Getting up-to-date: 8th November 2012

It was lovely seeing Eno again. She was running a weekend conference in Tokyo when we arrived there on our trip and took us out for a meal and later we stayed with her family in Osaka. She had come by way of Lisbon and London for her work but I hope it was nice for her to be able to relax for a couple of days with us. On Saturday we went to Selby to see Big Boy Bloater and the Limits  a great twang, swamp and blues band with terrific jazz-based musicians.

On the Wednesday Margot and I went down to London for the opening of an exhibition called ‘Dare to Wear’ in the crypt of St Pancras church near Euston station. Our friend Rosie McLeish was exhibiting a totem pole she had been working on for months and it was good to see it at last, set up in it own little alcove. There were lots of other interesting exhibits but it was also fascinating to mingle with the glitterati of one of London’s art sub-culture. We came away feeling very provincial though not necessarily the worse for that. Take a look at the exhibition on Dare to Wear

Friday we went to the film club at St Clements community centre to see ‘Singing in the Rain’. Not having seen it for at least 40 years, I had even forgotten it was in colour and loved every minute.

Sunday night we went over to Selby Town Hall to see John Renbourn and Wizz Jones. Memories of 1960s folk scene, still brilliant but so old ! These guys were older than me then but I seem to think I should somehow have overtaken them in the meantime. Its prompted me to give up on my old digitizing gadget and get a new one, at £20-odd it cost vastly less than the futile hours on the phone to the help line trying to get the old Soundblaster to work and I have been putting Pentangle and Bert Jansch onto my Ipod. Also some jazz I would have bought from the specialist shop on Burnham Road in Slough on my way home from my ‘gap-year’ job at Horlicks. Jimmy Smith and Francy Boland, Charlie Parker.

Another ‘quiet’ week followed and another visit to Selby to se Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party. Maybe we are getting spoilt but good as they were we were not blown away. Closer to home was a gig at the Fulford Arms, our nearest pub which is establishing itself as a music venue but (usually) free wit local bands. We went to see a Brazilian singer guitarist wo was good and unlike out vist to see Blackbeards Tea Party it was not packed to the rafters so a pleasant night out. It would be nice to consider it our ‘local’ as its friendly and comfortable but neither of us drink much so we don’t go unless there is some interesting music on.

Monday (22^nd October) was the Greenways AGM, a fairly low key affair but useful to review what we have achieved and what needs to be done. Much depends on getting more funding from Awards for All, the bid is now ready to go in. That mainly focuses on the York Selby line and the other projects are all tied in with other bodies and will move forward as and when we can get them to get their arses in gear. Escrick Sidings has gone quiet which is ominous – I chased him up but no reply so wondering if we are back to square one. Derwenthorpe is moving forward though our pleas for a coordinated bid from Sustrans and ourselves fell on deaf ears though at least they included our proposal as an appendix. I need to read their proposal in detail, it’s mainly sound but they are, as always, unrealistic in their ideas on how its going to be maintained once complete. The discovery of tansy beetles in Skelton may help us get help from the Environment Agency but I will need to keep plugging away at the Forestry Commission on the woodlands. No doubt with the ash-tree fungus crisis, our little project will slip way back down the in-tray pile. Anyway these will chug along over the next few months and I will get seriously stuck in when we get back from South America.

Before the AGM I went out to Naburn to do a final tidy up in advance of the big picnic ride out, preparing the ground for the plug planting with Mike’s team from Brunswick Organic Nursery (BON). Surprised and pleased to see Terry and the Sustrans team out too, tidying up the path. Great that they felt the urge to help out but wouldn’t a bit of communication be nice! What is their problem?

The day itself was a great success. Grey and chilly but could have been a lot worse. We had 8 year 6 kids from Bishopthorpe School with their Head and Naomi and a colleague from Bike-It and about 20 from Brunswick all kitted out with a great range of special bikes from Get Cycling. It meant we all went off at our own speeds but we all managed to arrive at the bridge at the same time ready for the unveiling of the bench that BON had built and put in place. All except the press photographer who went to the wrong bridge. Fortunately Naomi had his number and he said to take our own photos and send them in and we got a nice write up in the paper anyway.

