Ascot

Well Denise still hasn't shaken off the cough and cold she has and it was a great disappointment that she could not join me for a day at the races at Ascot.  I have never been to the horse racing before in my life so this was quite a special occasion for me.  I drove across to Ascot on Saturday morning and the weather was dull and drizzly and that meant  that the track conditions were "soft".  I have to admit it is quite a magnificent facility, and my ticket got me into the Prestige area of the course so I could mix with the well to do. Rebecca had a work function at the track that she was involved in but did meet me after they had had their lunch. Up to that point I had placed one bet on a horse and it won, so I was feeling quite chuffed with myself, after meeting with Rebecca I then had two more bets and both those horses won as well so I quit while I was ahead.

 

I was asked my secret for picking the winners and I told them that I looked at the form and if the horses were Irish as the weather and track conditions looked to me to suit horses from Ireland. I picked up £52.00 in winnings for a layout of £9 so I can say that I have never lost at the races!!  Ascot itself is celebrating 300 years this year so there will be a lot of activities later in the year. It was founded by Queen Anne who out on ride one day came upon this area at 'East Cote' and thought it would be a great place to let the horses run and so, as they say, the rest is history.

A few quiet weekends

It's been a quiet week this week - the six nations began so Chris and Ben came around to watch England beat Wales and then I spent the next couple of days in bed...getting over a bug. While feeling sorry for myself Harry did some more travel organisation for the holidays planned in the next few months Iceland and Turkey and then we went to the library. Unfortunately, the week didn't get much better and I spent quite a lot of it in bed - a bit of a recurring theme here. I perked up a bit for the weekend as Rebecca and Nylan came to stay. It was a glorious winters day and we took off to do the Poets Walk in Clevedon - a walk we have shared with others on sunny days and not so sunny days. It is called Poets Walk because Lord Tennyson wrote about In Memoriam A.H.H. for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam who died in 1833 and is buried in the little church. The poem was written over 17 years and is a "meditation on the search for hope after great loss touches upon many of the most important and deeply-felt concerns of Victorian society". I am afraid I hadn't really heard about it and so did a bit of research and then realised that some of the lines are very famous and often quoted ...

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Memoriam_A.H.H.

Its spring time and the snow drops are out, and the daffodils are thinking about it.  The next day we went to Cheddar Gorge and Glastonbury for an outing.  Cold and wet - but more cheese and chutney in our pantry made up for the weather and it sort of cleared for a wander around the quirky Glastonbury shops and abbey.

Ridgeway

During the week we went to 'The Kings Speech' quite a sad story which provided some further insight into the life of the royals.  The acting was up to Academy Award standards we thought.  Then on Saturday we took off for a trip up Ridgeway Way.  The plan - to go for a walk along the top to the fort and long barrow.  It was quite cold - well icy really - so it was a brisk walk with a few stops to take photos of pretty puddles and ice, before and after we jumped in them (we are really kids at heart).  We stopped for a few minutes at what is probably the best example of a Long Barrow we have seen at Waylands Smithy (prehistoric monument dating back to Neolithic times, often rectangular earth mounds which are thought to be communal tombs - there is about 300 of them in England and Scotland and we have seen only a few.) The fort a bit further on was actually two on different hill tops with a stylised white horse on one slope but we stayed only long enough to snack on some Shapes before being blown back along the path.  A real treat for me on the way to our digs for the night was to see some frozen icicles - nature at its best - and probably another for my WOW list!!  I could have stayed for ages. 

1. Mt Kau Kau, Wellington
2. Cathedral, Milan
3. Giant Causeway, Northern Ireland
4. Newgrange, Ireland
5. Quantock Head, England
6. Food, Poland
7. Tower, Glasgow
8. Cemetery, Milan
9. Cycling in the Snow, Amsterdam
10. Walking the Cliffs of Dover, England
11. The Pavilion in Brighton, England
12. Waffles, Brussels
13. Hawkstone Park, England
14. Scara Brae, Orkney Islands
15. The Bridge Teashop, Bradford on Avon
16. The Alcazar, Seville
17. Icicles in the Cotswolds

On Sunday we caught the underground into London (and for the first time experienced enough closures to disrupt our journey) to meet Rebecca and Nylan for a jazz cruise on the Thames which included lunch.  An enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon, with the sun peeping through the clouds, and cruising past some parts of London (inland Thames) that we hadn't seen before.

Littlehampton

Littlehampton used to be a little seaside village on the south coast.  But sometime during the mid 1900's it turned into a sprawling tourist resort with a multitude of fish and chip shops, boats and barges moored along the river, lots of shops and 60's buildings and a little museum which provided some relief from the wind and the cold.  We explored the three floors quite quickly and enjoyed reading up about the history of the town and in particular how holidays in England have changed over time with a significant impact on towns like Littlehampton...

• In 1773 the first tourists arrived to escape London's pollution - bathing and drinking seawater (at least a pint in one sitting) was afterall good for your health.
• By 1780 the first tourist hotel was built and you could lease your own bathing machine - I presume you hired the pusher and the puller to aid you modestly down to the waters edge.
• A century or so later John Constable the painter holidayed here and presumably painted a few pictures.
• 1900 - 1920 - the working class discovered they too could afford a holiday in Littlehampton (wonder what the upper class thought of that?).
• WW I put a stop to all holidays and so did WW II (Ian Fleming trained here during the war, and some of parts of the James Bond movies was later shot near the town).
• 1950's holidays began to appear again on the English calendar and along came the tourist in buses, trains and motor cars to enjoy the Punch and Judy shows, donkey rides, paddling in rock pools, mixed bathing and Butlins!!
• 1970's saw the gradual decline of the English seaside holiday in favour of the cheap holidays to Europe.
• Now that the Sterling isn't holding up against the Euro there appears to be a resurgence in the local seaside holiday.

The claim to fame for Littlehampton really is the longest bench in Britain.  It was built to enjoy which we did to the amusement of many locals (imagine Harry attempting the Lotus position). The bench is 324 metres long - quite a fun project to brighten up a water front.  It curves around lamp posts, goes down to ground level across paths, is high up in places and slopes just for fun.  The creators said " we imagined the longest bench as a charm bracelet gifted to the town as a delicate piece of jewellery that can accommodate new and varied additions..." - good imagination and a bit more than I had.  We recovered from all that exercise with a Pot of Noodles in the car and then drove to Bognor Regis and wondered why?  Then it was dinner and the panto Jack and the Beanstalk.

The next day we visited Arundel Wildlife and Wildfowl Trust and enjoyed walking around outside with a number of birds - actually it was really only ducks at this time of year.  The highlight for us was to see a little NZ blue duck - though he wasn't so pleased to see us!!  While walking around, up to hides and through reeds we found some interesting reading...

• A study demonstrated that walking in a natural setting can lead to an overall healthier lifestyle and attitude by increasing healthy emotional states and reducing the desire to smoke and drink!
• That after a 20 minute walk in a natural setting your attention and memory increased by 20% even in winter (oh boy I need to walk more).
• If you haven't got time to join a gym then perhaps you could do join the 'Real World Gym' eg take the stairs (yep that's us), walk run or cycle to work (yep that's us), chop wood (no fireplace!!), collect bathwater in a bucket and carry it outside to water the garden (yeah right - do plants like bubble bath?)
• A study showed that patients who could see nature from their hospital bed recovered more quickly and were discharged earlier and needed less painkillers!!