A Buzzard visited our garden, sitting on the fence between the paddock and the garden. As I approached, the bird flew off and sat on the fence further into the paddock. It then flew into the next door field. In the process the Buzzard was mobbed by the Red Kites. A bit of a change, the Red Kites themselves are normally mobbed by the Jackdaws and Rooks.
Last year, I met up with a few ex Walker people at the Kings Head in Aylesbury. Brian V had just recently retired and was having a leaving drink for those who worked, or were still working, in the Aylesbury office (now closed.) This photograph came to light from the original Walker Inventory Management team. Chris, Glyn, Jean (later to become Mrs Glyn), Brian V himself, Tina and Tessa.
Rosemary dropped SadGit Richard G and me off at Ludgershall at last year’s Bike Night. The Bike Night is held every year. Hundreds of motor bikes turn up for the evening at this small rural village in Buckinghamshire. As you can see there are hundreds of people wandering up the village road looking at the bikes, admiring the machines, chatting, drinking beer and eating. This year the evening was warm, still, and fabulous. Cheese, biscuits & red wine were waiting at home for us following Rosemary’s resumed chauffeuring duties.
Visited Bletchley Park today with Valerie and Norman. This was definitely not the best day to go, Fathers Day. The exhibitions were busy, overflow parking was in a nearby school.
We had been to Bletchley Park, years ago. Several restaurants have been added since then. With lottery funding a working Bombe machine has been recreated. This was demonstrated with an explanation on how it works. We next viewed some excellent displays which went into greater detail of the decoding process. I never managed to get around the whole of the site. I will be visiting again, the tickets allow free entry for a whole year. The National Museum of Computing is on the same site. They house the replica Colossus machine along with other old computers. This is definitely on my wish list.
Next we walked around Bletchley Park House, where there was an exhibition of the The Imitation Game film. This is complete with Bombe machines used in the Benedict Cumberbatch film. These don’t work, just the dials rotate with the electric motors behind. The sound engineers used the recreated Bombe for sound track on the film. Wrens who had worked on the real machines back in World War II say it does make the correct sound.
We did make a second visit to Bletchely Park when Richard and Andrea visited us. Rosemary, Richard and I visited the park (Andrea was off at a Conference). It was less busy, but still busy. This time we saw a few other huts. One very amusing one was the use of carrier pigeons for intelligence purposes. Did you know there had been undercover spy pigeons? Each side was shooting down pigeons, or using birds of prey.
Waddesdon Manor Christmas Lights 2015. Bruce Munro’s installation of lights at Waddesdon Manor called SOS, This is his final year of three years at Waddesdon Manor. The lights on Waddesdon manor were by Woodroffe Bassett design. We visited with Ian and Julie. Lovely warm evening for December. You must watch the video to hear the sound track associated with the lights in the tent.
I have been meaning to see Mars, Venus and Jupiter for the last few days, but been thwarted by not waking up and the clouds. First saw them at 2.00am on Saturday morning, saw two bright objects in the sky, low to the horizon. I thought the other object must still be below the horizon. So went back to sleep, to wake at 4.45 am to find cloud.
After the Kingswood fireworks, I set the alarm for 4.45, prepared the camera and went to bed. Woke and it was misty, but the stars were still visible. This time I saw the two bright objects high in the sky? Where was the third. Puzzled, fired up google Night Sky and searched for Mars, Venus and Jupiter. Duh, of course Mars was not as bright as Venus and Jupiter. The red planet was easily spotted with binoculars. Here is a photograph of the planets, from left to right they are Mars (red), Venus (the brightest) and Jupiter.
Mars, Venus and Jupiter on 1st November 2015 a 5.42 EDT, Kingswood, Bucks, UK
Saturday we went to our local firework display at Kingswood organised by Ian and Julie and kindly hosted by George and Annie. Ian put on the display. Burgers and sausages cooked and serverd by Duncan, Keith, Karin and Charlotte. Good time as we get to meet and chat with others from the village we might not meet every day. Selina, Phil and Julian came over as well. Selina caught up with Julie and Smeg.
Lovely still evening, no wind and remarkably warm for the end of October. The bonfire included some of the stuff we had been collecting for years, including old doors and our “thermometer” which was placed on the crossways years ago when we were trying to get people to sign up for broadband.
Kingswood Bonfire
Months ago I ordered a ticket to see King Crimson at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. This was the start of their tour where they are playing their music from the 70s The first two dates were at Aylesbury, put on by the Friars Club. (There was an earlier private event at the Waterside the day before.) The reason for the first UK tour dates being hosted by Friars was Kings Crimson’s long association with them.
Well the day came, and I remembered the gig, still sitting at home, almost an hour after it had started. I was gutted. Luckily there were still a few good tickets available the next day, and more importantly I was given permission to go and see King Crimson. Arrived at Aylesbury in plenty of time, time to have a pint at the Farmers Bar in the Kings Head where there were some drinkers waiting to see King Crimson, and others who had been the day before.
Back to the theatre, King Crimson merchandise purchased and then into the theatre. What a sight – three drum sets at the front of the stage.
What an evening. The set of three drums was phenomenal, the way they interacted. The encore, brought tears to my eyes. All the music was familiar King Crimson. The encore of The Court of the Crimson King and 21st Century Schizoid Man sealed a great evening.
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
One More Red Nightmare
VROOOM
Suitable Grounds for the Blues
Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)
Meltdown
Hell Hounds of Krim
Easy Money
The ConstruKction of Light
(Part One only, no vocals)
Level Five
Epitaph
Interlude
The Talking Drum
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two
Starless
Encore
Devil Dogs Of Tessellation Row
The Court of the Crimson King
21st Century Schizoid Man
My T shirt
King Crimson Tee Shirt, The Back
King Crimson Tee Shirt, The Front
This Sunday we had the second leg of the Welsh shoot at Kingswood Gun Club. The shoot was on Pete’s farm and had already been set up by Mark and Graham, all we had to do was load the traps, and erect the cages. Saint Brides Major arrived at around 11.00 in their coach, we all had a coffee while we were squadded. We then had an enjoyable clay shoot of 70 birds, some quite demanding birds, some that should have been easy, but for some reason I missed. Unfortunately the predicted rain came before the end of the shoot. It was very noticeable the Welsh were well prepared for the rain, while most of us from Buckinghamshire expected the rain not to arrive before the end. By the time I had picked up clays, and help clear up I was definitely a drowned rat.
Quick stop at home to change, and pick up the chauffeur and we were off for the shoot lunch at the Crown in Tyford. Sunday Roast, pudding, cheese and biscuits along with some beer.
Unfortunately it seems we did not do enough to beat Saint Brides Major, and Kingswood Gun Club had to hand over the cup for a year. There was not much in the scores, we were beaten by only a few shots. Next year we will have our revenge,
Early morning appointment at the eye hospital in Aylesbury, and then into town for a coffee at Cafe Nero while we waited for the Bucks County Museum to open. There was a small exhibition of Dr Who memorabilia on show, sourced from collectors throughout the county. Open until September 5th. The star is the Dalek, called Darren. Neal Davies, who works for Fremantle Media, a company that makes TV shows including Grand Designs and Escape to the Country, constructed him from plywood and fiberglass for a £20 bet. Apparently it moves, talks and lights up, all through remote control. There were some fab womens shoes decorated in Tardis Livery.
Of course there was a tardis, a K9 and Cybermen along with posters and signed memorabilia all the way back to William Hartnell in the days I watched the original series in black and white from behind my Gran’s sofa.
