Beer Festivals in Bristol

Another busy week - trying to get so much organised at work before we go on holiday, dinner with Harry's work mates and our first beer festival - yes the very first for both of us. We weren't sure what to expect but after standing in a queue for a short time we entered the first ever railway station building built by Brunel - no longer used for passengers but for the 2009 Bristol beer festival. We didn't know what to expect especially hearing stories of the beer festivals in Europe - but we really did enjoy it. Acousticly the high ceilings absorbed most of the chatter so we could talk to the neighbours who had invited us without becoming hoarse. Not being seasoned beer drinkers we soon found half pints were a bit big if we wanted to taste a number of beers so gave our 6 vouchers to our fellow drinkers at the table, emptied the peanuts from a couple of plastic cups and sampled each of their choices - I think we got the better deal - we tried about 15 different flavours by the end of the night. It really was a bit of an education for us -we learnt some of the terms beer drinkers use such as 'high gravity beer', all about types of hops and why vegans don't usually drink beer. We tried Box Steam's Vanilla Porter (a dark porter), Durham's Evensong (a 1937 recipe and a deep ruby coloured bitter), Enville's Old Porter (golden bright, with subtleness and body), Harviestourn's Top Dollar (at least 4 types of hops used by this Scottish brewer), Kelham Island Pale Rider (dangerously deceptive strength), St Austell's Black Prince (with a faint taste of bubble gum and licorice), Spectrum's Old Stoatwobbler (good for vegans) and so on.
Nylan and Rebecca had arrived on Friday night and so on Saturday we took Nylan for his first trip to the Downs to see the Avon River at low tide (great weather) and we saw our first Peregrine in the distance - we wouldn't have known but we eavesdropped on a Peregrine watching group during our walk. We took a quick trip to Bath (not a good idea when Bath is playing against Newcastle - rugby that is - and the stadium is right near the city). We eventually found a car park near the Bath Spa Hotel and wandered into town through a park not previously explored by us and then had a coffee in the sun outside the cathedral (we have had a great week of sunny weather - we keep wondering what it will be like at home in a couple of weeks).

Sunday we went to Cheddar Gorge - one of the most spectacular pieces of scenery we have seen in England and wandered on the top around Piney Sleight - it is another National Trust property and one of the few nature reserves the trust owns. It was a bit early for the blue bells, but it was still pretty with the mosses and views over the Gorge. We sampled (lots) and bought (one) Cheddar cheese and also some red pepper and chilli jam.

To end the weekend we thought we would take our visitors to Wells (the smallest city in England) where we picnicked in the church grounds before exploring around the Bishops Palace and Cathedral. And now its packing time ... we are getting quite excited.

News this week

• Ireland won the 6 nations - the first time they have won the grand slam since 1948.
• An elderly woman who feeds the birds was given a £75 fine for littering by some over zealous wardens.
• A squatters group, has through the Freedom of Information Act, obtained lists of empty council and private houses - wonder where they will be living next?

Visiting friends in Northampton

We went to see 'Benjamin Button' this week. We did think if it was worth seeing a movie with a corny story line but 3 hours and 10 minutes later we realised we had sat and watched a rather moving and thought provoking story about being young and old, facing responsibilities and decisions, and how these impact on our lives. This week we also had dinner with Paul and Sheila recently back from New Zealand. I was wondering how I would feel seeing all their photos and it has made me look forward to our trip even more. They had some great times particularly in Rotorua (they loved the sulphur smell - not) and the West Coast where they walked to the glaciers (got rather wet walking back), and missed the town with a population of 2. Harry and I were trying to think where it was and even 'good old google' could only come up with Ohura with a population of 227. Still, it was in one of the guide books so it must be somewhere.
Saturday arrived and we headed off to Northampton - but first we took a little detour and stopped at that bread shop in Knowle - the one I said we probably would never make it back to and again at the clothes shop where I bought a couple of pairs of trousers. They're too long (you can buy short legged ones but not at that shop) and now I have to buy a tape measure and sewing materials to take them up and would you believe it an iron - yes we have managed to last 18 months without one - Barbara could not believe it.
Northampton is the home of Mike and Barbara who we met on our cruise in Egypt. We had a wonderful weekend, lots of yummy food and laughs, walks and car drives. During our first car drive Mike said 'Please don't put in your blog that we took you for a drive to the local sewage treatment station'...but there is a story here and it begins...there was once a static caravan site only 3 miles from Northampton where many a Northamptonite went every weekend - to fish, play and socialise. Beside it is the sewage treatment station and when the wind blows...
We went for a walk along the canal at Stoke Bruerne and up over the hill above the Bilsworth tunnel built in 1793. The town has some lovely examples of thatched cottages.

