Covent Garden

 The West End was rammed with people. 

I walked up from Euston just in time for a late lunch of lamb chops and black daal at Dishoom in StMartins Lane,  The Covent Garden Christmas Tree was suitably festive and I sat and people watched until it was time for the theatre .

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane was an interesting choice of mine as I picked it without knowing nothing of the production.

It’s a fantasy/drama about a man who after attending his father’s funeral visits his half forgotten childhood. A childhood full of sadness, grief, loss and disappointment and of fabulous witches, monsters, life long friendship and magical powers.

It’s a surreal and rather beautiful production full of visual tricks, superb puppetry  and a clever lead performance by James Bamford who captures all of the angst, confusion and pain of a twelve year old boy  who is hiding behind his fantasy pre teen, bookish safety net. Not wanting to process  what real life actually is.

I loved it

After the theatre, I walked the streets for a while.

Down to the National Portrait Gallery, then up over through Leicester Square, Soho and  Chinatown 

I bought a box of fresh Noodles from Wok & Go and ate them as I walked with cheap chopsticks bummed from the server.

The streets were filled with couples and groups of theatre goers and drunks

But it was nice to be a part of it all

I’m a bit nervous about tomorrow 

I haven’t seen my “ nephew” for over three years 

I hope he still likes me 

He was a child when we last saw each other 

Heyho

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Kelsey

The photograph above has not been enhanced in any way. It is the thirteenth century tower of St Mary's Church in the Lincolnshire village of South Kelsey. I was lucky to catch it in sinking autumn sunshine after a four hour walk in the district before night time arrived far too early as it does at this time of year.

It was yesterday. Clint and I had set off from Sheffield before 9.30am. At 11am I parked him near the church in North Kelsey. After inspecting that lovely church,  which by the way was open to the public, I set off on my planned walk. The surrounding countryside is rich agricultural land. In the past, there would have been more trees, woods and hedgerows and farming would have been a mixed and labour intensive affair. Nowadays, it is more of an industry, eager for profits with machinery that is often computer assisted. Pesticides and herbicides mean that wildlife struggles to assert its presence - from moles and starlings to ducks and badgers. Even insect numbers are shrivelling.

The landscape is pretty flat so there are many land drains such as North Kelsey Beck - shown below:-

Cadney was a lovely little village with a Grade I listed church. It was also open to passers by. Inside, there were some homemade jars of autumn chutney for sale on trust  so I bought one, leaving the money in a locked collection box. Cadney is off the beaten track and sleeping there at night must be so peaceful - far from the hurly burly of city life.

From Cadney I walked west to The River Ancholme. That river looks more like a canal because its old route was superseded by waterway engineers as early as the 1630's. Cadney Bridge, shown below, was constructed in 1882:-

As I walked east along Carr Road, I stopped to take a picture of starlings flying off from telegraph wires. Then just up ahead I saw a bird lying on the grass verge beneath the wires. I assumed it would be a starling but it wasn't. It was a member of the hawk family and it was still very much alive. though my image wrongly suggests that it was dead. I hoped that it was just stunned. Perhaps it had flown into the wires while unsuccessfully trying to grab a starling. What could I do? I decided to leave it. It was, I think, a kestrel but I am no ornithologist. It can't be easy being a hawk in such a landscape. What would you have done?

Lincolnshire is well-known for its associations with The Royal Air Force. By The River Ancholme I spotted this lonely radar tower several miles from the nearest RAF base:-

And over the farmland near North Kelsey there was some sort of training exercise going on. The contrails left behind show that the pilot had just been looping the loop. I hope he or she didn't waste any aviation fuel  because that stuff is precious you know.

Almost exactly four hours after setting off, I was back at Clint. The day's light was fading away fast. I crept up behind him and caught him singing an old Neil Young number:-

My life is changin' in so many ways

I don't know who to trust anymore

There's a shadow runnin' through my days

Like a beggar goin' from door to door

Coincidentally, it was a song that had been playing in my own mind for a while. The great Canadian songsmith wrote it  some time in 1970 - fifty one years ago.

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London Bound

 

There is a chill in the air this morning.

Winter is approaching and the dying ash trees in the graveyard are stark against the cold marble sky in the west. Ash die back has decimated the trees nearby and those around the Church have been marked with yellow paint spots by the council and are awaiting their sad executions.

It was dark when I returned home last night, so I didn’t notice that my sister had titivated the garden which now looks clean and tidy and ready for the winter. 

She had planted pansies in the flower beds and left a colander on my garden table filled with alpines

I’m going down to London today and the quiet coldness of the village feels a million miles away from the lights and bustle of Covent Garden . 

I’m staying in Z Hotel again 

I need to pick my train but I need my coffee first.

Our tickets for Comic Con are not until tomorrow but as Leo wanted an early start and has only got to travel from Kent, I have arranged to go down today so that I can meet him from the station.

A night free in London will be filled by a trip to The Duke Of York’s Theatre to see The Ocean At The End Of The Lane.

My nephew has Aspergers and I think it’s his first time travelling to town on his own, so it’s kind of a big deal. His mom emailed me yesterday to check if I had arranged to meet him and I assured her I had.

It’s strange to think that the last time we were in London together he was a little boy.

Dorothy is off to my sister’s shortly and Mary to Trendy Carol’s 

Enough time for another coffee me thinks

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