February 2012

February 4th/5th
Weekend with friends in Pembrokeshire (fairly wet) which kept us glued to rugby international on TV but managed to get out for a walk to Tenby.

Renaissance

Last entry December 2009! Can I revive my blog? Let's start with some memories of 2012:

January
Went skiing to Val d'Isère before Christmas so no holidays in January. Trips to art galleries and museums.

Espace Killy - as good as it gets

The last week of term spent skiing in the Alps was ample reward for having had to have worked almost full time for most of the second half of term. The Espace Killy at Tignes and Val d'Isère is about as good as it gets and I loved the blue skies and crisp snow although it was extremely cold and, at times, almost too cold.



The visibility was amazing and we were able to cover a huge amount of mileage and even saw some of the World Cup events at Val d'Isère - a first for me.



A nine hour wait at Chambery on the way back was not quite as bad as last year's delay as we at least had seats to sit on this time.

Came back to snow in England which lasted through to Christmas day.


View from the bathroom window

Autumn Term

This term has flown by and I almost risk it ending without making an entry to my blog. Most of my time has been spent taking photographs and putting them on the web. The best of them are illustrated by the links below:


Slideshows or collections

Lower Sixth Induction

1st XV v Kirkham Grammar and Bishop Wordsworth’s on Photobox

Girls' U18 County hockey tournament

Blackrock College Rugby Festival

1st XV v Millfield

Grimm's Tales

1st XV v Blackrock College

Webpages

(Warning these links take you to Colston's web site and you get thrown from this blog - so still working on this !)

Year 7 Integration Morning

New facilities

Open Morning

Sixth Form Open Evening

Charter Day

Colston Day

We haven't been to see much. Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick at St George's Brandon Hill was enjoyed more by Wendy than me and two early evening concerts at The Church of St Salvator in Prague (Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Mozart's Requiem) is about all we have managed.
Our short half term trip to Prague was fabulous: we were very pleased with the hotel which was well appointed, comfortable and really suited us in every way.

We loved the transport system and all the sightseeing. The restaurants were not too expensive and the food was okay but, because we tried the Czech cuisine, a litle dull. We also tried a few local beers which were great and even the local wine wasn't too bad.


Images of Prague

I have not practised my saxophone as much as I should have done but managed to pass my Grade 1 examination in November.

I have enjoyed listening to Karl Jenkins's The Armed Man (Review of The Armed Man http://www.adiemus.f2s.com/armedmanrev.htm) which I discovered thanks to the iPhone App Shazam. Because I can now read a note or two I am encouraged and have decided to have a go at Colston's Choral Society (but wonder if I have overstretched myself after the first rehearsal!).

Summer Reading,TV and Music

The best of my summer reading has been William Boyd’s “Restless” an intriguing Second World War spy story which promised so much but didn’t quite have the ending to match.

Kate Atkinson’s sort of crime novel “When Will There Be Good News?” was quite gripping, complex and enjoyable. It was well crafted but seemed rather too contrived at times.

“The Other Hand” by Chris Cleave also features in most best-selling lists and dealt with a worthy subject matter. The story was quite powerful and I was able to romp through it but somehow the dialogue didn’t engage me and I felt disappointed in the end.

The best TV has been Jimmy McGovern's drama series "The Street", although I haven't yet seen the last episode which I have recorded and am waiting for the moment to savour. I continue to enjoy "Coast", especially the one on Norway. I was initially disappointed with Griff Rhys Jones's "Rivers" but have warmed to it. I thnk the success of "Coast" is that it has several different presenters.

I discovered a new album by Van Morrison "Down The Road" (new to me as it was recorded in 2002) and on one hearing I have been very impressed.

Summer holidays come to an end

A celebration of someone’s life at a funeral is not easy for close relatives as emotions often overwhelm them. The family of Ray Baxter - the father of Wendy’s close school friend Rita and old friend of Wendy’s mum and dad – did him proud at his funeral which we attended recently at Bramcote Crematorium in the East Midlands. There was a mixture of loving memories and tributes from Rita’s brother, Rita herself, a teacher colleague of Ray’s and Rita’s two daughters. They all spoke well and illustrated his full and notable life. The splendid occasion was completed by Ray’s great -grandson who sang Ave Maria and Nella Fantasia so impressively.

Wendy was able to support her friend and have a few words with Ray’s widow Friedel at the reception which followed at Beeston Fields Golf Club. It was good that Wendy could have time to recall some of the memories from her earlier days in this part of the world.

The Peak District is very pretty but this was about the best of the weather

We took the opportunity to spend a night in the Peak District. The Charles Cotton hotel in Hartington was a good place to stay. It was comfortable and we had a good meal in their restaurant. We had a chance to have a look around the quaint village of Hartington in between the showers and the next day visited Bakewell before going on to spend the weekend with another of Wendy’s close school friends Chris, and her husband Andy, in Sheffield.

This was a special treat for me as Andy is a Sheffield United supporter and he had got me a ticket to see the home match against West Brom. Both sides were unbeaten and although United had to come from behind twice they deserved the 2-2 draw. It was an entertaining match and I really enjoyed the spectacle of a live match in front of more than 25,000 spectators at Bramall Lane which is a fine stadium. From the experience of this match I do not subscribe to the thinking that football is the preserve of the middle classes – there was a good social mix at this match and, very encouragingly, there were many families. Although the walk to the stadium was through an immigrant area of Sheffield there wasn’t however much of a racial mix at the match.

I felt just as grumpy as Arsène Wenger when we watched Manchester United against Arsenal on the television in the early evening. Arsenal again played great football but I could not believe my eyes when Arsenal gifted Man Utd two goals to lose a match they should have won. A lovely meal cooking different fish and meats on a hot stone at Chris and Andy ‘s was fun and accompanied, as always at their house, with lovely wines.

