The Heritage Ride 2

Princes Road. Liverpool

Broad streets and elegant buildings take me past the two Cathedrals and the University where I studied to Liverpool 8 where I lived for a while. Cycling down Princes Road I see the tall tenement type houses where I had a flat with Charlie, Jo and Sue; amazingly I am still in touch with all three.

At the time the Anglican Cathedral had still not been finished – I watched a huge block of stone being hoisted from the ground up to the top of the Cathedral tower, by the time it reached the top it was just a speck.

The houses have been regenerated, the shebeens that were in the basements with names like Silver Sands and Somali Club have long gone, and all looks a lot more civilised. Shame. http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php

I remember being in one club, listening to Sister Sledge and eating what I thought was potato, in fact it was overcooked rice, very very overcooked rice.

It was in this flat that we woke up on the Sunday morning after a pretty wild party the night before. We emerged to find that someone has kicked in the front door and stolen a few things including our TV. We had all slept blissfully unaware. We were not too bothered, and decided to go and get some breakfast: only we could not secure the smashed-in front door. I worked out that we needed a two-foot piece of wood to make it secure. We had a piece that was perfect... except it was three feet long. Of course we had no saw: we were students after all. I looked out of the window, high above a cold, damp, snow-smudged, urban landscape. Very few people about, but there was a small old man sitting alone on a wall down beneath the tenement. In his hand was a saw. I ran down the five flights of stairs, brandishing the wood. “Can I borrow your saw?” “Sure” he says without batting an eye-lash. Bracing the wood against the wall I quickly saw it to the required length and run back. When the rest looked out of the window the old man had gone. But I had the proof in my hand, a two foot piece of wood. We went out for breakfast.

The Heritage Ride 1

Liverpool Lime Street

I first had the idea of a Heritage Ride when I was taking a train from Manchester to Cardiff for work. I noticed that the headboard of the train showed that it was going all the way to Pembroke. Pembroke is where Palmours came from, first recorded in the 1660s. It looked like the type of train it would be easy to take a bike on. That got me to thinking; why not take the bike to Pembroke then ride back to York, where I live now, via Preston where I was born?

The more I thought about it, the better and bigger an idea it seemed. I started coming up with other places to visit: where I went to school, where I lived and worked, favourite places and so on. Soon the route was looking a little too long and a lot too unmanageable. But still a great idea.

So today, Day One of my Heritage Ride, I sit on a train bound from York to Liverpool for the first part of my trip. Trans Pennine Express trains have an excellent bike storage system, so I put the bike next to an elegant fixed wheel machine and sit amidst the many York to Leeds commuters.

The train crawls in towards Liverpool as if posing the question to all on board “Are you sure you want to go? Here?” But we do.

Lime Street Station, when I was a student it was a grim and gloomy place to get through as quickly as possible. Now it has been transformed into a typical light airy city centre station. There are statues of Ken Dodd [always risky to canonise a light entertainment figure in these post-Saville days] and Bessie Braddock MP, and a feeling of civic renewal. This contrasts with the once-mighty Adelphi Hotel that is now stranded forlorn and grubby next to the station. 

I stock up on provisions from the sparkling food outlets on the concourse, click my shoes into my pedals and head off.

At Last ... The New Bed

So, here at last is the shot of the new bed - hope it was worth the wait. I fear not.

Sorry about the intermittent service I have been away on my Heritage Bike Ride. Back now, full details to follow.

New bed

This the new bed I made on the garden a few weeks ago.
Perhaps a new career as a dry done wall maker does not beckon.

Pictures not working. So try and imagine what out might look like ...

Meantime here is another photo

Large Skipper

I saw this butterfly in the Wolds last week. A Large Skipper. First time I have seen one.

Retreat from the Retreat

My time as a Governor of the Retreat Quaker Hospital is coming to an end this year. This is one of the corridors which, I think, has a certain beauty all of its own.

Kite Flying

This is the last photo from Ro & Pete's garden in Suffolk.

I saw a Red Kite overhead this week, the first time I have seen one actually in York. A great day.

Rowan is away on her Duke of Edinburgh award weekend. Camping, so the rain has inevitably arrived.

To Pot

Danielle and I spent the day making pots under the tuition of local ceramic artist Ben Arnup http://www.yorkopenstudios.co.uk/artist/Ben-Arnup . We had bought the experience at the Quaker Auction of Promises in aid of the extension to the Meeting House.
It was a lot of fun, and once fired I will show our finished work; Danielle has made a tall vase, and I made a platter.

The picture is another from Ro and Pete's garden in Suffolk

Garden News

So far the vegetable garden is going pretty well this year. This is the view from the deck upstairs, with the potatoes, blackcurrants, garlic, beans and cabbage prominent.

Official Photo

They had an official photographer at the do last week. Here we are. One of us looks totally at home, one of us is wondering if he'll get away with the clip on bow tie.

Suffolk

I went down to Suffolk at the weekend to see Mother. It is a long drive, but was worth it. We went to lunch in Thorpeness whilst Ro and Pete were busy with the village fete.
There was a downpour then the sun gave this beautiful light in the garden.

This is the Modern World

Modern life laid bare. A Mother got on the tube with her two children in a pram. For four stops the lower child tried to get her attention - screaming, pulling blankets to the floor etc. The upper child was dummied out. The Mother was totally oblivious and engrossed in her tetris-like iPad game. When we got off they were still at it.

