Month: April 2013

Mark Webber opens Aston Clinton Tennis Courts

Mark Webber at Aston Clinton Tennis Club
Mark Webber at Aston Clinton Tennis Club

I woke up this morning expecting great photography weather, but found grey skies and rain. My plans to go out and get some use out of the camera were not thwarted though. The Aston park Tennis Club were officially opening the upgraded facilities, made possible by the award from Sport England Inspired Facilities of an Olympics Legacy grant, as well as grants from Aston Clinton Parish Council and Aylesbury Vale Community Chest Fund. The upgraded facilities also include floodlighting to all three courts as well as the  provision of a new netball court which is proving very popular with up to 12 ‘Back to Netballers’ taking advantage of Netball England coach Geri every Monday evening from 6-7pm.

Why you ask would I want to take photo’s of a some local tennis courts, a sense of civic duty maybe? No the new facilities were officially be opened by Mark Webber the Red Bull Formula 1 racing driver.

I got down to the courts just in time for the official start at 11am, I made my way over to the club house with my camera gear, where I noticed that most people were out side the courts behind the fence. I realised that most likely my camera and telephoto lens had acted like a sort of “access all areas” pass I had walked straight past the officials ticking names of lists and got directly to where the action was. Luckily I noticed some good friends who are tennis club members and made out I was with them, and no one ever questioned my presence in the inner circle.

Mark Webber hist by tennis ball

The main event (Mark Webber’s presence) was not due until 11:30, the clouds looked ominous and it was just starting to rain. Some warm up acts had been arranged to fill the time, first we had a dance by five of the younger members of the tennis club which went down well, then there were a couple of speeches, by officials from the club and village. First by Barbara Wilkinson the chair of the Tennis club, who spoke about the importance of volunteers, then by the chairman of the parish council Richard Maskell.

By the time Mark Webber turned up it really was raining which was a real shame given the great weather we have had this week, with the hottest day of the year on Wednesday at 21 degrees centigrade. The compère passed the microphone to Mark Webber who spoke about how when he was young there was a tennis club similar to the Aston Park one that was kept running only thanks to the local community, following that a young club member pedalled his plastic tractor and trailer around the net to present to him life long membership of the club and a fancy bottle of wine, or grog as Mark Webber described it. With the rain still chucking it down he joined three club members on the court for a knock about.

They had planed for Mark Webber to have a knock about with the kids but instead, due to the rain, he signed some autographs, and spoke to the kids under a gazebo then made a swift exit.

You can see a slideshow of my pictures here http://www.flickr.com/photos/treecreeper/sets/72157633349501765/show/

The weather about Tern, but we could not find one!

College lake on a sunny day

It has been some time since I did a blog post, so here is one to cover the weekend. Friday was quiet I had noodles for tea while Helen was out for an early meal at the pub. We found the comedy series “2012” on Netflix so watched a couple of episodes, then retired to bed early to make the most of Saturday.

Saturday morning we were up early Helen, had a few things to do, so I busied my self in the garden. We now have a big flower pot with mixed herbs in it. I actually excavated our composter and spread some of it about on the veg patch I created a couple of years ago. I have onions and garlic growing which I planted before Christmas and they seem to be coming on well. The gap between the onion rows seemed wide enough to get another crop in between, so I put in three rows of different lettuce and a row a radish seeds. I have some seeds which have started to sprout, in a plastic tray divided into one inch square plugs, I need to wait before transferring them to the veg patch.

Dancersend Nature Reserve

I put some dough ingredients into the bread maker, before picking up Helen, the plan to have a walk around College Lake. The weather was gorgeous, the sun was shining and it was pretty warm. Having not been out bird watching for a while it was a real treat to see some of the spring birds. On the trees were the usual tits, but Helen spotted a Willow Warbler, and could then hear a Chiffchaff. In the scrape viewable from the octagon hide, we saw Snipe, Little Ringed Plover, and Redshank as well as the usual ducks, geese and swans. Next stop was to be Tesco for some Pizza ingredient, remember I put on the bread dough before i went to pick up Helen.

Suitably stocked up with pizza toppings we headed to Wilstone reservoir, I had heard reports of Arctic Terns passing through. We parked up and climbed the bank, but there was no sign of any of the bird we might expect. No Martins, Swallows, or Terns not even a common Tern, so we jumped back in the car and headed home, to find the dough had not risen very well probably something to do with the out of date yeast. As it turns out the dough did rise when in the oven but not as good as it could have been, but the pizzas were divine.

Spring and Autumn on one branch

Sunday started with a trip to church for Helen and a lazy start for me watching the London Marathon on the TV. Before Helen got back I decided I would have a go a making some bread by hand. I chose a wholemeal recipe and added some walnuts and seeds to the mix. I used some yeast that was almost out of date (there is a pattern emerging here) which needed mixing with sugar and warm water to make it work. I mixed everything in a bowl and then kneaded it for about 10 minutes before putting the dough in a bowl to rise. Helen got back and we decided so make the most of the weather by having a walk round Dancersend Nature reserve. We left the dough to rise.

The reserve was pretty quiet considering that this the the first real warm weather we have had fro some time. Spring was here for sure, leaves were emerging from the tree branches and wild flowers where staring to bloom. We spent about an hour and half strolling around the perimeter of the reserve, highlights included Chiffchaff (heard by Helen), Nuthatch, Buzzard and a couple of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers trying to attract the attentions of a female. We headed back to the house and I finished off the bread, knocking it back, kneading then covered it in seeds and left it to rise before scoring it and chucking it in the oven.

I then mowed the lawn and did some weeding in the flower beds, I have plans that this year I am going to make and effort with the veg patch and the rest of the garden, whether it lasts all summer remains to be seen!