Running to the Beat Again

Yep, this year's main event will be the RuntotheBeat half marathon again. I'll be doing it with a bit of a difference this year:

a) Sheryl will be doing it with me (or is that me doing it with her?)

b) I won't be recovering from being knocked off my bike and have only 1 week's preparation

Anyway, I'll be fundraising for WSPA again, so if you feel inclined to donate, then great! A simple "fiver" (£5) will be appreciated, and any more will also be appreciated!

You can use the little button on the right here, or just go to (or click on) http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Welfare .

We'll let you know how we go on the 26th of September, so watch this space!

As you may recall, I've fundraised for WSPA before with the proceeds going towards the Bioresource Research Centre (http://www.pbrc.edu.pk/ ) in Pakistan and the two bear sanctuaries (Kund and Balkasar) for those bears rescued from the "sport" of bear baiting. (see: http://www.pbrc.edu.pk/bearbaiting.htm for info on that).

Well, the recent floods in Pakistan have destroyed the Kund sanctuary beyond repair. This leaves only the unfinished sanctuary at Balkasar, which desparately needs completion - not only because it needs to house the 3 surviving bears (from 23) from the floods, but also for the remaining 70-something bears that the staff of the Bioresource Research Centre are trying to rescue from the gypsy bear baiting events.
For these reasons I'm raising funds again for WSPA and this cause...

Happier days for the survivors in the Kund Sanctuary

Weekend in Suffolk

With summer seemingly over, the weather for the weekend was not looking good - forecasts for heavy rain/showers wasn’t particularly attractive. Unperturbed, I met Sheryl in a small bar just near Liverpool St station for an afterwork drink.
We were soon joined by Vanessa, before partaking of a rather ordinary dinner. Finishing with only about seven minutes to spare, we headed for the train that was to take us out of London to Melton, Suffolk for the weekend.

Steve, met us at the Melton station and after some introductions, took us back to his and Eileen’s place for a leisurely evening.

Saturday wasn’t quite the earliest of starts. The quiet of rural village life in England really does help you get a good night’s rest and sleep. No alarms, no noise from busy main roads or sirens and the like are things you get used to in the heart of London. Something you only notice when they’re suddenly not there.

So a morning walk down to the Woodbridge River for breakfast... okay, “brunch” saw us at a local caravan/kitchen. A good “home cooked” breakfast followed, and I use the word “followed” appropriately, as this is what a certain newly met local did. Augustus the beagle tried on his best looks with each of us that were eating there. He had some mixed success before we were finished, and we continued our walk along the river, past the marinas and lone moorings towards Woodbridge itself.
We arrived via the main marina, and found ourselves at the Tide Mill (right).
Woodbridge River is actually tidal, and the level of the water between high and low tide is quite considerable. This is quite evident as you see so many boats moored that are just sitting on the mud of the river bottom at low tide. Anyway, the Mill was only able to run as the tide was going out. A small “lake” filled as the tide came in, then the water in that “lake” would flow out via the paddle-wheel as the tide went out.
From here it was a short walk over the railway line and into the streets and lanes of Woodbridge. A bit of retail therapy had us poking through both the Heart Foundation and Oxfam second-hand book stores, as well as the bakery. It was then time for a bit of a tea break by a cafe before heading home to Steve n Ei’s place with a stack of new reading to do.

With the clock nearing 6pm, we set out for the nearby village of Aldeburgh. Aldeburgh, pronounced “All-bra”, is a very old seaside town. Actually, it’s half a seaside town as half of the original town was washed out to sea many centuries ago. What’s left is a very quaint and picturesque sea-side township, that has two of the best fish n chip places in Suffolk, if not nationally. We were expecting a possible wait to get in, but managed to find a rather empty restaurant when we arrived.
It wasn’t long before the place was full, so our timing was perfect. Take a look at the line of folks waiting in this pic (left) - this is what awaited us when we’d finished.
So with the sun still up, it was time for a walk along the pebbled beach, through the seaside fair and through the quiet streets and lanes of the town. Oh, and the sweets caravan/stall was a popular stop too.
Upon the road back to Melton, we stopped for a brief look at the Snape Maltery, which is now a massive music school. A mix of amazing old buildings and newer constructions of learning centres, accommodation and other things.
Further along the roads we encountered a field of sunflowers, which Vanessa and Sheryl wished to stop and photograph. This turned into about a 10 minute stop as a bit of tomfoolery amongst these near six foot flowers ensued.
The return to Melton was further delayed by a few pints in a pub in Woodbridge to round out the evening.

Sunday saw another leisurely start, that had us on the roads again. This time we began with a drive around the Saxon burial sites known as the Sutton Hoo. We didn’t stop here as most of the good stuff that was excavated is back in London at the British Museum.
We did continue through the country-side to emerge by the coast on Shingle Street for a bit of a drive by the ocean and some of the houses there. Including one of the old forts that were from the Napoleonic Wars that had been converted into a home. Not a bad effort considering that it looked like a small sand castle (the type made by filling your plastic bucket with sand), and had walls that were about eight feet thick.
From here we headed back inland before finding ourselves in the village of Orford and on the banks of the estuary to the sea. We stopped here for what was lunch in a small cafe to enjoy the river views while out of the wind.
Once finished here, we moseyed along the lanes of Orford before exploring Orford Castle. You may recall this from the visit at xmas, but this time the castle was open, so in we went. It’s not particularly large, but obviously fitted the needs of Henry II whenever he visited. It did give you a great view in all directions from the top - once you’d climbed the obligatory spiral stairwell.

