Waddesdon Manor Christmas Lights 2015. Bruce Munro’s installation of lights at Waddesdon Manor called SOS, This is his final year of three years at Waddesdon Manor. The lights on Waddesdon manor were by Woodroffe Bassett design. We visited with Ian and Julie. Lovely warm evening for December. You must watch the video to hear the sound track associated with the lights in the tent.
I have been meaning to see Mars, Venus and Jupiter for the last few days, but been thwarted by not waking up and the clouds. First saw them at 2.00am on Saturday morning, saw two bright objects in the sky, low to the horizon. I thought the other object must still be below the horizon. So went back to sleep, to wake at 4.45 am to find cloud.
After the Kingswood fireworks, I set the alarm for 4.45, prepared the camera and went to bed. Woke and it was misty, but the stars were still visible. This time I saw the two bright objects high in the sky? Where was the third. Puzzled, fired up google Night Sky and searched for Mars, Venus and Jupiter. Duh, of course Mars was not as bright as Venus and Jupiter. The red planet was easily spotted with binoculars. Here is a photograph of the planets, from left to right they are Mars (red), Venus (the brightest) and Jupiter.
Mars, Venus and Jupiter on 1st November 2015 a 5.42 EDT, Kingswood, Bucks, UK
Saturday we went to our local firework display at Kingswood organised by Ian and Julie and kindly hosted by George and Annie. Ian put on the display. Burgers and sausages cooked and serverd by Duncan, Keith, Karin and Charlotte. Good time as we get to meet and chat with others from the village we might not meet every day. Selina, Phil and Julian came over as well. Selina caught up with Julie and Smeg.
Lovely still evening, no wind and remarkably warm for the end of October. The bonfire included some of the stuff we had been collecting for years, including old doors and our “thermometer” which was placed on the crossways years ago when we were trying to get people to sign up for broadband.
Kingswood Bonfire
Months ago I ordered a ticket to see King Crimson at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. This was the start of their tour where they are playing their music from the 70s The first two dates were at Aylesbury, put on by the Friars Club. (There was an earlier private event at the Waterside the day before.) The reason for the first UK tour dates being hosted by Friars was Kings Crimson’s long association with them.
Well the day came, and I remembered the gig, still sitting at home, almost an hour after it had started. I was gutted. Luckily there were still a few good tickets available the next day, and more importantly I was given permission to go and see King Crimson. Arrived at Aylesbury in plenty of time, time to have a pint at the Farmers Bar in the Kings Head where there were some drinkers waiting to see King Crimson, and others who had been the day before.
Back to the theatre, King Crimson merchandise purchased and then into the theatre. What a sight – three drum sets at the front of the stage.
What an evening. The set of three drums was phenomenal, the way they interacted. The encore, brought tears to my eyes. All the music was familiar King Crimson. The encore of The Court of the Crimson King and 21st Century Schizoid Man sealed a great evening.
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
One More Red Nightmare
VROOOM
Suitable Grounds for the Blues
Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind)
Meltdown
Hell Hounds of Krim
Easy Money
The ConstruKction of Light
(Part One only, no vocals)
Level Five
Epitaph
Interlude
The Talking Drum
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two
Starless
Encore
Devil Dogs Of Tessellation Row
The Court of the Crimson King
21st Century Schizoid Man
My T shirt
King Crimson Tee Shirt, The Back
King Crimson Tee Shirt, The Front
This Sunday we had the second leg of the Welsh shoot at Kingswood Gun Club. The shoot was on Pete’s farm and had already been set up by Mark and Graham, all we had to do was load the traps, and erect the cages. Saint Brides Major arrived at around 11.00 in their coach, we all had a coffee while we were squadded. We then had an enjoyable clay shoot of 70 birds, some quite demanding birds, some that should have been easy, but for some reason I missed. Unfortunately the predicted rain came before the end of the shoot. It was very noticeable the Welsh were well prepared for the rain, while most of us from Buckinghamshire expected the rain not to arrive before the end. By the time I had picked up clays, and help clear up I was definitely a drowned rat.
Quick stop at home to change, and pick up the chauffeur and we were off for the shoot lunch at the Crown in Tyford. Sunday Roast, pudding, cheese and biscuits along with some beer.
Unfortunately it seems we did not do enough to beat Saint Brides Major, and Kingswood Gun Club had to hand over the cup for a year. There was not much in the scores, we were beaten by only a few shots. Next year we will have our revenge,
Early morning appointment at the eye hospital in Aylesbury, and then into town for a coffee at Cafe Nero while we waited for the Bucks County Museum to open. There was a small exhibition of Dr Who memorabilia on show, sourced from collectors throughout the county. Open until September 5th. The star is the Dalek, called Darren. Neal Davies, who works for Fremantle Media, a company that makes TV shows including Grand Designs and Escape to the Country, constructed him from plywood and fiberglass for a £20 bet. Apparently it moves, talks and lights up, all through remote control. There were some fab womens shoes decorated in Tardis Livery.
