Approach from the back gate
Here's the front door, with parking
The lounge, with Christmas tree
The Red Lion, next door!
We were in the Village Hall again for a 'games evening' on Dil's birthday. I forgot to take pictures, but at the peak there were 16 of us there, and a good time was had by all.
We spent Christmas in Laycock, conveniently near to the Williamson clan living in Corsham.
We
took No.2 High Street, a National Trust property original built in the
1400s, which made for an interesting maze of rooms inside.
Approach from the back gate | Here's the front door, with parking | The lounge, with Christmas tree | The Red Lion, next door! |
 View from our bedroom: to left ... |  ... and to right. And in the village ... |  Cashing in on Harry Potter |  Santa has had an accident! |
10th December 2025The Christmas tree is up and decorated, standing proud on the old wooden trunk in the conservatory as usual, currently amid the debris of other decorations yet to be dealt with!The usual fairy who had graced the top in previous years has lost her head (I know the feeling!), so I found an alternative lady until such time as we can repair the Boleyn version. |  |
7th December 2025The first Sunday of the month is always scheduled for a longish walk, starting at the Village Hall at 11am.This Sunday threatened rain and only three of us turned up for what was a slightly moist, but not unpleasant stroll across the footbridge by the Standford ford. Here's a 'selfie' that James took of us there: James, Fi and me. |  |
30th November 2025Busy weekend: On Saturday we ran the annual Christmas Fair in the Village Hall, followed by Deb's 50th "Quiet Knight Inn", also in the Hall. Then on Sunday, Sarah & Rick (plus Elsa the Labrador) came over to join us for lunch in the Crown. They were supposed to have come with Emma the previous day, but unfortunately Em's van broke down so she never made it here. |
 Jo at the Xmas Fair |
 Elsa using Jo
as a seat! |
 Elsa, Deb, Jo, Sarah,
Dil & Mel at the Crown |
17th November 2025Last month told you that Emma had made a 'Tree of Life' mosaic to go on our house.This month I got round to mounting it. Looks good. Let's hope it stays up! |
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 View of Bruges from near the coach drop-off point ... |
 ... from where you go over this foorbridge into town |
 You'll see this same view in the pics from our last visit in 2014 |
 Here we had lunch (inside) at the White Swan |
 Only horse-drawn traffic allowed, but what traffic! |
 The real horses have to share their food with the local pigeons |
 Will this be Dick's place? |
 What we really came to Bruges for!! |
Back from a week at Hardwick Hall ("more glass than wall"), with ten of us staying in a National Trust cottage in the grounds. Here are some photos.
 Our cottage was near the right-hand end of the row |
 Part of the group ready for a walk |
 Mel and Sarah
at the echoing ice-house |
 Dave doing air-guitar to a sculpture? |
 View of Hardwick Hall from the ponds |
 It was quite a steep walk back up |
 View of ther 'new' hall
from the old hall |
 You can see the M1 from the battlements |
 There was a Medlar in the grounds with its weird fruit |
 View of the rear of the new hall from the stem of the 'wine glass' |
 I'm easily amused – by the
thought of cattle on short leads |
 and by the lady with the decapitated head! |
24th October 2025I gave my talk on the history of Headley Village Hall last night, and we displayed the wallhanging made by Dil and other ladies in the village (see right) which we'll hang on the back wall of the hall in due course. |
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12th October 2025Back on the stage again this weekend, playing Sgt Wilson in "Mum's Army" (see near right, with Nick as Capt Mainwaring).Sarah & Emma travelled over to see the show, and Em gave me this mosaic plaque of an Earth Tree which she's made for my birthday (see far right). She's suggesting we mount it on the house wall, behind us in the picture. The question is, how? [See 17th November] |
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20th SeptemberBy
train from King's Cross to Newcastle for my cousin William's 80th
birthday celebrations,
held in The Mansion House which his grandfather used to own.
|
 From King's Cross ... |
 ... to Newcastle |
Had a stall at the Village Fete, then went to see 'Purple Zeppelin' at Cranleigh – our friend Nige is the singer. It was loud!
7th September 2025We've entered our scarecrow 'Matilda' in the village scarecrow competition.Here she is, and reflected in our window it looks like she's indoors as well! Then the rains came, and we had to shelter her for the rest of the week. |
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 View of Auderville from the ferry |
 View from the hotel window |
 Why the blue fish? |
 Liberation statue by Philip Jackson |
 We took 'le Petit Train' to St Aubin ... |
 ... where the tide was out |
 Dil on the beach by the hotel |
 The lighthouse at Corbière |
 We visited Gorey and its castle |
 Jo climbed the many steps ... |
 ... and got this view of the town |
 The 'perfect knight' |
 The family tree |
 A yellow phone box |
 NZ cider in Jersey! |
 but also Liberation Ale |
 The musical clock |
 One of many towers |
 A char-a banc for touring |
 Entrance to the War Tunnels |
 A 'urine circle' to test health! |
 Back on the boat for home |
We've enjoyed hosting Ruth and Claire, here from the Chicago area. In their just-over-a-week with us we've taken them on walks, to our Folk Club, to pubs, made local visits to Chawton and (with a white-knuckle ride on the top deck of a bus) to Winchester; then travelled to stay in Hastings visiting Sissinghurst, Dungeness, Rye and Hever Castle while there. And the weather was excellent. We've all had a wonderful time. Can't wait for them to come again.
