Netball News

This is a statue outside the British Library at St Pancras. It is a great building to amble around and the statue sets it off nicely.

Rowan was doing netball trials for North Yorkshire on Sunday. Out of 70 or so fairly ferocious looking women [and their daughters] she got chosen as one of 10 so we are very proud of her. Next weekend there are trials for the regional team which will be something else again.

Comebacks

You may have noticed that neither Preston North End nor my Badminton games have featured on the blog recently. We have been following similar paths; North End bottom of the league, I lost twice in a row to Edward. This has now all changed. Preston beat Coventry on Saturday then beat Leeds 4-6 last night, and I beat Edward as well. Early season jitters are over. If it all goes quiet again you know what has happened.

Photo is another from Ecup

Conference

The photo is from the ride at Harewood, it really was perfect autumn morning sunlight.

Danielle has been at the Labour party conference for her work today, she said Ed Miliband's speech was impressive; not a bad day to be there I guess.

Guests

Paul and Coral came up to York with Amy and Hannah. We cooked a meal for them on Saturday [I did the starter, Danielle the main and Rowan the pudding]. Great to catch up, it was the first time we had met Hannah who you see here fast asleep after all the excitement.

Leeds Garden City2

While Rowan was at her triathlon training in Leeds yesterday I took the mountain bike and went for a ride up to Harewood and Ecup [say the latter with a strong west riding accent for best effect]. It was a beautiful crisp autumn morning, with the bridleways seeming like the Black Forest and Ecup reservoir looking like a Scottish Loch. Chuck in some Grey Wagtails and Red Kites and it was a perfect Saturday morning.

Balloons

The Knavesmire, where York Racecourse is, is just across the road from us. I was walking the dog there last week when the regular hot air balloon company was in action. You can see two on the ground, one nearly ready for take off, and two already in the air. I find it almost impossible to be blase about hot air balloons: we are always excited by them. At home we usually know they are there by the sound of their burners before we see them struggling to gain height over the moor.

New Hair

Here is the new haircut. Better photos to follow.

Rowan really enjoyed the netball weekend, and her team won the whole tournament, winning with an extra time goal 6-5.

Shoes

Together with the bike came my first pair of spd shoes with cleats for the clipless pedals. Amazingly this pair have also lasted 20 years. 20 years of rides in all weathers, several tours when they have been my only shoes. Seeing as how Rowan's trainers seem to last just 20 weeks this pair have been miraculous. They are now being retired to the Hall of Fame.

The Condor is 20

Twenty years ago I returned from cycling in Turkey with Paul determined to get a touring bike that fitted me. The result was this tourer made to measure by Condor Cycles in London. It has stood me in good stead, bits have been changed but the frame remains the same. The bike has taken me far and wide and I still use it today. Not bad going, I may give it a respray someday soon.

Netball

Rowan is off on a netball tour, so we have had a weekend to ourselves. Dave and Emma popped in on Friday night, Milo delighted to see his foster family.

Saturday we saw Tamara Drew at the Cityscreen - loved it. http://www.tamaradrewe-movie.com/ then chatted to John and Katie on their allotment before not going to the CAMRA Beer Festival [it looked too much]. Watched Julie & Julia on DVD - rubbish.

The photo is from the Northumberland coast part of our ride.

Knock

Friend Helen had a play on at the Theatre Royal last week "Knock" http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/cgi/events/events.cgi?t=template&a=662 So we went to watch it and another new play. They were both really good - funny and challenging too.

The photo is of a Spitfire? being assembled outside the Minster. There is a strange military feel to the Minster with a lot of links to local regiments. Very strange.

The Pope

Saw Mark in London, one year on from the wedding and just moved house. Always good to see him. Also saw Wendy who I haven't seen for a few years and John who I last saw when he was having a suspected heart attack in my office in Highbury; the ambulance got there on time. We met up in the National Gallery and I had a chance to look around some of the galleries. The older I get the more I appreciate old paintings. Which reminds me of a tweet I saw yesterday.

"Most of us get more right wing as we get older. The trouble is the Pope was in the Hitler Youth"

Photo is from Edinburgh; hotel corridor, strange apparition.

Maps

Danielle had told me about the Map Exhibition at the British Library http://londonist.com/2010/04/review_magnificent_maps_british_lib.php so I had a look at it today when I was in London. Fantastic. Really interesting and with some great maps to look at, a great example of how to put a museum show on that keeps you engaged all the way through.

The photo is on the cycle track to Edinburgh.

