Very cold this morning but Helen managed to drag me outside by 10am, for what turned out to be a brisk, short sharp walk round Dancersend. We parked up where Dancersend lane flattens out next to some houses and marked past the manor then licked up the footpath that heads across the corn field towards to the hills on the horizon.
It was absolutely freezing and even after 20 minutes walking in thermals we were still cold. Once we hit the hills we turned right towards the old victorian pump house that feed the hidden reservoir. Along the foot path we saw those ice extrusions I have mentioned in the past. I think they might be caused by the really wet ground pushing the water up by capilliary action with then freezes when it hits the cold. Some we saw were several centimetres long, Helen called them Ice Mushrooms and I think that is a good name for them.
At the pump house we crossed the road to enter Dancersend nature reserve, we came across a couple each with a child in rucksack on their back, and a very boisterous large puppy, looked a bit like and Irish Wolfhound it was bounding around all over the place. We headed clockwise round the reserve up the hill and then through the woods to the bottom of the reserve. There was a lot a shooting going on around the valley it it a really shame as the blasts really spoil the tranquillity of the place.
Victorian pump house
We headed out of the reserve and joined the road at the pond on the bend below the manor. So we were soon up the road and back to the car it had been a short walk but we were glad that we made the effort. Not much bird life other than Tits, Goldfinch and a couple of Jays. We decided we would have a go at a recipe I found on the internet for Cannellini Beans in tomato sauce, that meant a trip to Tesco for some beans and a visit to the cinema to watch Black Swan with Natalie Portman.
I have since found out the ice extrusions are probably ice needles as per the Wikipedia article
Helen put this on our Love film list. It gets good reviews but I was a bit sceptical. Peter Jackson is involved with the film, and he comes with a reputation for doing great films, Lord of the Rings, and the most recent King Kong. None of the actors in it were known to me so, in fact the main actor had never acted before, I was not sure how it would be. It came about when a film based on Halo (video game) fell through and Peter Jackson offered Neill Blomkamp 30 million to do what ever he wanted.
The story involves aliens that have come to earth and are stuck here, their mother ship is parked over Johannesburg, and the aliens are kept in a camp that looks like the shanty town of the apartheid era. It is told in the style of a documentary, interviews of people, interspersed with the actual story. The MNU (an arms company) is contracted to move the aliens from district 9 to a new camp outside the city, and the main character is the man on the ground in charge of the operation.
During the operation he gets splashed with an alien liquid and then things take a turn for the worse and the whole thing goes crazy. It is a fantastic film with lots of very well done CGI, and I would recommend watching it, which I give a very rare 5 stars to.
“On the evening of Saturday, 6th December 1884, the Anthony Hall, built by the Dowager Lady de Rothschild, was formally opened by her daughter, Mrs Cyril Flower, in the presence of a very large audience composed of friends and parishioners. Mr Cyril Flower, M.P., was in the chair and there were also present the Dowager Lady de Rothschild, Baron Frederick de Rothschild and the Hon. Mrs Eliot Yorke. After an excellent opening address from the Chairman, the Aston Clinton Temperance Choir, under Miss Molique’s conductorship, rendered a part of Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise” most creditably, after which Mrs Cyril Flower formally declared the Hall open.”
Thus was the opening described in the Parish magazine in January 1885 by the Rector. Lady de Rothschild had had the Hall built in memory of her late husband Sir Anthony. Her daughters, Mrs Cyril Flower and the Hon. Mrs Eliot Yorke (later to become Lady Battersea) were there with Lord Rothschild.
Although the Hall had been given to the village it was run by the Rothschilds as part of their Aston Clinton Estate up to 1932 when the Rectors of both Aston Clinton and Buckland were appointed Trustees to serve with Mr Anthony Gustav de Rothschild and Mr Redhead, a partner in the Aylesbury firm of Horwood & James, Solicitors who acted for the Rothschild Estates in the area. Mr Lowe (the boys’ school headmaster) Mr Burnham (the village baker) and Mr Sharp from the Post Office) were all appointed Foundation Members of the committee.
The minute book dating from that time, it can be seen that the Secretary was paid a handsome honorarium of eight guineas per annum. The Treasurer was only paid two guineas!