More Awards

Here is Danielle dressed for the ball - or at least the awards ceremony. It was a black tie event which was a challenge for me. In the end I borrowed John's bow-tie and just wore my one and only suit with a white shirt. No one seemed to notice. In fact the celebrities seemed to be allowed to wear normal clothes - not fair.

Charity Awards

Danielle has a very high profile in the world of national charities in the UK. This has led to her being asked to be a judge for The Charity Awards 2013. Last night was the awards show at the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane. Plenty of people she knew, quite a few that I knew too. Great event. http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/charityawards/ All sorts of celebrity people doing presentations including Rowan's favorite comedian Alex Brooker 1[shame she wasn't there]. Stayed the night in the swish[ish] hotel then back on the train today.

Crazy Neil Young

Monday Danielle and I took the train to Newcastle, checked in to our hotel and went to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse play at the Metro Arena.
A lot of my guitar heroes are dead [Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, Rory Gallagher, Elmore James etc] so I thought I should get to see one who is not only still alive but still playing as brilliantly and innovatively as ever. It was some gig http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jun/11/neil-young-crazy-horse-review with loads of noisy guitar which was just what I wanted. Not perfect, but a real artistic statement. Unforgettable and worth every penny.
The hotel was great too, so we had a really good time. Now I will have to see Jeff Beck and Santana whilst they are still around ...

The photo is of a rape field in the Wolds in full and smelly bloom.

Tri Vets

Dave and I rode the CTC Tri Vets 100 mile ride in Leicestershire on Sunday. This is a ride for people over 50, so we were youngsters. It took us through the lovely countryside around Ashby de la Zouch [Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire] which was not an area I had cycled in much before.
Great people, well organised, plenty of tea stops, a great event.

English Schools

This photo is from the Wolds. One of the dry valleys in a very early stage, barely an undulation in the chalk. What would have been sheep pasture has been ploughed up and planted by the farm. However the bridal way and some of the trees and bushes along it, that follows the valley, is still there. It is like walking on a strip of the past through the present.

Rowan has been selected again to represent North Yorkshire in the High Jump at the English Schools Athletics championships http://www.esaa.net/v2/2013/tf/tf13intro.php . This is the big national event for her age group, so she is very pleased; it is a real honour. She travels with the team and spends two nights in Birmingham [well, you can't have everything] for the meeting.

Mary Myers

Here is a link to an obituary about Mary, my colleague who died last month
I had no idea she was so renowned
http://m.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jun/02/mary-myers

Vomitorium

Danielle is a trustee of the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society [as she is partially sighted and lives in York]. Last night was an event they put on to thank their volunteers [people who visit blind people in their homes etc] which we went to. It was a wine tasting at Waitrose, which was a lot of fun.

Meantime I saw this sign at the EIS in Sheffield. At first I thought it was a sick joke, then I found out that a vomitorium is a technical term http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium for a type of corridor. Then I thought, "how many people who use a sports centre in Sheffield are going to know that?"

To Catch A Rabbit

Friend Helen has a crime novel published, To Catch A Rabbit http://www.amazon.co.uk/To-Catch-Rabbit-Helen-Cadbury/dp/1901888878
So Rowan and I went to the launch of the book in York,

Here is Rowan getting our copy signed. So far we have read three pages; they are brilliant.

New Cycle Track

There is a new cycle circuit open in York at the University http://www.york-sport.com/cycling It is very exciting to have such a circuit here. Rowan has been on it with a junior club [not that keen] and I hope to get a go at some stage.

Rowan is on the right of the photo.

Rosedale Revenge

What a ride.
Setting off from Home I ride through the centre of York in the perfect sunshine that would stay with me for the day. I pass the Victorian Railway Sation, go through the Medieval City Walls, see the Big Wheel then skirt the Minster. Not bad for starters.
The route then grinds out to Stensall where the Countryside starts - Lapwings and Hawthorn Blossom all about.
The hills on this route have a good rhythm to them. First comes Sheriff Hutton with its dramatic castle, barely a hill but it gets the legs moving. Next is Terrington Bank, straight up but not too bad. There are then a couple of rises through the lovely Howardian Hills before model village Hovingham is reached. Too early for the tea rooms to be open - probably not a bad thing.
The next hill, Caulkey Bank is steep with a hairpin but short, so they are getting harder but not too bad. After that the North York Moors begin in earnest with Blakey Bank a real killer, followed by the steepest hill in England at Rosedale Chimney. I was going nicely until a kindly farmer decided to overtake on the steepest hairpin section  meaning I lost my rhythm and had to stop. No walking though.
It was such a great ride that I even managed to find a cheap tea shop at the toursit-trap of Hutton Le Hole. A great day.

1 Metre 65

Rowan was competing for York in an athletics match at Doncaster yesterday. She broke her personal best in the High Jump and set a new height of 1 metre 65cm. She is delighted. This means she has reached the standard for the English Schools championships and the nationals. Twelfth best in the country this year in the Under 17s age group which includes the year above her. All in all a very pleased girl.

Meantime the bees were swarming and, after I had spotted them on the Moor in a Hawthorn bush, Danielle went out fully booted and bee-suited to collect the swarm [a lot easier than it sounds if you know what you are doing. She does.]and they are now safely back in their hive. Naughty Queen.

The photo is another from the cycle ride down the Planets.

The Planets

We all rode down the Planets cycle track on Friday. Here are the team at Pluto. It was so good to have guests who arrived by bike [off of the train from London] so we could all get out together.