London to Cambridge Bike Ride 24/07/05

Bill took me by car to the start of the ride, the M25 wasn’t that busy of a Sunday morning and it didn’t take long to sort the bike out, so I started at about 9am. At the start there was some argy-bargy in the peloton, with the male racing-bike riders trying to get past the girlies and MTBs by rudely snapping at us and pushing! And this a charity ride that isn’t supposed to be a race!!
I was still very wary of my new cycling cleats, after having got one shoe stuck to the pedal yesterday, and having to walk through Halfords with one shoe on and the other still on the bike to get it removed :-[ So I was freeing myself in plenty of time for junctions and along the crowded gravel track through Lee Park.
I knew the weather was going to be bad – so I wasn’t that worried when, just a few miles from the start, it began to rain. I put my pac-a-mac on, and my gore-tex helmet cover, and kept going. By the time I reached the second food point (never stop at the first one!) it was raining quite heavily, and the riders were crammed into the tea-tent trying to shelter. I had a cup of tea, a banana, a doughnut and a pee, and also asked the mechanics to sort out the brakes on my front wheel, which were loose and in contact with the tyre.
The route was rather undulating, not as flat as I’d been expecting. There were some pretty villages that the route took us through, such as Roydon and Clavering, but with the raindrops on my glasses and the steam from my breath, I couldn’t really appreciate my surroundings.
By the time I got to Ickleton I was completely saturated, right down to my undies. I was cycling past another official food stop, the Red Lion, when I saw a sign ‘Beer Festival and BBQ’ – bingo! I grabbed a seat, queued for the loo and got myself a beer (Tom Wood’s Bomber County, lovely). The queue for the food was quite long, in the rain again (I’d stupidly left my coat on the chair) but the cheeseburger was huge and only £2.50. A funny team of cycling guys in the pub – all with Foska tops on and one wrapped in a tin foil cape!
Then it was only 10 miles to Cambridge but I was knackered by then. I pushed the bike up the last big hill not because it was particularly steep but because I couldn’t face cycling it! The rain was now very fine but still heavy, some people had their lights on so that they would be visible to the cars, as the road into town was quite busy. I was merrily following a cycle path into town and saw a sign that said ‘cyclists please dismount’, but could not be bothered to struggle out of the cleats. The cars coming out of the side road were stationary so I cycled behind a big BMW – only to nearly get run over by a car trying to cut round it on the left (where there was no room to get through anyway)! I had to grab the back of the BMW to stop myself – bet the driver was not at all impressed! However despite their drawbacks the cleats provided excellent grip in the rain, I think I’ll keep them on the bike for now.
I made it to the finish line at Midsummer Common, Cambridge at about 3pm – huzzah! I soon became cold once I’d stopped, and just wanted to get back home, so I did not stop to enjoy the beer tent and massage, and got staight on the lovely warm 15.30 coach.
The coach’s windscreen wipers broke down in the rain on the M11, and I thought I’d be stuck there – but 4 lycra lads jumped out and fixed it, to loud cheers from the rest of the coach! Got back to London and found my bike, which had been a bit battered in it’s lorry, – will have to get the gears fixed now. :-( Next time I will take the train. Thanks to lovely Bill for coming and picking me up again!
Can’t say I enjoyed it but it was certainly an achievement – cycling 50 miles in the rain!

Puss Cat – Good News

Good news about the cat that Bill ran over, she is now reunited with her owner. We had a phone call late on Friday just as we were about to pop down the Prince of Wales with Simon and Jane, it was the cat’s owner who was already at the pub! The message we left behind the bar on Sunday had worked. Bill told the man where the cat was, and he then asked his wife to go and pick her up from the vets, but he was still in the pub when we arrived. He was really nice about it, luckily. He explained that the cat (called Womble) liked to follow him to the pub, and was used to living in a cul-de-sac where cars drove more slowly and had time to get out of the way. Poor Womble, I hope she’s learnt her lesson now!

