For the last few years it has been a ritual of ours to put on Christmas music as we decorate the tree and house and the XFM charity album It's a Cool Cool Christmas is the one that gets the most airplay at our place. It is an alternative album with a mixture of traditional and original tracks all versions of which I doubt you would have heard before, and certainly won't hear playing in the shops continuously.
Highlights for me are Grandaddy singing 'Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland', Eels 'Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas' with the immotal line 'Baby Jesus... ...born to Rock!'. Belle & Sebastian's version of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' is sublime, The Flaming Lips pretenting to be Tom Waits in 'White Christmas' is great fun.
All in all it is a very uplifting and enjoyable album... ...probably the best Christmas Album ever - tell me what you think is the best?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Christmas Sing-A-Long…
We went up to my uncle’s place where he and a few neighbours have an annual carolling evening. Many musically minded members of the Aldbury Morris turn up and join the classically trained cellist and violinist from next door and we all provide lusty voices to traditional Christmas carols with throats lubricated with liquid beverages before enjoying a pot-luck meal and catching up with everyone.
It is a most enjoyable affair and imbues us with plenty of Christmas spirit, setting us up nicely for the coming festivities.
More of wot I have read…
Breathless by Dean Koontz
A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring all the forces of a government in peril to her door.
At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness… In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable… On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder… Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past begins a trek toward his destiny…’
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
More of wot I have seen…
James Bell of The Reverenzas was at the Dorking Folk Club, on his own as his band mates could not make it due to illness. It was an opportunity for him to throw himself fully into his music, and boy he did that with abandon. He is a high energy performer with a rare talent and a charismatic personality. His rendition of Wuthering Heights was a blast.
More of wot I have read…
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
This is a strangely disturbing book where the symbolism of the twins looms large making you question identity, family bonds, individuality, love, desire, compulsion and life and death. I found it a quite captivating, if periodically uncomfortable, read that makes you question elements of human passion.
‘Dearest E,
I told you I would let you know – so here it is – goodbye. I try to imagine what it would feel like if it was you – but it’s impossible to conjure the world without you, even though we’ve been apart so long. I didn’t leave you anything. You got to live my life. That’s enough. Instead I’m experimenting – I’ve left the whole lot to the twins. I hope they’ll enjoy it. Don’t worry, it will be okay. Say goodbye to Jack for me. Love, despite everything, E.
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal, at least, for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… …but have no idea that they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins’ mother – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat…’
This is a strangely disturbing book where the symbolism of the twins looms large making you question identity, family bonds, individuality, love, desire, compulsion and life and death. I found it a quite captivating, if periodically uncomfortable, read that makes you question elements of human passion.
‘Dearest E,
I told you I would let you know – so here it is – goodbye. I try to imagine what it would feel like if it was you – but it’s impossible to conjure the world without you, even though we’ve been apart so long. I didn’t leave you anything. You got to live my life. That’s enough. Instead I’m experimenting – I’ve left the whole lot to the twins. I hope they’ll enjoy it. Don’t worry, it will be okay. Say goodbye to Jack for me. Love, despite everything, E.
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal, at least, for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… …but have no idea that they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins’ mother – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat…’
A Cotswold Treat…
Good friends of ours treated us to a holiday in the picturesque Cotswold village of Broadway in the grand Lygon Arms hotel that has a long and interesting history. At this time of year the town is gearing up for Christmas and has a nice picture postcard atmosphere about it as we strolled about the street enjoying the festive sights and sounds.
Needless to say we also enjoyed our time together over a series of mouth-watering meals washed down by liberal liquid refreshments.
We had an outing to Stratford-upon-Avon and walked around the streets busy with tourists eager to absorb some of the Shakespearean culture.
On our way home we stopped off at the imposing and stately Blenheim Palace to see how the other half live in ostentatious gilt and silken grandeur.
Needless to say we also enjoyed our time together over a series of mouth-watering meals washed down by liberal liquid refreshments.
We had an outing to Stratford-upon-Avon and walked around the streets busy with tourists eager to absorb some of the Shakespearean culture.
On our way home we stopped off at the imposing and stately Blenheim Palace to see how the other half live in ostentatious gilt and silken grandeur.
More of wot I have heard…
Get on with it Live by Chumbawamba
A live album recorded during their 2006 UK tour with many songs that they performed during the concert we saw in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Joy to the World by Pink Martini
A seasonal holiday inspired album with artist and songs from around the world in different languages with interpretations on this period of the year that are grounded in different cultures and backgrounds. It is a musically interesting and exciting album of many parts.
Laura Marling free CD from the Observer
A nice freebie collection of tracks from this accomplished folk artist.
