Another fine Saturday, and a chance to go out, this time to Hastings.
The journey there was very straightforward; I got the train at Olympia, changed at Clapham Junction and changed again at Brighton.
Hastings is a nice seaside town; gone are the net cottages on the front, but it has not been completely spoiled and still has a character of its own.
In the morning, I got the bus out to Bodiam Castle, which is a National Trust property. I had expected it to be a proper castle, but in fact it is just a ruin, but a very intersting ruin all the same.
Set in a tiny village in the middle of the country, it is well maintained, with plenty to see, although I didn't climb up any of the narrow staircases to the top. But I did look at everything else, and talked at length to the miller's wife, who was dressed in medieval costume, went to see the cannon beign fired, and spent some time in the museum learning more about the history of the casle and its unfortunate destruction. I also enjoyed a cup of tea and a cake in the cafe at the entrance, before getting the bus back to Hastings - they aren't very frequent, but they do stop right at the entrance to the castle.
Back in Hastings, I enjoyed the rest of the day looking round the town and also getting my hair trimmed.
Like so many places outside London, Hastings closes down at 5.30 p.m. on a Saturday - and also I suspect on all other nights. But that didn't matter on this occasion; by that time, a tremendous storm was blowing up, and I hurried along the beach to get to shelter before the rain really started coming down. I made it only just in time, as a flash of lightning and loud calp of thunder signalled the start of a downpour just as I was ready to go down the subway to cross the road.
It was obviously likely to go on for a while, so after waiting a short time I decided the best thing to do was to put up my brolly and head for the station - it seemed there was little chance of being able to enjoy a further walk along the front.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Friday, 26 July 2013
Tempting Fete
Yet another first class production from the Beaufort Players, who regularly perform in the Church Hall of the Church of the Ascension, Hanger Hill, a church I know well from sometimes attending Mass there in the mornings when I worked in Ealing ages ago.
The hall is a separate building behind the church, and is an excellent venue for staging plays, with a raised stage at the far end, and all the essentials for public performances, such as changing rooms, proper toilet facilities, a kitchen with serving hatch, blackout curtains for the windows, etc.
Tempting Fete was a comedy about a church fete in a small village in the country, where the rivalry between the baking experts could result, if not in murder of individuals, at least their cakes coming to unfortunate ends before, rather than after, the judging.
As all the ladies compete for the prize for the best cake, there are the usual inuendos, mistaken impressions and farcical situations.
Not a play that asked serious questions or dealt with important social issues (unless the intrigues and rivalries of a small village count), but an evening just to sit back and enjoy the antics pf all the characters.
The hall is a separate building behind the church, and is an excellent venue for staging plays, with a raised stage at the far end, and all the essentials for public performances, such as changing rooms, proper toilet facilities, a kitchen with serving hatch, blackout curtains for the windows, etc.
Tempting Fete was a comedy about a church fete in a small village in the country, where the rivalry between the baking experts could result, if not in murder of individuals, at least their cakes coming to unfortunate ends before, rather than after, the judging.
As all the ladies compete for the prize for the best cake, there are the usual inuendos, mistaken impressions and farcical situations.
Not a play that asked serious questions or dealt with important social issues (unless the intrigues and rivalries of a small village count), but an evening just to sit back and enjoy the antics pf all the characters.
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Littlehampton
Summer has now really arrived, and the forecast for London for the weekend was very hot. So I decided earlier in the week that I would have a day out at the seaside.
Southern Rail had been advertising tickets for just £5 each way (less a third if you had a Railcard) - a real bargain! - so I went after work to the Victoria to get some. Unfortunately, a lot of other people must have had the same idea, only earlier, and despite tens of thousands of them having been available, they had all gone, So had the next cheapest, at £7.50 (£5 with a Railcard), unless you wanted to travel late morning and have hardly any time at your destination. So I got an ordinary cheap day return to Littlehampton, which with a Railcard, cost just under £15.00, and had the advantage that I could travel any time, without being tied to particular trains. That is one disadvantage of a lot of these very special offers - you have to travel at a set time, and there are no refunds or transfers if you miss your train.