Redhill Beer Festival Meeting 20/07/05

It was a hot evening and I thought I’d take the opportunity for a longer cycle ride before meeting up with Kath in town, so I cycled along Route 21 to the Inn on the Pond, where I had a lovely half of Harveys Best, sitting outside watching the sun setting over the North Downs. Was late to meet Kath though – she’d told me 7pm in the Sun and I thought she’d said 7.30pm. She didn’t seem too annoyed though. Had a mediocre half of W J King’s Summer something-or-other there before heading off to sup the outstanding Harvey’s beers at the Garland. Martini the cat greeted me with a loud meiow, always nice when the owner recognises you! On the beer front, the Armada and Tom Paine were particularly superb.
The meeting really dragged but progress was seemingly made – at least there were no troublemakers, in contrast to Cardiff meetings of old! 3 of us from the old days of Cardiff Beer Festival were there (me, Kath, Martin) out of only 5.
Smooth journey home for a change, with Martin as far as Reigate.

Steve Knightley at Forest Folk, 18/07/05

The little scout hut at Boarhunt was packed, a rare occurrence.
Bill and I were almost drumming our fingers through the floor-spot acts, even though the last one was 2 members of the Reivers who were brave enough to play a Show of Hands song! Steve was fantastic (as regular readers would expect) – his gigs are somewhat different when he is without Phil, more introspective and confessional. He talked a little about the Cuatro, which is quite similar to the Ukulele, wonder if I could one day play Steve’s version of Widdecombe Fair on it.
Free strawbs and pizza slices at half time, the only moan would be the queue at the bar again with locals obviously being given precedence. The Ruddles County was a bit rough, according to Bill, who doesn’t like it anyway. Forest Folk is still one of my favourite venues though.

Guifest 2005

Superb weather throughout – I got sunburnt on the Saturday though which was not pleasant. I’d assumed I had sufficient base tan and therefore didn’t need to put on sun cream! Bill laughed though, he’d used sun cream and had not burnt, despite being much fairer.
Friday : The Twelve Sullivans played an excellent set, but were half an hour earlier than in the programme. They were giving out free Guinness providing you downed it in one during one of their Irish drinking songs (I cheated and sipped most of mine before).
The Pogues were the headliners of Friday. There was some speculation as to whether Shane McGowan would be joining them, as he had apparently been double-booked for a gig with the Popes, and also had to cancel a lot of gigs due to ‘stomach problems’ (a euphemism for being paralytically drunk?) However Shane was there, and was sober enough to sing and walk just about! He kept wandering back and forth with a huge bucket of water, presumably the band had given it to him to help him sober up. Maybe when he wandered off stage there was somebody pushing him back on again! The rest of the band were very skilled though and the crowd had a great time with old faves like The Irish Rover.
Saturday: Paul Weller was the headliner, and being a local boy (from Woking!) he was very popular. He is very mellow these days, and only played That’s Entertainment from his Jam days whilst I was there. You Do Something To Me is a great song though. Got sunburnt, sunstruck and blisters on Saturday, so wasn’t in dancing mood anyway!
Bought a little red Ukulele (my Grandad Naylor would have been proud) but needed a tuning whistle which the stall didn’t supply. Hope to have fun with it in future though. Amazing how many musicians stopped to chat to me whilst I was strumming it! Embarrassing!
Sunday: Probably the most fun day, with Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain to kick off. Daniel Bledingfield was surprisingly good, at least he writes his own stuff and can sing . Shame about all the screaming 13-year-old girls! Lulu was as good as ever at 55, looked fab. Men were shouting ‘I love you’ to her! Was surprised that she wrote The Man Who Sold The World, that’s one of my favourite songs. Preferred David Bowie’s version though.
I took part in the World Record for Air Guitar, shame Bill didn’t want to put his name down. We air-guitared to Sweet Child O’ Mine accompanied by 2 world champion air-guitarists - one dressed as a farmer and the other as Slash from Guns N Roses!
Bill listened to headliners Status Quo, who were, well, Status Quo. I wandered off to see Hayseed Dixie but couldn’t get near enough to hear them, then visited the local band’s stage to listen to some heavy metal merchants. Popular with the lads though.
Couldn’t ask for a better weekend, £75 well spent I say!
On the way back from Guilfest a cat ran out in front of the car and Bill unfortunately hit it. There was a loud bump and we were horrified to see the cat still as death in the middle of the road. I ran back to the cat, meanwhile another car passed over it without hitting it and picked the cat up in my fleece so that it didn’t get run over again.

