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 (22nd 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 5th
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.
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