So Saturday morning I was up at six thirty and out of the house by ten past seven, to catch the train from Kensington Olympia, which is less than ten minutes' walk, to Clapham Junction, where I had to change for the Littlehampton train. It was a lovely morning; at that hour, the streets are almost deserted, the sun is still low in the sky and there is an air of peace and quiet that you don't get later in the day.
I had about a twenty minute wait at Clapham Junction, which gave me enough time to get a paper from one of the kiosks in the station, as the one at Kensington Olympia had been closed.
Clapham Junction is one of the busiest stations in the country, and even at that time on a Saturday morning the platforms were crowded with people. But I still managed to get a good seat, facing the direction of travel, next to a window and with a table, where I settled down catch up with the news. Papers on Saturdays are always large, with lots of supplements, although some of them, like the sport and motoring, are of no interest to me at all and get stuffed in the first waste paper bin in come to.
The journey down to Littlehampton was very pleasant, and I arrived just before 9.30 a.m.. From inside the air-conditioned train it looked a bit chilly outside, and I wondered whether I should have brought a cardigan, especially as the forecast for the South Coast had been much cooler than for London. But I needn't have worried; when I got out of the train it was pleasantly warm and I was dressed perfectly.
The station is no more than ten minutes walk from the town centre, which has most of the usual shops, together with a lot of little individual ones. One thing I did notice was how many of them seemed to have "Staff Wanted" notices in the windows - obviously there is a fair amount of work in Littlehampton, at least in the summer.
As I had had rather an early breakfast, it was now time for morning tea, and I popped int a tiny little cafe cum grocery called Coffee Shop Paradise, which had a few tables inside and also a couple outside. Naturally, I chose to drink my rather large cup of tea outside in the sun and fresh air.
After that it was time to explore the rest of the town. Littlehampton isn't very big - the population is only 25,000 - and you can walk from one end to the other is less than half an hour. The main street runs parallel to the beach, and there are there are numerous streets leading off it which go down to the front, which is about half a mile away. Passing St. Catherine's Church, I popped in to have a look, and considered going back fro Evening Prayer at 4.00 p.m. if I was around at that time. It looks quite old from the outside, but probably isn't; there didn't seem to be any history of the church available, and the only clue to its age was a memorial to the parishioners who died in the First World War on one of the outside walls. But is was beautiful inside, and I stayed a few minutes to look around before continuing on to the beach.
The beach at Littlehampton has both sand and shingle, and at low tide extends quite a way, although not nearly as far as Southend. Surprisingly, considering the weather, it was almost empty; there were a few people swimming or sitting on the beach, but none of the crowds one would havfe expected on a day like that. Evidently they must have all gone to closer places like Brighton, which actually isn't nearly as nice.
I wandered along the front as far as the River Arun, which forms the edge of the town, and then turned right to walk along the river. Littlehampton has been inhabited since Roman times ad was mentioned in the Doomesday Book of 1086, at which time it was just Hampton. The "Little" part of its name was added later to distinguish it from the much larger Southampton which is a little bit further along the cost to the west. At one time, it was an important port; one of its claims to fame is that the sheep of the Falklands Islands were exported from there. So the river does not just flow into the sea, but instead enters it between high man-made banks. Today, the cargo ships have gone, and the river is occupied by dozens of little pleasure boats.
The walk along the river was very enjoyable; it wasn't too hot, and there were a reasonable number of other people also enjoying the sunshine.. This part of Littlehampton is very much like most seaside towns; there is a fun park, with slides and merry-go- rounds, etc, lots of fish and chip shops (but also things like a Thai restaurant), and also souvenor shops. It also has one of the busiest RNLI stations, which was open to the public, so I went in and had a look at the lifeboats and the tractors which drag them down to the sea; the walls of the station are covered to posters about the history of the lifeboat service.
