31st December 2024
Some images from 2024, which I have combined into one posting.
9th December 2024
Today we headed to Winterbourne House and Garden, near the University of Birmingham in the city. In fact, the house and gardens are now part of the university. We arrived early but could not park outside; the gates of the carpark are locked until opening time. It is a small carpark, and the advice is that if it is full, park across the road in a multi-story. We drove on and lurked in a layby, where there was a tricycle operated coffee stall, pandering to the students as they walk to their lectures. The youth of today, we never had anything other than powdered instant in my day.
Back to the house, for opening time, and to meet up with Valerie, Norman, Viv and Bill. Coffee & chat in the café, and then a wander around the gardens before lunch. The gardens should look amazing in the summer; because they certainly weren’t too shabby in the winter. The sunken Japanese garden, I felt, should look fantastic in the spring. There are also a few greenhouses offering exotic plants, the desert greenhouse was definitely a place to stay, dry and warm. The tropical greenhouse was very humid, so I did not enter for fear of condensation forming inside the camera.
After lunch we walked around the very Arts & Crafts house. R felt it was a good display of William Morris wallpaper & fabrics. On the top floor we viewed the paintings of Helen Newton. Both Valerie and Viv take painting lessons from this artist. Many different techniques on display. R could have taken quite a few home with her.
Winterbourne House and Garden is said to offer a glimpse into early 20th-century suburban living. Built in 1903 for John and Margaret Nettlefold of the Guest, Keen & Nettlefold company, this villa and its surrounding gardens stand as a testament to the Arts and Crafts movement and the progressive ideals of its time. The company GKN still exists.
The house is an example of local craftsmanship, showcasing the Nettlefolds’ commitment to quality and artistry. Its interior, adorned with intricate details and fine furnishings, offers a glimpse into the lifestyle of the affluent class during the Edwardian era.
An exhibition of GKN’s products, especially the famous Nettlefold screws, is shown in the house, a nod to the family’s industrial legacy.
Margaret Nettlefold, a visionary gardener, designed the expansive grounds, drawing inspiration from the renowned Gertrude Jekyll. The garden’s blend of formal and informal spaces, punctuated by colourful borders, winding paths, and tranquil water features, reflects the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 2008, English Heritage recognized the garden’s exceptional historical and horticultural value by granting it Grade II listed status.
After the Nettlefolds, the house and garden passed into the hands of John MacDonald Nicolson, another passionate gardener who further enriched the landscape with features such as a scree garden and alpine plantings. Nicolson bequeathed the property to the University of Birmingham on his death which was in 1944.
5th December 2024
We visited Charlecote House to see it dressed for Christmas. One of the houses dressed by the National Trust, and not costing members money. We met Viv and Bill there, they are regular visitors to the house. We started off with a coffee in the Orangery, a fire alarm caused us to exit part way through. Soon back to finish, and then to the house. Pictures below will explain the dressing better than I could.
Lunch in the Orangery, and a final visit to the bookshop, and a look at the deer in the park. Hopefully the first signs of spring are around the corner – a nice display of Snowdrops was found.
16th November 2024
Today Gonville and Caius celebrated the benefactors of the college, going right back to the days of Edmund Gonville. The Commemoration of Benefactors started with tea and a talk, followed by a special chapel service and a dinner in hall. I found it interesting to note how many of the original benefactors who were instrumental in founding and funding Gonville and Caius were from Norfolk.
We headed over to Cambridge, I dropped R & luggage off at the Ibis hotel by the Cambridge Railway Station, then parked the car on the Caius playing ground and walked back to the hotel.
We dressed in our glad rags, R was annoyed in that I had not brought the correct dress shirt for my dinner jacket, nor socks. I had on very smart gull designed FatFace socks but R deemed them unsuitable, so passed me the next day’s plain black socks. Oops, not plain black. They had Download logos, so gull socks it was.
Finally dressed, we walked to college for tea, where we met up with Richard & Andrea, before we all we went to the presentation from the architects for Project Agora, the redevelopment of various Caius properties east of Rose Crescent, including the recent purchase of Radcliffe Court. The aim is to renovate the retail space, making it more profitable, and adding in more student accommodation above the shops. There is already some accommodation there which is in use. We were shown a number of ideas. It will be some time and a large fund raising effort before the actual work starts, many retail leases have years to run.