Whilst Bill found the emergency vet’s number, the cat came round and tried to stand up, but I spoke soothingly to it. I picked it up like a baby and took it round some of the houses nearby to see if anyone recognised it, with no luck.
There was an anxious 6-mile drive to the vets, the cat looking around confusedly from my fleece but not meiowing or struggling. Thankfully, when the vet checked it over there were no broken bones, just a few cuts and bruises. We are now waiting to see if anyone claims her.

Westerham Brewery Visit

Keith from East and Mid Surrey CAMRA had emailed me details of the Westerham Brewery Open Evening - £5 drink as much as you want sounded pretty good to me! The event started at 6.30pm, and it was easy to get to the brewery by train after work to Edenbridge and then cycle to Grange Farm in Crockham Hill. I thought I’d get a snack in Edenbridge on the way up, but there didn’t seem to be any fast food near the station.
I soon found out why Crockham Hill was called Crockham Hill, and had to push the bike up into the village! Still no takeaways to reward me, so I cycled on to the brewery, and was relieved to see sausages sizzling away on a big barbie round the back.
The beers were great and there was a large range on offer, served in glass jugs. I tried Summer Perle, British Bulldog, Black Eagle SPA, Little Scotney Ale, Grasshopper, 7X and 1965 Special, but Summer Perle was my favourite.
I met some lovely people there – there were 2 people from Maidstone CAMRA and some well-educated bikers (much like my friend Simon) from Biggin Hill who kept me entertained, they were joined later by the Vicar of Biggin Hill. This led to a rather drunken conversation on whether God exists, whereupon the Vicar told me there’s no real ale in Hell. Time to worry I think!!
The lady on the desk, I assume Robert Wick’s wife, was also very interesting and knowledgeable about the brewery. Whilst she was standing there alone for most of the evening, you couldn’t get near Robert to ask any questions, but then people often overlook us women!
I also tried the sausages, which were made with Westerham beer by Priory Farm, and had won a Silver Medal. Delicious!
Wobbled back to the station and made it home somehow!

Priddy Folk Festival - 10/7/05

Priddy good one!
Just a little village festival, with a lot of the profits seeming to go back to the community - which is how it should be. THe atmosphere was very laid back. Beer from Hidden Brewery, also cider from local producers. Nice bacon sarnies too.
Wandering Soles were good, Steve Tilston http://www.steve-tilston.co.uk/ on fine form and Seth Lakeman Trio http://www.sethlakeman.co.uk/ excellent. Out in the (much cooler) club tent, Christina Crosby and Andrew Bazley were both very good, the former being a Joan Baez type and the latter being an excellent blues-guitarist.
Loscoe State Opera http://www.loscoestateopera.com/ (don't worry they're a far cry from opera!) were the surprise of the event, being much like the Levellers but with a flute and an accordion. They did spiced-up versions of traditional songs and went down a storm, a great way to finish off the festival.

Abbotsbury Family Festival 2005

First we stopped off in Dorset to see Bill’s Dad George, who hadn’t been well, and to take him and girlfriend Eileen out for lunch. There was a slight detour down the Bride Valley, as Bill couldn’t remember where the pub was! Luckily we came across it in Litton Cheney. It was a Palmers pub, called the White Horse, and served good, cheap food – shame about the beer quality though.
George and Eileen seemed to enjoy their meals and the scenic ride. We caught up on family news as well, before heading back to Abbotsbury Gardens to meet up with Other Val and Matt. Also bumped in to Darren from folking.com, who was sitting just in front.
There is a running joke at Abbotsbury Folk Festival that Steve Knightley is in fact a rain god, and if he sings Tall Ships (plenty of rain lyrics including ‘so we look for a storm in the sky’) he can bring on the bad weather. This year he was forbidden to do so, as last year it absolutely tipped it down right on cue!
However he did sing The Preacher (‘she was running through the rain’) and Widdecombe Fair (‘we waited in the rain, but the boy never came’) and that was enough to bring a couple of light showers.
The next band was Karine Polwart’s band. Karine has a very powerful voice with a strong Stirling accent, and sung some interesting songs. One to look out for in future.
Next was a turntable artist from Afro Celts. The music he played was good but without any song titles, and rather loud. It would have been nice to chat to each other without having to move away from the speakers!
Next, thankfully, Messrs Spiers and Boden, celebrated step dancer/singer and amazing accordionist! They are a duo that seem to get better and better (much like Phil and Steve) – and had us all singing along.
Lastly, Show of Hands to finish. Steve played a couple of new songs, which were superb – The Dive (not about Nettlebed but a father-and-son diving team) and Roots (about politicians/media killing folk music). This time no rain! Another fab day out.

