Seebohm

Danielle and I went to a reception at the Treasurer's House http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-treasurershouseyork by the Rowntree Society. They have been instrumental in getting the BBC to do two films on Seebohm Rowntree http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Seebohm_Rowntree which go out next month. They showed a clip, which looked really good. It was good to catch up with lots of people we knew. This is the view from the garden where we were.

Boot

Rowan had to make a shoe in Design & Technology at school. I think the idea was to do a dainty little high heeled shoe, so I was pleased when she went for a walking boot made out of Ordnance Survey maps - very impressive.

Holiday 1976

After the Torquay debacle 1976 saw me setting off in my old beat-up VW Beetle with cousin Gill and her friend Jude. I am in the hat, Gill is peeping out from behind Jude. I was due to go with friend Alistair but he cried off so Gill and Jude travelled with me for 3 weeks before starting their own inter-rail journey. We drove down through France, and Franco's Spain [with scary Guarda Civil] to the Algarve in Portugal where we stayed at a villa that belonged to some friends of my parents. Next we drove back up to France where we parted as planned. I drove on alone, hung out at Antibes with some French guys, then met up with Martyn from England. Together we drove through Italy to Florence and Venice before heading up to Austria where we parted. I then made my way up through Switzerland, Germany and Belgium before heading back home. It was a great start to travelling.

An example of how youth thinks: my father suggested before I went that “you just check you know how to change a tyre on the car”. This was an entirely sensible suggestion – which I ignored. Luckily I had no punctures. The brakes failed though, so I had to negotiate a couple of Alpine passes on the handbrake; all part of the fun.

Green

Friend Karen stayed over last week, en route to another course at the University.

Another photo from the bridleway ride.

Idyll

This is from the bridleway ride. It is in the middle of nowhere, where the limestone meets the millstone grit, where the Vale of York gives way to the Pennines, where a lovely stream runs strong.

Off road

When the weather is like this, hot and dry, there is nothing better than taking the mountain bike out onto the bridleways and carving out a route. I took this route which encompassed fields and woodland, Roman roads, old railway lines; just fantastic.

Race for Life

Rowan and Danielle both ran in the Race for Life women only sponsored run on Sunday along with several hundred women of York.

Rowan came second overall in the 5k race.

This is an article from the local paper on The Mount's entry into the event.

War Requiem

I went to see Britten's War Requiem http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/britwar.html in York Minster last week. It is based on the war poems of Wilfred Owen [which I did for O level]. It was a fantastic setting and a great performance, definitely worth seeing.

LBT

Rowan is now a member of the junior section of the Leeds Bradford Triathlon club. It is really well run, and she likes it. Saturday morning it was cycling on the track at Bradford. You'll see Rowan is the only one on a sit up and beg bike, but she was doing well in this sprint.

Teeth

Last photo from the canal.

Rowan had two teeth out last week, in preparation for the fitting of a brace next week. She was remarkably cool about the whole thing; in contrast to me, who looked away and was prepared for a good hour or so of distress. After 10 minutes the whole thing was over, and Robert presented Rowan with two teeth in a jar.

Sarah Dean

Went with friend Patrick to the folk night at the Black Swan last week. It was all a bit traditional and straight for me. Until Sarah Dean got up to do 2 songs, http://www.myspace.com/sarahdeanpluckybutterfly . She was really great. Hearing the songs with just harp for accompaniment gave an idea of how good they could be if fully produced [strings, guitars, the works].

The photo is another from the Pocklington canal

Speechs

It was Speech Day at The Mount last week. Danielle did an introductory speech as the Chair of the Governors, and Rowan received the Citizenship prize for her class. So I just sat being proud. The photo shows Rowan receiving her award from an ex-pupil who now runs Science City York, and who gave a very inspirational speech. The head teacher, Julie, is sat next to Danielle.

Cycle Rally

We went down to the annual CTC cycle rally on the Knavesmire, stocked up with inner tubes and various bits of cycling equipment. I saw this original Dursley Pederson bike on one of the stands.

Doves

Cute shots of Collared Doves are not what I consider my forte. But this one was hard to resist. The birds are on the climbing frame in the garden in front of the Birch trees.

Will

Rowan's school put on a Shakespeare evening in the grounds yesterday. The weather was perfect and it all went well. Rowan was a strolling drummer.

Saturday Night

Saturday night we went out for a meal with Sue & Eddy. Had a good time at the Hotel du Vin. We had all cycled there so there was no messing around. Sunday Rowan ran for York in the Young Athletes League. Another photo from the canal.

World Cup 2

Save Now
Went down to watch the world cup with Rob and Mark at Rob's in Muswell Hill. Good fun [bad match not withstanding] and good to catch up with friends.