12 July 2025We performed our Summer Variety Show this weekend. It went well, and among other things I was a Spice Girl.I'm Sporty Spice, the one on the right in a brown wig and pink shellsuit! We were miming to Wannabee. |
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We cancelled the Hindhead Dramatic Walk today. The weather forecast hadn't been too bad, but after we'd already set up the gazebo and laid out the costumes the heavens opened and the gazebo started to leak. Then the rain stopped and the sun came out, but those with gizmos on their phones saw more storms approaching, so we took the pragmatic decision to pack up and cancel the dramatics.
However seven prospective walkers had turned up, so I implemented Plan B and took them (along with James & Fi) for a walk myself, with just my chat instead of dramatic action. It started off beautifully sunny, and I began to wonder if we shouldn’t have cancelled – then halfway round the heavens opened, so I was happy we’d made the decision. The thunder roared at just about the point when we’d have murdered the sailor – quite appropriate. Anyway, the punters seemed to have enjoyed it, so job done – and I returned home for a complete change of clothing!
27 June 2025Today was the second anniversary of Friday Strollers – Fi made me another medal, and we did the same route as last year up to the Headley Down Nature Reserve and back.Here we all are, with James in foreground taking the 'selfie' of us. |
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 The French coach arriving |
 Cuttiing the ribbon on Corné Corner |
 Everyone (except me and Dil!) after dinner/dance |
 Santander harbour with the car ferry 'Salamanca' |
 Hotel Bahia across the road from the ferry terminal |
 Our bedroom in Hotel Bahia on the 9th floor |
 View from the bedroom window – rear of cathedral |
 Statues in the park in memory of the fire in 1941 |
 Just to prove we were in Santander |
 The 'Stone Crane' on the jetty now a home for pigeons! |
 The Botin Centre: arts above, coffee and arty souvenirs below |
 The merry-go-round in the park opposite the hotel |
 We did an open-top bus tour ... |
 ... which included a ride on a little road train |
 View through an arch to the Cathedral |
 Is this the post to Amarillo? |
 Obviously the HQ of the Santander Bank had to be the grandest building on the block! |
 And equally obviously we had to visit the local Zara |
 In a hilly town, there are escalators by the side of some streets ... |
 ... this one continued on for a second flight |
 Centenary Banner by Gerald Whittaker |
 The Stage with Foresters Banner |
 Gardeners Question Time in the Marquee |
 Me as René Artois in the evening |
I had a day of eye tests at the Royal Surrey Hospital today to see if I qualify for a European 'blind' (sic) trial between two different procudures for cataracts and glaucoma. It all depended on the pressures, and apparently I just squeezed in – so now I await the call for surgery.
We ran a Spring Fair in the village hall along the lines of
our annual Christmas Fair – and it was a success.
We had rather given up on Spring fairs some years ago when they were
poorly attended, but this time it was the week before Easter (which was
late this year) and we were lucky with the weather. Shall we do one
next year when Easter is earlier? Not sure.
We organised the first Folk Club in our local pub (the Arford Crown) and it went well. It was the place where we were first introduced to 'folk' in the village by Jane, the landlady there back in the 80s, and has associations with Fleetwood Mac from when they lived just up the road back in the early 70s. We now plan for it to be on the first Wednesday of each month. Come all ye!
To the eye clinic today for my annual check – they have offered to put me on a European randomised trial for combined glaucoma/cataract surgery. But first I must have more tests to check I'm a suitable subject. Watch this space!
Up to Mansfield Woodhouse in the Mini – our first long trip in
it – to visit Pam & Stu for a long weekend.
While there we went to see Mr Straw's House in Worksop and Bolsover
Castle, neither of which we'd visited before.
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Mr Straw's House front view |
Mr Straw's House back garden |
Bolsover Castle model … |
some of which has seen better days |
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… but inside the tower |
… things were a lot better! |
They also have a riding school |
But not for these horses |
4 March 2025Our wedding anniversary. Our good friends the Farnluchers had given us a voucher for a posh lunch in London, so we took the train up to Waterloo and wended our way by bus across to the Liverpool St area (new territory for us) and walked down Catherine Wheel Alley (so narrow you have to go single-file) to find the London Steakhouse. It was a lovely long, relaxed meal – and we beat the rush hour coming back on the train. |
You can keep your eye on the departures board |
13 February 2025Zak (see photo of band below) has just passed his driving test, and to celebrate he drove me to Southsea to visit the D-Day Museum which we'd both wanted to do in the past. An interesting place altogether, but the pièce de resistance is the Tank Landing Craft outside – not a replica, the real thing with real tanks on it. If it hadn't been such a cold day we'd have spent more time looking round it, but we soon sought sanctuary in the warmth of the indoor displays. |
A Sherman and a Churchill on a cold Landing Craft |
10 February 2025Our affair with a Citroen C3 Aircross was short-lived,
in fact it lasted just 5 months. Dil couldn't get on with it and it was
a bit of a disappointment after having had two C3s before and enjoyed
them. So it's back to Blighty with a Mini (OK, so I do know they're
really BMWs these days!) and an automatic at that. We're quickly
learning to control that left foot, always having gear shift before
this. |
Front … |
… and back. |
18 & 23 January 2025The year started as ever with the village pantomime – this year our Cinderella script getting another airing. I played bass in the band (as well as directing and prompting) and Dil was the Fairy Godmother (as well as being responsible for costuming and choreography). It went well (see pictues here) although on the second weekend Cinderella lost her voice completely and had a satnd-in reading her lines from the side of the stage! |
Me (with Jo Levy & Zak) |
Dil |