Northampton centre is an interesting mix of architectural styles. A wonderful council building with intricate carvings of cobblers (the city is the centre of the shoe and boot making industry - or was), plants and industry. The market square is laid out very much like the one in Brussels - with a number of European style buildings around each side like the Welsh House, Beethoven House, and Victoria House with the older buildings dating mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is one of the oldest and largest squares in England and dates back to 1235 when Henry III stopped the selling of goods in the churchyard of All Saints and ordered that the Market be moved to a space north of the churchyard - and it is still there today and open every day except Sunday. Monday is fresh fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and plants only day. Tuesday to Saturday are the general market days. The square is now almost completely covered by outdoor markets but there are plans to make it less of a market and more of a cafe style piazza with gardens and fountains - it has huge potential. There was until recently an indoor Fish Market (in a huge building for a town that is probably the most furtherest place from the sea in England - perhaps they fished in the canal or reservoir - they must get them from somewhere as the pub where we had Sunday lunch had a large range of fish including swordfish on the menu).

Mike and Barbara have recently moved into a new house in an estate that felt like a little village on the outskirts of the town (Northampton is the largest town in England with about 200,000 residents). In the estate about 4 or 5 different building companies have built homes, which gives a bit of variety in the design and with most of them having a focus on environmental friendly (solar panels, mini wind blown turbines on the roofs etc). It has a nice feeling about it - and we did find a house we liked from the outside if we ever were considering buying a house and living in Northampton. There's a school close by, a park which the recession has managed to slow down the completion of, and a plan for shops that are yet to be constructed. We enjoyed wandering around the apartments - looking in the windows of the empty ones (yes I know we are a bit inquisitive) and admiring or not admiring colour schemes and design. There is even a block of apartments for over 50's - not many have sold (only 2 we think) and we couldn't see any advantage of the age restrictions (eg no help with the garden, lots of stairs etc) but it could make it harder to sell your home later on.

On Sunday it was warm - 0.5 degree warmer than parts of Greece - pretty impressive for Spring time. We had a great walk around the Pitsford Reservoir (that supplies all that water to the Northampton area) - took about 3 hours (excluding the half way stop for refuelling).

Not a lot in the news this week - except there are now 2 million unemployed in England. England had a great win against France in the 6 nations and Liverpool bet Manchester United (4-1) a good thing since we were staying with Liverpool supporters!!!

A couple of quotes for the week:
'The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking which caused them' - Albert Einstein

'Great men and women of action do not plan beforehand all the details of their future course of action' - not sure who said it but it has a Winston Churchill like ring about it. (I added the women).

And just to show you can't please everyone - the following quotes from holiday makers that made the Top 20 ridiculous holiday complaints list ...

"The beach was too sandy."

"It should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

"No one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels to the water park."

and the one I heard in the tearoom the other day

"We didn't like Spain no-one spoke English."

The Midlands

Whiling away the hours on a plane and at the airport can have its advantages - as it was there that I read in an Easyjet magazine about a place called Knowle just outside Birmingham and a National Trust house called Baddesley Clinton. So, we decided to head that way during the weekend (after a busy week at work and seeing 'Slumdog Millionaire' at the movies during the week. The film certainly made me appreciate what I have and that I was able to look after my family in a nice environment). On Thursday night I surveyed Lastminute.com to see what hotel would like to see us for the Saturday night and it was meant to be as we found a March special with a spa, sauna, swimming pool and steamroom (is there any reason they all start with 's'?) not far from Knowle. Incidentally, in the Ladies changing rooms there was a sign 'Please do not sit on the seats they are only for bags'. I was waiting for Harry to make a comment like 'did you sit on the seat reserved for you' but he didn't have the same notice in his changing room. When we arrived there were a number of conference rooms set out as a bridge tournament. I discovered we had come across the Grand Masters tournament and all through dinner I listened to conversations 6 clubs was cold, you didn't have to go to 4 spades, why did you bid that, what did you do on Board 23. I really miss that game and the fun of playing cards with friends.
Knowle is a cute little place - famous because it's pub was built before its church way back in the 1600's. It had the best bakery we have found in England, a clothes shop called Denise, the best groomed cemetery we've seen for a long time, and a helpful traffic attendant who told us we had exactly 1 hour 10 minutes before he would come back and do the street again. So, we bought some bread and goodies, some clothes, took some photos and were back just in time to head to the next little town as he turned the corner. Dorridge is just down the road and we found a park to sit and eat our sausages and bread. It was a lovely morning, a tad cold, but we hadn't realised this was dog walking country. Midlands does have well behaved dogs - they all came over to smell our sausages, didn't jump or bark just looked at us with those big brown eyes, and didn't leave when we laughed or their owners called. A number of owners dragged their reluctant labs, spaniels, alsatians and some mongrels away probably wondering about who would be silly enough to have a picnic in the cold during dog walking time.