A live album recorded during their 2006 UK tour with many songs that they performed during the concert we saw in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Joy to the World by Pink Martini
A seasonal holiday inspired album with artist and songs from around the world in different languages with interpretations on this period of the year that are grounded in different cultures and backgrounds. It is a musically interesting and exciting album of many parts.
Laura Marling free CD from the Observer
A nice freebie collection of tracks from this accomplished folk artist.
More of wot I have seen…
We went to see Chumbawamba perform at the intimate Ropertackle Arts Centre in Shoreham-by-Sea.
We had dinner before at the charming Chambers Bistro before going along to the small venue where we mingled with an eclectic mix of people who had come to watch this talented and amusingly entertaining band perform their songs that have strong political messages and pointed lyrics. The band is part of a folk collective called No Masters.
We had dinner before at the charming Chambers Bistro before going along to the small venue where we mingled with an eclectic mix of people who had come to watch this talented and amusingly entertaining band perform their songs that have strong political messages and pointed lyrics. The band is part of a folk collective called No Masters.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
More of wot I have seen…
This last weekend we saw Adrian Edmondson & the Bad Shepherds at the Union Chapel supported by Samantha Crain and Wreckless Eric.
The Bad Shepherds thing is to take punk songs, and songs of that period, and set them to folk music (Nouvelles Vagues do a similar thing but set to café/lounge music). The fiddler and pipe player were absolutely awesome talents and Adrian is no slouch on the mandolin either.
The first warm up act was a young woman from Oklahoma, Sam Crain, who played guitar and sang lovely songs. Wreckless Eric, though, was not our cup of tea – a little too punk and rough and ready.
The venue was fabulous, a great looking church in a square layout with an amazing ceiling. The only agrivation was that it was out in Islington/Highbury which meant that we had to drive through the West End to get home and even at that time of night it was heaving adding time and stress to the journey.
The Bad Shepherds thing is to take punk songs, and songs of that period, and set them to folk music (Nouvelles Vagues do a similar thing but set to café/lounge music). The fiddler and pipe player were absolutely awesome talents and Adrian is no slouch on the mandolin either.
The first warm up act was a young woman from Oklahoma, Sam Crain, who played guitar and sang lovely songs. Wreckless Eric, though, was not our cup of tea – a little too punk and rough and ready.
The venue was fabulous, a great looking church in a square layout with an amazing ceiling. The only agrivation was that it was out in Islington/Highbury which meant that we had to drive through the West End to get home and even at that time of night it was heaving adding time and stress to the journey.
Do you remember when…?
We went to the occasional reunion of a company Sue and I first met. GP Elliott was a small engineering company that was later swallowed up by a bigger one and moved from South Wimbledon to Essex. It had one of the best working atmospheres of any I have worked at with a superb social scene that resulted in many couples getting together and people staying friends all this time, even after 15 years since it moved on.
It was at a pub that was the old local, and seems not to have changed in the intervening time. Much of the night was spent reminiscing and trying to recall names of past employees and listening to rumours and stories of where they all are now.
It was at a pub that was the old local, and seems not to have changed in the intervening time. Much of the night was spent reminiscing and trying to recall names of past employees and listening to rumours and stories of where they all are now.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
More of wot I have read…
Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly
I have read a couple of other books by this author with a detective called Harry Bosch in them. This has a different protagonist but is a similar gritty style to it. What is surprising is that in the short time since it was released (2002) just how old fashioned it seems now as technology moves ever onward.
‘Henry Pierce has just moved in to a new apartment but the first time he checks his phone messages he discovers that someone had the number before him. The messages are for a woman named Lilly – and she is in some kind of serious trouble.
Pierce is inexorably drawn into Lilly’s world, a night-time world of escort services, websites, sex and secret identities. Every step Pierce takes leads him to abandon his own orderly life in a frantic race to save the life of a woman he has never met, as he is faced with a decision that could cost him everything.’
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
More of wot I have seen…
We went out on a ‘school night’, and a Monday at that, to see Imelda May at the Brighton Dome. We got there in time to see her support act, Big Boy Bloater, as we settled in for a foot stomping, rip-roaring good night out.
The warm-up group did just that with a selection of traditional and self-penned songs in an energetic rock-n-roll, soul, and blues style interspersed with comic touches and real charisma.
Imelda May continued the raucous theme with her own unique voice that swayed between honey rich to bourbon and fags raw as if it came straight from the Southern States that her lilting Irish speaking voice barely hinted at.
The rock-n-roll spirited music was enjoyed by the diverse audience of mixed ages and styles, some obviously totally swept up in the genre that they came dressed for a lindy hop, while others looked like beatniks, Brighton locals, and ‘regular’ folks like us.