One thing Littlehampton has that other towns don't, are recipes on large discs set on concrete blocks. They all seeemed to be for fish dishes - hardly surprising in a town with am important fishing industry. They were sited all along the road next to the river.
I spent a little bit of time at the Look and Sea exhibition set between a fairly expensive restaurant and the Tourist Information Office; it was quite interesting, briefly covering the history of Littlehampton from the distant past to the present. I passed the Oyster Pond, with its little paddle boats for hire, and ended up back in the town centre.
The next place I wanted to visit was the Museum, but I was starting to feel a little bit hungry, so went to a rather nice little place called Hunnies for lunch. They serve a reasonable selection of plain food; I had scrambled eggs on toast with hash browns and a pot of tea, which was more than enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.
The Museum is in a large manor house in Church Street, and although it's quite small, it's very interesting. Currently, it has a special display celebrating the 150th anniversary of the coming of the railway to Littlehampto. The railway changed it from being a small, rather isolated little port that no-one visited to a popular seaside resort which was easily accessible from London, and marked the beginning of the tourist industry.
Whilst there I noticed that they were running a competition for a poster to popularise Littlehampton; I took down the details and if I get time I'm going to design one and enter it.
Littlehampton has connections with a number of famous people, including Anita Roddick, who opened the first Body Shop there, Ronnie Barker lived there, and Kitty O'Shea is buried there.
After having a good look around Littlehampton, I got a bus to Goring-by-Sea and them walked to Worthing along the front; again, there weren't all that many people there - just take enough to make the place look alive.
I could have stayed in Worthing, enjoying the sea, and got the train from there, but I wanted to take sopme photos of Littlehampton to use on the poster (assuming I get time to go one!). So I got a bus - a No. 700 double-decker Coastliner this time, with a much better view - back to Littlehampton. By this time it was well after six, the sun was starting to go down, and it wasn't so bright and glary - much better lighting for taking photographs.
I took piles of pictures - of the museum, the clock tower, the church, the sea-front, the river, the lighthouse, the recipe discs, the boats on the river, the Oyster Pond, the fish & chip shops, the pubs, the beautiful hanging baskets of flowers in the High Street - everything that I thought looked interesting and would look good on a poster. I haven't downloaded them yet; that is a task for later, and also editing them.
I finally caught the 8.15 p.m. train, and again managed to get a good seat, despite there being quite a lot of people on it - mainly because I got there nice and early, before everyone else. As a lot of trains terminate there, they spent some time on the platform between arrival and departure back to London.
The journey back was also enjoyable; I love travelling by train in the evenings, and of course, it was still light for a considerable part of the journey. The countryside is still remarkably green, which is probably to be expected after the long, wet winter we have had. There were herds of cows in the fields, although I didn't notice any sheep. I'm not sure what breed the cows were - possibly something like Charolais - they were definitely not Friesians or Jerseys. But they looked so peaceful and contented, grazing in the fields.
I finally got home a little before half nine, to a London which was still warm, but with quite a nice breeze; although the days have been terribly hot, so far the nights have been reasonable cool. I dread the time when the nights are equally hot and sleep is almost impossible.
Southern Rail had been advertising tickets for just £5 each way (less a third if you had a Railcard) - a real bargain! - so I went after work to the Victoria to get some. Unfortunately, a lot of other people must have had the same idea, only earlier, and despite tens of thousands of them having been available, they had all gone, So had the next cheapest, at £7.50 (£5 with a Railcard), unless you wanted to travel late morning and have hardly any time at your destination. So I got an ordinary cheap day return to Littlehampton, which with a Railcard, cost just under £15.00, and had the advantage that I could travel any time, without being tied to particular trains. That is one disadvantage of a lot of these very special offers - you have to travel at a set time, and there are no refunds or transfers if you miss your train.
