Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)

It seems kind of appropriate on today of all days to mark the plaque on the Ely Tourist Board office - the one which reads "The home of Oliver Cromwell and his family. Cromwell rose to power during the English civil wars, to become 'Lord Protector of the Commonwealth' during England's brief period as a republic in the mid 17th Century. The Cromwell family lived in Ely for some 10 years from 1636 to 1646.

We spent the day at the coast far away from the TV and the radio. In fact besides the occasional viewing of red, white and blue as we zoomed through the Suffolk countryside it was a day like any other thankfully.

For the last week whenever the subject has appeared on the news -- and it HAS appeared on the news the remote control has been utilised.

Don't get me wrong as a couple I have no problem with the happy couple - its the hoohah surrounding it - the servile, forelock tugging dullards lining the route. And a hint here if you fight a war of independence to rid yourselves from the tyranny of inbreds please dont a couple of hundred years later turn up swooning about the romance of the day.

Anyhoo after a stop at Tescos I ended up driving to Southwold. The weather had cleared and we arrived in the middle of the day and after a 50p well spent in the amusement arcade on pinball we dined in the cafe before wandering up the pier - M indulged her love of beachhuttery and we had a go on the weird and wacky entertainment booths - http://www.underthepier.com/10_current_machines.htm - I did Test your nerve and M did The Doctor before we headed into town for a wander and a couple of purchases at Nutters Deli nom nom and a couple of oohs at a couple of cracking Kombis.

Note to self - dont drink Aspalls after bubblegum flabour ice cream. Hey ho.

WE are the dreamers, we are the dreamers of dreams - God bless you every one

Birth of a nation

Well my attempt to do an entry a week has fallen by the wayside what with one thing and another. Still no takers for my flat but on the other hand no real spark for any of the prospective places weve seen so far. Add to this two trips so far this year and the end to a tumultous footy season not no metion what can only be descibed as getting my fat lazy arse in gear means less typing time. Our long weekend was a success - caught up with the American portion of the family. Ed and Anna got in the day before we did and were off for a couple of days in Sweden on the day when we left. We got in in the middle of the day and after dumping our chattels at Rebecca's abode nestling in the shadow of the Petersen paper mill - all very Twin Peaks and along with Ed and Anna we crossed the Oslofjord to Horton. It was quickly noticed that there were a number of rather nice blue and white plaques affixed to prominent buildings in town. The closest to Rebeccas place happened to be the most significant. Marking the site of the Convention of Moss. The treaty gave birth to the modern Norwegian state marking the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian nation in 1814 once Denmark put its hat into the ring in the Napoleonic wars (only after it should be said Britain attacked Copenhagen not once but twice). As a provision of the peace of Kiel Norway was ceded to Sweden which had sided with Britain as part of the sixth Coalition. Norway had other ideas and declared independence and fought a short and less than successful war with Sweden a war that ended with the signing of the Convention of Moss by King Christian Frederik for the Norwegians. It was incidentally the last war fought by Sweden. The peace was an interesting one granting Norway its own constitution and its own institutions barring the foreign service and policy.

Gustav Holst (x2)

I think we'll take a raincheck on the rash of new blue plaques from Norway - must have been quite funny to see the double take wandering the slush edged streets of Moss and spotting a handful of plaques while visiting cousin Rebecca whosw teaching in Norway and instead deal with the single rather out-of-place plaque in Thaxsted spotted on our cross-country jaunt in the ewarly hours of last night once wed landed and found the M11 northbound blocked off after an accident. Its a lovely village Thaxted. Weirdly M knows the vicars son (also a vicar) who was stationed in March at M's church. Thaxted is a lovely, rather twee, village all half-timbered houses and cobbled lanes and gives the impression of being lavender scented. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and was a centre of cutlery production. Holst was a long time resident and Diana Wynne Jones the childrens author who wrote Howl's Moving Castle was riased there. Her name is one on my mind as she died only a week or so ago. I guess that Holst is best known for his Planets Suite and the setting for I vow to thee my country is named after the village. His other blue plaque is just down the riverside from Dame Ninette de Valois in Barnes. Reading his wikiography made me smile a socialist, vegetarian, asthmatic rambler... He was born on Swedish stock in 1874 in Cheltenham and was raised in a musical family - his grandfather was a composer and a music teacher, his father an organist and choirmaster, his mother a singer. He was a gifted pianist but was a sufferer of a nervous disorder which affected his right hand so switched instruments to the trombone. He played for both the Carl Rosa Opera Company and the White Viennese Band which by all accounts he less than enjoyed. He became interested in Hinduism and several of his early works set Sanskrit texts to music. He enrolled in Sanskrit classes at UCL. He was teaching music at this point in West London - Janes Allens Girls School and St Pauls Girls School. He wrote and travelled associating with local musicians and the avant garde of the early 20th century picking up influences here and there a great example being astrology which he described as his secret vice which he learnt about travelling in Spain and which of course shaped his most famous work - the Planets Suite