On Sunday we enjoyed a walk at the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate, on the edge of the Peak District, although the weather was cold and dreary. The colour of the heather was not as impressive as I have seen at this time of year but the streams were interesting with their strange treacly colour due to the local peat.


Andy fighting off the hover flies on the old packhorse route on the Longshaw Estate

When we returned from Corsica at the beginning of the summer holidays I thought that I wouldn’t like to spend all summer in such heat. Having had a really miserable spell of weather throughout July and August, I am now thinking differently.

Summertime

After 50 years or more of watching tennis at Wimbledon on television it was a treat this year to experience the real thing. The whole experience was fantastic - from driving through Wimbledon and parking on Wimbledon Golf course to watching matches on Court No 3 (where we had tickets) and wandering around other out courts and then to watching Andy Murray on Henman Hill. We resisted the strawberries but savoured every other moment including a jazz band in the Champagne bars before going home. The rest of the Championships on television was even more exciting than usual, especially Murray's match under the new Centre Court roof and floodlights until well after the 10 o'clock News should have finished.

The view on Court 3


Relaxing on the Hill

The last week of term was all about photographs - Parents' Society Dinner Dance, Year 8 trip to Techniquest, Sports Day, Leavers' Service and Lunch, Leavers' Ball, Lower School Prize Giving - literally thousands of photos (the best of which are in web galleries on the school website).

I was so pleased to be setting off on holiday to Corsica so early in July-a really good time to visit this wonderful island. A bad back (probably caused by the hire car - an experience I don't wish to mention here) took the edge off a wonderful holiday.

Corsica's main appeal is its scenery; a wildly beautiful landscape of mountains, forests, myrtle-scented maquis and countless miles of sandy beaches. We managed to experience all of this and, especially thanks to our stay in the second week with our Corsican friends Thierry and Jeanine, in great depth.

The first week we stayed at the Hotel du Golfe in Tizzano, an idyllic venue on the south-west coast of Corsica 18 kilometres from Sartène. The hotel was literally "les pieds dans l'eau" with a comfortable room and balcony looking out to sea.


View from the balcony of our room at the Hotel du Golfe


The beach at Tizzano in the background

The beach was only 5 minutes away (but with my bad back not manageable in the first few days). Apart from our hotel and the beach there was only one other hotel and four restaurants which, although expensive, gave us a good choice. Corsican cuisine, surprisingly, is not fish based but modern tourism has had an impact and here in Tizzano there was plenty of choice - the best of which was moustellle.

From Tizzano we visited Sartène, a medieval fortified town, and like most villages and towns in Corsica, perched way up the mountains; Bonifacio with marvellous views to Sardinia; and the pretty port of Propriano but which, as a seaside resort, was not really to our taste.

Sartène



Bonifacio

After our week in Tizzano we headed north stopping for lunch and a dramatic haircut in Ajaccio.


The haircut

We would have liked more time in Ajaccio as there were lots of touristy things to see but we had set our sights on reaching Corte for an overnight stop.


Napolean was born in Ajaccio and there are monuments to him everywhere

The mountain drive from Ajaccio to Corte was stunning - we even spotted a wild boar grazzing in the woods. A night in Corte (and the following morning sightseeing) was definately a better choice than Ajaccio. Corte isn't a pretty town but it's old buildings with peeling facades are fascinating and Corte seems to contain so much of the Corsican spirit. It is home to the University of Corsica but in summer it is full of tourists and, in particular, its is a hiking centre (half way along the Mare a Mare Nord trail) and a great place from which to enjoy day walks. The citadel is well worth climbing up - just to enjoy the magnificent panorama.

Our second week was spent in equal parts in Thierry and Jeanine's home (in their magnificent appartment looking over the town) in Bastia, in Jeanine's village of Santo-Pietro-di-Tenda and finally in Thierry's grandmother's house in Mausoléo next to Olmi Capella in La Balagne region. The highlight of the stay in Santo-Pietro was the village fete on the 13th July with its calf roast, fabulous Corsican folk music group and firework display. We also had a great trip out in their boat from St Florent swimming off the beach near the Punta di Curza, visited their olive grove and swam in their uncle's swimming pool in the village.

Santo-Pietro seemed quite isolated to us until we reached Mausoléo, which has a population of 8 in winter! However, we were not at all lonely as we seemed to be on a major hiking route and hikers and their donkeys passed by the house in the evenings as we were having our apéritif. We had a wonderful walk following one of these routes through the gorges de Tartagine (but without the donkeys!). All of this was so different from our normal lives and the memories will stay with us forever.

Temperatures consistently higher than 30 were also so far from our normal existence, especially as we came back to Bristol which had a new record high rainfull for July of 162.1 mm. The previous record was in 1888! August has not been so wet but just as dreary.

It's been a busy time since the holiday to Corsica getting the Old Colstonian database ready for a telethon, then the actual telethon and the subsequent changes, and more recently examination results.

Photographic opportunities have been few and far between but the most exciting was a flying visit to Colston's by Andrew Flintoff only days after his heroics at Lord's and Bristol Balloon Fiesta. The back has got better with the help of my osteopath Martyn Morgan and I now seem to hit the golf ball so much further.


Bristol Balloon Fiesta

It's been fun seeing so much of our godchildren this holiday - and we are especially pleased about Lydia's 3 As at A level.

I really enjoyed watching Y.E. Yang's victory in the USPGA Championship but not as much as the last Ashes Test at the Oval - I haven't watched so much of a Test Match before, including nearly every ball on the Saturday - pure decadence!

If you have time on your hands a selection of photos of holiday to Corsica can be viewed here:

Corsica Selection