Although the hall was endowed by the Rothschilds, to help keep the charges for hiring it to a minimum the value of the income soon diminished and it is clear from the minute book that balancing the payment of the overheads with a policy of keeping hiring costs down for the benefit of the village was a constant struggle.
In the late 1930’s and into the years of the Second World War there were arguments in the Committee as to how much the Caretaker (Mr Baker) should be paid. In November 1939 it was decided to pay him 12/6 per week (62½p). He was not happy and it was quickly increased to £1 in February 1940 by which time the school was using the hall all day. The increase in fuel consumption (coal) was such that Mr Baker demanded more for shifting the coal from the farmer’s premises nearby. More arguments developed as to how much was reasonable and half a crown (12½p) was agreed. However, it would appear that he was still not happy as he abruptly resigned in May 1942 and Mr Gomm took on the job at £1 per week and an annual bonus of £20.
It was only in 1941 that the Hall was connected to the main sewers at a cost of £135- 8s- 6d!
In 1954, a bold and decisive step was taken when the Trustees bought the adjoining land (now the Car Park) from Mrs Rae-Smith. Mr. Anthony de Rothschild generously donated £250 towards the cost.
Electric strip lights and electric heating were installed in the 1950’s. Although the hall was used more and more in the 1960’s, it remained in a rather care worn and slightly run down condition. Money was tight but the Trustees managed to replace the kitchen and build new toilets. But increased use brought in more money and a large grant from the Parish Council (following the sale of the old recreation ground to the County Council for the site of the new school) meant that the leaking roof could be completely replaced and a much needed face lift to the outside and the decoration of the inside of the hall was undertaken in the 1970’s.
Over the last 40 years great changes in the appointment of Trustees and the structure of the Management Committee have meant that all the Trustees have had a genuine interest in the welfare of the Hall and are prepared to pitch in and help when things need doing. The Management Committee has likewise only been made up of village residents, who believe that the Hall has been and should remain the centre of the village’s social life. The Secretary’s Bookings diary has never been as full. A phased programme of refurbishment is continuing and the Committee is looking forward to a bright future.
Despite having a bad throat and a bit of a cold, I decided I would go to the Outdoor Show at Excel in London. The show coincides with the Bike show and the London Boat show, and the entrance fee to one gets you into all three.
I set off at about 09:00 and headed round the M25 then followed the signs to City Airport I think it took me in on the A13. Things got a bit hairy when I got closer to my destination as I was running out of diesel, the car said I had 30miles in the tank and the sat nav said 20miles to go. I decided I would stop at the first petrol station, trouble is we did not seem to pass one. To cut a long story short I had 12 miles left in the tank when I stopped at an out of town shopping park. Probably around Newham somewhere, but it is not my neck of the woods so I can;t tell you for sure.
I arrived at Excel just after 10 and the queues for the parking tickets were long, but I found a space under the halls then walked back to the area where most cars were parked, and everyone had already got their tickets, and found a machine with no queue, then paid £15 for 5 hours parking, maybe it would have been cheaper by train?
I found the exit to the halls and joined a short queue of 1 to but my ticket, £18! The person on the desk asked me which show I was going to see, I said I thought you got access to all shows for the price of one. He told me that was right but that 3 companies were selling the tickets and I had to choose one, I chose the Bike Show. Excel is a well designed exhibition atrium, running up the middle of two halls. It has a food establishments of each side and seating areas in the middle, a bit like the a long piazza.
Millenium Mills
About three quarters of the halls were open and the boat show took up a whole half of the total area then the Outdoor show and Bike show took up the other half. The Bike and outdoor show merged into one about halfway across the single hall they occupied.
I started in the bike show because it was the closet to where I had entered, there were, well, lots of stalls selling bikes or bike products. I headed over to an area where they were doing stunt bike demo’s and watched some great jumps and trailing by to guys. It always amazes me what you can do with a simple bicycle. Show over I looked round some more of the bikes and found some more lights for Helen’s bike, they are perspex rods that light up red and flash and fit to down stays on the back of the bike. The guy selling them gets them from the states but had run out, he gave me his card and I will have to phone later in the week to place an order.
Ben Fogle
The outdoor show was mainly a mix of walking holidays and clothes manufacturers/shops displaying their wares. In a little area between the two there was a set of stalls selling totally unrelated stuff, like the sharpest kitchen knives in the world, the best sandwich toaster, the best set of diamond tipped drills, all complete with the salesmen with the gift of the gab. I saw no less that three stalls selling the She Wee!.