More of wot I have read…
By The Light of The Moon by Dean Koontz
I realised as I was reading this that I had already read it before, but I couldn’t quite recall the details. So I continued. I quite like this author’s writing style and the concept of this story was intriguing and entertaining. I was not disappointed to give it another go.
‘When Dylan O’Conner, together with his autistic brother, Shepherd, Pulls into a motel off the interstate highway, all he wants is a good night’s sleep. Yet within the hour he finds himself bound, gagged and being injected with a mysterious fluid by a lunatic doctor, who claims Dylan will be the carrier of ‘his life’s work’.
Comedian Jillian Jackson is midway through a tour, accompanied by her pet pot plant Fred. But her plans for stardom are dramatically altered when she too falls victim to the eccentric scientist.
The doctor warns his victims that he is being pursued and that they too are now targets. If they are caught, they will be killed. Both are sceptical. Before long, they are beginning to wonder if the lunatic doctor wasn’t quite so mad after all.’
Thursday, November 10, 2011
London Necropolis…
I went to a talk at the Westcott Local History Group which was about BrookwoodCemetery set up by the London Necropolis Company as a result of the chronic overcrowding of London cemeteries. At the time Brookwood was the largest cemetery in the world and even now is the largest in Western Europe. It caters for conformist and non-conformist burials and has special sections set aside for different religious groups, countries, organizations and a dedicated military site. There a several famous people buried at the cemetery including the relics of King Edward the Martyr, and the body of Horatia Nelson Johnson, granddaughter of Nelson via Emma Hamilton.
It was quite a fascinating talk about an intriguing and surprisingly little know place.
More of wot I have seen…
We saw Scottish folk musician Ian Bruce at the folk club and he put on an entertaining show.
More of wot I have read…
Underthe Eagle by Simon Scarrow
I enjoyed this book, though sometimes the character’s voices sounded a little to modern.
‘It is 42 AD, and Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived in Germany as a new recruit to the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army. If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn’t difficult enough for the bookish young man, he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when, because of his imperial connections, he is appointed a rank above them.
As second-in-command to Macro, the fearless, battle-scarred centurion who leads them, Cato will have more to prove than most in the adventures that lie ahead. Then the men discover that the army’s next campaign will take them to a land of unparalleled barbarity - Britain.
After the long march west, Cato and Macro undertake a special mission that will thrust them headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself...’
Thursday, November 03, 2011
More of wot I have read…
The Taker by Alma Katsu
Subtitled - An Immortal Love Story – this is a strange book that I am not sure knows what it wants to be, a love story or a horror story, perhaps it is trying to capitalise on the current trend for supernatural romance brought on by twilight, true blood and vampire diaries.
It was an alright read but it didn’t grab me, and I didn’t feel strongly enough about the characters to really care about them. I thought the ending was ambiguous and could have done with being slightly tidier.
‘Have you ever loved someone so much that you’d do anything for them?
When Dr Luke Findley turns up to his hospital shift in the small town of St Andrews, Maine, he’s expecting just another evening of minor injuries and domestic disputes. But instead, Lanore McIlvrae walks into his life – and changes it for ever. For Lanny is a woman with a past…
Lanny McIlvrae is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. Hers is a story of love and betrayal that defies time and transcends mortality – but this tale cannot end until Lanny’s demons are finally put to rest. Her two hundred years on this earth have seen her seduced by both decadence and brutality – yet through it all she has only ever had one true love in her life. Until now.’
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
This is the first Jack Reacher book I have ever read. There were several of them in a pile of books a friend had finished with and it wasn’t until a heard the author interviewed on the radio that I decided to give them a go.
It is a very entertaining and exciting example of its genre. It rolled along at a good pace and had enough hooks in it to keep you reading. The author allowed you to discover information out before the characters thus giving you a feeling of power, and dread for them.
I think I will be trying the others in the series now.
‘You do not mess with Jack Reacher.
September 11th changed Reacher’s drifter lifestyle in one practical way. As well as his folding toothbrush, he now carries photo ID. Yet he is still as close to untraceable as a human being in America can get. So when a member of his old Army unit finds a way to get a message to him, he knows it must be deadly serious: I want you to put the old unit back together.
You do not mess with the Special Investigators. They always watched each other’s backs. Now one of them has shown up dead in the California desert. And six others can’t be found at all.
You do not mess with Jack Reacher. His old buddies are in big trouble, and he won’t let that go. Not now, not ever.’
Subtitled - An Immortal Love Story – this is a strange book that I am not sure knows what it wants to be, a love story or a horror story, perhaps it is trying to capitalise on the current trend for supernatural romance brought on by twilight, true blood and vampire diaries.
