all seems very promising. The result should be a three-month exhibition on the Pastons at NRO starting in mid-October, with some talks by prominent people in the Paston world. Rob gave me a lift, and afterwards we called in at the ABC Wharf in King Street to view the venue for a possible photo exhibition. I think it can best be described as esoteric: a massive warehouse-type  space overlooking the river. Impressive but very, very cold.

Caroline with her book and the singer

After  church on Sunday, where the improved weather attracted a single-figure congregation, Dot and I drove to Fakenham for the launch of Caroline Gilfillan’s new poetry book, Pepys. As you might guess, it is all about the famous diarist, and part of the launch consisted of Caroline, in period costume together with three friends, performing some of the poems, excerpts from the diaries and a couple of songs. On approaching the house we encountered Rob and Penny, with whom we enjoyed the afternoon. Fortuitous, as we knew no-one else except Caroline. Obviously we bought the book. And ate the food.

Big Day survives winter’s tail

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Jessie cuts the cake

The snow is still with us, though it has stopped falling from the sky for a while. Some intrepid guy has spread sand on Aspland Road up to halfway, so there is no problem reaching the top. In fact we have been able to reach the top right through the current cold spell – though admittedly we haven’t been out much in the car.

Yesterday we did, though – because it was the Big Day, Jessie’s 80th, and a gathering had been scheduled to take place at the Wayford Bridge Inn for lunch. There had been a lot of snow late on Sunday, and I was a bit worried about emerging in view of the whiteness of the road; I took it very, very slowly down and reached the bottom with no problem. After that it was plain sailing. We picked Jude up from her house on Riverside Road, and the main roads in the county were more or less clear.

In fact the roads were so clear that, much to Jessie’s delight (and ours), David made a last-minute decision to come from Caddington and arrived in time – before some people who had come from North Walsham! The only person who didn’t make it, I think, was a friend who couldn’t get out of her drive in Acle. The Wayford Bridge Inn was excellent: staff very attentive and a first-class meal. I had one of the best steaks I’ve had for a very long time.

Amazing

There were 14 of us – Jessie; Dot, David and myself; Janet and Ray with Judy and her husband from St Albans; Roger, Liz and Philip; Jude; and George and Fiona. Afterwards David returned to Caddington and arrived in time for his swimming lesson in the evening. The rest of us went back to Jessie’s for the amazing cake that was our present to her – baked, of course, by the equally amazing Marion Sturgeon from Alburgh.

We headed for home just before 6pm, as it started to snow slightly. No real problems getting back. After we dropped Jude I was about to turn into Aspland Road when I noticed a car doing a three-point turn (!!) so continued right up Prince of Wales Road and turned round to approach from the other – and preferable – direction. This time a car was stuck two thirds of the way up; so I reversed to the bottom, and when he had finished slithering around and being pushed to the side of the road, I took a run at it and made the top easily.

Since last Thursday we had two lots of visitors who were not deterred by the weather: on Thursday the Kibbles and on Saturday the Robinsons, who decided to park outside the sorting office and walk through. Not necessarily a good idea: Philip fell over while pushing a car that was sliding around while turning at the top and coming to rest in the gutter (the car, not Philip). He was OK, though, and we had a good evening: Dot cooked some delicious steak and ale.

On Sunday we emerged for church and had no real problems, arriving very early – but not before Geoff Saunders, who was leading the service. Eventually we had 17, which is pretty good and no different from a normal Sunday, though it was quite  treacherous underfoot. Afterwards Dot and I parked near Fye Bridge and walked up to Mandells Gallery for Martin Laurance’s private view. Brilliant exhibition as always; we almost bought a painting, but by the time we got round to it, someone else had bought it. Damn spot.

Spoke briefly to Martin and at greater length to his partner Val; then to Annette and Mike, and Rupert. Several familiar faces from the Norfolk art world. Martin is quite interested in collaborating on some poetry-and-art project, which would be great if it came off. Have spoken to several people about possible book projects recently, but nothing definite. Still, it’s good to have irons in the fire. The tanka collaboration continues.

