A Midsummer Night's Dream

On Tuesday I happened to be in London for a meeting. In the evening Kate and I went to the Globe Theatre to see A Midsummer Nights Dream. What a wonderful venue...


...reconstructed about 10 years ago near the original site using original materials and techniques. Thankfully modern Health and Safety and Buildings Regulations were ignored; the place really genuinely has the ambience and buzz of an Elizabethan theatre. We were lucky enough to have seats in the 'Gentlemans' Box', a slightly restricted view to the side of the stage, but at least we had seats.

The performance was very good - marred only by the occasional jet airliner passing overhead (not the theatre's fault) and by what I thought was a slightly lacklustre performance from Michael Jibson as Puck/Philostrate. Paul Hunter was excellent as Bottom, and in the final act had the audience literally rolling around with laughter. The whole performance was hugely entertaining and engaging, with very good period costume and excellent music. Highly recommended - a fantastic evening!

Burford and Witney

In celebration of Harry's birthday we all met in Oxfordshire. Harry and Steph and Moss came up in the motorhome to Lincoln Farm Park, a spotless and well-groomed caravan site (with excellent toilets) if rather formal and 'suburban' for my own taste. After lunch, and presenting Harry with his croquet set, we then set off for Burford.


Burford is one of the jewels of Cotswold towns, and of course remembered from childhood - although not so much the town but more the wildlife park, scene of at least two 'end of year' trips from Miss Martins' school. But I digress, as ever. Above is a photo of the almshouses, whose foundation dates from 1457 (although much of the fabric is later).


The church was quite magnificent, and clearly this is where much of Burford's 15th century wealth was spent. We had delightful conversations with the verger, and discovered the memorial to Edmund Harmann (which, curiously, incorporates the earliest English depiction of native Americans). Harmann, whose portrait you can see on this rather clever page from the National Gallery, was barber to Henry VIII and died in 1576. The church itself was quite marvellous in many other respects, and despite having been 'scraped' inside by the Victorians, managed - in the complexity of its plan and richness of its features - to retain much of its pre-reformation splendour.


We then wandered up and down the main street, buying clothes and plants, looking at expensive antiques, and visiting the (free) Tolsey Museum. Above, a random doorway; below, a rather pretty alleyway.


After Burford we went down the road to Witney, where we were just in time for everything to be closed! However by peering plaintively through the door I was able to pursuade the Oxfam Bookshop to open briefly. Here I am at what I am now reliably informed is The Buttercross - a medieval structure with seventeenth century additions (many thanks to Witney Net for the correction, see comments below). No doubt this is where various ancestors passed by in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...


After Witney (not enough time to explore properly on this occasion) we went back to the campsite for food and much booze, and a game of croquet...

Sunday was spent in the garden, about which more in a future chronicle.

Northern adventures: Yorkshire and beyond...

A bank holiday weekend and an extra day off on Friday meant a lovely 4 days together, which we spent in visiting Kate's granddad in Hull. For me this was a particularly interesting visit, to see a city for which I developed a great deal of affection in the summer of 1994.

We set off on Friday afternoon, in the uncomfortable BMW hire car (see below) and got as far as Leicestershire before deciding to stop. We visited Breedon-on-the-Hill, a spectacular place which started life as a hill fort in the Iron Age. A monastery was established here in AD 675, was plundered by the Vikings and then re-established in the 9th century. Bits and bobs of that early fabric survive in the present church...


...however the standing buildings today are largely 13th century. Earthworks show the outline of the monastic cloister which surrounded it. The location is spectacular because half of the hill has been quarried away over the last 200 years, leaving the church perched virtually on the edge of a cliff. Curiously most of the 18th and 19th century gravestones were not made from the local stone at all but from slate. Similarities in the style of carving and inscription over a 150-year span suggested that several generations of the same family were Breedon's monumental masons.

From Breedon we set off northwards, arriving in Hull at about 7.00 that evening. There was time and light enough for a reminiscent drive round. First stop was a look at the new Magistrates Court which had been built over the site of the 1994 excavations - but otherwise the surrounding scene seemed little changed. Admiration of industrial buildings along the River Hull...