Apex

Our two intrepid cyclists relax in the Edinburgh Apex hotel on Grassmarket. It is a great location and a bit of a treat after the various strange places we had stayed at. Edinburgh looked fantastic in the evening sun as we wandered around. I am always amazed and what an incredible geography the city has, full of twisting stairways, cobbles and views - fantastic.

Glass

The photo is of me in Wales dressed for dinner.

A friend in York has worked for the same organisation for 40 years as a glazier. He was due to retire next year when he reached 65. On return from his holiday this summer he received a letter from his employer. He has been made redundant with 2 months notice. An incredibly cruel and stupid action.

And who might his employer be? A multinational behemoth? A local company ignoring worker loyalty? No, the Church of England, he worked at York Minster.

Pennyfarthing

Sunday Dave and I went a 100k ride up into the Wolds to my favourite cafe at Fridaythorpe. Up there in the middle of nowhere you find cyclists from the east, Hull, the south, Donny and the west, us York folk. On top of that were about 50 motorcyclists from all over. The food is classic greasy-spoon with tea in big mugs. Perfect.

Meantime Rowan and Danielle went to the York cycle-fair event at Rowntree Park where they had a go on these mini Pennyfarthings, as well as a side by side tandem which was sadly not recorded for photographic posterity.

Bettys

Everytime we go to Betty's Rowan will read out the cookery courses and try and persuade us to go on them. So far Danielle has gone to a couple and come back with an impressive array of dishes.

Last week it was my turn. I attended the one day vegetarian course. It was brilliant, a really well appointed kitchen, great tutors, interesting co-learners and some great food to bring home that, unbelievably, I cooked. This included Tomato Tart Tartin, an Aubergine Tangine, a Cannelloni and Courgette Fritters and a Salsa.

The photo is of the beautiful River Tweed from the old railway bridge at Innerleithen.

Day 4 Innerleithen to Edinburgh

A perfect cycling day. Favorable wind, mountain ride, good lunch stop and finishing off in a sun-kissed Edinburgh.

This shot is just before we began the climb up over the hills.

Day 3 Berwick to Innerleithen

We saw Danielle off on the train back to York, then Rowan and I rode the 62 miles to Innerleithen in the Scottish borders. It was a great ride up the Tweed valley. The River Tweed has to be one of the most beautiful in Britain; a real river. We crossed it five times over the course of the ride before arriving at a good hotel in the town of Innerleithen which has been revived in recent years by the Mountain Bike centre up the road at Glentress. Evidence? the Tattoo parlor that now graces the high street.

The photo is of Rowan crossing the Tweed on a suspension bridge.

Day 2 Warkworth to Berwick upon Tweed

The Northumberland coast really is beautiful, and so deserted as to make Aberdovey seem crowded. We stayed in Berwick which, considering it has such a great location and architecture, is a pretty dismal place.

Day 1 Newcastle to Warkworth

Here is the peloton at the start on the waterfront in Newcastle. This was the last time we needed to wear raincoats, the weather was amazingly good. The route headed out on old railway lines towards Tynemouth where it turned and headed north along the Northumberland coast through Blythe [as in Spartans] to the castle at Warkworth http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/warkworth-castle-and-hermitage/ where we stayed in a small hotel.

Coast and Castles

Friends Sue & Eddy invited all of us to join them and 3 other families on a cycle ride on the Sustrans Coast and Castles route from Newcastle to Edinburgh http://www.coast-and-castles.co.uk/Index.html. Danielle joined us for the first 2 days, with Rowan and I doing all 4. It was a great ride with great weather. This is day one - Rowan powering away...

Year 8

It is Rowan's first day back at school today - year 8. Here she is, with a corresponding photo from her first year at school in 2002.

Glasgwm

We climbed the mountain of Glasgwm when we were in Wales. This the traditional photo of Rowan at the top. As you can see it was windy and not too hot, but a good climb
We climbed

Muse

The beach at Aberdovey has provided me with a lot of photographic inspiration. "Sand" my best seller was taken there, and each year usually provides more shots. It takes me a while to work out if a particular shot is good enough to make the grade or not. This shot is, therefore, a work-in-progress which may or may not feature in the next exhibition

Ride

One day in Wales I went on a long bike ride . Took a track over the mountains then along the Murdoch estuary to Dolgellau and lunch in a good cafe . Next was another climb on a track to Corris before a final effort down Happy Valley and back to the hotel. A great route ; totally knackered though .