London's Burning

Well, today we had our very own 9/11, but we were oddly stoical about it, in total contrast to the Americans. People at work just said 'Shocking, isn't it' and 'It makes my stomach go cold'. The only people who showed any high emotion were the foreign students, one of whose boyfriend was due to be in London sightseeing (but got stuck in lovely Redhill instead).
I was worried that it would take a long time to get home and that the trains would be absolutely packed. But the 17.14 was only a few minutes late. Was relieved that Rachel, John and Chinese Chris were OK, not all that worried about Clive - only the good die young. Again the mood on the train was oddly subdued, no-one even mentioning the disaster till Chinese Chris said, 'Bad news' and it took me a few seconds to work out what he meant. He knew some people working near Edgware Road, so I hoped they were OK. Some people whinged a little about the inconvenience. But it was as if it was bad taste to pay any attention to it.
The older people are immured to bombings because of all the IRA bombings we had a while ago. And we are a very stoical, resillient country.
Hubby has now gone to a meeting in Woking, not allowing the b*stards to get him down, in his own words. He has had only one apology for abscence.
We Brits are great eh :-)

Farnham Library Gardens Tea Party 2/7/05

Doesn't sound wildly exciting does it? Well it was a fete supposedly designed to get people to volunteer for various local charities - as a result not many people turned up! But luckily Bill had forwarded me an email from Darren Beech, the folking.com guy who organises the Farnham Maltings folk club, to say that Jo Quinn and Paul Taylor from Mary Jane would be providing the musical entertainment along with some others. And it was free!
I fancied a cycle ride that Saturday, as Bill was away visiting his Dad in Dorset, so I cycled to Farnham via the Blackwater Valley Path. Got a bit lost and ended up as the track ran out in Tongham, so I cycled (with a lot of willpower) past Hogs Back Brewery under the A-road to Runsfold then into Farnham. I was a little late for the 1pm kickoff but as it happened Penelope Keith (who was due to open the fete) got stuck in traffic too, so they hadn't started the music.
Andy Stedman, a local singer-songwriter, was first up, with his guitar. He apparently "offers an indie calm with floating melodies, delicate vocals and strong lyrics" - personally I found it a bit boring, nothing I hadn't already heard. Nice clothes though. I wandered around the fete, tried some free cake, entered the local conservation group's quiz and failed to win any decent booze on the tombolas.
Next were Jo Quinn and Paul Taylor. Jo has a superb voice and is a good actor too, which makes her performances stand out. A few of the worthies sat and listened to their set, and they got lots of applause at the end.
Next were a band led by Naama Hillman, whose style I didn't like that much - too poppy. By this time I was hungry, the fete not including the usual BBQ stall, so I strolled across the road to Cafe Piccolo and had Spinach, Cheese and Rice Soup, very nice too.
Arrived back just in time for Siansa an Irish group, no harpist this time but a flautist, an electric fiddle player, a bouzouki/guitar player and a uillean piper. These were very good and had the largest audience - some people's kids even danced to the fast jigs. I had won a can of Boddingtons and was happily sipping it and tapping my foot to the rhythm. When I ran out of beer Darren Beech kindly shared some of his with me "as you're a regular"!! What a lovely guy.
I really wanted a CD - but had spent all my money on the soup and charities! I went over to Darren and asked how long he was staying till and if he'd save me a CD, he said yes no problem and so I stayed till the end of Siansa's gig. Cycled fast into town, grabbed some money out of the cashpoint, cycled back again! Very happy with my CD, would love to see Siansa again at the Maltings in November - hope it doesn't clash with anything.