It was an alright read but it didn’t grab me, and I didn’t feel strongly enough about the characters to really care about them. I thought the ending was ambiguous and could have done with being slightly tidier.
‘Have you ever loved someone so much that you’d do anything for them?
When Dr Luke Findley turns up to his hospital shift in the small town of St Andrews, Maine, he’s expecting just another evening of minor injuries and domestic disputes. But instead, Lanore McIlvrae walks into his life – and changes it for ever. For Lanny is a woman with a past…
Lanny McIlvrae is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. Hers is a story of love and betrayal that defies time and transcends mortality – but this tale cannot end until Lanny’s demons are finally put to rest. Her two hundred years on this earth have seen her seduced by both decadence and brutality – yet through it all she has only ever had one true love in her life. Until now.’
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
This is the first Jack Reacher book I have ever read. There were several of them in a pile of books a friend had finished with and it wasn’t until a heard the author interviewed on the radio that I decided to give them a go.
It is a very entertaining and exciting example of its genre. It rolled along at a good pace and had enough hooks in it to keep you reading. The author allowed you to discover information out before the characters thus giving you a feeling of power, and dread for them.
I think I will be trying the others in the series now.
‘You do not mess with Jack Reacher.
September 11th changed Reacher’s drifter lifestyle in one practical way. As well as his folding toothbrush, he now carries photo ID. Yet he is still as close to untraceable as a human being in America can get. So when a member of his old Army unit finds a way to get a message to him, he knows it must be deadly serious: I want you to put the old unit back together.
You do not mess with the Special Investigators. They always watched each other’s backs. Now one of them has shown up dead in the California desert. And six others can’t be found at all.
You do not mess with Jack Reacher. His old buddies are in big trouble, and he won’t let that go. Not now, not ever.’
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Cake by cake…
While I was away getting all medieval out in France, Sue was keeping herself busy in a different way.
Mum’s Birthday
With Aunts and Jamie all coming around to our place, Sue put on a spread for her mother’s birthday that included some of her favourite cakes.
Swish Party
A swish party is an event where people bring unwanted clothes and accessories and gather together to swap them. It also seems to involve much eating and drinking. Sue hosted and spent several days making cakes; large ones, small ones, sweet ones and savoury ones, until the table was groaning under the weight of them.
Held a friends place Sue joined this party where olive oil and various other condiments were being sampled with the objective of enticing you to buy them. Needless to say more food and drink were also available to sample.
Always the social butterfly Sue had arranged to become involved in several different events (so that she would not have to spend time pining for me all alone at home – that’s what she tells me anyway), such as:
Comedy Night
This was an event at Sue’s sister’s work place where up and coming comedians performed as invited guests enjoyed an evening meal and drinks.Mum’s Birthday
With Aunts and Jamie all coming around to our place, Sue put on a spread for her mother’s birthday that included some of her favourite cakes.
Swish Party
A swish party is an event where people bring unwanted clothes and accessories and gather together to swap them. It also seems to involve much eating and drinking. Sue hosted and spent several days making cakes; large ones, small ones, sweet ones and savoury ones, until the table was groaning under the weight of them.
Work Girls Night Out
This was another excuse to get together with friends and to eat and drink while catching up on gossip.I would like to think this was just a case of ‘while the cat’s away’, but, you know…
…squeak, squeak!
Cakes, and such, baked include:
- Carrot Cake
- Coffee Walnut Cake
- Apple n Cider Cake
- Cinnamon and Blackberry cake
- Apple and Plum Flap Jacks
- Mini Jam Tarts
- Mini Banofee Pies
- MonteCarlo Biscuits
- Cucumber, Smoked Salmon, Egg and Cress Sarnies
- Carrot and Chili Flapjacks
- And Mini Savory Tartlets
Since then Sue has also been to another event;
Held a friends place Sue joined this party where olive oil and various other condiments were being sampled with the objective of enticing you to buy them. Needless to say more food and drink were also available to sample.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Brick by brick…
Last week I was in the 13th century working as a builder at a French castle.
Along with a friend I went to volunteer at Guedelon where they are half way through a 25 year project to build an authentic castle in the 13th century style using only the skills and materials available at the time.
We had made our plans after seeing a few of the organisers running presentations and demonstrations at Bodium castle. We were taken with the project and made enquiries, finding out more and eventually arranging to join them late in October just before they closed the site for the winter.
