Man of leisure.
Today was the return match with the St Brides Major. The shoot was a 72 bird layout. First time I had shot since the visit to Wales. I shot OK, but my score did not make the top twelve to be counted. We beat the Welsh. It was lovely sitting out in the sun, with good food a ale afterwards.
Then we played the usual game of Aunt Sally. Last year the Welsh beat us, this year we made amends.
Today was my last day working for Elevon. I celebrated on my own with lunch at the P&A.
Today was a repeat of last years (17th August) canal trip organised by John and Carol Curd. The trip followed the same format, day boat from just outside of Cheddington, going south through several locks. Stopping at around 1.00 for our picnic lunch of Salmon, meat balls, humus, salads etcetera.
Back through the locks and back to the marina for 5.00. An invite by Stuart to his house for tea, and a cooling spray of water from a hose pipe. Yes it had been yet another hot day, and with the running around closing and opening lock gates we were rather warm and dehydrated.
No I did not fall in, job or get pushed into the canal. The dead floating fish put me off from this exercise. Quite a few birders were on the tow path, apparently looking for a Least Sand Piper, a visitor from America..
This whole week I have been staying in Edinburgh working with RBS, setting up the eConnector product from Elevon, or is it SSA GT, and is it Walker as our customers still call us.
During the week I was told formally I would be redundant on the 15th of this month. So that is one uncertainty out of the way.
Had quite a few nice meals out with the Cedar folk who are working at RBS, and nice to see quite a few old Walker folk from many years ago, still eking a crust from the Walker products.
Edinburgh was definitely lively with the Festival in full stream.
The previous week I had been paragliding at Coombe Gibbet, when the phone rang requesting me to go to Edinburgh on Monday.
Today was an end of an era as my colleagues John Curd and Peter Willson were made redundant from Elevon in the UK. I am now the only one left. They were taken on by Arelon.
Axon had their summer party at the new (opened June) Splash Landings hotel at Alton Towers.
We drove up there on Saturday and arrived in time for lunch and a pint of beer. The bar was open for the afternoon, we did not take advantage of this and went off for a swim in the water park.
This was a pool with flumes which you rode on rubber rings. The best, and Rosemarys worst, was the one which went uphill, rotated you and sent you through pitch black tunnels. There were many places by the pool where water was poured on top of you, and you had the bonus of being able to set traps and pour buckets of water over others from platforms. The childeren really loved this. There was one place where several thousand gallons of water would be poured down on top of you. When the bell rang, people would run up and stand and wait for the deluge.
After the swim, a rest and then the evening meal. This meal was held in the hotel next door, Alton Towers Hotel. There was lots to drink, the food though was not up to power. After the meal there was a limbo dancing. When this finished the usual 70s 80s disco took over playing Abba. Why can’t we have some real Rock? We stayed at this until the end and then went back to bed.
Next day breakfast and back home. Very tired.
The Splash Landings Hotel was themed on West Indies Style. The roof was all corrugated iron, with wooden walls. Inside the corrugated iron was painted to make it look like there was rusted iron underneath. The walls were done to look like they were decaying in the damp and heat. Of course underneath all this was the standard reinforced concrete. It was pretty effective, and example of the Tussauds imagination.
The hotel was not very efficient, booking in took along time, there were thousands of staff, but most were hanging around. I have never seen so many life guards in my life at a pool. I wonder what it would be like in a years time.
Oh and we never went to the Alton Towers park for the rides.
All the women of Kingswood are in despair as the Hungarian waiter Daba Greff leaves to go back to Hungary. I went over to the P&A and sat drinking with him and the other kitchen staff until long past 1.00 in the morning.
Hopefully we will see him back sometime.
We joined up with 21 other members of the Buckinghamshire branch of the Cambridge Society outside the Aldgate tube station at 11:15 for a walking tour of Spitalfields. The tour was led by Stan Pretty. Stan is the playwright/actor/theatre director who led previous tours of Southwark and Stratford upon Avon. He is a clear, confident and literate speaker, a lively but urbane raconteur of London history and literary heritage, and a professional guide.
The area has a rich history, having seen many waves of immigration: French Huguenot Silk Weavers, the Irish, Jews fleeing C19th pogroms, Socialist Intellectuals, Bangladeshis fleeing poverty, civil war and inundation. It has Hawksmoor’s Christchurch and Art Deco architectural gems. It is also the birthplace of some of the most well established charities and similar organisations of today.