We headed back to Naburn Station where Audrey had laid on a great stew/soup and other goodies, far more than we expected and very welcome by then. The plug planting got done, we distributed the quiz about the railway line and Peter Thompson gave a talk about the Solar system before everyone headed off to catch their buses home. A good end to our first full year – also we got funded twice for the bikes and the funders have said we can keep the change and run a follow up event next year when, we hope, the flowers we planted will be bursting through.

I ended the day with a bike ride with Jim back up the path and was pleased to chat with a satisfied customer sitting on the bench. We also passed Terry, Rob, Dave and the gang out cutting verges so stopped to say hello but didn’t comment on the fact that they had managed to run over our bee orchid with their tractor. Hopefully it will survive and re-appear next year.

Charlotte and Seb came over on Wednesday and Seb and I had fun with the train track while margot and Charlotte chatted, but I had to shoot off to Hurns Gutter to meet Ken who was spending his lunch hour clearing a fallen tree from the path. Lucky I went as it was a very big tree and Ken only had a small saw with him. We managed to get it done with bow saws but I may go back and harvest the timber if no-one else has got there first. I’ve asked BON if they want to help as they can sell the logs in their shop.

Thursday is Table Tennis. I’m getting better – apart from the fun and the good company I find it fascinating in the light of the psychology course how our brains enable us to hit these balls that dip and weave and spin and (occasionally) get them to land back on the table at the other end. Zen and the art of ping-pong.

After lunch off to Leeds to give blood. I forgot which was my best arm and the nurse had a real problem getting in to the vein and eventually had to give up and try the other (left) arm – note to self: remember that for next time. While this was going on I was musing about the nature of pain and its role in decision making and managed to use this in my philosophy essay on ‘the mind-body problem’. How is it that half your brain is screaming “Stop! Stop! you’re hurting me!!” While the other half is saying “grow up, its hardly hurting at all. Try not to embarrass yourself” and your body compromises by flinching just enough so the nurse knows you can feel it but not so much that it jogs the needle and tears a gaping whole in your precious flesh. All in a nano-second.

Friday I cycled over to the Hospital for minor surgery related to having sat on cold stone walls some time in the distant past. It only took 10 minutes but surprisingly I felt quite funny afterwards and had to hang around the Costa coffee bar for a couple of hours before I felt well enough to cycle home (on the plus side the saddle was much more comfortable). This meant I missed a house warming party at Paul O’Grady’s house where I had been looking forward to meeting some of the new influx of Human Rights Defenders. Never mind, they start a series of talks about their experiences next week and I will go to those.

On Saturday I was recovered and we took the train to Knaresborough where a friend of Margot’s was organising a fascinating exhibition about the black and ethnic minority presence in Yorkshire over the centuries – “In Yorkshire ‘baht ‘at” (Ilkley Moor? Get it?). It was a large photographic exhibition and we spent a good time there but there were disappointingly few others. It’s something that deserves a wider viewing which probably means the internet but Audrey reckons that would require to much trouble with copyright etc. Shame. I noted the number of Indian troop s that came over to fight in Europe in the First World War and wondered if my grandfather was involved s he was an officer in the Indian Army about then. Must follow that up. Had lunch and explored the charity shops – not usually my thing but I got a great pair of boots and a warm top – and a walk down past the castle and along the river before catching the train home. A nice little town.

The following week was half term and Ann Alan and Tommy were coming up for a few days. Unfortunately Alan’s sister Janet was in hospital so he had to stay behind but Ann and Tommy came anyway and we met at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for lunch. The sculptures weren’t really to Tommy’s liking which rather confirmed our anxieties about how we were going to entertain a 13-year-old lad. However things went well and I am pretty sure he enjoyed the stay. We went to Skyfall later that evening though it was probably way past his bedtime (and it wasn’t him who dozed off – no names but you know who you are).

