10K

The last time I ran a 10K run was in aid of Freedom for Nicaragua, so you can calculate it was a long time ago. 25 years ago to be precise. I did two runs that year, one in Brixton and one in Hyde Park. Since then - nothing.

Danielle persuaded me to run the York 10K http://raceday.runforall.com/ with her [she is a veteran of such things.] My target was to a] finish, b] without stopping for a rest c] do it in under one hour. I managed all three, with Danielle finishing ahead of me. It was a beautiful day and surprisingly non-difficult [I cannot bring myself to write the word "easy"], no rush to do any more though.

One photo is from Aberdovey of the 2 premier runners in the family. The other is of the two happy finishers

Aberdovey 2

The dog got a lot of walks on the beach and in the dunes. We all played on the putting course with little quality but much fun. Rowan and I went a great bike ride that included lunch at the Talyllyn railway station at Abergnolwyn, and a couple of good hills.

This is the hotel in all its summer glory.

Aberdovey 1

The Press have put an article about the exhibition in today http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/exhibitions/9167724.From_The_Wolds__Grays_Court__York__1_to_31_August/ hope

hopefully it will all help.

We are just back from our annual 5 nights at the Treffedian Hotel in Aberdovey. We arrived on the Saturday and as usual the weather was beautiful and the beach deserted - fantastic.

from the wolds

only 4 days to go....

from the wolds

new photographs by simon palmour

A series of monochrome works that capture the strange world of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Presented together with abstract textural images on canvas and paper.

Grays Court

Chapter House Street. York YO1 7JH

10am – 6pm 7 days a week

Monday August 1^st to Wednesday August 31^st 2011

You are cordially invited to wine, canapés and the Private View

on Monday August 1^st 6pm to 9pm

Skomer

Here is the last photo from the Pembroke trip. A stack off Skomer island. Maybe one day we will walk on the coastal path but probably not.

Colby

This National Trust garden at Colby http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-colbywoodlandgarden was 15 minutes walk away from the cottage we were staying at. The cafe was particularly welcome when we were on our bikes, as it was at the bottom of a 17% hill, for which you needed every bit of energy you could get your hands on.

Beach Life

The beach at Amroth had rock pools with creatures, cliffs for climbing, caves for being wary about and dead dogfish to keep Milo away from. In this photo Milo is just about to give up trying to follow Rowan.

Pembroke

Looking across from Skomer island, the boats are oil tankers awaiting a berth at Milford Haven refinery. Pembroke is a strange mix of heavy industry and beautiful isolated coast line. Not my favourite place, but good to see it again.

The people who owned the self catering cottage we stayed at in Amroth were really nice. He was a keen cyclist and was interested in the rides that Rowan and I did, she made fantastic lemon and lime marmalade.

The Palmour Churches

We dragged Rowan along to the two Palmour churches in Pembroke - Jefferystone where this photo was taken, and St Florence. She knows where her roots are now, I never visited until I was 33 so she is ahead of me.

Skomer

We went on an RSPB boat trip round Skomer island. Fantastic, with the puffins all around, and seals. I managed not to get sea-sick this time.

Pembroke

Sorry about the gap. It is back. This board at St Florence church in Pembroke has all the vicars / rectors [no idea what the difference is] since the 14th century. James Palmour [my great great uncle] is in there at 1895. It is always strange to see the name Palmour when it does not apply to me.

Cheese

The cheese tent at the Great Yorkshire Show was a fine place. I think I still prefer Lancashire to Wensleydale but it is a close thing ...

Great Yorkshire Show

Rowan and I went to the Great Yorkshire Show yesterday http://www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/html/home/ . It is a truly massive affair with livestock, tractors, shops [including every supermarket chain trying to "out-locally sourced" each other, cheese etc. It reminds me of the Lancashire Show that has died out, as has the Royal Show, so the Yorkshire one is now the biggest in the country. A great experience, but not one I will need to repeat for a while.