The photo is another from the Pocklington Canal walk

Unbridled

There are some great bridleways around York. You can connect them up to provide a really good bike ride. This path through the corn is to the south of the City.

Pocklington Canal

Took the dog a walk down the Pocklington Canal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocklington_Canal . It was a beautiful day and the fields and meadows were perfect. That is a glider in the sky.

Book Group

Our book group met last week to discuss My Driver by Maggie Gee. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=my+driver+maggie+gee&x=0&y=0&sprefix=my+driver+

It looked like the worst book ever, from the blurb on the back. But, amazingly, I really liked it and might read another one by the author. David and Gwen both gave up after 100 pages, so as usual it was mixed reviews from our group.

Wolds

Went a ride with Dave and Ted on Sunday. 100k [my preferred distance now, the days of enjoying a 100 mile ride are gone], good hills in the Wolds, cafe for lunch. Perfect.

Edward started out with us, but a loose crank sent him home.

The photo is of a lake I have found near Rowan's running track that Milo loves to swim in. [poor ducks]

Visitor

This Budgie came to the garden last week. By the time I had got back from picking Rowan up the bird had gone. Which is a good job because I had no idea what I was going to do with it.

Saturday night we went to a wine tasting at John and Heather's. It was great fun; quite hard to multi-task, drinking, talking, eating, making notes on the wines ...

Wheldrake

Took the dog a walk in Wheldrake wood last week. It is an amazingly verdant place, feels like the jungle with the rhododendrons in flower

World Cup

The first world cup I remember was 1966. Rosemary and I cycled up and down Hill Road in Preston instead of watching the game. Four years later it is the treat of being allowed to watch the game from Mexico in bed, in colour, in the morning [all three things were new to me, as was England loosing to Germany]

At school in 1974 we all watched as England failed to qualify due to a great Polish goalkeeper. I remember not being too bothered.

1978 I was revising for University exams in the sunshine at Forest Side in Windermere. Watching the games with my father was a good way to contrast the revision.

1982 Mark, Marie and I watched Germany batter their way past the beautiful multi-racial French team of Giresse, Tigane and Tresor. The horror of Schumacher's assault of Battiston still lives on. After the game we went across the road to commiserate with the French barmaid in the pub.

1986 I was moving into my first house in Tottenham. The black and white telly was on in the bare corner of the stark bedroom. England were terrible.

1990 I was playing badminton when England were playing Germany in the semi-finals. On the way back home I called in at Rob's to see how it had gone; just in time for the fateful penalties.

1994 I had a houseful watching the final, Brazil Italy.

1998 Danielle Rowan and I had just moved to York. Exhausted we got into bed to watch England Argentina, and fell asleep. We awoke to endless replays of Beckham's petulant kick and Sol's disallowed goal.

2002 We again moved house [notice a pattern here] this time Beckham scored his penalty against Argentina just as I was unpacking in the kitchen

2006 Mark Rob and I watched the first day in Rob's club in Shaftesbury Avenue with a basketful of cold beer in front of us.

2010. Starts today...

Sportive

The photo is another shot of the Minster, taken last week.

Rowan and I rode a sportive on Sunday in the North York Moors. After the horrors of Richmond it all went well. Rowan enjoyed it, it was short [35miles] and fun. On top of that Rowan's time was 15th best out of 42 participants [adults] so we were happy. We got back in the car and it started raining.

Swan's way

My Radio 4 appearance [all 44 seconds of it] is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/YDl5K5yiRGCYVijJFF0XXg Just scroll down to the images, click on image 2 and I will appear. Last week the Daily Mail rang as they are doing an article about objects that people have uploaded, so it has legs ...

Last week Rowan and I took Milo a walk by the River Derwent at Bubwith. He was not that sure about the Swans; when they started to hiss he was very glad to respond to my whistle and behave well for once.

Meal

Saturday night we all went to David and Anita's for a meal with 15 or so. It was a great night and, as you can see, they have the dining room table to do the job in style

Leeds Garden City

Saturday morning. I realised that the place I take Rowan for her triathlon training in Leeds is right next to where friend Joanna and Ashley live. So this week I called in for a very civilized coffee in the sunshine in the garden. Great to see them and catch up.

The photo is from the walk I take through Leeds - beautiful place.

Spiral

The herb spiral continues to work well. It is into its sixth year of use. Quite hard to photograph, but here it is.

More Ouse

Another shot from the Ouse. This one will hang on the wall for a while, to see if I like it enough. We have all been busy in the garden. Danielle on the herb spiral, Rowan clearing the brambles from "her" apple tree, and me in the vegetable garden. It is so great to have a run of good weather.

Ouse

We are having a quiet half term. We took the dog walking down by the Ouse again yesterday. This scene is pretty idyllic and pretty typical.