The great success was the pool at Monks Cross with 3 flumes of varying steepness which kept Tommy (OK, and me) entertained for a couple of hours while Ann and Margot explored the retail park. In fact a return visit was his choice for the last day rather than the trip to the coast or the moors which we had considered.

The only failure was the ‘Illuminating York’ event in the Museum Gardens which turned out to be a rather half-baked and self-indulgent show put on by Vic Reeves (in his tea break on the back of an envelope I think). But the night was redeemed by Tommy going back to Jim’s for pizza and time on the X-box or whatever is Jim’s current gadget of choice.

After great-nephew sitting our next assignment was dog-sitting in Manchester as Matt and Sam were off to a wedding (not theirs). By then I was feeling a bit rough so we didn’t in the end do much except walk the dog in the park and lunch in ‘trendy’ Didsbury but it was nice to be there and not do much for a change and also a good rehearsal for looking after Bones when Matt and Sam go to Cuba in December. Nice also to have a quiet weekend when we can see our current TV favourites live, not recorded some time after in the week – Inspector Montalbano and of course Homeland.

Matt and Sam had got back on Sunday after a night of Korean film and luxury hotel in Park Lane (thanks to frequent flyer credits) and we had lunch in that nice pub next to the River Mersey in the Country Park where dogs outnumber humans. I made friends with a big black Newfoundland sheepdog by taking the time to work my way through 5 inches of fur to scratch his back. If you shaved one it would not be that big at all. Jim is now talking about getting a Spaniel though Ann thinks this is a bad idea as they are nuts. Anyway, it will have to wait until we are back from South America as I think his dog owning is dependent on our doing a good half of the walking.

Jim was over in Manchester too – a different wedding, one of Beccas’s old friends - and we took his car. The conversation on the way home turned to home improvement as I also think his plans for his new house require a large input from me. Given we are off in March he will need to get in to his new house pretty quick to get anything done.

In the meantime another ‘quiet’ week but this time with me with a lousy cold. Still managed to get to my evening class and table tennis but just when I feel its gone it comes back so not sure I am going to be able to do the ‘Dalby Dash’ this Sunday. May just go and take photos of the boys. http://dalbydash.com/. I did go and stand in the Knavesmire for 2 hours waiting for Jim to run past in the November 5^th torchlit run and then wait another hour for the fireworks which eventually started just as we left. Probably why I’ve still got my cold.

Still this cold has at least enable me to get this blog up-to-date and now all I have to do is to not let it get so far behind in the future – some hope.

A quiet week

With Eno staying over the next weekend it was a ‘quiet’ week, so maybe this is a good time to consider  what a quiet week means now we are  both retired.

As well as doing two evening classes – one in French and one in Spanish – Margot is still active as Chair of the Fair Trade Forum and a member of the  Advisory Board of the Centre for Applied Human Rights but still has time to keep up with friends in the cafes and coffee shops in town. We have joined the new’ Sports Village’ at York University and it remains to be seen whether we continue to use it enough to get our money’s worth. We go to a personal trainer once a month to help us keep on track and have weights in the garage and plenty of countryside to run and cycle around but when the winter weather starts (as it now has) a warm gym with swimming pool and jacuzzi has its attractions. And of course there is squash two or three times a week.

Although I ought really to be doing Spanish too in preparation for our proposed trip next year I have signed up for an evening class instead. Its called “Contemporary Philosophy of Mind” which sounded like a logical extension of the series of psychology classes I did last year but it turns out Philosophy is an entirely different world (or is it?). They not only invent words I’ve never heard of but use words I have heard of but in totally different ways. Still, its good mental exercise and the debates continue in the bar afterwards and even with my friend Peter at the table tennis club I go to on Thursday morning.

The Centre for Applied Human Rights runs a series of talks by visiting Human Rights Defenders and the university has a good programme of public lectures so Margot and I reckon we spend more time on campus than most undergraduate students.

Finally a lot of my time is spent co-ordinating the Sustrans Rangers in York and the York Greenway Champions which is an offshoot more focussed on promoting biodiversity. Our drive hosts a trailer full of tools we inherited from the 2010 job creation scheme and its my job to enthuse enough local people to get out and use them. If you want to know more its on York Greenway Champions  . A bit like a part time job really but without the salary – though that’s what I consider my pension is for.