Meanwhile, Lucy has managed to fall over in the snow and injure her shoulder, as if she didn’t have enough problems. She is in hospital at Cromer, and so Rob and I have to represent her at the Norfolk Record Office on Thursday, which means I shall have to cancel a doctor’s appointment. Annoying, when they are so hard to come by. At present I am trying to make up my mind whether to have a Tuesday Group meeting tonight. No snow is forecast for today, so it should be possible, but there is still a lot of snow up here, and if certain people fell over, we would never be able to get them up again.

 

Catching the start of a blizzard

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Narnia-like view at the top of the road. That witch again…

Woke up this morning to bright sunshine and a temperature of -11C. Between us we had three meetings today, all of which have been cancelled, largely because of the travel problems. It hasn’t snowed in Norwich today, but more is apparently on the way. We have had a fair wedge of it, but things were quiet as we set off for London on Saturday morning, and the roads were good.

Arrived at the Coomes’ residence in Leyton about 12.30 as scheduled and spent much of the hours before evening eating and drinking. Then we went out for a meal – our third visit to Baharat at Woodford, where we had a good Indian meal. On Sunday we went to Tate Britain for a noon start to see the Pre-Raphaelites. It was an excellent exhibition, though a bit crowded, possibly because it was the last day – though you had to book in advance. On the way out we saw Howard waiting to go in.

Afterwards we had a snack at Pimlico Village, an unpretentious cafe, before making our way home by Tube. It was very cold out. We had a meal in and stayed the night, so that Dot could do Philosophy at a nearby school the next day.

David and Kristine left by 7am, but we woke much later to find a smattering of snow on the ground. Because of a very bad forecast, I was uncertain what to do, but eventually I left shortly after 1pm and took the M11 – a good decision, because although it was snowing all the way up, it wasn’t lying on the ground, and I made good progress. After Newmarket the snow stopped and the roads were dry. I arrived in Norwich not long after 3pm and went to Morrisons for a bit of shopping and some petrol.

Meanwhile Barbara had arrived to pick up Dot, and their session at the school went very well. They too decided on the M11 and had an even better experience than me, stopping at the Services for something to eat while I had steak at home. I was intending to meet them at Scole, but by this time it had been snowing hard in Norwich for some while. Nevertheless I set out mid-evening for Scole, but the roads were treacherous, and it was snowing so hard it was difficult to see the edges of the road. So after making it on to the southern bypass and the A140 roundabout, I decided to turn back. Right decision, I think.

Dot and Barbara saw no snow until they reached Scole, but it then started and there was quite a lot on the road, so the last section to Metfield was the hardest. Dot stayed the night, of course. I was going to pick her up the next day, which dawned bright and cold, but it transpired that Barbara was coming in to Norwich for a course at Wensum Lodge; so Dot came with her. Unfortunately they were just late enough to catch the start of a huge blizzard. I waited for them at Morrisons, but because they had been held up Barbara drove straight to Wensum Lodge, so I drove there, transferring Dot’s stuff to our car before driving home.

That was the tricky bit. The roads were covered with snow, and it was coming down very hard indeed. II followed a guy who was all over the place, but we eventually made it to the bottom of our road. As I turned in I saw a van parked in the middle of the road, but I plugged on, and happily he pulled into the side as I approached, and surprisingly we just reached our driveway. After all that, we spent the rest of the day slumped on the sofa catching up on TV programmes we had missed.

Today we did venture out, walking to Morrisons to pick up a few items. We almost went by car, but just as we were scraping it, an ambulance decided to park at the bottom, blocking the main bit of road. Apparently if you’re an emergency vehicle you can do that, even if you don’t need to. Anyway, it worked out all right, despite the slipperiness of the pavements. Since we got back Dot has been cleaning the house and I’ve been catching up on e-mails, tanka-writing and blogging, among other things. Time passes quickly when it’s cold and white outside.

Moving furniture and poems

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This morning at 22 Aspland Road

Seem to have been working quite hard, which is not like me. On Friday, while Dot was out and about, I listened to the King Street interviews and wrote five poems, four of which I’ve sent off a few minutes ago to the person in charge of the project. Most of my time, however, has been spent moving furniture in preparation for the grand floor-change enterprise, which will take up most of this coming week.