Once back at ground level again, it was another picturesque drive through the laneways and roads back to Melton for a cruisey afternoon and dinner before hopping the train back to London, sirens, traffic and the working week...

A Midsummer's Midnight

'Twas a balmy midsummer's evening with daylight savings still in full swing. We set out from home for what should have been a relatively peaceful forty minute tube ride to Canon Street near St Paul's. From here it should have been a short walk across the Millennium Bridge to then reach our destination. Naturally, Transport For London managed to turn this into a complete two hour palaver that included the train drivers announcing that even they had no idea of what was going on with their train, and when and where it would be headed...

We eventually made it to the south side of the Thames and just in time to get some dinner in a riverside brassiere. And when I say "just in time" it was exactly that, as the guy ordering after me was told that the kitchen was closed. The food was still superb, but we did not have long left to be where we needed to be for the night's entertainment. Thankfully, the Swan, where we ate (and drank), is located right next to the theatre - well, it's actually connected to it in a way.

With the time approaching midnight, we hurried next door to find a good location in the theatre to view the show. That's right, I did say 'midnight'. This was the time for a one off production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and thus a midnight showing was rather apt. So, armed with our red wines, Sheryl and I settled in amongst the rest of the "Groundlings" for something a bit unique.

Once again, the works of this playwright came through for a thoroughly entertaining evening. No doubt assisted by the calibre and passion of the actors involved. Admittedly, some of the ad-libbing with the audience didn't go astray either, and nor did some of the poetic licence taken with the end of the production. I was wondering whether the ending was correct, but not knowing this play at all, I kept my mouth shut until the very end to quietly ask.
It made little difference as the show was brilliantly done and kept us all entertained for well over two hours - not bad for only £5 a ticket! I know I didn't think too highly of Shakespeare when forced to study his works at high school, and no doubt neither did any of you reading this, but to see it performed properly, and with such good actors truly makes a difference. Sure, maybe the red wine helped, but so did the atmosphere of the venue. I'm trying hard not to say that we saw it "in its natural habitat" (being in the Globe Theatre itself), but while that may sound corny, it does give it a special touch. This is as close as you can get to seeing it in its original (and intended) form.
Written 400 years ago, it still entertains us today...

"Chapeau!" William.

Parental Visitation

The arrival of mum n dad sparked a couple of active days as we set about visiting the places they wished to see. So, after a rather filling breakfast at the hotel, we set off in the warm and pleasant weather for... the Tube.
Okay, so that wasn't really what they came to London to see, but it was our first port of call after crossing Westminster bridge and was to take us to South Kensington and the Natural History Museum. Being a Friday, the main entrance appeared to be packed with school groups, so we headed for the not-so-busy side entrance through the Science museum wing.
Unfortunately, the Earth Room was closed for renovations, but we still had plenty more to see in this section. We took our time, just ambling through several floors of interesting exhibits and information, before eventually emerging into the Natural History Museum itself. Again, just moseying through the eastern half of this amazing building before a quick stop in the café there.

After we'd had our fill of mothers with children, we headed back out onto Brompton road and made our way over to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This was to be a brief stop as we'd taken a tad longer at the Natural History Museum than anticipated. We took another tad longer here too, as we simply just kept finding interesting things in what turned out to be a little more interesting place than where we'd just been.
One thing for me stood out above the rest and that was to revisit the Raphael "cartoons". I found these back on a previous visit to London, and they are still very impressive. The "cartoons" are six paintings, each around twelve feet in height alone and wider again. Monumental works to say the least. And yes, this is the Italian artist that a certain teenage mutant ninja turtle is named after - the one no one seems to have heard of...

Anyway, we again took to Brompton road and strolled along in the sunshine towards our next destination. A quick stop in Paul for a better coffee than earlier, and then we crossed the road to venture through Harrods. We took in the luxury rooms, the food halls, the jewellery and watch section - you can guess who looked at what here, and funnily enough Sheryl and Mum finished before Dad n I did! We poked about in a few other departments before hopping a cab back to the hotel for a quick change and dinner.

Into another cab we went to make our way to the evening's entertainment in the West End, with Wicked being the show we were to see. Interesting when the lead character is green, but never-the-less a very good and clever production that all four of us enjoyed.
A late evening coffee in a nearby restaurant rounded out what had been a relaxed but busy day.

After such a packed day, the Saturday was a somewhat later breakfast for the four of us, and the start for a much more casual day. Today, we just wandered along the South Bank [of the Thames] to enjoy the buskers and other sights n sounds. Poking through the large book stalls under Embankment Bridge, watching street theatre, paninis in the park by Gabriel's Wharf and just generally taking in a lovely sunny day along the banks of the Thames.

The evening took us back to our place where we were joined by Vanessa, Zara and Jarrett for what was to be an entertaining family catch-up and Indian banquet.

Sunday saw another family catch-up, this time with Steve n Eileen. The six of us headed down to Hampton Court Palace on what was to be an unusually hot day in London: 32C!! We all moseyed throughout the palace and its grounds for a good while. A bit of a "halftime break" as we picnicked in another area of the grounds, before reventuring through more of the palace and along the nearby Thames. Afternoon drinks in a nearby café/restaurant finished off our time at Hampton Court Palace. The rest of this afternoon, you'll have read about in the World Cup post below...

Sunday evening saw the four of us dining at the famous Criterion restaurant in Piccadilly, which turned out to be a splendid way for mum n dad to finish off their time with us in London before their European odyssey for the next 2 months.

Monday morning, was a trip to St Pancras to 'bon-voyage' mum n dad onto the Eurostar and the start of that odyssey...