So Saturday morning I was up at six thirty and out of the house by ten past seven, to catch the train from Kensington Olympia, which is less than ten minutes' walk, to Clapham Junction, where I had to change for the Littlehampton train. It was a lovely morning; at that hour, the streets are almost deserted, the sun is still low in the sky and there is an air of peace and quiet that you don't get later in the day.
I had about a twenty minute wait at Clapham Junction, which gave me enough time to get a paper from one of the kiosks in the station, as the one at Kensington Olympia had been closed.
Clapham Junction is one of the busiest stations in the country, and even at that time on a Saturday morning the platforms were crowded with people. But I still managed to get a good seat, facing the direction of travel, next to a window and with a table, where I settled down catch up with the news. Papers on Saturdays are always large, with lots of supplements, although some of them, like the sport and motoring, are of no interest to me at all and get stuffed in the first waste paper bin in come to.
The journey down to Littlehampton was very pleasant, and I arrived just before 9.30 a.m.. From inside the air-conditioned train it looked a bit chilly outside, and I wondered whether I should have brought a cardigan, especially as the forecast for the South Coast had been much cooler than for London. But I needn't have worried; when I got out of the train it was pleasantly warm and I was dressed perfectly.
The station is no more than ten minutes walk from the town centre, which has most of the usual shops, together with a lot of little individual ones. One thing I did notice was how many of them seemed to have "Staff Wanted" notices in the windows - obviously there is a fair amount of work in Littlehampton, at least in the summer.
As I had had rather an early breakfast, it was now time for morning tea, and I popped int a tiny little cafe cum grocery called Coffee Shop Paradise, which had a few tables inside and also a couple outside. Naturally, I chose to drink my rather large cup of tea outside in the sun and fresh air.
After that it was time to explore the rest of the town. Littlehampton isn't very big - the population is only 25,000 - and you can walk from one end to the other is less than half an hour. The main street runs parallel to the beach, and there are there are numerous streets leading off it which go down to the front, which is about half a mile away. Passing St. Catherine's Church, I popped in to have a look, and considered going back fro Evening Prayer at 4.00 p.m. if I was around at that time. It looks quite old from the outside, but probably isn't; there didn't seem to be any history of the church available, and the only clue to its age was a memorial to the parishioners who died in the First World War on one of the outside walls. But is was beautiful inside, and I stayed a few minutes to look around before continuing on to the beach.
The beach at Littlehampton has both sand and shingle, and at low tide extends quite a way, although not nearly as far as Southend. Surprisingly, considering the weather, it was almost empty; there were a few people swimming or sitting on the beach, but none of the crowds one would havfe expected on a day like that. Evidently they must have all gone to closer places like Brighton, which actually isn't nearly as nice.
I wandered along the front as far as the River Arun, which forms the edge of the town, and then turned right to walk along the river. Littlehampton has been inhabited since Roman times ad was mentioned in the Doomesday Book of 1086, at which time it was just Hampton. The "Little" part of its name was added later to distinguish it from the much larger Southampton which is a little bit further along the cost to the west. At one time, it was an important port; one of its claims to fame is that the sheep of the Falklands Islands were exported from there. So the river does not just flow into the sea, but instead enters it between high man-made banks. Today, the cargo ships have gone, and the river is occupied by dozens of little pleasure boats.
The walk along the river was very enjoyable; it wasn't too hot, and there were a reasonable number of other people also enjoying the sunshine.. This part of Littlehampton is very much like most seaside towns; there is a fun park, with slides and merry-go- rounds, etc, lots of fish and chip shops (but also things like a Thai restaurant), and also souvenor shops. It also has one of the busiest RNLI stations, which was open to the public, so I went in and had a look at the lifeboats and the tractors which drag them down to the sea; the walls of the station are covered to posters about the history of the lifeboat service.
One thing Littlehampton has that other towns don't, are recipes on large discs set on concrete blocks. They all seeemed to be for fish dishes - hardly surprising in a town with am important fishing industry. They were sited all along the road next to the river.