Small Copper

The summer holidays have started. Could well be the last one when Rowan will want to do things with her parents - time moves on. Rowan and I saw a Small Copper butterfly in the church yard at Acomb; I have not knowingly seen one before, it is always good to see something new.

Holmfirth Tri

There was a chance that Rowan could have been selected for the national triathlon championships so she raced in Holmfirth on Sunday, she did brilliantly, came second, finished ahead of her "rival" for the slot representing Yorkshire, but due to the bizarre way of calculating the results over the series of 7 events, just missed out. She is very disappointed.

Speech Day

It was speech day at school on Friday, Rowan's last day before the summer holidays. Rowan received her Sports Scholarship from the guest speaker Nancy Klein. After the meeting we all went to La Tasca for a spanish meal as Rowan's prize.

More Marston

Here is another photo from the Marston Moor battlefield walk. That is a hot air balloon in the centre of the shot; one that has taken off from near us in York and was about to land at an airfield nearby.

Play that funky traffic cone

Rowan was doing creative arts at school this week [what are uncreative arts by the way?] - this was not met with much enthusiasm until she told us she was playing a traffic cone with her French Horn mouthpiece as part of a recycled orchestra [ this included an ironing board, bins and drain pipes. Great noise.

Marston Moor

Last week we three went to an evening walk/talk about/around the battlefield of Marston Moor. It was really well done, with suitably dramatic weather which gave me some shots like this one. The battle was in the English Civil War and the horror of it all was brought home to us all.

Alder

I have spent the last 2 days at Woodbrooke Quaker Education centre in Birmingham. Friend Rob has set up a virtual consultancy company, called Alder, to which I and a number of other freelance specialist social and health care consultants have been invited to join. The company is virtual in that we will remain free agents, but may work for Alder on projects [which we might develop ourselves.] We met up at Woodbrooke to sketch out how it will all work out. Looks good so far; we will see how it goes.

Hobby or Peregrine

At the wedding party I looked up and saw this falcon chasing swallows for its tea. I got this photo and friend David, who knows very much about birds, reckons it is either a Hobby or a Peregrine. Both are rare visitors to central York

Henley

Danielle's friends from the US, Tim & Elizabeth were over to watch their son Jameson, cox his schools boat at the Henley Regatta http://www.hrr.co.uk/. So Danielle went down to watch on Friday. They won their race, then, amazingly, go through to the final on Sunday, dispatching Eton en route. They lost in the final but did well to get there. Danielle had to buy a dress in Henley, as she needed one to get into the enclosure.

Meanwhile Rowan was doing her 3rd and final triathlon of the series - in Todmorden [that is Stoodley Pike behind her]. A beautiful day, a tricky course, and some new rules we didn't know about, and she still came third. She has enjoyed the triathlon. Needs a new bike of course!

Wedding

Friend Adrian has got married to Kath. They had a party to celebrate yesterday afternoon / evening. We all had a great time.

Friend Helen found this website http://www.ship-of-fools.com/mystery/2010/2036.html which had a "secret" visit to our Quaker meeting in York. They liked it.

Le Tour est Arrivé

The Tour de France starts today. Always an exciting part of the year for me. I remember being at school and reading about Eddy Merckx winning every year with some interest. Then I started reading about it in the early 80s, watching brief snippets on ITV World of Sport; 5 minutes and a week late, and getting hooked. Whenever I could I would get into Soho to buy an Equipe and an espresso and read the in depth coverage in that great French paper. This was complemented by the Mirroir de Cyclisme, a fantastic monthly French magazine now sadly defunct. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroir_du_cyclisme

Then in 1985 Channel 4 started to show half an hour every evening. It was fantastic, really opened it up to people to enjoy. When I got Eurosport in 1993 it was heaven. Now we all take if for granted.

I have seen the Tour three times. In Paris in 1993, Brighton in 1994 and London in 2007 [photo]. One day I may see it in the mountains, but for now it is just good to have it back and happening. [Shame Contador is in it though]

Chimney Sweeper

Came across a number of these moths in the Wolds - they are called Chimney Sweepers. Without a camera to photograph them I could never have seen them well enough to identify them.
On