After the talk we headed to chapel for the service where we sang several unknown (to me) hymns, listened to the excellent Caius Choir and prayed. Oh and we thanked the benefactors and admitted a new member to the title of Gonville Fellow Benefactor. The sermon was by His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London.
Back to the Senior Common Room for some fizz, and then the feast in hall. All four courses had excellent wine pairings, fruit and chocolates. The chef must be congratulated in serving around 180 people with such excellent food. I went for the meat offerings and R the vegetarian. There were five alumni from the 1972 era. I spent most of the time talking with the wife of a 1974 era chap.
Somehow I ended up in R’s bad books again when she suddenly saw streaks of red over my shirt & one cuff. Andrea suggested perhaps I had trailed my cuff in the sweet, with its cherry and espresso gel, and then managed to flick my hand over my chest. Lucky, I said, that I wasn’t wearing a dress shirt!
We didn’t stay long after the meal, just a quick whisky in the Senior Common Room, before catching a bus back to the hotel.
Next morning we met up again with Richard and Andrea for coffee and cake at Harvey Court, Said our adieus and departed homewards.
9th November 2024
The Kingswood bonfire night was held on a dry Saturday. Ian excelled himself with the largest bonfire we have ever had and a brilliant (in both senses of the word) firework display. The heat from the fire was intense. Julie had yet again organized a guy which quickly succumbed to the heat.
As is usual we were supplied with hot burgers and sausages from our excellent village catering team of Karin, Duncan, Keith and Charlotte. Beers & wines kept coming from the man with the festival hat, George.
Thanks are also due to the Hubbards for hosting the event. It’s certainly not everyone who wants a large burn mark on their lawn!
Very sadly, this may have been our last bonfire night. After Ian’s exemplary 25 years of sterling service, someone else is now needed to carry on the tradition..
5th November 2024
We decided to venture back into Central Milton Keynes after a long absence, parking in the multi-story car park near John Lewis. It was quite a surprise to find the former ground-level car park transformed into a towering structure. I wondered when the transformation took place.
A short walk from the car park led us to the Milton Keynes Gallery, where the much-anticipated Vanessa Bell exhibition was underway. I am told that Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), a prominent figure of the Bloomsbury Group, was a pioneering modernist painter, designer, and ceramicist. The exhibition showcased a wide range of her work, including paintings, drawings, ceramics and furniture.
While I personally found the abstract nature of her paintings a bit too avant-garde for my taste, preferring more realistic or draughtsman-like styles, R thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition.
We capped off our cultural outing with a satisfying lunch at the gallery’s on-site restaurant. The menu featured “Handmade mug of soup”. R tutted, but no, it was correct! The mug was handmade! Watching the chef, he definitely had a flourish when he added seasonings.
28th October 2024
For my birthday, we headed to Cambridge to stay in a campsite near Trumpington. This was a change to tradition, because normally we venture into Suffolk and stay in Southwold. Last year, in the weeks before my birthday, the weather had been terrible, and the campsite eventually cancelled our booking because of flooding, requiring us to stay in a hotel.
We booked the Cambridge campsite for six nights, leaving the site on the Monday when it was closing for the winter. It seemed strange to close at the start of a school half term, we later heard this was because of the early Easter, and the number of days they are licensed to open, which forced them to close for half term. Even so, the campsite was terribly busy.
We arrived on Tuesday and put up the awning. The mild dry weather allowed us to sit outside after dark. Talking of dark, I wish it was dark, I wish there were less lights around the campsite, and why oh why do caravanners and motorhome owners insist on leaving a light on over their doorway? Moan over.
We decided to walk into Cambridge, first towards Trumpington, then onto Grantchester, and finally Cambridge and along the River Cam. It was a lovely day. Blue sky and a light wind. We headed into Trumpington and turned left after the Waitrose onto Grantchester Road. Some lovely houses along this street along with a wedding venue. Before crossing the River Cam, we paid a visit to the Wildlife Trust Trumpington Meadows, basically a lovely walk along the Cam to Byron’s Pool, which turned out to be a weir, and then back to Grantchester Road to cross the river Cam.
