Shipshape and Bristol Fashion

A late train from Paddington took us down to Bristol for the weekend, to stay with Giacomo Piccinelli and his girlfriend, Nadja, participants in the Capital Ring. On departure, we enjoyed the Great Western Railway Brass Band on the concourse - cited in today's Sunday Times as a prime example of good employee retention technique!

The aim of the weekend was practice for the long walk itself but Giacomo allowed us a lie-in, thanks to the rainy weather, on Saturday morning and we had a leisurely day walking locally. We set off across the Downs in Bristol and along the top of the Avon Gorge to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Upon crossing the Bridge, we entered Leigh Woods and explored the area before descending to the river bank. We then walked upstream to the harbour and lunch in a Tapas Bar in an old warehouse. Having re-fuelled, we wandered through the waterside attractions and up the hill to the Cabot Tower. After climbing the 105 foot tower (too many steps!), we enjoyed a 360 degree panorama of Bristol and the countryside beyond. Wales looked even wetter than Bristol! In all, we walked about 10 miles - two-thirds of the intended distance of each day's walk on the South West Coast Path. Fortunately, we weren't utterly exhausted and remained awake late enough to sample Giacomo's traditional Italian fare.

Sunday was sunnier so we set off at a previously unknown hour to the Cotswolds. A slightly longer day's walking along the Cotswold Way started in Old Sodbury and took us through beautiful if slightly damp countryside. We had views across to the Severn Bridge and the Wye Valley. We avoided the bulls and intrigued the sheep and disturbed the hunting of a large hawk. The path followed ancient bridleways and crossed Medieval fortifications and passed the Somerset Monument (in North Gloucestershire, peculiarly enough). We were ready for a pub lunch at Hillesley and the weather was mild enough to sit outside whilst we devoured Sunday roasts and scampi and chips. Setting off home, we did a loop before re-joining the Way at the Somerset Monument, which featured numerous dew ponds and a herd of shaggy long-horned cattle. Every other house was a cottage with roses over the door.

London was calling all too soon and we set off back to Paddington with only one blister between us and rather more sun burn than strictly necessary.

See Skene's photos at www.longwalk.co.uk when he gets around to putting them up...

The Birds

I was woken this morning at 05h45 by a blue tit fluttering in through our open bedroom window. Despite the ungodly hour of the morning, Skene instantly declared it to be the bluebird of happiness. I opened the door and, with a look of despair, he fluttered out to his brother who was waiting patiently outside.

I was very grateful that it had been a blue tit and not the crow which had landed on the open window the day before.

Something strange seems to be going on though... When I arrived home this afternoon, I found a magpie tapping on the kitchen window pane.

Alfred Hitchcock had better come round here quickly!

Country Mouse visits Town Mouse

This weekend Country Mouse, Jennifer, came to visit me, the Town Mouse. This prompted the annual house-clean and I swept the porch just like Granny used to do for guests. Skene even mucked in and cleaned the bathroom which sparkled. The end results seemed to pass muster but Jennifer was pleased to find some dust at least.

I met Jennifer at Euston from her rather tardy train. We immediately encountered bizarre behaviour - the descendant of flash mobs, "mobile clubbing", whereby a group of thirty youngsters gathered on the Plaza outside the station to dance to unheard tunes from their i-Pods. Such behaviour should definitely be confined to dark places if the participant is not to look darned daft!

J then indulged me in my usual Friday night activity - eating curry. I chose Ravi Shankar's on Drummond Street for her introductory session and it didn't disappoint. Drummond Street is reputed to be the home of Britain's first curry houses and the origin of the traditional decorating material, flock wallpaper, which was found at a reduced price nearby as the first restaurants were opened!

An early morning followed an early night and we were on Oxford Street by 10am. Our mammoth shopping expedition soon drew to a halt in the second shop as J found just what she was looking for for Katie's graduation. We retired to Liberty's to ooh and aah and luxury goods before I gave J the tour of Carnaby Street (a few decades too late for J), Soho and Chinatown. We fortified ourselves at Cafe Boheme and headed towards Hampstead.

