Victoria Gray & Friends Concert

Last weekend I was privileged to attend a concert at Queen Elizabeth's School Mansfield Notts. This was to raise funds for Victoria Gray my friend Maggie's granddaughter who is training to be an opera singer at the Royal College of Music London. Together with Anthony Gregory, senior members of the Cantamus choir and pianist Michael Neum, Victoria put on a splendid programme with lots of variety. As I was helping I got to hear the rehersals and managed to take a few video clips. This one is called 'The Prayer'. Apologies for hand shake on camera. Of course for the performance they did wear their 'posh' clothes!

Astbury Mere again!

Walking back from church today I noticed the light on the mere was very interesting as it was frozen in patches and we had had a sprinkling of snow last night. The video shows the size of the lake which has been created from sandquarrying below the water table. The newly surfaced path around the lake is about a mile. You get to hear the ducks and seagulls too!

Timber!

Today was a sad day at Blythe Gardens. The beautiful eucalyptus that has graced my garden for 12 years has been felled. It had been diagnosed with the dreaded Honey fungus, so there was no decision to be made - it had to go. Has given many years of pleasure to me and friends with lovely bark. This is problem with planting non-native species so beware.

Icy Mere

Astbury Mere before the thaw.

New Year White-out

Today it is snowing seriously. I fear our luck has run out in Cheshire. Have been to shops in anticipation, so do I care - do I heck! Got lots to read and plenty on radio. My new year's resolution is to de-clutter and sort photos on computer - boredom is not in my vocabulary!

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!

View from my bedroom window.

Canal Capers

After taking these images along the canal this morning I couldn't decide which was the best so decided to include them all.

Astbury Golf course





Under 'snaily' bridge




The Wharfe appartments

Sunday Snow

Today the Sunday before Christmas we had snow and then the sun came out. Quickly I donned boots and armed with my camera I set off for the 5 minute walk to Astbury Mere , where I caught '4 swans a swimming'. Other 3 out of sight!

Then on my return home I spotted that my neighbours had created a new Man U supporter!

Wonder of the World

This year we had a pre-Christmas family get-together as Graham will be on holiday in South America. He is visiting a friend in Chili and then going on to walk part of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. Sophia was presented with a light up globe to see where he was going.

A church at Cheadle

On a recent visit to Cheadle Staffs, we had a mission to visit the Roman catholic church of St Giles. Our first glimse was the 200 feet high spire which dominates the small market town. The interior of the church is not beautiful but very rich in colour and design. Built in 1846 with the generosity of the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury living in nearby Alton towers, it was designed by Pugin with no expense spared. I hope the images will inspire you to go and see for yourself, but go armed with £1 coins to operate the lights!

On a cold day there were lots of nice teashops and a small indoor market in the town.

Also an interesting reclamation yard nearby which warrants another visit to this area for photographic opportunity.

www.lesoakes.com

More Fireworks

Last Saturday I attended an event in Congleton Town Hall 'Young Artists of the Year', as my granddaughter Victoria had an entry submitted from her school. We were very proud when her painting of the theme of 'Fireworks' was chosen as winner in her age group. In fact both grandmothers disgraced themselves by cheering!

This is the 11th year of this competition organised and sponsored by Dane Rotary Club, Siemens and Weavercraft at the Victoria Mill Arts (VMA) centre.

Bonfire Bonanza

Congleton Park bonfire organised by Rotary and Lions club seemed so much bigger than I remembered it from when I last attended 7 years ago. My eldest son Jamie and his friend looked after me. I love the parent role-reversal now - worth all those years of 'toil'!

The atmosphere was great and the rain kept away enabling me to try out the firework setting on my camera.

Guy Fawkes bungling meets Chinese brilliance!

Lakes Train Trip

Having purchased my first rail 'rover' ticket for the North west I set off to ride the Cumbrian coast line via Manchester, Barrow in Furness to St Bees for a couple of nights. I don't think it had changed much since we set off from here to do parts of the 'coast to coast' walk 20 years ago. For those who need a 'sea' fix I've included a video as the tide was in and waves were crashing.

The second day I travelled back to Ravenglass for a ride on the little train up Eskdale to Dalegarth, where I pottered around sheltering in St Catherine's church during a rainy period and then exploring the valley up to Stanley Force.

The next 2 days I met up with a friend in Cockermouth and our activities ranged from tracking down a marble altar from a local POW camp, a very blustery walk along Maryport prom, and a picnic on the shore of lonely Crummock Water.











The final leg of my journey was riding the Carlisle / Settle line and home via Leeds and Manchester. All in all I got my money's worth from my 4 day rail ticket.