The walk continued into Grantchester, past the church. Something was happening here, filming for ITV’s Grantchester was in progress The church was surrounded by lights, a nearby house was newly decorated, and covered in Wisteria flowers, in full plastic bloom. We stopped for lunch at the Red Lion, where we could watch the vans and production crew walking up and down the street. After a good lunch, we had an espresso from a popup near to the Cambridge distillery. There was the odd actor and acolyte around here. People running around with boxes of food & laundry. At the coffee stall we bumped into Robson Green. The coffee stall was not meant to be there, his day off? I suspect he’d heard the film production was in town and decided to make a profit. Excellent coffee by the way. He used a distributor before using a tamper
We continued our walk along the Cam, fairly good going with the odd little patch of mud. Despite the warm weather and sun, there were no punts on this stretch of water. There were a few below the locks, punting past the colleges.
A quick tea break at Michaelhouse Café, before setting home on the bus, hence the picture of Dame Mary Archer Way near Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
Yet another beautiful day. Have I done something this year to deserve a beautiful day for my birthday?
No big rush to get into Cambridge, lunch was booked for 1.30 at the Millworks. We stopped off at Fatface, and looked around, not buying anything. The we headed to the Millworks where we were booked in for 1.30 Arriving early, we had cocktails at the bar before going to our table which was next to the water mill. We had an enjoyable three course meal, complete with my 10% discount for being a Cambridge graduate, proved by my having a Cam Card. Afterwards we walked along to Caius Harvey Court where there is a coffee shop in the students rec area, open to the public. Sat outside on the brick steps and watch the squirrels run around. So peaceful.
The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Cambridge, through Kings College, yea we were able to get through the Backs entrance, another useful feature of my degree and hence my Cam Card.
We were booked to see Nish Kumar at the Corn Exchange with Leila Navabi as support. Leila didn’t raise many laughs for us, she was a bit gynecological about her travel to motherhood without having sex with a man. On the other hand, Nish was excellent and very funny. His hatred of Boris Johnson and the Tory Party knew no bounds. His rate of talking was so fast! Then when a poor woman in the audience had to leave to go to the loo, he adlibbed at her expense for the duration of the time she was out of the auditorium, so she never missed any of the show.
When Nish had finished his show, the police requested that we did not leave because of an incident outside, so Nish came back on stage to answer questions. As he said, the lengths he went to to get an encore.
Having missed our bus due to the incident delaying our departure, we popped into The Pint Shop for some craft beer before catching the last bus back to the campsite.
We headed into Cambridge to visit Kettles Yard, and the nearby church of St Peters. St Peters church is very small with a quaint baptismal font, complete with mermen.
We also looked around Kettles Yard, where there was an exhibition of art by Portia Zvavahera. Her art draws on southern African culture and Christian iconography. All I can say, is that it does take up a lot of wall space and wouldn’t suit a small modern house.
We revisited the house where Jim and Helen Ede lived. Their residence there coincided with the first year of my life at Cambridge. R asked how they dust certain objects. An air puffing device was the solution.
R wanted to stop off at a bookshop she’d noticed. There was a British Library Crime Classics book ste in Cambridge in the window. The Bodies in the Bookshop had R in raptures. New & secondhand books. She exited with only five books, saying she could have bought more. A lucky escape for me.
Saturday was earmarked for visiting Saffron Walden. We sat at the front of the upstairs of the bus We arrived at and headed to the Fry Gallery. They had a special exhibition of local artists from their collection. It was called ‘Great Barfield and Beyond: A working Landscape”.
Olive Cook, in her book about North West Essex Artists, called Great Bardfield a “paradise”. But Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, who moved there in 1931, saw it differently. They saw the countryside as a place to work and develop their watercolors.
Later, Bawden brought other artists to Bardfield and nearby villages. These artists also liked the countryside and used their homes as studios. They would take the bus to London to teach part-time at art schools. By the 1970s, when Bawden moved away, many of the other artists had also left.
This exhibition shows the work of many different artists who lived and worked in the area, including Bawden, Ravilious, and others. They all found inspiration in the landscape, buildings, farms, and villages around them.