Packwood House - is a 20th century renovated 17th century home, complete with a barn conversion it lay surrounded by a garden of Yew trees - shaped over the years by a chain saw. The garden was thought to resemble the Sermon on the Mount, but the trees at the front had grown too high so you couldn't see all the apostles (the other trees). They think some of the trees date back to the 1650's and I must admit the hedge looked like an old one that just couldn't be trained (I nicknamed it the 'caterpillar hedge'). We wandered around the daffodils, crocuses and snowdrops and wondered how we could have missed this time of the year last year - then we remembered we were in New Zealand. The house wasn't a castle which I guess was its first good point (we are a bit 'castled' out), had a friendly volunteer staff (they thought we were Aussies) and so we learnt a bit about the gentry of the times. There were some fascinating things:

• A sprung floor in the barn for dancing (yes we did jump up and down and it felt a bit spongy)
• An armada chest - so heavy with a huge locking mechanism to store jewellery in etc.
• Horse shoes were hung upside down - its only recently that this was considered bad luck (there is a story floating around that it was hung as a U because the leprechaun needed somewhere to sit) - but the farriers of the time would have hung them upside down on nails on their walls.
• And humbugs (why I wondered would they put humbugs on the floor to test for damp - silly me - not a sweet - but a test where the chemicals change colour to show damp).
• A wonderful fully hinged 'leder' (Dutch for lay person or model) who lay in a position for the painter if the real object got tired of sitting.
• Painted canvas walls
• Plunge pools outside as it wasn't healthy to bathe inside
• 1700's spinnette (it has black keys where the piano has white and vice versa)
• A huge array of clocks on all sides of the house, most requiring the sun to be able to tell the time (although one is only right twice a year and we didn't know which).
  
  

Then onto Baddesley Clinton, a medieval manor house, one of the few with a moat around it -though it was in clear need of being cleaned and didn't make a pretty sight. There were little cardboard patches around to see the impact of sunlight - most of the rooms are heavily netted spoiling the view, and hiding the stain glass windows ('don't get me started' said one of the volunteers plainly sharing her dislike of the curtains - so we didn't - though I agree with her about the nets). The most interesting thing here was finding out about Nicholas Owen, a builder who worked at night to build hiding places for Jesuit priests - Queen Elizabeth I ordered the hunting and killing of the priests and persecuted catholics. He built three priest holes in this house, but was eventually found out and tortured to reveal all the 'holes' he had built - but I don't think he did.

After picnicking we took off to one of the two sets of locks on the Grand Union Canal. We did think of taking our bikes and spending the day cycling along the canal which would have been great fun but we decided not to in the end. As there were a number of locks on the canal (originally an Act of Parliament in 1793 was required to enable it to be built) near Knowle and also further around at Hatton (opened by the Duke of Kent on 30 October 1934). They were different designs to the ones we worked when canalling with Jan and running along side the canals were some nature reserves - do you know that woodlice are also called cud worms, coffin cutters or tiggly hogs. The canal was used to transport coal to a number of factories down the line including the spices to the HP Sauce factory, tea to the Ty-phoo factory and sugar to Cadburys in Bournville. Boats paid a toll based on weight of cargo and we spent a while considering if it would have been easier to charge simply by boat.