...was followed by a drive down Holderness Road and Mersey Street, and then on to our accommodation in Beverley. Kate had managed to book the most wonderful place - the Minster Garth Guest House which was literally right next to the Minster, as you can see from the photos.



We were in the "cottage" a self-contained self-catering annexe to the main Bed and Breakfast that was quite marvellous. That evening we went for a stroll looking for something to eat, and eventually discovered a Turkish restaurant called "Seraglio", located down a little alleyway. The food (washed down with some Turkish wine) and service were excellent. The next day we wondered into the market and had a browse in an antiques market (as well as visiting Yorkshire bargain emporium Boyes) before setting off back to Hull to visit Kate's granddad.

It was great to finally meet up and compare notes on living in Hull at various times, maritime history, the history of Hull, twentieth century poetry, local elections and all manner of other interesting topics.

In the afternoon we went for a wander round Hull's streetlife museum, which I didn't remember at all (although I think I had different recreational priorities in those days), and reliving Kate's childhood somewhat...


...a more glamorous tram driver you couldn't hope to meet! We then went on a drive through scenic east Humberside. Through the well-named village of Paull...


...then on to Spurn Point, then up the coast to Withernsea and eventually to Hornsea where we had fish and chips at Sullivans.

By this time Kate was pining for land with hills in it. So the next day we headed north and east - winding our way through Driffield and Malton, and eventually pausing for lunch in the beautiful estate village of Hovingham. All of this landscape very familiar from my immediate post-Sheffield days, and lovely to see again after such a long time. The next stop was Helmsley, a very busy town on a bank holiday weekend - and yes we managed to find not one but two bookshops. We also visited Helmsley Castle, a marvellous 13th century fortification gentrified into a gracious mansion in the 16th century. Our visit coincided with a 'Medieval Event'...


...with the usual food and pageantry. It has been nice to see the development over the last five years or so of this kind of event at previously quite sterile English Heritage properties. However this popular approach was well blended with leaflets and interpretation panels which actually gave you proper facts and spoke in real English. A refreshing change from constantly being told to dumb down.


So after a happy couple of hours at Helmsley, our next stop was another EH site, to my mind one of the best in the whole country. It was of course Rievaulx Abbey. By this time (about 3.30 in the afternoon) a steady drizzle had set in, and only the most determined were exploring the site.


There was an 'event' here of sorts, but due to the rain and lack of visitors this had (by 5 o'clock) declined into four soggy people huddled in a tent playing 16th century music. Actually the playing was very good and the players extremely knowledgeable about the music, instruments and social world of the late middle ages. It was a shame that their expertise was only deployed on us and a group of three motorcyclists.

Leaving the Abbey (reminiscent in many ways of Tintern) we decided to climb up onto the moors to see some bleak landscapes, and so indeed it proved. En route we made a visit to the former iron calcining kilns at Rosedale Ironworks...


...where we spotted a black grouse. We then descended the extraordinarily steep Chimney Bank into the valley - then, noticing the word 'Brewery' on the map, decided to reward ourselves with a couple of pints at the New Inn at Cropton, home of the Cropton Brewery. Marvellous beer - between us we had some Endeavour Ale (lovely), Honey Gold (not enough Honey for Kate's southern palate) and my favourite... Monkmans Slaughter.

But this was not all, for now we needed to get back to Beverley. Which we did by way of a convoluted route via West Heslerton (where I worked in 1990) and back through Malton, stopping on the way for rather average food at Rillington. We got back to Beverley at about 10.30, to see the Minster all lit up (a rather blurred photo though I am afraid).


The next day was Monday, and the end of our holiday was aproaching. But there was time to go and have a look round Beverley Minster in the morning, including a guided tour of the roof. Quite a marvellous experience, they certainly don't grow oaks like that any more (and probably haven't since the 1300s). Graffiti scratched on the window glass was quite interesting, including various wartime aircraft; and of course the main attraction was the treadwheel for hoisting materials up to the roof through the giant roof boss at the centre of the church.