J benefited from the true London experience as the Northern Line ground to a halt a Goodge Street and we swapped to the upper deck of a Number 24 bus. J was very brave and suppressed all symptoms of vertigo. I pointed out Camden from a safe distance and we crossed the River Fleet (more of which later) and arrived at Hampstead Heath.

We meandered between the chilly looking bathing pools and climbed Parliament Hill to admire the views and the ominous storm clouds over Highgate.

Next stop was 2 Willow Road, now owned by the National Trust, and once the home to Erno Goldfinger, designer of the brutalist Trellick Tower Trellick Tower and its sister, Balforn Tower in Poplar. The house was stark and shabby but featured impressive space-saving devices. Perhaps not the top of the list of requirements for a £2m+ house!

The Quality Chop House in Farringdon was the choice for dinner when J had the biggest fishcake ever seen. We then took an evening constitutional along the route of the "lost River Fleet" to the Coach and Horses where we could smell and hear the old watercourse.

On Sunday, we headed over to Canary Wharf to visit the Museum in Docklands. The Museum stretches over four floors of an old warehouse and celebrated its first birthday last month. We learnt about frost fairs (which may well return if global warming takes its predicted course), saw examples of early Fair Trade products (East India company sugar, made without slaves) and read about the Grand Surrey Canal which was intended to run through Peckham and Camberwell to Kingston and Ewell.

After the sacrificial slaughter of a lonely head of rocket from the garden for lunch, J wended her weary way northwards and home.

The Great Escapade

Our antipodean travels are drawing nearer and we are now proud holders of round the world tickets! Here is the basic itinerary (hit the back button now if prone to fits of jealousy):

* Saturday 28/8/2004: JFH flies from Heathrow (16h15) to Fiji via Los Angeles.
* Monday 30/8/2004: JFH arrives in Nadi (Viti Levu, Fiji) at 03h00.
* Hula Loop bus tour of Vitu Levu.

* Saturday 4/9/2004: JFH flies from Nadi (04h15) to Auckland, NZ, arriving at 07h20.
* Monday 6/9/2004: JFH starts work.

* Saturday 30/10/2004:JWS flies from Heathrow (16h15) to Fiji via Los Angeles.
* Monday 1/11/2004: JWS arrives in Nadi (Vitu Levu, Fiji) at 03h00.
* Sunday 7/11/2004: JWS flies from Nadi (10h20) to Auckland, NZ, arriving at 14h25.

* Thursday 30/12/2004:JFH and JWS depart Auckland, NZ, (16h00) and fly to Melbourne, Australia, arriving at 18h00.
* Tour of East Coast Australia.
* Internal flight to Perth.

* Thursday 13/1/2005: JFH and JWS fly home from Perth (01h55) via Singapore to Heathrow, arriving, 15h10.

Social Climbing

We ventured off the beaten track in our climbing this week. Very much off the beaten track. After an hour of wandering around White City and being very severely disappointed in our usually trusty A to Z (it was on the crease!) we finally found the Westway under the A40.

It claims to be the biggest indoor climbing wall in the country but fortunately that doesn't really mean that the walls are much higher. The options were manifold but the place lacked the characterful cosiness of the Castle. And it was under a huge road bridge.

I continued to make progress by employing my new technique - brute force! Recommended by the boys, it really seems to work but does tend to take away from my natural style (ha!). And so I am now succeeding in climbing 4Bs on sight - or 4+s if you want to be Gallic like the Westway prefers. It may also help me to acquire a climber's physique in due course...

At present, I am beginning to take on various physical characteristics of a climber: countless bruises, scrapes, burns and calluses. I'm even losing the skin from the tips of my fingers. Mine are no longer hands that do dishes...

Wooden Spoon

We weren't so lucky down at the Old Mayflower this week. Joint fourth. Ouch! Still, Skene enjoyed naming all but one of the kitsch TV shows in the picture round. Hidden talents!