Sunday - started off fine but deteriorated into very cold and wet conditions. We visited Rugby - where William Webb Ellis inspired the game of rugby by picking up the ball and running with it. One of the first public schools that have rugby posts in pride of place, rather than soccer nets. We wandered around, looking at the many parents waiting for games to start (had a cool little place to shelter) and through some of the old buildings before visiting the Rugby Museum (alas most of the football stuff was in the Rugby Football Museum closed on Sundays). The footpaths had a walking tour with names of rugby greats like Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson, and also a chart of all the world cup participants and winners.

Then onto the Midlands Air Museum - Harry's choice. He had a great few hours sitting in the cockpit of a vulcan (the highlight of the day) and looking at a range of aircraft some he had never seen before while I soon gave up and went and had a cup of tea. There was:

• the vulcan which was flown into the airfield, had all its explosive charges removed from the seats, stripped of fluids, and towed to its current resting place. It was in good condition considering it spends every winter outside and it could possibly be returned to flying if someone had the cash.
• the Bolton and Paul P111 was a Delta Wing demonstrator that researched the handling characteristics of the wing before building the vulcan.
• A Gannet and a Javelin - built in the UK, both RAF planes built around 1960's.

And then to Warwick - where we decided a quick visit to Warwick Castle didn't warrant the £16.95 price tag (it was too late in the day for a long visit). The very nice elderly gentleman at the Queens Hussars Museum did say that he would have had to remortgage to visit the castle. This museum was amazing, housed in the Leyminster Hospital (never a hospital but a home for returned service men and their wives). So, to end the day we wandered around one of the oldest buildings I think we have been in, skipped along sloping wooden floors and viewed some lovely architecture and some history about the Hussards.

This weekend will always be remembered because of the exceptionally nice people we met. There was the lady who lent me a £1 so that I could use a locker at the pool, the volunteer who let us in free to the Leyminster Hospital as it was close to closing time (but then talked about the building till way after closing time), the friendly Scots woman in the clothes shop that told us she came for 1 year and has stayed for 31 years, the dog owners all apologising for their dogs and chatting to us and the volunteers at Packwood who went out of their way to give us a lot of information that we could store in our memories. In the news this week:

• It has come to the notice of the press that banks charge a commission on overseas credit card transactions but don't itemise it on the statement. So, for everything you spend overseas, they give you an unfavourable exchange rate, and add up to 3.5% other fees that aren't explained.
• One of the new packages to improve the economic climate is to pay the interest of those that are unemployed for more than 13 weeks, but if your income drops you only get your interest deferred for 2 years.
• Ryan Air are thinking about making customers really 'spend a penny' on flights (no joke) and if you are travelling to Frankfurt with them just be aware that the airport they fly to is 120 kilometres away from the actual city.

Our friends had a great time in New Zealand, arrived in Wellington in the pouring rain but left the next day on the ferry to one of those days only Wellington can turn on. Can't wait to see their photos and hear their stories.

Kew Gardens

Spring is here - well the weather is warm and the daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses are starting to bloom and Sunday is the 1st of March so it must be spring!! Kew Gardens was quite picturesque at this time of year, but a few more weeks would have seen more bulbs out and more crowds so it was probably quite a good time to go. We got there about 9.30 (so another early start) and found a park outside the main gate. The ticket person, asked if we were 'recycled teenagers' and with this classification we paid full price to wander around the 300 acres gifted to the country by Queen Victoria in the 1890's. It is Kew Gardens 250th anniversary as the Royal Botanical Gardens and Darwin's 150th so it was the beginning of celebrations. We wandered around the gardens (stopping only to have our picnic lunch but without our cuppa as we had left the tea bags in the car). Harry had carried around the milk and thermos all day - so we eventually stopped at the restaurant bought a pot of tea and after paying £2.50 for the privilege continued to fill the pot with our hot water.

Kew Gardens is under the flight path of Heathrow which sees an aeroplane land or take off every 90 or so seconds. You can imagine the disjointed conversation between with us two enthusiasts ...