After our viewing, we walked around the market, and decided to have lunch at the Cross Keys Hotel. What a disaster, it was quite busy, but we agreed with a waitress to eat at a small table by the bar. We ordered a drink directly from the bar, which took a while to turn up. The barman was rather overrun with orders. Then we were ignored by the waitresses for a very long time. R got her attention, by asking for a menu, and we were moved into the main part of restaurant. We ordered, after a further wait for a waitress to take our order, and then we waited and waited and waited. Eventually we gave up and left. If only someone had kept us informed as to what was happening. Perhaps warned us in advance about a long wait or even apologised during our frustrating wait. Google maps tells me that we were there for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Ended up getting a bite to eat from Gregs
A more successful day on the food-side. Caught the bus into Cambridge, had a coffee at the Café Nero, a large number of students sitting there working on their laptops. I can’t remember Sundays being like that, they were a day off. After coffee, the Fitzwilliam had opened, so we went inside to see the exhibition on the Paris 1924 Olympics. Fascinating seeing what outfits the women were allowed to wear and the limited array of sports they could participate in. Of course, it featured the Cambridge university participants and medal winners.
We headed ccross the road to the Little Rose restaurant for Sunday lunch. The Little Rose had been a Loch Fyne, but now its name had reverted to the original pub name from my days. This restaurant had exemplary service. Never left waiting to order, never waiting long for food, and at the same time not feeling rushed. A definite change from the previous failed day.
Packed up and left for home. Filled up with fuel on the way home. There is bound to be a fuel tax rise at the next budget. It is about time fuel duty is increased, it has been static for years, with even a 5p reduction.
1 – Tax has not gone up.
2 – A few weeks before we left for Cambridge, I had to have a puncture repaired on the front drivers-side tyre of the VW. A few days after arriving home, I see there is a screw in the rear drivers-side tyre. Those two punctures and a third puncture in a Polestar tyre earlier make for three punctures this year. I haven’t had any other punctures in the last 10 years.
After a disappointing spring looking for foxes, and a busy summer travelling, there were very few sightings of foxes, Now back at home, we decided to put out the cameras again. Not much to report, a fox, rabbits, randy pigeons, cat and a muntjac deer. It is a start, as we search the garden for the best position to set the cameras.
17th October 2024
We were lucky enough to attend a special BBOWT trip to the Dancersend Nature Reserve to explore the reserve’s woodland areas in search of fungi, guided by a knowledgeable fungus expert who has written several guidebooks on British fungi.
The journey to Dancersend was an adventure in itself, as we navigated narrow, single-track country roads. Thankfully, the drive was smooth, with no encounters requiring a tricky reverse! Upon arrival at the site, which also houses an extremely impressive Edwardian-looking Thames Water pumping station, we were warmly welcomed by representatives from BBOWT. Before setting out, we gathered for an informative talk about the reserve and what we might discover.
Dancersend, in the Chiltern Hills, is a diverse and rich nature reserve, nestled, known for its variety of habitats, including ancient woodland, grassland, and chalk streams. This blend of ecosystems makes it a haven for wildlife and fungi alike. Established in 1941, it was one of the first nature reserves in the region and has since been carefully managed to support rare and endangered species.
As we began our walk, we were reminded of the vital role fungi play in woodland ecosystems. These incredible organisms recycle nutrients, break down dead matter, and form symbiotic relationships with trees. The dying and dead ash trees, victims of ash dieback disease, proved to be hotspots for fungal growth. Initially, we struggled to spot anything, but as our guide shared tips and tricks, our eyes quickly adjusted. Soon, we were finding a wide variety of fungi, each with its unique shape, colour, and texture.
We were treated to tea and cakes back at base where R found several boxes of natural history themed books for sale. She bought only three being, apparently, “severely hampered by lack of cash”.
We had visited Dancersend before, sometime in the last century. A colleague from Walker days, Jan, had lived there for a while,
21st September 2024
A Gonville and Caius Annual Gathering was held for matriculants of 1972 and earlier. The college hosts a reunion dinner every ten years until the 50th anniversary, after which it becomes an annual event.
Having attended all previous gatherings, I’d become accustomed to complimentary accommodation in student rooms and a free dinner. Over time, attendance dwindled, leading to combined year groups at the dinners. This year marked the 50th anniversary, shifting to an annual schedule, but also introducing a substantial charge. This likely explains the low turnout; only twelve members of the 1972 cohort attended, and the overall attendance barely filled half the dining hall.
Accommodation was provided in the Stephen Hawking building. Unfortunately, access to the dinner and back required a walk along Garret Hostel Lane, as the gate to King’s College was locked.
Breakfast at Caius, a full English, was excellent.