After descending we followed the Beverlonians' advice to get lunch at the Church Hall, where a slice of cake was 80p and a cup of tea 50p. And what marvellous cake, all home made and indeed sold to us by the (somewhat competitive) women who made it.

After this a quick visit to Hull to say farewell to granddad and Pat, and then the inevitable tour of industrial buildings - including various oil works, a flour mill and a paint factory - which Kate put up with remarkably patiently.


On the way home we stopped at Roche Abbey in South Yorkshire. This was very disappointing since it was closed (at only about 3.30 in the afternoon on a Bank Holiday monday), and various persons from Rotherham were scattered around in a faintly menacing manner.

So we moved on, got a cup of tea on the motorway and then drifted through Chesterfield and came to rest in Bakewell in late afternoon sunshine. (The last time we visited Bakewell it was a bit colder). There was lots of traffic going the other way by this time as the hordes of Sheffielders were returning home, but we had a lovely amble through Bakewell. Here is Kate on the bridge looking at geese and ducks...


It was then a case of bimbling through the Peak District, pausing at the wonderfully picturesque village of Parwich. Here we stopped for a pint, sitting in the beer garden watching the evening sunlight ripple on the stream and caress the lush grass of the village green.

After stopping in Ashbourne for a rather dull pub meal - well the meal was dull but the characterful serving crone and the pub was rather entertaining - we finally made it home to Shropshire... another wonderful weekend.

German cars

This probably isn't the time or place to detail the shortcomings of the insurance claim, although a full account of the nonsense will emerge in due course. However in the meantime they have provided me with alternative transport, which must sadly end at the end of this week. The first car was a Vauxhall Astra, which was so uncomfortable and cheap that I asked for something else. Since my lost car was a Saab they felt that I was entitled to something more upmarket. So I was "upgraded"...


First upgrade was a Mercedes B-Class. Not the Mercedes I would have chosen if I had the choice, but it grew on me over the two weeks or so and 1200 miles. Extremely well-made and very comfortable. This particular version was the diesel automatic so it was dreadfully slow... however it managed to do about 40mpg! Cruise control, automatic wipers, automatic lights - really very relaxing to drive - almost too relaxing in fact sometimes (on an empty motorway) to the point of boredom. It felt very safe and solid, and the stereo was superb. Sadly last week the car hire firm rang me up to tell me that "the vehicle is life-expired" and I had to hand it in for something else. I had to laugh at the idea of a car being life-expired at 10,000 miles (and a Mercedes at that).

Sadly the car I was asked to swap into was a bit downmarket. Yes, horror of horrors, the ultimate cheap tart of the roads... a BMW. And a BMW 1-series at that.


I have to say this was the most uncomfortable car I have been in for a long time. No matter how hard I tried all the very many levers which adjusted the seat I was unable to find a driving position which enabled me to simultaneously be (a) reasonably comfortable, (b) see where I was going, and (c) reach the controls. Eventually a compromise was reached but this did my back no good at all. It was nice, after the Mercedes, to have gears again - no less than 6 gears in fact - and a petrol engine. But all of the gears were very close together and 6th was a lower ratio than 5th in the Saab, so it was not a very relaxed long-distance car. Very very firm ride, horribly firm seats and completely un-intuitive controls. However I seem eventually to have got the hang of it, although the crappy indicators were crap. Like the Merc it had auto-wipers and lights, but it didn't deploy either with the same intelligence as the Merc so these features were pointless and even dangerous in the gathering gloom of a rainy Humberside evening. In its favour I would say that it handled beautifully, extremely well balanced and very nice to have rear-wheel drive, very good on the twisty bits and some very neat touches. Tiny tiny boot though - and not hugely economical, managing only about 36mpg over the first 500 miles or so.

Can't wait to get back into a proper car with comfortable seats. Although whether the measly sum the insurance are offering for the written-off Saab will stretch to another one quite as good remains to be seen.