Part of the deal was that you had to look the part, as the site is a tourist attraction and the visitors like to see the workers looking in keeping with the surroundings. I must admit I took this all to heart and along with the linen smock Sue’s mum made I got some accessories – a leather belt pouch, a bota drinking skin, and even getting contact lenses so that I didn’t need to wear my glasses. Along with the safety boots, the travel and accommodation costs and the site fees (you have to pay to work for them, unless you are a permanent or contract worker), it was getting to become a reasonable expensive trip.
We drove down in my car (as it was a company vehicle), taking the Dover to Dunkirk crossing and stopping the night there before driving on to the gite we had hired, near the castle, in the Burgundy region.
Not knowing what to expect on our first day we got to the site early (I get anxious about being late for things – we were so early at the ferry that we got on the earlier sailing). We were the only ones there and started to wonder if we had made a mistake, when after some time the other staff arrived in dribs and drabs.
Our lack of language skills was a bit of an issue, but luckily we were helped by a few native English speakers and a few other foreigners who were multi lingual, and for the rest we were able to use our pigeon French, their pigeon English and suitable sign language to make ourselves understood. I think we would had got much more out of the experience had we been able to communicate better, and to this end I have ordered a language course to improve my feeble skills.
The weather was glorious for the whole time we were there, some of the hottest few days in October they had known, and no rain to be seen. Had it been different I don’t think we would have enjoyed quite as much. But enjoy it we did.
It is hard to imagine this project ever being permitted in the UK with all the safety implications and nanny state bureaucracy. But in France this site works well. Concessions have been made to safety such as steel top capped boots, hard hats for work under the crane (though they are covered in cloth to disguise them), netting around the working areas at the top of the towers and on the building roof, and face masks and goggles in the quarry to protect the eyes from stone chips and the lungs from silicosis. But for the most part the site looks as much like a medieval work site could.
The first task we were given was to run the squirrel cage, which is what they call the drum crane. A contraption of two large wheels (like hamster wheels) inside which we walked, that in turn pulled a rope over pulleys, to lift stone and mortar from the ditch outside the walls up to the top of the tower for the masons to use. The crane did have extra netting at the sides, a brake (that would not have existed on the original device) and steel armoured rope (that looked normal to the casual eye). It was job normally reserved for slaves and captured prisoners, and on this site it was mostly left to the volunteers as it is hard work.
Next we were put on the top of the great tower to help them build up the layers of stones. From here we had a panoramic view over the entire site and could watch the activities at the blacksmiths, the mortar tent, the stables, the quarry and stone cutter and stone masons buildings, the carpenters lodge and the rope makers building. Only the woodland village, obscured by the trees, was hidden, where the wood cutters, basket maker, tile maker and dyer were resident.
After lunch with the staff I spent much of the rest of the day on my knees placing the stones in the mortar, and it wasn’t until we got back to our accommodation at night that I realised that had been a mistake. I forgot how corrosive lime mortar is and where it had soaked into my trousers it had burned my knees leaving them sore and dried out. I didn’t do that again.
Paul is a woodsman in the winter time in the UK and so when the organisers found out they wanted him to use his skills in the woods. He had arranged to bring some of his tools and many of the staff crowded around him when he brought them out looking at how they differed from the ones they used. One of his specialities is making hazel hurdles (woven fence panels to you and me), and together on the last day we went at gathered the material from the woods and Paul made a hurdle (as I supervised). This went down particularly well with the site supervisor and the woman who started the project (all of the animal enclosures are currently fenced off using wood and wire fencing that is not in keeping with the period), and so he was asked if he would consider coming back the following year for a month to teach others how to make the panels.
As an unskilled labourer I moved around the site doing many different jobs including breaking huge boulders in the quarry using only a hammer, chisel, wedge and sledge-hammer. It was hard work but very rewarding to bust a lump of stone into several pieces by hand. I also used finer tools to shape the stone with a curved face ready for use in the tower. I chopped and split logs in the woodland village so that they could be split into batons and shingles for the roof, and helped the carpenters raise a large oak frame for a new building in the woods.
Our day off was Wednesday, and so we explored the countryside taking in local markets and two contemporary castles; the huge Saint-Fargeau Castle (owned and renovated by the guy who originally came up with the idea for Guedelon), and the wonderful Ratilly Castle where the owners had started a pottery and where they had an old dove/pigeon tower with the original moving ladder still intact.
We were sad to leave at the end of our stay, and I think the other staff were sad to see us go too.
The journey back was long, and tiring, especially when we missed our diversionary route and ended up going around the Paris Peripherique during the morning rush hour (don’t do it – it is horrific! I’ll never complain about the M25 again).
All in all we had a great time and thoroughly recommended it to others. You do not have to break rocks or lift huge timbers as they will find work that suits people of all abilities, but if you are interested in architecture, archaeology, castles, medieval re-enactment or the great outdoors, then this might just be for you.
