Man of leisure.
Travelled down to Brighton on Thursday for the PSD all hands day where we were staying in The Old Ship on the sea front. Rosemary came with me and was sneaked into the hotel. No sea view from our room!
In the evening, while Rosemary went out for a curry (the hotel refused to serve her supper), the rest of us were wined, dined and entertained. Actually the hotel food was not really very good, but the wine and beer flowed.
Driving down to Reading for the next 3 days attending an Oracle Application Server and Oracle 10g database course. First course Cedar has sent me on.
Getting down here early to miss the traffic.
We joined the Berkshire branch Cambridge Society for its 7th and our 5th annual weekend, held this year in Derbyshire. The event is always a good chance to catch up with people, an inspiration to flagging grey matter and a challenge to stamina. It was, as usual, brilliantly organized by the dedicated few (Catherine, Peter, Rob and Ann amongst others) and they had laid on the sunshine, too.
We started on Friday in a leisurely manner at Bolsover Castle with our own private “journey to heaven” through the Little Castle. It culminated in two staggering painted ceilings depicting disparate views of heaven. Other highlights some 17th century wall paintings which continued the vaulted ceilings of one room, totally defying the idea of how such people did not understand, nor could paint, perspective. Outside, there was a highly unexpected 17th century indoor riding school and a sadly recently vandalized, slightly risqué fountain. Spent the afternoon at Cresswell Crags, a limestone gorge full of caves. We looked behind the scenes in its museum and enjoyed a tour of one cave and a viewing of pre-historic cave paintings in another. One painting was a very obvious deer, but others needed more imagination/better eye-sight than we had.
Friday evening saw us wined, beered (Catherine, a bioscience consultant, had persuaded the hotel to lay in a barrel of Old Speckled Hen) and dined in our Matlock Bath hotel. Afterwards we were all suitably briefed on the next day’s activities by Catherine and the local geology by Peter.
Saturday, we were at Ilam Hall where we chose to go on a 12-mile walk following the Manifold river, across the top and back down to Ilam via the lovely Dovedale, where we could admire Early Purple orchids. We stopped at a cave and at a pub in Wetton en route and also admired a gorgeous Charolait (or was he a Limousine?) bull at a farm. Surprisingly, both of us could still move the next day and it was good to be walking in such lovely countryside with so few people about.
An inspiring evening talk by landscape archaeologist Mark Edmonds, while we supped on our Old Speckled Hen or G&Ts, made us realize there was masses more to see in the dales and the peak district.
Sunday we had a walking tour, led by the local jailer, of nearby Cromford village, including the jail, and the Arkwright Mill. Cromford, a lovely village, was very much built to support the mill and the first Mr Arkwright had used various cunning ploys to entice his workers.
A brisk walk back to Matlock Bath for a huge buffet lunch and a tour of a lead mine, which was much smaller and less deep than we expected. Quick pan for fools gold and then a retreat to car for the drive back home.
On-line pictures to follow soon.
Visited Newcastle on Tuesday for three days, working on the Farsi project. I managed to get to Gateshead by 9.10 am. without breaking many speed limits.
Took the opportunity to catch a train to Edinburgh on Wednesday evening and met up with Ed and Mary. The excuse was Mary’s leaving drink. She has finished working with Walker/Elevon/Arelon/Cedar. We met for a drink at 7.00pm in the Cafe Royal, went on for a Mexican meal at the Blue Parrot Cantina, then a bottle of Veuve Clicquot at the bar of Jon Marshals best friends, sisters brother in law’s wife’s husbands best friend or some such nonsense.
Finished there for a beer at the mobbed Igloo and finished off in Whistle Binkies at 3.00am Thursday morning.
Able to catch the early morning train back to Newcastle for a full days work, and then drive back home.
Panic set in when I left for Newcastle for Edinburgh, realised I did not have my car keys, so phoned the office to organise a search for them. After organising the Gateshead office to search my desk, coffee room, reception, and calling the taxi company, the keys were found in the door lock of the car.
Today we had a Cambridge Society talk on the Artist Eric Gill, by Nick Wheeler-Robinson. Nick is the owner of the Piggotts house and workshop which Eric Gill last lived and worked in before he died. Eric Gill was an artist, engraver and sculptor and the inventor of several type faces. I see Word on my PC has Gill Sans which is one of his type faces.
Gill’s work reflects his strong belief in both Roman Catholicism and promiscuity. At Piggotts, his ménage included a wife, at least two pupil/model/mistress/muses, and a priest, probably a much needed confessor. Gill seems to have lived life to the full.
Piggotts was bought by Nicks father from Eric Gills family in 1963. The place has been used since to live in, and provide a place where musicians are invited to come and play. From Easter through to November there are people camping in the fields, rehearsing music and then playing it on Sunday. They are a mixture of professional and amateur musicians. This Sunday they were playing Utopia Ltd’ by Gilbert & Sullivan. Next weekend it is the Planets.