I spent a little bit of time at the Look and Sea exhibition set between a fairly expensive restaurant and the Tourist Information Office; it was quite interesting, briefly covering the history of Littlehampton from the distant past to the present. I passed the Oyster Pond, with its little paddle boats for hire, and ended up back in the town centre.
The next place I wanted to visit was the Museum, but I was starting to feel a little bit hungry, so went to a rather nice little place called Hunnies for lunch. They serve a reasonable selection of plain food; I had scrambled eggs on toast with hash browns and a pot of tea, which was more than enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.
The Museum is in a large manor house in Church Street, and although it's quite small, it's very interesting. Currently, it has a special display celebrating the 150th anniversary of the coming of the railway to Littlehampto. The railway changed it from being a small, rather isolated little port that no-one visited to a popular seaside resort which was easily accessible from London, and marked the beginning of the tourist industry.
Whilst there I noticed that they were running a competition for a poster to popularise Littlehampton; I took down the details and if I get time I'm going to design one and enter it.
Littlehampton has connections with a number of famous people, including Anita Roddick, who opened the first Body Shop there, Ronnie Barker lived there, and Kitty O'Shea is buried there.
After having a good look around Littlehampton, I got a bus to Goring-by-Sea and them walked to Worthing along the front; again, there weren't all that many people there - just take enough to make the place look alive.
I could have stayed in Worthing, enjoying the sea, and got the train from there, but I wanted to take sopme photos of Littlehampton to use on the poster (assuming I get time to go one!). So I got a bus - a No. 700 double-decker Coastliner this time, with a much better view - back to Littlehampton. By this time it was well after six, the sun was starting to go down, and it wasn't so bright and glary - much better lighting for taking photographs.
I took piles of pictures - of the museum, the clock tower, the church, the sea-front, the river, the lighthouse, the recipe discs, the boats on the river, the Oyster Pond, the fish & chip shops, the pubs, the beautiful hanging baskets of flowers in the High Street - everything that I thought looked interesting and would look good on a poster. I haven't downloaded them yet; that is a task for later, and also editing them.
I finally caught the 8.15 p.m. train, and again managed to get a good seat, despite there being quite a lot of people on it - mainly because I got there nice and early, before everyone else. As a lot of trains terminate there, they spent some time on the platform between arrival and departure back to London.
The journey back was also enjoyable; I love travelling by train in the evenings, and of course, it was still light for a considerable part of the journey. The countryside is still remarkably green, which is probably to be expected after the long, wet winter we have had. There were herds of cows in the fields, although I didn't notice any sheep. I'm not sure what breed the cows were - possibly something like Charolais - they were definitely not Friesians or Jerseys. But they looked so peaceful and contented, grazing in the fields.
I finally got home a little before half nine, to a London which was still warm, but with quite a nice breeze; although the days have been terribly hot, so far the nights have been reasonable cool. I dread the time when the nights are equally hot and sleep is almost impossible.
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Welsh Harp
It's years since I had been to the Welsh Harp, otherwise known as Brent Reservoir, but the sun was shining and I decided to pay it another visit.
It took quite a long time to get to; the Overground from Shepherd's Bush to Willesden, then another Overground train to Kilburn Park Road, followed by a bus up the Edgware Road.
But I got there eventually, and spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking in the park along the edge of the Reservoir, before finding a place to sit on the grass beside the water and read - I'm currently reading a book on the early life of the Queen, which is fascinating. There were a number of families there with small children, who had brought rugs along to sit on and looked as if they had been there all afternoon.
The reservoir itself was a bit smelly in some places; the water didn't look too clean, and I certainly wouldn't want to swim in it, even if it were allowed, which I'm sure it isn't. But there were plenty of birds swimming on it, particularly swans, which were gliding along everywhere.
The path along the lake had plenty of shady bits, which was just as well, considering how hot it was, but there were few seats to sit on - they obviously like people to walk or sit on the grass, which in this weather is no hardship, although the grass was still very green.