Along with a friend I went to volunteer at Guedelon where they are half way through a 25 year project to build an authentic castle in the 13th century style using only the skills and materials available at the time.
We had made our plans after seeing a few of the organisers running presentations and demonstrations at Bodium castle. We were taken with the project and made enquiries, finding out more and eventually arranging to join them late in October just before they closed the site for the winter.
Part of the deal was that you had to look the part, as the site is a tourist attraction and the visitors like to see the workers looking in keeping with the surroundings. I must admit I took this all to heart and along with the linen smock Sue’s mum made I got some accessories – a leather belt pouch, a bota drinking skin, and even getting contact lenses so that I didn’t need to wear my glasses. Along with the safety boots, the travel and accommodation costs and the site fees (you have to pay to work for them, unless you are a permanent or contract worker), it was getting to become a reasonable expensive trip.
We drove down in my car (as it was a company vehicle), taking the Dover to Dunkirk crossing and stopping the night there before driving on to the gite we had hired, near the castle, in the Burgundy region.
Not knowing what to expect on our first day we got to the site early (I get anxious about being late for things – we were so early at the ferry that we got on the earlier sailing). We were the only ones there and started to wonder if we had made a mistake, when after some time the other staff arrived in dribs and drabs.
Our lack of language skills was a bit of an issue, but luckily we were helped by a few native English speakers and a few other foreigners who were multi lingual, and for the rest we were able to use our pigeon French, their pigeon English and suitable sign language to make ourselves understood. I think we would had got much more out of the experience had we been able to communicate better, and to this end I have ordered a language course to improve my feeble skills.
The weather was glorious for the whole time we were there, some of the hottest few days in October they had known, and no rain to be seen. Had it been different I don’t think we would have enjoyed quite as much. But enjoy it we did.
It is hard to imagine this project ever being permitted in the UK with all the safety implications and nanny state bureaucracy. But in France this site works well. Concessions have been made to safety such as steel top capped boots, hard hats for work under the crane (though they are covered in cloth to disguise them), netting around the working areas at the top of the towers and on the building roof, and face masks and goggles in the quarry to protect the eyes from stone chips and the lungs from silicosis. But for the most part the site looks as much like a medieval work site could.
The first task we were given was to run the squirrel cage, which is what they call the drum crane. A contraption of two large wheels (like hamster wheels) inside which we walked, that in turn pulled a rope over pulleys, to lift stone and mortar from the ditch outside the walls up to the top of the tower for the masons to use. The crane did have extra netting at the sides, a brake (that would not have existed on the original device) and steel armoured rope (that looked normal to the casual eye). It was job normally reserved for slaves and captured prisoners, and on this site it was mostly left to the volunteers as it is hard work.
Next we were put on the top of the great tower to help them build up the layers of stones. From here we had a panoramic view over the entire site and could watch the activities at the blacksmiths, the mortar tent, the stables, the quarry and stone cutter and stone masons buildings, the carpenters lodge and the rope makers building. Only the woodland village, obscured by the trees, was hidden, where the wood cutters, basket maker, tile maker and dyer were resident.
After lunch with the staff I spent much of the rest of the day on my knees placing the stones in the mortar, and it wasn’t until we got back to our accommodation at night that I realised that had been a mistake. I forgot how corrosive lime mortar is and where it had soaked into my trousers it had burned my knees leaving them sore and dried out. I didn’t do that again.
Paul is a woodsman in the winter time in the UK and so when the organisers found out they wanted him to use his skills in the woods. He had arranged to bring some of his tools and many of the staff crowded around him when he brought them out looking at how they differed from the ones they used. One of his specialities is making hazel hurdles (woven fence panels to you and me), and together on the last day we went at gathered the material from the woods and Paul made a hurdle (as I supervised). This went down particularly well with the site supervisor and the woman who started the project (all of the animal enclosures are currently fenced off using wood and wire fencing that is not in keeping with the period), and so he was asked if he would consider coming back the following year for a month to teach others how to make the panels.
As an unskilled labourer I moved around the site doing many different jobs including breaking huge boulders in the quarry using only a hammer, chisel, wedge and sledge-hammer. It was hard work but very rewarding to bust a lump of stone into several pieces by hand. I also used finer tools to shape the stone with a curved face ready for use in the tower. I chopped and split logs in the woodland village so that they could be split into batons and shingles for the roof, and helped the carpenters raise a large oak frame for a new building in the woods.