Radio 4

I was in the garden with Rowan today when neighbour Robert approached me with a look of shock on his face. "I was driving along listening to Radio 4 when I heard you!" Seems the BBC have put out the bit I recorded about the First Motorway paperweight - I haven't heard it yet. Robert seems to have recovered.

Meanwhile friend Julia was on the Moral Maze as a witness also on Radio 4. Any one else on today?

The photo is of a bit of tree I was cutting down today. It was about to become logs for the fire when I noticed the curious way it had been twisted round by bindweed. So I spared it, stripped the bark, cut it to length and intend it to become a new family heirloom - the family stick.

Rope

Rowan spotted this lurking over the Ouse, and suggested a photo.

Today we went to Pizza Express as Rowan's treat for revising for her exams so hard. They are all finished now, so half term is nice and relaxed.

A lesson learned

The sportive in Richmond did not go well. Danielle and Rowan got wet, cold and lost and had to be driven back to base after 30 miles or so. I had a puncture and missed the bronze time of 6.5 hours by 2 minutes. But. We were all happy to be re-united. No damage done and no enthusiasm lost but parameters learned.

We have had two great days in the garden. Planting, playing, chopping, bbq-ing, etc. The best way to spend a bank holiday.

The photo is from a walk Rowan and I went with the dog down by the Ouse.

Pod

One of the positive spin-offs from having the dog, is that Rowan is not now scared of cats either. We were at Richmond at the weekend and Pod, our friend's cat seemed very happy to keep Rowan warm.

Family member

Ben & Kari sent us this photo of our niece KC who is just turned one.

Holiday 1975

The first independent holiday I went on was in 1975, when I had just left school. Three of us were to meet at Torquay station. Kabiru failed to turn up [on account of a coup in Kano where his father was now in hiding; which was fair enough] which just left me and Alistair. We were so unprepared that we both brought a tent, which meant we had a lot of weight to cart around looking for a campsite. We found one, then thought about hiring a car to get around [I was an experienced 17 year old driver of 3 months] only to be surprised to find that they were not going to rent me one. I think we enjoyed ourselves for a few days then came home. Not an auspicious start.

A World Without Bees

Brian, the partner of Alison who interviewed Danielle for the Guardian, was up in York for a bee-inspector course at the DEFRA centre outside York at Sand Hutton. He and Alison wrote the book A World Without Bees http://www.guardianbooks.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10401&catalogId=25501&langId=100&parentType=category&parentId=42103&productId=168663&cm_mmc=Google%20Adwords-_-Products%20Campaign%20-_-World%20Without%20Bees-_-World%20Without%20Bees%20PB which has sold very well. We hadn't met him before but we all got on well and gave him a meal at home.

Garden News

So the vegetable garden looks like this. Peas and lettuce and beetroot and spinach and broccoli and swede and cavallo nero are all planted out. Spuds and onions are in too. The spinach from last year has given a good spring harvest but is now just about ready to be dug up. So things looking quite good so far. Time will tell. I am busy chopping wood for the fire as well.

Ride

Two weeks ago there was frost in the mornings. In May. It didn't seem right. This weekend has been the opposite, beautiful hot days, sunshine, the works. Rowan was running yesterday, then we went to friends Bill & Angela for a great meal last night. Today Rowan and Danielle went to meeting whilst I did this ride to Knaresborough. It's a gentle 50 mile with a lunch stop by the river.

Gordon Giltrap

A friend has started to run a series of gigs at a lovely old theatre in nearby Knaresborough. So we all went to see Gordon Giltrap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Giltrap about whom I knew very little. It was a great venue, and a great gig with some inspiring guitar work.

The photo is one from the cross country races on the Knavesmire in the winter. I have been looking at it again and think it has something about it.

Weather

We have been watching the Tour of California bike race http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

: pouring rain. We have been watching the Giro d'Italia http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2010/en/ : pouring rain. Meanwhile here in Yorkshire it is a drought, a heatwave [well 24degrees]

The photo is Rowan getting her prize for winning the 1500m last week.

High Jump

Rowan has started getting specialist high jump coaching at the athletics club. It looks very technical, and I think it might make it harder for her at first, but she is good at listening [except to her parents obviously] so she should be OK.

Near where I was working in London was this conduit for a stream of water right down the centre of a precinct. I managed to stumble into it first time I was there: quite reassuring in health and safety paranoia terms.

Sculpture

This was a sculpture on the way to Tower Bridge - not bad.

The presentation we made to our client last week was a disaster - resulting in a lot of re-writing for all four of us in our consortium. I think I may stick to working on my own in the future...

Concert

Rowan played in an informal school concert on Friday night. She was on French Horn as part of the junior orchestra that played In The Mood. It was great fun. It was not polished but it reflected a lot of enthusiasm from all concerned.

The photo is of Tower Bridge - it still impresses me every time I cross it.

