A Postcard From Coniston

A few years ago we decided that, although we love our retirement county of Suffolk, it would be nice to meet up with dear friends from up north at regular intervals. So in 2015 we agreed to rent a big house in Malham in Yorkshire and spend a long weekend together. Six of us managed to make it on that occasion and we've now had seven spring and winter breaks together with six or eight of us making it each time. All the houses we've rented, in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Cumbria have been good but it's difficult to find a place with four en-suite bedrooms and, as we enjoyed The Gate House in Coniston so much in 2017, we've now been back there three times. 

Marion and I booked a full week and headed up to Cumbria on last Sunday and stayed overnight in Ulverston.

It's a nice little town that we've never visited before. There are plenty of reminders of its status as the home town of Stan Laurel.

We stocked up with supplies at Booths in Ulverston on Monday and made the short journey to Coniston to arrive at The Gate House late afternoon. 

Four beautiful bathrooms

All four of the bedrooms are sumptuously furnished

The view from our bedroom and one of three sitting rooms. 

And a spacious and perfectly equipped kitchen.

We had three days on our own before the friends arrived. We didn't think that everyone would want to climb Coniston Old Man so just the two of us went up on Tuesday. The views from the summit are spectacular but, whilst the weather was mild with only light breezes forecast, close to the top there was a howling icy gale. It was so strong that it blew my specs clean off my face and I was very lucky that they landed about twenty feet away and not down the mountainside.

A benefit of a November visit is the lack of crowds. I imagine that in summer the peak will be overrun.

Summit selfie

It's easy to get carried away with the camera in Cumbria. It is such a beautiful county

Two of our granddaughters love Swallows and Amazons so we photographed Bank Ground Farm, the setting for the children's adventures.

It's a good job we climbed on Tuesday as on Wednesday the Old Man had a layer of snow topping it.

Lake Head

The weather smiled on our friends who arrived on Thursday evening. This is Friday morning. 

Marion with friends Nita and Jane

Between Coniston and Tarn Hows

Mark at Tarn Hows. As a ten year old I used to fish off the rocks behind him.

Our friends for forty years Dave and Jane 

One of the prettiest spots in England

Autumn Colour

Fine dining courtesy of Jane and Nita

A boat ride to John Ruskin's Brantwood

On Sunday we walked up to the Coppermines a mile or so above the cottage. It's a spectacular industrial landscape in an area of outstanding natural beauty. 

No snow on top of the Old Man this time.

Before we left on Monday there was time for a roast chicken dinner on Sunday before settling down to watch the big match on TV. The cottage doesn't have Sky so I connected my laptop up to the TV. Everything was going fine and Liverpool were 1-0 up when this happened.

After ten minutes of frantic fiddling with wires and keyboard, the Sky signal returned and, with Liverpool now 2-0 up, I was able to watch the match. Great game. Excellent result.

We're back in Framlingham now. The next thing on the horizon is daughter Sarah's wedding in Scotland on 14th December. Between now and then there's Christmas shopping and a bit of babysitting in Kent. We're certainly going to be keeping busy.   

After hunting for fossils in Dorset, we couldn't resist this one found in Framlingham. Made by the excellent local glass artist Fiona Fawcett. We've added it to our growing collection of works by local artists. 

A Tragi Comic October

The pace hasn't dropped since I last blogged in early October and we've managed to live almost every day to the full. We've not done as much cinema going as we would like this year but, a wet afternoon was the ideal time for us to visit Cineworld in Ipswich again.

There wasn't much showing that appealed to us so we went to see Downton Abbey which would not be our usual choice but has been critically acclaimed and recommended by friends. It's visually perfect with beautiful costumes and cinematography. The plot is bordering on the comical but, as long as you suspend belief, it's an entertaining way to spend a wet afternoon.

After the comedy it was time for the tragedy - in this instance Brexit. We travelled to London for the People's Vote march. To make the most of the trip we went a day early and spent Friday looking for something for Marion to wear at our daughter Sarah's forthcoming wedding. 