Of course there was a tardis, a K9 and Cybermen along with posters and signed memorabilia all the way back to William Hartnell in the days I watched the original series in black and white from behind my Gran’s sofa.
Valerie and Norman stayed with us over the weekend. We met up at the National Trust property, Hughenden Manor home of Benjamin Disraeli in High Wycombe for lunch and then a tour of the property. As well as being the home of Benjamin Disraeli, the house had been requisitioned during the second world war and was used to produce target maps for the night time bombers of Germany. We were taken for a a very informative tour and talk about the map making which occurred during WWII on Hughenden Manor. Like Bletchley Park, those who had worked here, kept quiet about their work, telling no one. This map making at Hughenden Manor only came to light in 2004, when an elderly visitor was heard to say that his desk had been in the corner by the window during the war. His conversation was overheard by a NT room monitor. It took another year before the visitor had been released from the official secrets act and could divulge what had happened on the site. The National Trust has now put together quite an impressive exhibition about the people who made the maps for the night time raids of Germany. The maps were hand drawn from reconnaissance photographs of the the target areas, printed, and then sent over to Bomber Command nearby at Naphill.
We had a lovely day at the Manor, even lazing on the deck chairs on the lawn in the late afternoon sun.
On Sunday we visited Gallows bridge BBOWT nature reserve. The birds took the hint and did a disappearing trick, except for some 20+ Geese.
My first visit to Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre. Selina had bought Rosemary, Phil & me tickets to see “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime”, a play about an autistic teenager. The staging of it was fantastic. A black box, with a grid pattern and lights at the grid intersections which indicated a houses, or furniture, or a tube station. Very, very clever. It took me a while to understand what the plot was, never having read the book (both girls had, of course). All I had heard was a mention of Sherlock Holmes, so I was wondering when Sherlock would arrive, or was this a great detective story? My problem had been a quick google of the title only without reading even a synopsis.
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime” is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title quotes the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 short story “Silver Blaze”.
Think I missed the word title in the above quote when I read it.
As a first time visitor to the Waterside Theater I was quite impressed.
Wonder what it will be like when it’s rearranged for the King Crimson concert I am going to on the 31st August (without Rosemary).
Rosemary and I, along with a few others, had a tour of the BBOWT wetlands nature reserve at Gallows Bridge. This is one wetland reserve of many they own on the Upper River Ray. Gallows Bridge has the Tetchwick Brook flowing through it which is a tributary of the Ray, joining the Ray at Three Way Meadows. Tetchwick Brook should be well known to readers of this blog, as the river (stream, ditch) over which we have a tug of war over.
The morning was misty, not ideal for photography. The warden explained the type of management the reserve received, and why. Interestingly we heard how some of the land had been ploughed years ago with a technique called ridge and furrow which causes long ridges to form in the fields which remain today and are now protected. Many of the nesting wetland birds are predated by animals, mink and fox being the main culprits. An effort is made before the breeding season to trap and kill the mink, and reduce the number of foxes in the area. The trap at this time of year contained a mud pad which was used to estimate the number of river mammals living in the area. Paw prints of Mink and Otter could be seen.
BBOWT had been creating a number of ponds and scrapes to keep water on the site over the summer season, providing feeding areas for Snipe, Lapwing and Curlew . Grass has to be managed in several ways allowing for short and long grass to suit different species of bird. The reserve is also a habitat for Short Eared Owls, Barn Owls, Hobby and Kingfishers. After the tour we stayed in the hides for a while in the hope of seeing the Kingfisher. Alas we didn’t, just saw a few LBJs.
Marillion Poster at Friars Club exhibition
I have returned from the Friars Club exhibition in the Aylesbury Museum. It has been on for several months and I have only just managed to get to it. The Friars Club was the host for many rock bands during the 70’s and early 80’s. Famous names like Free, David Bowie, Blondie, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer played Aylesbury in their early days of success. Friars club was still running when I first moved to the area back in 1982, alas the club stopped in 1984 before I had even heard of it. It has reformed, but is not running the weekly events it was renowned for.
Emerson Lake and Palmer poster at Friars Club
The exhibition consisted of the advertising posters, band booking contracts, ticket stubs, band pictures, news letters etc. There was a drum set from Pink Floyd on show, along with the bass guitar from Marillion. To me the Friars club did not exist, the exhibition though was still a throw back in memory lane, remembering all those bands who had played in my formative youth. When I saw a poster for Rare Bird, I immediately thought of the vinyl album back at home which I have not played for years. That will be going on the record deck shortly.
Pink Floyd drum set at Friars Club
I went around the the exhibition with a friend who was in her teens in the early 80’s, she had visited Friars club in its later days between 1982 and 1984. She said it had been the only good thing to have come out of Aylesbury. She recounted how her £6 pocket money for the week went on £4 for a ticket to Friars and the £2 on drink and chips.
Another pricing point, in the early 70’s a ticket cost 70p. Glastonbury first ticket in the 70’s was a pound, with free milk on tap. Now the price is £210. OK can’t compare the first Glastonbury festival with a Friars Club gig, and todays Glastonbury.