After the talk and guided tour of the buildings, we took a walk through the bluebell woods and then had a BBQ in the woods.
I’m afraid we did not listen to the music, leaving just as it started.
The buildings in which Gill worked were old farmyard barns, some converted to strengthen the flooring to take the weight of the stones. The were all very cold and draughty in winter. He had many apprentices who brought in money by engraving grave stones.
We heard a lovely story about a grass roller, made from stone, which had been thought to have been carved by Gill. It had been sold for £50,000 to Leeds University. One of the apprentices (Kindersley) when visiting Nick, after the roller had been sold, said he had carved it as a training exercise. The money was used to purchase 30 acres of woodland adjoining the house.
Spent the morning prepping the evening meal, was going to be coriander and lemon chicken, preceded by an lovely green soup. The soup also is very spiced with coriander, cumin and chili.
Afternoon, had to catch up on two weeks of grass cutting, luckily the showers held off.
The evening was spent consuming copious amounts of wine and beer with the home cooked Indian meal with Ann and Chris, Selina and Graham.
Rosemary and I had a special meal out at Carluccios’s in Bicester Village. This is a chain of restaurants with the name of celebrity chef Antonio.
The meal was a themed Italian meal with selected wines. We started off with a glass of Prosecco and some excellent Canapes. The deep fried spinage was excellent.
The menu was.
Gamberi e Bianco
A Salad of prawns on marinated fennel
Accompanied by
La Segreta Bianco
Fresh and rich with a long slow finish. Made from a blend of Grecanico, Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon and Fiano grapes. Tropical fruit flavours, with a lingering dry finish.
Risotto al Vino Rosso
Creamy red wine risotto
Filetto di Bue alla Griglia
Fillet steak served with sauteed mushrooms and garlic and roasted Rosemary potatoes
Accompanied by
Capello di Prete
A rich red balanced red with mellow flavours of cocoa and cherries. Made from 100% Negroamaro grapes.
Crema di Noce con Cioccolata
A delicious hazelnut panna cotta served with a chocolate sauce
Accompanied by
Aleatico di Puglia
An incredible red dessert wine, produced from Aglianico grapes. Medium sweet with spice and cherry flavours.
After the meal had an espresso and some grappa. Meal was good, especially liked the marinaded fennel. Marinaded in lemon juice and zest. Steak ordered rare and was served rare, excellent.
On the Thursday of my Newcastle trip, I spent the evening in Edinburgh. Caught the Flying Scotsman to Edinburgh, 90 minute trip. Met up with Mary Devine, Ed Aldridge, Neil Saunders and Simon Stone in the Conan Doyle pub. Then onto the Thai Me Up restaurant for a quite expensive but very good Thai meal. Ed though was defeated by his Green Curry, far to hot for him. I ended up eating most of his curry, while he ate my fish dish.
Then onto Pivo’s, bar selling East European lagers. Here we lost the guys from RBS, and Mary Devine. A quick visit to Whistle Binkies with Ed until 1.00am, for old times sake. Then to the hotel.
In the morning, caught the 7.00 am train back to Newcastle, and into the office by 8.45.
Left work early for the long drive home (4 hours) and was able to meet up with friends in the Plough and Anchor for a drink before Supper.
Travelled up to Newcastle to work in the Gateshead office for the whole on the Farsi project. Used Rosemarys car as mine was going to be serviced because of the awful thumping noise from the suspension when going over bumps.
Stayed three nights in the Tulip Inn in Team Valley. First night out had a rather expensive curry with Nigel Stone in The Last Days Of the Raj. Very large eatery with these huge carved wooden elephants.
Next day we ate at a much cheaper place called the Waggon Team, where we ate at a carvery. Service was poor, and ended up getting a free beer to compensate us.
Wednesday night ate at the Tulip Inn, and then went to the Waggon Team for a few pints of larger and chatted with a guy called Neil.
Decided to get the most from our National Trust membership and so off we went to Chastleton House, near Moreton –in-the-Marsh., billed as “one of England’s finest and most complete Jacobean houses”. It turned out not to be an exaggeration; a lovely house. The embroidery had Rosemary drooling (and returning to re-commence some of her many UFOs/USOs) – table covers, fabulous bed hangings and the most amazing flamboyant but tiny almost priest-hole room, LINED with bargello (falme-stitch) hangings. The guide said she’d also heard bargello termed “Irish” stitch, not a term with which R was familiar. Some extremely old wall paintings, fabulous uneven floors and wood everywhere, which made the odd woodworm hole at home seem a total non-event. Had it not been raining, we would have enjoyed the topiary outside.
No tea place on site, so followed guide’s directions to “a farm shop which did tea”. This turned out to be Daylesford Organic Farmshop which must be the most upmarket farm shop, we’ve ever seen. Fantastically expensive china/pottery (£56 for a single soup bowl?), cheese etc in very trendy, but satisfyingly plain surroundings, even if the brownie R ate wasn’t her best ever.