Our day off was Wednesday, and so we explored the countryside taking in local markets and two contemporary castles; the huge Saint-Fargeau Castle (owned and renovated by the guy who originally came up with the idea for Guedelon), and the wonderful Ratilly Castle where the owners had started a pottery and where they had an old dove/pigeon tower with the original moving ladder still intact.
We were sad to leave at the end of our stay, and I think the other staff were sad to see us go too.
The journey back was long, and tiring, especially when we missed our diversionary route and ended up going around the Paris Peripherique during the morning rush hour (don’t do it – it is horrific! I’ll never complain about the M25 again).
All in all we had a great time and thoroughly recommended it to others. You do not have to break rocks or lift huge timbers as they will find work that suits people of all abilities, but if you are interested in architecture, archaeology, castles, medieval re-enactment or the great outdoors, then this might just be for you.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
More of wot I have seen…
Dr Marigold & Mr Chops by Charles Dickens
Dr Marigold and Going into Society are two short readings by Charles Dickens that he would perform on tours to packed audiences. These two stories have similar themes; both have main characters who ‘perform’ to an audience for the purpose of gaining financial reward, one as a travelling sales man come hawker of wares, and the other as a proprietor of a freak show. They are also social commentaries on how people treat others not the same as they are and on how the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
This two part one man show was performed in the attractive little Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford by the exceptionally talented and spellbinding Simon Callow. Although Sue did fall asleep it might have had more to do with the substantial lunch and liquid refreshment than the quality of the acting (she has been known to fall asleep in the cinema as the massive battle scenes unfolded at the beginning of Gladiator only to wake moments later to ask “have I missed anything?”).
Baring a few small changes to the script, to alter a few anachronistic words and to make more suitable for a monologue by the character, there is remarkably little difference from the original scripts, which still have a relevance in today’s world while giving us a view into those aspects of yesteryear that have disappeared without trace.
Dr Marigold and Going into Society are two short readings by Charles Dickens that he would perform on tours to packed audiences. These two stories have similar themes; both have main characters who ‘perform’ to an audience for the purpose of gaining financial reward, one as a travelling sales man come hawker of wares, and the other as a proprietor of a freak show. They are also social commentaries on how people treat others not the same as they are and on how the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
This two part one man show was performed in the attractive little Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford by the exceptionally talented and spellbinding Simon Callow. Although Sue did fall asleep it might have had more to do with the substantial lunch and liquid refreshment than the quality of the acting (she has been known to fall asleep in the cinema as the massive battle scenes unfolded at the beginning of Gladiator only to wake moments later to ask “have I missed anything?”).
Baring a few small changes to the script, to alter a few anachronistic words and to make more suitable for a monologue by the character, there is remarkably little difference from the original scripts, which still have a relevance in today’s world while giving us a view into those aspects of yesteryear that have disappeared without trace.
More of wot I have read…
The Ghost – Robert Harris
We were given this book, along with a pile of others, from a prolific reader friend of ours. It is an intriguing and entertaining foray into the darker political recesses of government while managing to feel authentic and still have a good yarn to it. Now that I have read it I might be interested in watching the movie that was made out of it.
‘The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I see that now…
A body washes up on the deserted coastline of America’s most exclusive holiday retreat. But it’s no open-and-shut case of suicide. The death of Mike McAra is just the first piece of the jigsaw in an extraordinary plot that will shake the very foundations of international security.
For McAra was a man who knew too much. As a ghostwriter to one of the most controversial men on the planet – Britain’s former prime minister, holed up in a remote ocean-front house to finish his memoirs – he stumbled across secrets which cost him his life.
When a new ghostwriter is sent to rescue the project it could be an opportunity of a lifetime. Or the start of a deadly assignment propelled by deception and intrigue – from which there will be no escape…’
Next by Michael Crichton
This is another book from our friend. I have read a couple of other novels by this author (Prey and Airframe), and they, like this, had a very screenplay sort of feel which must be a style Michael Crichton has that is related to his experience in the movie industry. Many of this author’s novels have an important message to say about big business, corporations, governments and other organisations that would put their own interests above those of the public, the world or even common sense, and this book is no different. Concentrating on genetic manipulation and the potentially big money spin-offs from the scientific research it makes some very powerful points about the industry. It is however wrapped up in a story that strays off into wilder speculation for the sake of entertainment, but that is fine, as long as the reader doesn’t buy every word without a second thought.
‘Is a loved one missing body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Has a human already cross-bred with a monkey?
We live in a GENETIC WORLD. Fast, frightening – and potentially VERY lucrative. There are designer pets; a genetic cure for drug addiction; a booming market in eggs and sperm. But is there is also a talking ape in Borneo? Has a “master” gene for controlling others been found? Could an innocent man and his family be hunted cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes…?’
