Cambridge (continued)

All Saints, Little Shelford

2 weekends ago we visited R and C in Little Shelford, on a very hot weekend. They were preparing for a CPAS young people's houseparty in Surrey. R does the menu, and some cooking. The grandchildren do get in the way, but B especially enjoys learning to "help Mum" and try out his cooking skills!
The houseparty will have about 80 youngsters, ages 12 to 15. C will do talks about the Christain faith and life, helped by other leaders.

They enjoyed inflating a large plastic pool, then splashing around in the water. Occasional splashes helped to cool down parents, and grandparents!
C cycled over to a nearby village church that has no vicar at the moment, and led and preached at the morning service in front of "10 parishioners and a dog" - the youngest parishioner was about 60! That is what is happening to many country parishes.

Cambridge and other places

Last July C obtained curacy at All Saints. He, R and the children moved into the curate's house, a 3 bed semi about a half-mile from the church. He enjoys the work, and is well-taught by S the vicar. We see them on occasions either down here in Sussex, or in Cambridge.
Z and A will be moving soon to Broadstone into a larger house than their present on in Woking; just 2 days after A's birthday. They will be living quite close to Z's parents, sister & family, so will help Z look after J, who is about one year old.
Then C and C would like to move to a 3 bed house in Purley, after selling the maisonette in Raynes Park. It will give more room for T to "spread his wings"! We hope that this will go with no hitch.

Next week we will go to Bath on a day trip by steam train. We trust that the weather will remain fine although the 6 day weather forecast indicates rain on Saturday 18th. This event is run by the Railway Touring Co. Originally we had booked with them to go before Christmas for the Bath Market, but Network Rail (or someone else.....) had called it off.

C in Pakistan

C phoned us this lunchtime to ask for us to arrange a money transfer from UK to Japan to buy a Mitsubishi car. This we have done so the company in Japan will freight her Pajero car soon.

Pajero 4WD

British Museum

Recently, P and R had been to Lagos for a week to stay with C. They had been to a museum in the city and came across some 16th cent. Benin bronzes. However, the bronzes were in dusty glass cases and poorly lit. So, they appeared as dark shapes with little detail. P, R and I decided to visit the BM last Saturday to view their collection of bronzes and a few other items. They were well displayed but the information boards contained their history. They were taken as trophies from Benin by British troops. In about 1897 the locals rebelled against the British rule, and killed some officials. British soldiers were sent in to put down the rebellion.

Many flat bronze plates had been fixed to the walls of Benin city.

The picture above is of a Benin hornblower (16th cent.)

Christmas 2008

The days leading up to Christmas had been cold with a snowfall which had led to traffic chaos in W Sussex, and many injuries as people had slipped on icy pavements.

France trip

Middle of June, weather at last picking up. We flew from Gatwick making an early start - 4.30am. At least there was little traffic on the roads. Got to N Terminal car park area (£65 for 10 days)and soon got on to a bus to take us the short distance to the terminal. We checked in for the BA flight about 5.30. There were few people on the 737, about 40 of us so we were allowed to move seats. At 10,30 (French time) we walked into an almost empty arrivals hall to find Cedric there to greet us, and drive us down to St Jean de Luz.
The journey was through flat, uninteresting countryside, with many pine trees. it isthe largest such forest in Europe. Arrived at Hotel Pikassaria in Sare, about 1 o'clock. Went into Rhun and had lunch at the "Three Fountains" restaurant. Later drove into St Jean de Luz, and found a pleasant square with several cafes and restaurants. Evening meal at the 'Swiss Restaurant'. The weather had been mixed sun and cloud but pleasantly warm.

The next day we went to La Rhun by a circuitous route due to roadworks. French roadmen put up a 'Deviation' sign, close the road, and expect drivers to find their destination. Pat, Clare & I get on to the 'Petit Train' after queueing awhile for tickets while Cedric headed off to find somewhere to park. The open carriages held a maximum of '150 personnes' and it was full! It took about 45 mins. to get to the top of the mountain. It has a pinion wheel system driven by electric motor with overhead wires. At the top there were fine views in all directions, with 2 or 3 large cafes. We waited for the next train to arrive to see if Cedric was on board, but to no avail. So we went down on the 12 noon train.

Petworth

At the end of October, B & J phoned to say they would meet us at Petworth. The first plan had been to go over to R's flat to do some work on preparing woodwork for painting but the weather had been damp. We met in the cafeteria, then went round the large rooms .

Petworth House


They contain a large number of paintings from Reynolds to Turner. Took photos of the colourful leaves still on the trees in the Park.