The weather in London was glorious and we enjoyed the sights as we walked to the hotel.

I'm always on the lookout for interesting sculpture in London and noticed for the first time this wonderful frieze on The Monument to the Great Fire after passing it many times. 

After a successful shopping trip we went into the West End for dinner at Brasserie Zedel. This is a must see place. It's an enormous art deco dining room just off Piccadilly Circus. Staffed by waiters and waitresses in formal dress it's a people watcher's paradise. The location was great, the service excellent - the food? It's not as good as The Crown or The Station in Framlingham (by a long chalk) but don't be put off visiting.

Filling our time on Saturday morning before the march we went to the Royal Academy for the Antony Gormley exhibition. It's a stunning display of Gormley's work. Here are just a few favourites.

Perfect simplicity 

Some of the pieces are spellbinding

The scale is incredible

These simple forms reminded me of the Pompeii plaster casts. Very moving.

We met up with Framlingham friends to join the march. After going on zero demonstrations in sixty years we've now managed to go on three since 2016 and we'll keep going until there's nothing to fight for.

It was another good humoured and extremely well attended march. Don't believe those who tell you it's just the middle classes on these marches, there are people from across the entire social spectrum.

Back on the comic spectrum, I treated myself to this marvellous book for an early Halloween present. The title is based on Hogarth's A Rake's Progress it's full of Brexit based photo montages and is totally hilarious. Now that Brexit has been extended beyond Halloween, treat yourself to a copy for Christmas. 

Making further use of our time in London after the march, we went to The National Theatre to see Master Harold And The Boys. Here we were back in the realms of tragedy with a blistering observation of the horrors of apartheid. Beautifully performed and without a break, it's a rollercoaster of emotions and highly recommended.  

Back from London it was time to head to Kent to pick up grandchildren Teddy and Catherine for a half term trip to stay with us in Framlingham.

We had a trip to the castle but found the Halloween attractions booked up so we decided to return another day.

A friend kindly let us use their beach hut in Felixstowe. It wasn't beach hut weather but the kids loved it.

A trip to Felixstowe is not complete without a visit to the wonderful amusement arcade on the pier. It really is a much underrated resort. 

Back at the castle on Thursday we managed to get into the Zoolab Halloween themed show. A young animal enthusiast kept a crowd of kids enthralled with his array of creepy crawlies. The packed room asked him scores of questions and he answered every one fully with passion and patience. 

We had our own creepy crawly when I opened the garden clothes dryer up. So lucky that it was me and not Marion who hung the washing out.

We got the children back to Kent on Friday and on Sunday it was time to go to London to collect my Mum who was there with my sister Julie and my niece Nati. Mum came to spend a few days with us while Julie and Nati explored London. 

Mum's not far off 94 now but she's still going strong and we've had a few moments of comedy with her.

Mum needs the subtitles on the TV. It's not perfect watching the music rounds on University Challenge. First time I've answered every question before the teams.

We took Mum back to London yesterday to meet up with Julie and Nati who were taking her back to Spain.

Mum with Nati

After dropping her off we walked to the Royal Academy to see the new Lucien Freud self-portraits exhibition. He was an exceptional artist if not an exceptional human being. 

 We also tied Mum's return in with more comedy - a show at the London Palladium.

We booked tickets to see Eddie Izzard over a year ago so it was perfect timing.

Marion had tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks throughout the absurdist performance. He's a very funny guy and I enjoyed the show but if anybody else were to repeat his material the response would be - "what?" The highlight for me was Gina Miller sitting two rows in front.

Tragedy struck again when I had another try at finding a bargain on eBay. A pair of fine porcelain figures arrived in a hundred pieces. The seller refused to refund my postage claiming they were well packed - they weren't. Happily a complaint to eBay resulted in an immediate refund.

And happily this super £18 tureen c1830 arrived in one piece. It will be a tragedy if it doesn't sell for £150 and reverse some of my recent failures.