Docklands

In London again. I could not stay with niece Sarah this time so I contacted friends John & Lynn who I have not seen for a good several years. They live in Wapping docklands twenty minutes from my office at Tower Bridge. Great to see them, and great to walk through the canals and bridges of St Kathernine's dock on the way to work. If you are going to live in the city, then this is a good way to do it.

High Jump

Rowan was running in an inter-schools event at York stadium today. There were 20-odd schools from across the north. She won the 1500m and the high jump, so she was pretty pleased. This is a shot from an early round in the high jump.

Secret railway

I found this narrow gauge railway http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/raildiary/alr/ in the grounds at Kirkstall Abbey. Amazing the things you find if you wander about.

Kirkstall

Whilst Rowan was triathloning on Saturday I walked through what Martin Kelner calls the Garden City of Leeds. And in a strange sort of way, that is what it is. Woods and valleys reach right into the heart of the city from the moors beyond. I came across Kirkstall Abbey which I have passed many times but never stopped to look at. It is very impressive in a dirty-city kind of way, and in better repair than many others [Fountains for one]

Old friend

Saturday I took Rowan to Leeds for Triathlon training, then we went to Redbrick Mill in Batley http://www.redbrickmill.co.uk/ where old school friend Timmy Mallet [who I have known for 44 years] was exhibiting some of his paintings. Really good to see him, he was selling too. He put me in touch with the gallery http://www.smartgallery.co.uk/home who may want to show some of my work in the future. Rowan and I then had a favorite lunch at Ikea [really] then home.

Ride

What a great ride. Dave and I did a loop to Castleton and Back, which took in the Howardian Hills, up and over and back across the North York Moors, Rosedale Chimney http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/Ainsley/hills.html [steepest road in Britain at 1 in 3] and back via Castle Howard. The weather was great the wind in our faces going out, blowing us home. It was perfect. 93 miles of fun [now that it is over]

The photo is of a bluebell wood at Acaster. Not easy to photograph and probably best left to painters.

Art

My cousin Gill and Robert came over to see us while they are on holiday in the North York Moors. Great to see them. It was a complicated schedule that involved, showing them the house, a cup of tea, picking up Rowan from school, meeting Danielle, a Thai meal at Old Siam, and a visit to a new art gallery in York that were showing one of my photographs at their opening night. http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/exhibitions/8153755.Bar_Lane_Studios_and_Gallery_opens_at_Micklegate__York/?ref=twt

Amazingly it all worked out.

The photo is form our walk in the Wolds.

More Wolds

Another shot from the Wolds [you need to click on it to do it justice. Just off to hang up two of my photos at a new gallery opening tonight. Will keep you posted as to how it goes. We all stayed up to watch the three Sunderland results in the election, then listened on the radio. Could be interesting.

Lording it

The work in London is hotting up and should be finished by the end of next week. Quite good to be working as part of a four-person team for a change. Last night I met up with Victor for a few beers at Soho House. A club in a house. In Soho. http://www.sohohouselondon.com/

I stayed over with Victor and family. Discovered that if you are a Lord [which he is] you can't vote.

Another Voting Website

This site www.voteforachange.co.uk tells you how to vote for a hung parliament depending on which constituency you live in. In York Central it recommends Labour. Which made me feel better, as I had just posted off my vote for Labour. It is going to be a strange evening on Thursday.

Rowan is allowed to stay up until the first results come in, just to see how it all works.

A thistle from our walk in the Wolds.

Wolds

We all went a walk in the Wolds on Bank Holiday Monday. It rained of course, but not a lot and the walk was great. We all went from A to B, but I calculate that when running about was taken into account Danielle and I covered, say, 4 miles, Rowan 5 and Milo 8.

The photo is at the entrance to the secret world of one of the dales which cut deep through the chalk.

Votematch

Colleague Dan told me about this website http://www.votematch.org.uk/ where you answer 30 political questions, then the site tells you which party you most clearly align with. It is good.

The photo is of Rowan in York. Yesterday Rowan was running for York Athletics Club in Sheffield, she won the 12oom and the team came second overall. She travelled to the the match in the club coach, so we didn't see her all day.

Brass Band

Friend Emily was playing in a Brass Band yesterday in Museum Gardens in York. It was raining, so that the crowd was dispersed, damp but enjoying the music. We lasted three numbers before the warmth of the cafe pulled us away. It was really good though. [That's them under the tent]

Part of the service

This week I have been delivering photos to people who bought at the exhibition. This is something I like doing. It strengthens the relationship with the client, and it is also good to see where the photos are going. Positive all round. Friday I went to a couple of musicians who moved up from London and set up a recording studio in a village in East Yorkshire. Great people.

The photo is of the Ouse just north of York. The river drains huge swathes of the Pennines, with the result that by the time it gets to York it looks like a real river.