There was also a lot of climbing related stalls, selling the usual equipment. I hung around for a while and watched the men and women’s UK bouldering competition that was going on. It is very clever stuff they do, all about balance and poise rather than brute strength, for the women especially.
I had a chat on a stall that had some leaflets of walks in London, and was promoting an NHS Site called Walk4Life.info which allows you to find walks in your area and also allows you to create walks. I will give it a try, as it would be really great to be able to create one of my walks and link to it from the blog.
I then moved over to the boat show side which is about twice the size, there are some interesting stalls with demonstrations about splicing ropes, simulations of GPS linked radar navigation, sails, boats, holidays etc. I took a good look around. One of the two halls was devoted to boats, some of them very big. The usual manufacturers were there Sunseeker, Princess, Fairline and Beneteau showing off their big power boats, and luxury yachts. You if you could be bothered you could queue up to go on board, and have a look inside, as long as you took your shoes off first. I took a look in one of the large sailing boats it had a living area, a double bedroom at the back with en suite, and two smaller bedrooms at the front, very nice but my salary would not stretch to the £900,000 needed.
More boats
Outside the halls there is a marina which contained some second hand boats for sale and three of the very largest new boats which I guess they could not get into the main halls.
During my travels I spotted two celerities, first was Dominic Littlewood who was there is a woman, and was a VIP guest on the Sunseeker stand. Then I saw Ben Fogle who was on the stand selling the boots with his name on them by CÀRN.
By 15:00 I had had enough so headed back. I headed west towards central London and ended up driving through the newly built olympic stadiums which look very impressive. I eventually got back at 16:30 tired but glad I had made the effort and got out.
First trip to Belfast for 2011 today, so an earky start for me, far too early. Straight forward drive to the airport but loads of standing water and fairly heavy rain. The terminal was fairly empty but the queue for security was long, so I paid the £3 to jump the queue.
I realised I had forgotten to bring a pen with me to do the Sudoku puzzle, which the Independents advanced one is my challenge for the 1hr flight. W H Smiths wanted £3 for their cheapest pen which I declined, I did a scout round and found a “Great Britain” pen in the tourist shop for £1.49 so I settled for that one.
The flight was on time but we were bussed to the plane so the speedy board was looking at risk. Easyjet have a cunning strategy for the situation they get only the back doors of the bus opened and ask us to board the bus and move to the front, then at the aircraft they open the front doors first, simple.
Film made on a budget, about a future time when the US/Mexican border is a no go zone due to extra terrestrials, which have invaded earth after NASA tinkered with their planet which is in our solar system. There are only two main actors in the film and it was often improvised.
The story is basically the boy a reporter trying to get a scoop, is charged with getting the daughter of the owner of the newspaper he works for back to the US from Mexico passing through the “Infected Zone”. There is lots of CGI in the film but it is done really subtly it add to rather than being in your face.
This is a Japanese film set mainly in a fairly rural region, Daigo a cellist loses his job when his orchestra is disbanded, so with his wife he returns to his home town to live in the house that his mother left him. He gets a job with a guy who prepares bodies to be placed in coffins. The preparation is a traditional Japanese ceremony, the job is seen by many as one that might bring shame on someone. During the course of the film Daigo speaks of his father who he has never forgiven for leaving him and his mother to fend for them selves. Slowly the main characters start to appreciate the work that he does and the valuable role he plays in the grieving process.
The film is well filmed in the almost always grey weather. It is nice to see the real Japan rather than the Tokyo that we always see in other films. I got the sense that there was definitely some Japanese humour in it that I may have missed, I suspect that it also touched on a subject that is perhaps Taboo in Japan. It deserves four stars for being different, interesting and for giving me an insight into Japanese life.
Those of you who follow the blog will know that it very rare that a film would get 5 stars, well I think this one just about deserves 5. The film is based on the true story about the relationship between King George VI, and his speech therapist. The film covers the period before and up to the abdication of Edward.
The cast of the film goes some way to explaining why it is so good, Colin Firth, Colin Rush, Helena Bonham Carter star but also Timothy Spall, Guy Pearce, and Aidrian Scarborough. Match that with the fantastic sets and great shots of the people of the time, and you have a film worthy of 5 stars.