It took quite a long time to get to; the Overground from Shepherd's Bush to Willesden, then another Overground train to Kilburn Park Road, followed by a bus up the Edgware Road.
But I got there eventually, and spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking in the park along the edge of the Reservoir, before finding a place to sit on the grass beside the water and read - I'm currently reading a book on the early life of the Queen, which is fascinating. There were a number of families there with small children, who had brought rugs along to sit on and looked as if they had been there all afternoon.
The reservoir itself was a bit smelly in some places; the water didn't look too clean, and I certainly wouldn't want to swim in it, even if it were allowed, which I'm sure it isn't. But there were plenty of birds swimming on it, particularly swans, which were gliding along everywhere.
The path along the lake had plenty of shady bits, which was just as well, considering how hot it was, but there were few seats to sit on - they obviously like people to walk or sit on the grass, which in this weather is no hardship, although the grass was still very green.
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Ancient Arab Christian Chants
This evening I went to an event, part of the Shubakk Festival, at the Mosaic Rooms in Cromwell Road. I had never been there before, but they were very easy to find, being right on the corner of Earls Court Road.
The event was a recital of early Arab Christian chants, which date back to the second century, during the reign of Queen Zanubia, when Christianity reached Palmyra, the town she governed in ancient Syria. The early chants from this period were based on the secular music of Syria and Iraq, and have developed into the chants used in Orthodox worship today.
Lead by Egyptian/German singer Merit Ariane Stephanos and Father Shafiq Abouzayd, whom I remembered seeing at the Lebanese Festival the previous Sunday, we were given a brief introduction to this ancient music, in particular to the chanting traditions of the Levantine and Byzantine churches, such as the ancient Syriac liturgy of Aleppo. They were accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Jon Banks, who played two Middle-Eastern stringed instruments, whose names I cannot remember.
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The music was beautiful and haunting, although quite unlike Western music. Merit Ariane Stephanos has a wonderful voice, and Father Shafiq must have no difficulty at all in singing the liturgy, with his deep, volumous singing voice. UnfortunatelyI found his speaking voice a little hard to understand, as he spoke so quietly and has a slight accent.
The room where the recital was held was at the back, overlooking a largish garden; it must be very pleasant working there in the summer and being able to sit outside at lunchtime.
The event was a recital of early Arab Christian chants, which date back to the second century, during the reign of Queen Zanubia, when Christianity reached Palmyra, the town she governed in ancient Syria. The early chants from this period were based on the secular music of Syria and Iraq, and have developed into the chants used in Orthodox worship today.
Lead by Egyptian/German singer Merit Ariane Stephanos and Father Shafiq Abouzayd, whom I remembered seeing at the Lebanese Festival the previous Sunday, we were given a brief introduction to this ancient music, in particular to the chanting traditions of the Levantine and Byzantine churches, such as the ancient Syriac liturgy of Aleppo. They were accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Jon Banks, who played two Middle-Eastern stringed instruments, whose names I cannot remember.
.
The music was beautiful and haunting, although quite unlike Western music. Merit Ariane Stephanos has a wonderful voice, and Father Shafiq must have no difficulty at all in singing the liturgy, with his deep, volumous singing voice. UnfortunatelyI found his speaking voice a little hard to understand, as he spoke so quietly and has a slight accent.
The room where the recital was held was at the back, overlooking a largish garden; it must be very pleasant working there in the summer and being able to sit outside at lunchtime.
Fair on the Green
This afternoon I went to the Fair on the Green at Parsons Green, a community event which always attracts a large number of stalls and equally large crowds, especially on a perfect day for it like today - the sun was shining, with not a cloud in the sky.