We were given this book, along with a pile of others, from a prolific reader friend of ours. It is an intriguing and entertaining foray into the darker political recesses of government while managing to feel authentic and still have a good yarn to it. Now that I have read it I might be interested in watching the movie that was made out of it.
‘The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I see that now…
A body washes up on the deserted coastline of America’s most exclusive holiday retreat. But it’s no open-and-shut case of suicide. The death of Mike McAra is just the first piece of the jigsaw in an extraordinary plot that will shake the very foundations of international security.
For McAra was a man who knew too much. As a ghostwriter to one of the most controversial men on the planet – Britain’s former prime minister, holed up in a remote ocean-front house to finish his memoirs – he stumbled across secrets which cost him his life.
When a new ghostwriter is sent to rescue the project it could be an opportunity of a lifetime. Or the start of a deadly assignment propelled by deception and intrigue – from which there will be no escape…’
Next by Michael Crichton
This is another book from our friend. I have read a couple of other novels by this author (Prey and Airframe), and they, like this, had a very screenplay sort of feel which must be a style Michael Crichton has that is related to his experience in the movie industry. Many of this author’s novels have an important message to say about big business, corporations, governments and other organisations that would put their own interests above those of the public, the world or even common sense, and this book is no different. Concentrating on genetic manipulation and the potentially big money spin-offs from the scientific research it makes some very powerful points about the industry. It is however wrapped up in a story that strays off into wilder speculation for the sake of entertainment, but that is fine, as long as the reader doesn’t buy every word without a second thought.
‘Is a loved one missing body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Has a human already cross-bred with a monkey?
We live in a GENETIC WORLD. Fast, frightening – and potentially VERY lucrative. There are designer pets; a genetic cure for drug addiction; a booming market in eggs and sperm. But is there is also a talking ape in Borneo? Has a “master” gene for controlling others been found? Could an innocent man and his family be hunted cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes…?’
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
A Folking Good Time…
In what is fast becoming a new tradition we again went along to the Towersey Village Festival where we slept drunkenly under canvas in a damp field after enjoying the musical talents of a wide and varied selection of artists.
Just the few of the many that we managed to see…
- Cara Dillon – sweet voice, lovely tunes
- The Spooky Men’s Chorale – great fun, silly Aussie humour, talented singers
- Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick – old school traditional folk, talented but not our tastes
- Lau – lively and youthful exuberance
- 17 Hippies – there are more than 17 of them, they are not hippies but they are great foot stomping band
- Karine Polwart – lovely voice full of passion
- Tim Edey and Brendan Power – superb talents, and Power is a Kiwi!
- Kate Rowe – fun, playful lyricist
- Saltfishforty – exciting and salty tunes from the northern isles
- Roy Bailey - a stalwart of the folk scene with a large following
- Emily Portman – dark and haunting lyrics sung with the lightness of an angel’s voice
- The Old Dance School – talented bunch of youngsters who are set for big things
- David Ferrard – charming and moving songs
- Alasdair Roberts – complex and interesting songs with great soul
And at the Three Horseshoes Pub – here we met my uncle and his band mates who sing and play along in a jam session with other talented musicians while we attempt to drink the pub dry.
We are already planning to go again next year.
More of wot I have seen…
We had planned to visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre ever since we toured it when it was being built, but usually once the weather became nice enough for open-air performances we found all the convenient tickets had been sold. As it was we decided to go to a non-traditional non-Shakespearian show this time and we were glad that we did.
On the Saturday we met up with Jamie earlier in the day near where he lives in Bermondsey for breakfast before strolling through the cobbled streets lined with artist studios and curio shops to the river, along the waterside to a pub for pre-show refreshments before entering the theatre.
The show was fantastic, lively, noise, rude and sexy and we had a thoroughly entertaining time. The venue is a masterpiece and has great atmosphere; we don’t know why it took us so long to visit.
Award-winning writer Chris Hannan’s moving, hectic and hilarious new play, The God of Soho, comes to life in a world addicted to drugs and handbags, to flash-bulbs and tabloid exposure, and to the overwhelming need for attention.
The cast of loveable misfits includes Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia, A Clockwork Orange at the RSC, Holding On, The Long Firm, Outlaws and most recently The Beggar's Opera at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) playing Big God, Emma Pierson as Natty (Little Dorrit, Hotel Babylon) and Edward Hogg ( Bunny and the Bull, White Lightnin' and Woyzeck at The Gate) as Baz.
Sexy, feisty and real, The God of Soho is a morality tale for the modern age, a story about love at its dirtiest, maddest and most bittersweet.
Bursting with dirty language and filthy content.’
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)