Some of the furniture has gone in the garage, some upstairs. The big filing cabinet is in the downstairs loo (all the files were removed and then replaced), and the smaller one in the utility room with the fridge. Smaller things are upstairs or (again) in the garage. We tried to move the big table into the garage, but it was beyond us. We may be able to manage it tomorrow, when Gary comes to take up the carpet and screw down the chipboard. He is a carpenter, so he should be able to move tables.

This morning, after about three or four inches of overnight snow, we decided to walk to church. Quite pleasant too, except that I arrived home absolutely exhausted. I don’t know why, because we’d had a meal at church. Admittedly, walking in snow is tiring, but we’d had no problem in the Peak District. Maybe moving furniture took more out of me than I thought. We bade farewell to Matthew at church today. He is off to London this week. However, more things are now happening at church, and I’m optimistic about it.

Last Friday we had an evening meal with the Kibbles. Rod is a nice guy who goes into things in great depth. I try to keep up. Next day (yesterday) Dot got a ticket from Jonathan to watch Norwich beat Bolton 2-0. Lucy is out of hospital, but far from well.

Worst-case scenario

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Dot walking up the drive to Buck Brigg

Intended to pick up Andrew from Coventry, but worst-case scenario materialised: no, not wall-to-wall snowdrifts, but uncertainty about the drive back. Sleet and snow was predicted for the entire route, so discretion won out over valour, and I postponed the attempt until tomorrow. Not sure if this was the right decision, but it did enable me to finish off my pre-Christmas tasks: lots of cardboard and other rubbish to the tip; hit-and-run card to Phyllis Todd (car park crammed); old books to charity shop; cheque paid in; and took bus to see Kathleen with card and book on Zimbabwe (The Last Resort) that I thought she might like to read. I was picked up from Kathleen’s by Dot, which gave her the chance to bring her a plant. All good.

The haircuts passed off without incident on Thursday, and were followed by a present-bearing trip out to North-East Norfolk, starting at Aunt Sheila’s and continuing at Sainsbury’s and then a bitterly cold cemetery. We went on to make a brave foray out to Buck Brigg on less-than-ideal roads. This went smoothly on the outward journey, but on the way back we had trouble emerging up a slope on to the Hanworth Road and I had to take a run at it, with Dot keeping a lookout for oncoming traffic. Then I skidded impressively turning the corner in Swafield in an attempt to get some momentum for the upcoming hill. Managed to recover and make it up the hill, thanks to nothing coming the other way. Roads very slushy. Temperature hovering around freezing, but main roads just wet – until we reached Aspland Road, which mysteriously had a covering of snow. After Buck Brigg we had mince pies at Jessie’s. She does make a good mince pie.

Couple of cancellations on Monday and Tuesday. Didn’t make it to the chess tournament on Monday; instead did some work on the loft door to make it shut properly – as well as wrapping some presents. Or was that Tuesday? I think it was, because most of Monday afternoon (after Lucy called round for my signature on a Paston document) was spent at Joe and Birgit’s. We thought it was just for drinks, but it turned out to be proper sit-down party food, and very nice too.

On Tuesday I was in and out of some shops, I seem to remember. We also had to cancel the Tuesday Group too after the Archers had some kind of stomach bug. But on the plus side, Julia and Allan called round in the morning after their return from the South-West – a journey  which turned out not to be as bad as expected. There has been some really bad weather in places, but not everywhere – or at least not everywhere at the same time. It all reminds me of 1963: very cold, and snow lying on the ground, but not an awful lot falling. That’s in Norfolk, anyway.

Biting wind, hidden snow

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Sue Moore

Jo Stone

Strange week so far. Unusually cold weather, partly because of a sharp east wind over the last couple of days. Not so much snow as expected, but plenty in other parts of the country. Haven’t been out much; Dot has been driving my car to various appointments. I took her to get her blood tested on Tuesday, and driving was fairly straightforward, though side roads were slidey with slush.

Today she went to the shops at Longwater and came back with armfuls of presents, though not the table coverings she went for (on order). I was meanwhile meeting Sue Moore and Jo Stone at Pizza Express in the Forum: as one of them came from near King’s Lynn and the other from Sheringham, I was surprised they made it, but we had a good chat about times past and present. On emerging just after 3pm I was so frozen by the biting wind that I didn’t call in at the shops as planned, but hastened home. Even indoors it was hard to warm up.