Alderley Edge

Last Friday our U3A Photo Group had an outing to local National Trust Woodland at Alderley Edge. We had chosen a wonderful day for the light was perfect and we all learned a lot from each other as we snapped away and compared photos - such is the wonder of digital cameras. Instant gratification. Our lunch together after the walk at The Wizard pub too was very sociable.

Biddulph Old Hall

Recently I attended a meeting of the Congleton Historical Society. The talk was on the restoration of Biddulph Old Hall which is only a few miles outside Congleton but in Staffordshire. A few years ago I had been to a similar talk by the Biddulph History Society and I was interested in any recent developments. I had always vaguely known that the Biddulph's at the hall , a strongly Catholic and Royalist household, had been beseiged by Cromwell and his merry band of Roundheads during the Civil war. Then in 2005 had seen the part restoration on TV.

With great enthusiasm the current owners Nigel Daley and Brian Vowles have been grant aided and the hunting tower although still scaffolded is now safe and they are planning to raise further funds to restore the interior. As well as reading and viewing rooms they want to develop a prayer room which hopefully will be consecrated by both the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths, which can be accessed by the general public.

They have also undertaken extensive family history research and found some very interesting and almost breath-taking connections. A book has been commissioned so watch this space.

Japanese Garden

Last week I attended a lecture on the restoration of the Japanese Garden at Tatton Park (Knutsford) by head gardener Sam Youd. After an entertaining and informative illustrated talk in the Mansion house we were given an 'inside' tour of the garden and island area. As the day was sunny the light filtered through the trees making it a photographer's paradise. I also had booked in for the lunch held in the adjacent room to the restaurant where there was further time to chat about our garden experience. A memorable day.

Sutton's Sundial

Last weekend I went over to North Notts to visit Sutton in Ashfield - my birthplace and where I spent the formative years of my life, escaping when I was 20 to pastures new. Now going back to visit friends and relatives is a pleasure as I feel the pull of my roots in that area. However I always enjoy returning home to my Cheshire home.





A few years ago the authorities decided to erect the largest sundial in the world in the centre of the town. There were instructions on how to read the time but these have long gone. I still remember a friend overhearing a resident explain the time was ' Five minutes past Firths', this being the newsagents adjacent to the structure. Such is the drole humour of my home town!

Delamere Delights

Last week Lorraine and I had chosen the best day weather wise to walk in Delamere Forest. When I bought the walking guide from the Linmere visitor centre, the countryside ranger recommended the climb up 'Old Pale' to the new sculpture on the hill. The views were superb out to Liverpool and the welsh hills. Up there the new standing stones were hewn out of rock from the 6 counties to be seen on a clear day as this. Then a new path spiralled to the central stone of Cheshire sandstone. It seemed to be a sacred magical place.

I do recommend buying the map costing £2 as it has all the paths and numbered posts so it is relatively easy to negotiate the forest with it's myriad of walks.

As well as the visitor centre cafe there is also a cafe at the Delamere station building.

The Go Ape assault course is a source of interest but no-one was playing this day.

Prague - City of Dreams

Last weekend Elaine and I experienced 3 wonderful days of sunshine in Prague. The vistas of the city architecture were magical with shimmering green domes and spires looking down on a myriad of terracotta roof tiles. Our own independent tour included a city bus ride, a night at the opera, a midday classical concert, an evening dinner river cruise, as well as wandering on foot through the medieval alleys and up to the castle fortress area. Other highlights included stumbling on a terraced Italian Baroque garden, a huge grey rock sculpture wall and the memorial to John Lennon in the form of a graffiti wall.

We found the Czech people very pleasant and helpful especially the young.

This is the stuff that dreams are make of!

Mount Pleasant Gardens

Recently I went with the Sunday Garden Group to Mount Pleasant Gardens near Kelsall. This garden set on a hillside with lots of hidden corners is ideal for the sculpture exhibition displaying work by local artists, which seems to be an annual event at this time of year. Again we were lucky with the weather and could enjoy refreshments al fresco. What I love about this garden is that there are seats tucked away everywhere. The Japanese garden is spectacular.

Make up your own caption for the Meerkats. Mine is "Did you hear the one about ........"

Ludlow Food and Drink Festival

Last Friday I went on a 'jolly' with U3A to the Ludlow Food and Drink festival. We were all very impressed by the event held in the castle grounds of this lovely town, especially as the weather remained warm and sunny all day. I was amused that we indulged in a hog roast bap listening to a debate on 'Carnivores versus Vegetarians'. Other memorable tastings were sloe gin, elderflower flavoured icecream and 'fuffles' which was a combination of fudge and truffles (sweet variety!).