And there is all that reading and movie going. I try to have one fiction book on the go at the same time as everything else, to give me a break. Not to mention digitizing my vinyls and tapes, And cleaning, house repairs, occasional cooking ….. and of course tidying my study and garage/workshop.

When retired people say they don’t know how they ever had time to work, believe it! Fortunately no-one but us really care if any of this stuff ever gets done (cleaning excepted) so no pressure really.

The West Highland Way

Sunday 24^th Scotland

Margot and I drove up to Richard and Rosies’s ‘hut’ just north of Glasgow just getting there in the daylight. Hut doesn’t quite do it justice, with hot showers and central heating.

Its located a mile or so from the West Highland Way and Monday, after a morning run along the West Highland Way, we donned our walking boots and headed down to the Country Park in a northerly gale with horizontal rain pushing us southwards towards Mugdock Wood, and the Country Park  with its strange ruined castle. Parts of the original castle still stand but the Victorian mansion that was built in its heart is now gone except for an old cast iron stove standing isolated in the rain.  Fortunately while the old Craigallian House is also in ruins the Stables remain with a good coffee shop to warm us up.

Tuesday morning, we went into Glasgow to meet Rahab at the station. We visited the Museum of Modern Art first but just had time for a cup of tea and a quick look at the exhibition before getting turfed out when  the fire alarms went off. After meeting Rahab we went up to the Willow café with its Rene Mackintosh décor for tea before heading off to the hut.

Our aim was to give Rahab a potted tour of Scotland so Wednesday we drove up past Loch Lomond, to Inverary where we saw Para Handy’s boat the Vital Spark and Neil Munro’s birthplace, shown around by a self-appointed guide – a coach driver with nothing better to do whilel waiting for his passengers to come out of their meeting. From Lock Fyne (named after a fish restaurant in York it seems) we headed on to Glencoe, stopping for a picnic lunch by the river at Inverlochrie.

Glencoe was as forbidding as ever and we stopped at the visitor centre to learn the truth about the massacre (it was the English behind it all of course), after which down to Loch Leven to see the burial island and a last walk before it got dark.

The following day we went to Stirling, by way of Lock Katrine, to see the Wallace Monument and the Castle, taking in the Falkirk wheel on the way back.

Our last day was a visit to Edinburgh. We parked at Alec’s where we met Chris and Noah before catching the bus into town. We walked along Princes Street, admiring the tram tracks along the way, then up the Mound and the Royal Mile to the Castle where they were dismantling the stands for the Tattoo. We took in the refurbished Museum of Scotland before ending with tea at the Elephant House surrounded by Harry Potter fans.

We were very lucky through the week with changeable weather but our walks seemed to coincide with the breaks in the clouds. Not so on the way south with foul weather warnings proving true through the Lakes. We dropped Rahab off in Leeds – I think she was impressed by Scotland.

 Clic Here for more photos of the week ...

Great North Run

September 7^th  

^{Brands Hatch}

Friday I was due to head up from my idyllic campsite in the woods to meet Margot at St Pancras. I wanted to catch the ‘Javelin high-speed train but couldn’t find out where it stopped so headed for Dartford until I saw a sign for Ebbsfleet which I knew from Eurostar trips was on the HS line. Fifteen minutes into Central London! How come North Kent can have a high speed link and no-one says a word but when it’s a question of the North of England getting one, all hell breaks loose?

We were meeting Rosie and Richard at St Pancras too and then over to the British Library for a rather uninspiring lunch, I suppose it was a bit late by then. Unfortunately Richard had to go back and rescue the cat from the vet but the rest of us wandered down to Russell Square and sat on the grass chatting in the late afternoon sun. Rosie then had to go for a meeting so Margot and I went to the Curzon to see Tabu – a Portuguese movie that had 5 stars in the paper. Unfortunately it left me feeling like I used to a University Cinema club in the 1960s. Should I be enjoying this? Am I stupid or what? Is everyone else pretending too?