As I went straight there via the reading group and a visit to the art exhibition at the library in the morning, followed by a trip to North End Road market afterwards, I was starting to feel hungry by the time I arrived, and managed to get a very nice lunch from the Serbian stall - filo pastry stuffed with cheese and another one stuffed with spinach. Absolutely delicious, both of them! I sat on the grass to eat and read the paper, and when I had finished, wandered round all the stalls selling everything from food to new clothes to jewellery to bric-a-brac. All I came back with though were three scented candles and a bar of soap, though I was tempted to get one of the dressed dolls on one of the stalls for Marina's baby for Christmas. However, in the end I decided against; they were much too big for a six month old baby.
There was a stage, with constant entertainment, but unlike at most such events, they didn't have the amplifers turned up full blast, and the music was just a nice sound in the background.
But the most interesting part of the Fair was a staged car crash, with the Fire Brigade giving a demonstration of how they would rescue someone with suspected spinal injuries. The car was obviously some old banger that was worthless, but the driver wasn't wearing a seat-belt and had been thrown forward, shattering the windscreen. She was therefore assumed to have suffered spinal injuries.
Before watching the demonstration, I hadn't a clue how they went about rescuing someome in that situation. One fireman immediately opened the rear door and climbed in to support the driver's head to prevent any further injury. Others put chocs under the wheels to stop the car moving, then put blocks under it, before letting down the tires so that the car rested on the blocks. They then broke all the glass in the doors, allowing the pieces to falls into a bag which they had thrown over the door. Following that, they removed the doors, cutting through the joins, and finally removed the roof so that they had full access. Lastly, they slid the woman onto a stretcher, all the while keeping her head and spine immobile, and removed her through the back of the vehicle, ready to go into the ambulance. Apparently during this part of the operation, the fireman holding the injured person's head takes over as the one in charge.
The whole procedure took almost half an hour; the commentator said they aimed to get the person out of the car within an hour.
I found the whole thing fascinating; obviously everyone involved must have had a lot of trainng to be able to carry out the rescue confidently.
I didn't stay until the end of the Fair, as I wanted to go back to North End Road to buy the week's vegetables - they are so much cheaper than the supermarkets, even with their special offers. For instance, I got ten small avocados for just £1, and also four large bunches of spring onions for the same price.
As I went straight there via the reading group and a visit to the art exhibition at the library in the morning, followed by a trip to North End Road market afterwards, I was starting to feel hungry by the time I arrived, and managed to get a very nice lunch from the Serbian stall - filo pastry stuffed with cheese and another one stuffed with spinach. Absolutely delicious, both of them! I sat on the grass to eat and read the paper, and when I had finished, wandered round all the stalls selling everything from food to new clothes to jewellery to bric-a-brac. All I came back with though were three scented candles and a bar of soap, though I was tempted to get one of the dressed dolls on one of the stalls for Marina's baby for Christmas. However, in the end I decided against; they were much too big for a six month old baby.
There was a stage, with constant entertainment, but unlike at most such events, they didn't have the amplifers turned up full blast, and the music was just a nice sound in the background.
But the most interesting part of the Fair was a staged car crash, with the Fire Brigade giving a demonstration of how they would rescue someone with suspected spinal injuries. The car was obviously some old banger that was worthless, but the driver wasn't wearing a seat-belt and had been thrown forward, shattering the windscreen. She was therefore assumed to have suffered spinal injuries.
Before watching the demonstration, I hadn't a clue how they went about rescuing someome in that situation. One fireman immediately opened the rear door and climbed in to support the driver's head to prevent any further injury. Others put chocs under the wheels to stop the car moving, then put blocks under it, before letting down the tires so that the car rested on the blocks. They then broke all the glass in the doors, allowing the pieces to falls into a bag which they had thrown over the door. Following that, they removed the doors, cutting through the joins, and finally removed the roof so that they had full access. Lastly, they slid the woman onto a stretcher, all the while keeping her head and spine immobile, and removed her through the back of the vehicle, ready to go into the ambulance. Apparently during this part of the operation, the fireman holding the injured person's head takes over as the one in charge.
