Martin a Beckett Boyd (1893-1972)

Spotted in Little Eversden on the Oxfam walk on Sunday which came as a bit of a surprise Little Eversden being well the name rather gives it away doesnt it? Not a thriving metropolis exactly. Still it was home to a rather nice village hall eqipped with both cake and tea both rather needed after somewhere around 17 and a half miles of trudging. I indulgd in ginger and rhubarb and ginger and very nice they were too. Kept me going until I got back to Wimpole Hall a rather nice 17th century house now in the hands of the National Trust. It was the second return to the house grounds Oxfam deciding that their three walks would all begin and end at the house. At that point M passed me on the way into the houses grounds and I managed to talk her into accompany me on the last leg of the days meanderings - a 4 mile walk around the estate. We had to do it at a fair pace as Oxfam would be closing up the finish marquee at 5.30. We eventually got in at 5.20. Whew! I'd managed to miss the first bus from Drummer Street as the Oxfam sign was happily posted at the wrong bus stop. Not the only bit of misorganization as a marshal went AWOL on the 4 mile walk which meant that we just kept going following the signs rather than turning right climbing the hill which wasnt really needed at that stage of the day.
Anyhoo its done and apart from a fairly messed up right foot - due to the lack of rain the ground is rock hard - even on the stages of the walk in the extensive woodlands theres no give at all. With ruts and whatnot its rather lkike walking on corrugated iron. Still a couple of hundred pounds for Oxfam so HUZZAh all over that.
Anyhoo Mr Boyds name was inscribed on the gable end of a venerable thatched cottage in Little Eversden - a life by all accounts blighted by the first world war....far from the only one of course

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

Alberto Granado (1922-2011)

The final scene of The Motorcycle Diaries focuses on an old guy - an old guy who 50 years before had shared an extraordinary journey - a journey with his pal "Che" in Argentinian argot.
Both men took much from their formative experience - Ernesto deciding that the best way to alleviate suffering was to take up arms against it. Alberto decided to follow a career in medicine.
His father was a militant trade unionist and he first met Ernesto Guevara in police cells after he (Alberto) had taken part in a high school revolt. He was jailed in 1943 for a year after protesting against the Peron junta and after earned an MSc in biochemistry and a place at the Instituto Malbran before embarking on his trek on his Norton 500c - La Poderosa II. Granados tour ended in Caracas where he worked at the Cabo Blanca leprosarium in Maiquetia before taking a scholarship to the Istituto Superiore di Sanita in Rome.He married on his return to Argentina.
In 1960 he first visited Cuba on Guevaras invitation. He moved to Cuba the year afterwards and became trhe Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Havana. He founded the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Santiago in 1962 and worked there as senior professor from 1970-74. Between 1975 and 1986 he obtained his doctorate in biological sciences. He later became president of the Cuban Genetics Society and worked in the development of Holstein Tropical cattle breeds. He devoted the rest of his career to validating the methodologyof his previous research.
Che - adorner of t-shirts. Alberto - a lifetime devoted to the welfare of the common man.

The Red Shoes

Having a break this afternnon and lazing in front of the TV. I missed the beginning hour of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - strong candidate for my most favourite film of all time and am nw settling in to watch The Red Shoes. Its been a while...

Ballet films arent perhaps the most well populated genre around - I can think of two the sublime The Red Shoes and Black Swan - which i have yet to say. I have to say that it never really appealed. Its got a lot to live up to following the technicolour gorgeousness that is The Red Shoes and its world gone by - Watching Covent garden when it was still a market...


Anyhoo another London trip courtesy of work and we decided to take a trek out to Barnes and then stroll back along the Thames to Fulham via Putney.


Its anothe month til the boat race and we did see the Cambridge Womens crew out on the water.


Little Em is taking ballet lessons although not possessed of a dancers physique and I cant say that its an artform that I have any huge interest in so this was an educational one for me.


Dame Ninette de Valois was born Edris Stannus in Co Wicklow Ireland daughter of a British officer and a glassmaker. She began taking ballet lessons when she was 10 and began her professional training when she was 13, she made her professional debut in pantomine.


At 21 she was appointed principal dancer of the Beecham Opera. She continued to study under eminent teachers and at 25 joined the Ballet Russes, the renowned company created by Diaghilev, she stayed for 3 years and was promoted to Soloist and created roles in some of the companys best known ballets - Les Biches and Le Train Bleu. She was also mentor to Markova.



She left the Ballet Russes in 1927 and founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dancing school for girls who would gain experience in the Old Vic with de Valois choreographing several short ballets for the theatre attempting to create a particularly English form of dance . Lilian Baylis, the owner of the Old Vic and later of the Sadlers Wells theatre employed her to stage full scale ballets and in 1931 de Valois moved her school to the Sadlers Wells and renamed it the Sadlers Wells Ballet School. the school and the ballet company associated with the theatre would later become the basis of the Royal Ballet, The Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.



On its foundation the Vic Wells had only a half dozen female dancers with de Valois as both lead dancer and choreographer. Once Alicia Markova joined the company she retired from the stage to concentrate her energies on her choreography including severalof her own works Job (1931), The Rakes Progress (1935) and Checkmate (1937). The company also became on of the first western companies to dance the repertoire of the Imperial Russian Ballet. the reputation of the Vic-Wells Ballet was spreading and attracted some of the greats talents of the Ballet world - Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer (as seen in The Red Shoes) and Beryl Grey.



She formed the Turkish National Ballet in Ankara in 1947 and also spent tiem ensuring that her company was richly supplied with talent. She officially retired from ballet in 1963 although her fearsome presence loomed over the English world of Ballet for decades after.



She died at the age of 102 in 2001.