Back to the camp site in the dark but at least this time I knew where it was and had a key for the barrier. 

Next day we walked through the village to Brand Hatch for the Road Racing. A beautiful day and plenty of space to find a spot right by track at the final corner. We had tandems for the visually impaired and trikes which featured British hero David Stone. Our enjoyment was enhanced by a young lady next to us who insisted on banaging on the barrier and cheering everyone who went past – not just competitors but marshals, support vehicles, even road sweepers (you can hear her n this video clip).

By the end of the afternoon people were drifting off so we moved up to the finish line and got ourselves a spot right by the ‘pits’. The last event was the hand-bike relay with teams of three, one starting from the line and the other two waiting, Le Man style right in front of us. Each team member did two runs of one lap, and each team had to have a mix of abilities (and genders). This made the results uncertain right up to the end and it was by far the most exciting event especially as we were within touching distance of the competitors as they came in from their round.

8^th September Back to York

Next day back to York as we were expecting Ian and Margaret, friends from Adelaide in the evening, but stopped at Sainbury’s in Dartford. Once again grateful to Sat Nav on my smartphone and take back all the cynical remarks I had made in the past. It really is very clever.

Not home until 1am so glad we had left a key and Ian and Margaret were safely tucked up in bed. They stayed until Monday and lots of chatting aided by lovely sunny weather enabling us to sit out in the garden - a brief  glimpse of summer.

On Tuesday I had volunteered with Lynne and Peter Thompson to go down to Spen Valley to help local volunteer Rangers erect some railway sleepers so they could fix directional signs to them. We got there to find no sleepers, no diggers and nothing to do. Fortunately we  had our bikes in the van so went for a ride up and down the track – something I had meant to d for some years. So not a complete waste of time but it does irritate – I am sure they don’t treat the time of paid workers so casually. Back home to a York Cycle Campaign meeting with a speaker from the national network of cycle campaigns.

Hope its not just post-Olympic euphoria but we have signed up at the new University Sports Village. Since the city paid half, members of the community (us) can join too and it’s a lot cheaper than David Lloyd. Mainly interested in the swimming pool but reckon if we use it regularly that will pay for the membership so all the fitness suite and sauna bits are a bonus. We’ll give it til Christmas and see if our enthusiasm lasts – fortunately you don’t have to sign your life away, its only one months notice.

This is particularly important as we are now intending to go to South America in March for a couple (few) months. More on that later but I’ve started to do some research. Looks like Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. A Delta round ticket via Atlanta gives us flexibility and we can always spend time in the States or Canada on the way home. Its valid for a year.

Sunday 16^th 

^{Great North run}

Off to Newcastle nice and early with Jim, Matt and Matt's friend Paul for the Great North Run. Dropped them near the start and headed off to view near the end at South Shields. With Paul’s wife we found a good spot on the last corner. Didn’t see either of the boys go through but it was good fun and they both did well.

A rush back to York as the boys were borrowing the van to go for a week’s mountain biking in the Ardennes. Sounds good but I think they spent as much time in Bruges and we managed fine without the van as Margot at least had the use of Jim’s car (me not insured).

Thursday we went to the City Screen to see the Silver Screen showing of ‘Hope Springs’. A  theatre full of old folks watching a film about old folks dealing with intimacy or the lack of it – not many glances exchanged.

Friday night off to Selby to see Cedric Watson, a young singer fiddle accordian player from Loiusiana playing Cajun with his trio. Great music and worth a listen – Bijou Creole http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=66451765&ac=now

Sunday I was OD at the sailing club – reasonable sailing which was a rare thing this year as we have been plagued by lack of wind and floods which made sailing impossible  for weeks on end. There was of course the Regatta at Naburn where I actually won a prize, not sure how but it was a nice fleece top. The boat, decrepit as it looks is going well and seems to be the fastest in the fleet when running though not so hot tacking or maybe that is me. No other Lasers active at the moment so difficult to say.

The sea kayak group seems to be dormant as well  and with Ian still recovering from his accident I have hardly been out this year. Must do something about this.