The whole procedure took almost half an hour; the commentator said they aimed to get the person out of the car within an hour.
I found the whole thing fascinating; obviously everyone involved must have had a lot of trainng to be able to carry out the rescue confidently.
I didn't stay until the end of the Fair, as I wanted to go back to North End Road to buy the week's vegetables - they are so much cheaper than the supermarkets, even with their special offers. For instance, I got ten small avocados for just £1, and also four large bunches of spring onions for the same price.
Art Exhibition
Brook Green was once famous for its artists, and Gilla Slocock of the Brook Green Association had organised a short an exhibition, covering the period 1890 - 1940, upstairs at Hammersmith Library. So of course I went along to see it.
One of the main artists featured was Arthur Silver (1853 - 1896), who owned Silver Studioe, based at 84 Brook green and in other houses in Haarlem Road. Others covered by the exhibition were Cyril Power, Sybil Andrews and Leon Underwood.
The walls of the room were taken up by prints of their works, which showed how talented they were as artists. Many of the paintings were rather stylised, with various figures in a state of movement; but although they were completely different to photographic portrayals, there was something were strikign about them, particularly the figures of the skaters, the dancers and the flying swans. I would never have anything by someone like Picasso on my walls, but I would happily have some of those paintings, with their vibrant colours and unusual way of portraying objects in movement.
One of the main artists featured was Arthur Silver (1853 - 1896), who owned Silver Studioe, based at 84 Brook green and in other houses in Haarlem Road. Others covered by the exhibition were Cyril Power, Sybil Andrews and Leon Underwood.
The walls of the room were taken up by prints of their works, which showed how talented they were as artists. Many of the paintings were rather stylised, with various figures in a state of movement; but although they were completely different to photographic portrayals, there was something were strikign about them, particularly the figures of the skaters, the dancers and the flying swans. I would never have anything by someone like Picasso on my walls, but I would happily have some of those paintings, with their vibrant colours and unusual way of portraying objects in movement.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Balancing World Energy Needs
Another lecture at the Chemistry Society, this time entitled "Balancing World Engergy Needs: Securing the Future".
I got there at bit later than usual. Although I left work on time, as I was walking up the escalator at Green Park I suddenly became aware that there was something wrong with my shoe. On having a look, I discovered that the sole had almsot come adrift and was just held to the shoe at the heel. It was possible to walk carefully on it, but the slightest mishap would obviusly result in my being shoeless, which was not a good idea. I was a little bit annoyed, as they were Clarke's, and although I had had them for years, I had hardly ever worn them.
There were no shoe shops in Piccadilly, but Clarke's in Regent Street was still open, and I managed to get quite a nice pair of tan sandals in the sale, which I wore for the rest of the evening, with my old shoes stuffed in my bag.
However, despite the detour, I was back by 6 o'clock, when the hall opens, and spent a very pleasant half hour chatting over coffee and biscuits to a woman I had met previously at a couple of their lectures. The people at the Chemictry Society lectures are generally very friendly and chatty and interesting to talk to.
As usual there was a good crowd there and almost every seat was taken; however with many people's liking for sitting at the back, I was still able to get a seat near the front where I could see and heal.
The lecture was given by a Prof. Karl Rose - an Austrian with perfect English (why do so many Continentals speak such perfect English!). Director, Policy & Scenarios st the World Energy Council in London, his subject was the challenge of balancing world energy needs to bring about real change for future generations of the planet, and we were given details of various scenarios based on demonstrable trends, which will be published at the World Energy Conference in October. He emphasised that their three possible scenarios were based on facts; there was no room in their scenarios for scaremongering and theories with nothing to back them up.
He also pointed out that different countries had different objectives, and that the cost of energy varied enormously between different countries, so that what was practical in one might be totally unacceptable in another.
He was also sceptical about global warming, and the effects of CO2 on climate.
Altogether an interesting lecture, and I'm sure many people left feeling that they could live very happily with American level energy costs!
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