Stan related a few stories about Jack the Ripper as we walked around. Only a few because he was unhappy with some of the Jack the Ripper tours, and this was not a Jack the Ripper tour.
Lunch, which should have been taken at the Pride of Spitalfields pub was taken at the White Hart. A couple of pints of Spitfire, and lots of good unhealthy sausages, port pies, chicken wings etc.
It was an interesting walk in a place I would not normally go to. I now know where to go for a Curry in Bangali. We see how a building turned from a Methodist church, to a Synagogue and know to a Mosque. We see how the one poor falling down buildings and streets are now expensive homes for City workers.
A few of the places visited were:
Toynbee Hall Opened in 1884 to educate and politicise poor local immigrants. Toynbee Hall continues to offer community advice, alongside performance spaces and the Arts Café.
Whitechapel Bell Foundry Established in 1570 and the oldest manufacturing company in the UK, this is where Big Ben and Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell were cast.
Christ Church Built 1714-1729 by Nicholas Hawksmoor, this church’s beauty and lofty spire was designed to impress the locals and show them that Anglicanism was the most heavenly of denominations
St Botolph’s Church A haven of peace dedicated to the patron saint of travellers – Botolph is sometimes called ‘the English St Christopher’. A church has stood at this spot for over a thousand years, the present building dating from 1744. Author Daniel Defoe got married at this church. There are four St Botolph’s Churchs in London. One on each main exit out of London. St Botolph is the patron Saint of Travellers.
I will have a few pictures of the area in the next few weeks.
This Wednesday we both took the day off from work and went to Royal Ascot for the Second Day of Racing.
We met up with the others at the Plough and Anchor for breakfast at 9.30 and left in the coach at 10.30. We got a bit slowed down by traffic at Ascot but arrived in the car park at about 12.45. Out came the wine and luncheon. Jake had provided us with beef, smoked Salmon, chicken and ham. It was a veritable feast.
Then we were off to the racecourse, where we watched the first two races from the rail in the Grandstands. Bet on Ann Summers Two in the second race. It came in fourth.
Next two races we watched from the paddocks, hoping to get a glimpse of the Queen. She passed by us when our backs were turned. Here it was fascinating watching the owners, jockeys, and trainers in the Paddocks and Winners enclosure. All the men were wearing the top hats and grey morning dress (well except the jockeys).
Last two races we met up with the group again at the rail. Placed a bet on Mana d’Argent in the fifth race. No idea where that horse came in, and in the seventh placed a bet on Sky Galaxy. Third at the last furlong, and then it too faded. Not a great success.
We went straight back to the coach to finish the food. On the way back Rosemary asked one of the limo drivers for a look into his car. It was quite fabulous. He said there were 5000 stretched limos registered in the UK. There must have been a very high proportion of them here. He had come from Nottingham.
At the coach we set up for our evening meal. More of the lunch with Pimms, G&Ts wine beer. We were having great time.
The evening was spoilt by what I consider was some very heavy-handed Thames Valley police action. There was quite a few police in our car park, which contained only 30 coaches. They all seem friendly and some were actually from Aylesbury. We had spoken to them, and had pictures taken with them and their police horses. Near by was one coach which had set up a disco, we had moved over there to take part in some dancing. While we were there it seems a couple tripped over and fell to the ground. Instantly the police where there, including the horses breaking up the event. Some 20 police had appeared from nowhere.
So we took the hint that the party was at an end and departed. Back on the coach we soon left and made a stop on the way home for some additional drinks at a pub.
Left again at 10.45 and back at the P&A at 12.30. The long journey time home was because we got lost coming home. For some reason we seemed to be driving around Reading at one stage. I think some instructions to the coach driver by over enthusiastic navigators got us on the wrong road.
In the morning we set off to survey some of the ponds in the Grendon Underwood parish. This is part of council run biodiversity initiative. We planned to visit five ponds on a walk to the highest and furthest point of the parish, Finemere Hill. All the ponds, bar one were now overgrown and contained mature trees. It was obvious they had been ponds, but were no longer ponds. At Finemere Hill there was a very nice pond, about 20 meters in size. It had been used by cattle for water, as there was a slope down into the pond for that purpose.
Afterwards it was back home for a BBQ and wine in the Garden.