'The daffodils are out

That's an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 400

Aren't the snow drops lovely

Think that's an Emirates A380

Wonder what tree that is

A Virgin A340 600

What an usual coloured camellia

Don't recognise that airline'

and so it went all day ... I think we both saw the same things such as the wildlife, plants, buildings and aeroplanes but what we remember from the day just might be different. There were lots of big geese, peacocks, ducks, moorhens, the Goldcrest (the smallest bird in Europe apparently), badger homes (but the badgers weren't at home) and stag beetles (we only saw pictures but apparently they live 7 years as lavae under ground and only a few weeks above). But the highlight was a lime green lizard (looking like a mini dinosaur - about a foot long and head high ran in front of us in the hot house - we were so surprised we didn't take a photo and he didn't wait around that long). No staff could be found to ask about this cute, but slightly scary creature so I googled it at home. It said that 'dozens of tropical lizards seized by Customs and Excise have begun a new career in pest control at Kew Gardens. The lizards have taken up residence in two of Kew's greatest glasshouses. This 'Acanthosaura armota' and five of its relatives from Malaysia have gone to work in the Palm House' in the hope they will eat the cockroaches and other pests. Apparently the lizards came here without the right immigration visas and are listed as an Endangered Species. It said that people hoping to see one are likely to be very disappointed as they are quite shy and stay hidden (they probably party at night!) - so weren't we lucky.

We wandered through the Queens garden (more like a few trees with daffodils underneath it with quite an extensive herb garden). The attraction here were the little quotes placed beside the plants which show that the 17th century garden was all about medicine and food rather than beauty.

'We have not learned that any author, hath knowne this tree to be applied, to any physicall use, but as a wood for many necessary imployments, both for milles and other small works, in good account for the hardnesse, strength and durability' - wrote Parkinson in 1640 about the Common Hornbeam tree.

Gerard in 1597 wrote about one type of daffodil (known less affectionately as 'The Lesser French Double Bastard Daffodil') 'The distilled water of daffodils doth cure the palsie, if the patient be bathed and rubbed with the said liquor by the fire'. Of the leafed sowbread cyclamen Gerard wrote 'Being beaten made into cakes good amorous medicine to make one in love' and about the rose root 'it relieved paines in the head, chives cause troublesome dreams, provoke urine, engender hot and grosse vapours and are hurtful to the eies and brane'. Don't know who Gerard and Parkinson were but obviously up with the modern techniques of aromatherapy and dietary requirements. And it isn't my typing but an indication of how the language has changed in a few hundred years.
We also visited the Temperate House - a large glasshouse with lots of indoor plants including a section with New Zealand plants - this included a rather weary looking pohutukawa, some hebes while in other parts of the gardens were flaxes and other native bushes looking as though there were having trouble surviving the snowy conditions of late. Of New Zealand a plaque stated 'described as an ancient life raft New Zealand has plants and animals that are particularly special. 80 million years of isolation has resulted in 1865 endemic plant species. Each has involved in a distinct way to attract the unique insects, birds and animals that pollinate them.'

In the grounds was Queen Charlotte's cottage where the family went to stay during summer (which was also gifted to the city of London), a pagoda in the Japanese garden, rhododendron dell (with the first buds), orchid exhibition, exhibition on Darwin, tree top walkway and a Earth's Environmental and Geological Timeline (We now have a timeline on all the periods such as Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Jurassic, Triassic etc etc).

I enjoyed the Darwin exhibition as it told of his life, 'a man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life' (we decided relaxing wasn't wasting) and his theories. I hadn't really thought about the evolution of music before but I know it is the 'international language'. Darwin considered that music may have come about by people making sounds to communicate but couldn't really put any more theory into it than that - yeah we have something in this world that hasn't been theorised.

During our walk around I suggested that we could later go for a walk along the Thames into London. Thankfully the map (and our weary legs) said 'too far', so after a 30 minute doze in the car (yes, outside the main gate of Kew Gardens) we decided to take the underground and catch a show. We had a leisurely Italian dinner and a quick walk through Westminster Cathedral. I was busily singing Westminster Cathedral until Harry told me it was Winchester Cathedral and then to Billy Elliot - a show top of my list. It was very good (seats not that great but what can you expect for last minute decisions) and the dancing and singing managed to convey the human conflict, social turmoil during the coal mining strikes, sadness at lost loved ones and the joy of success. We got to bed about 1.30 in the morning and us 'recycled teenagers' spent most of Sunday recovering before cooking dinner for some friends.

What's in the news - more about the economic climate, Ireland thinking of ditching the euro, Gordon Brown meeting US president, the big payouts and pensions to top dog bankers who used to work in banks that were bailed out by the government, the impact of global warming on the bulbs (snowy conditions made the bulbs late by a few weeks), the short life of David Cameron's disabled son, the school lottery system means one in six students will miss out on their preferred choice (zoning has its problems but I think is better than the system here) and predictions of some colder weather.