Little known fact: TIPS is an acronym for "To Insure Prompt Service" which used to be the label on tins on the tables in coffee shops in the City. The more loose change in the tin, the sooner your caffe latte arrived.

Syonism

Having accidentally arrived at Isleworth Crown Court five hours early for my case (keen? moi?) I skipped bail and headed down to Syon Park for a bit of sightseeing. In my black suit, high heels and thick tights, I was perfectly attired for tourism.

The Park has a long and varied history:

* There was originally an Abbey on the site - unusually home to both monks and nuns! Separate beds though...

* The Abbey suffered during the Reformation when Henry VIII commandeered the premises and confined Catherine Howard there in two rooms before her execution.

* Henry VIII's corpse stopped overnight at Syon Park whilst en route from Westminster to Windsor. His bloated remains were savaged by dogs overnight.

* One of the Gunpowder Plotters dined with his cousin, the 9th Earl of Northumberland at his home at Syon House on 4th November.

* The gardens feature an artificial lake designed by Capability Brown.

* Joseph Paxton took his inspiration for Crystal Palace from the observatory-type domed conservatory, the first of its kind to be built out of gunmetal, bathstone and glass.

* The conservatory contains a vine donated to commemorate the export of vines which were used to start Australian wine production.

* Gosford Park was filmed in part at Syon Park.

The house was closed so I occupied myself with the gardens, conservatory and butterfly house. The rose garden was looking about as wilted as I felt in the 28C heat and I was pleased to see that the grounds were suffering from the weather almost as much as my own little patch. But I was mighty envious of the conservatory. One day I'll have one big enough for peacocks and palms and sprinklers...

I continued my communication with the butterfly world (see 13/6/2004) in the butterfly house. I managed to keep my calm around all the school children and practised patience with the flutterbys who seemed to quite like landing on my head where I couldn't see them. I didn't linger with the scorpions in the insect gallery but quite liked the geckos and frogs. Which you would think were rather counter productive in an insect house, but there you go...

By lunchtime, I reluctantly made my way back to court with three new cactii in tow, which gave the security guard a surprise when he searched my bags at the door! I was hot, dusty and sunburnt but I don't think anyone noticed.

Watercolour Challenge

Saturday saw us paintballing in beautiful Berkshire.

Even before my gun jammed and I was hit in the head in the first round, I knew it wasn't going to be the sport for me. By some quirk of co-ordination, I can't catch a ball but I can aim a gun. But my pacifist leanings and my antipathy towards conflict-based computer games were always going to be hurdles. I soon discovered that by far the best strategy was to hang back, hide in the undergrowth and "guard the base".

The day was best illustrated by a butterfly landing on the barrel of my gun.

Doctor Who?

Congratulations Doctor Katie!

After much stress and panic, my little sister Katie has passed her finals and qualified as a doctor and must be treated with all due respect.

Do send in all Doctor Doctor jokes you can find to torment her with...

Great Victories of our Time

I am pleased to be able to start on a high with my postings by announcing our success in the Mayflower pub quiz last night. Not an easy contest, Sanj, Jeff, John, Skene and I managed to scrape into first place with one more point than our nearest competitor.

All credit goes to Jeff for his remarkable ability to identify 20 obscure flags in the picture round. Had it been Brownie uniforms from around the world, I might have been more of a help. Sanj, on the other hand, felt that she had peaked too early with 100% on the Disney picture round last week which rocketed them into third place.

Watch this space to see if we maintain our lead next week...

Suggestions for team names on a postcard!

Performance Anxiety

Do all bloggers suffer from performance anxiety? (ooh! how Carrie Bradshaw!)

With www.blogger.com promoting book deals, film options and newspaper columns, the pressure is on to produce something novel, witty and topical. The shadow of great diarists such as Pepys, Field Marshal Montgomery, Alan Clarke, Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones looms large.

So here goes nothing!

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to my blog! There'll be more interesting things to read in due course... jo x