Star Trek 60 @ Science Museum

We travelled to the Science Museum to see the Star Trek 60 exhibition.  In reality there is not much of it and it can be a little difficult to find.  We found items 1-7, the only location that we didn't visit was number 8, partly because I wasn't going to buy any merchandise, and partly because it was already 17:00. We arrived just at the start of the booked entry time.  There were many things we got wrong with this visit.  Bothering to book on the suspect website was probably not worth the effort.  The first time I tried, the dates did not match the day names, but this week it did. Then we didn't take anything with us - water, food, because I was not clear what we could take in and didn't want to be lugging stuff around. The Science museum is enormous, I could spend at least 3 days there to do it properly.  As we trekked around, following all the other interesting stuff, I had to keep an eye on the time.  They close at 18:00. One interesting fact I learned, the french are very good at bureaucracy.  The first powered flight was December 1903.  By 1910 they were issuing pilots licenses. Large sections of the museum are aimed at children, which is as it should be, we need the next generation to be committed to science and engineering if we are to keep pace with the rest of the world. I am getting used to looking at things in museums and saying "I had one of those".  The particular thing this time was a hand cranked adding machine.  It reminded me of the time we had played with them in a maths lesson at school.  At break time I continued my calculation and had to be gentle removed from the room by the maths teacher.  This was part of the reason that I was moved to the top group, I'm sure. The worse thing , though, was not saying "I had one of those", but "The children had one of those"!

Paper Mill Lock to Rushes Lock, Chelmer Navigation

Paper Mill Lock, looking up stream

On the last day of summer (for us, it's back to school tomorrow), we decided to go out for lunch and a walk.  There are Simpson's skys, the temperature is warm, the sun a little hot, with just a gentle breeze, a beautiful day.

We have been to Paper Mill Lock on a few occasions.  The last one was here: https://3cephas.blogspot.com/2019/11/summer-holidays-2019-part-1.html, look down to 12 August. That day we got wet.  On a previous visit we were taken on a geocaching tour.  One of the caches is along the tow path between the two locks.  That day it was wet, very wet if my memory is correct.  So, today may have been the first time we had a completely dry visit. 

We arrived to find that parking was restricted.  The big car park is only open at weekend and public holidays, it is not owned by the Tea Rooms.  We were squeezed in, luckily we have a small car. There is a two hour limit and to manage it our car has to be registered in a book - all nicely low-tech. We ordered our sandwiches at the outside window as requested, and it arrived at our table promptly.  The food was very nice.  

After we had eaten, we moved to the car to the road, where luckily two cars were moving away.

Then we turned back to the tow path, beginning our walk downstream to the next lock.  At Paper Mill the lock gates are marked 2021.  At Rushes lock they are dated 2019.

Rushes Lock, Chelmer Navigation

Along the way we passed a number of kayaks, people on inflatable boards, some with life jackets, most without.  Even two without life jackets, where the woman was telling the young girl not to panic or they'd both be in the water.  The "Albert", the boat trip, boat also passed us. 

We passed fishermen and fisherwomen, who were enjoying the solitude, and probably didn't want me asking about their catch, but I had to know, so one of the men had his peace disturbed.

The tow path has been recently cut back, but is still unruly in places, and there is plenty of food for the wildlife.

Our measured distance was 3.04 miles and took 1 hour and 44 minutes, including stops to talk, let people pass, or watch the "Albert" go through the lock.  On our previous visits we have not seen a boat go through the lock.

 

Garden

Hopefully I will find some pictures for this post.

The Home Group study asked "What has been your experience with gardening?"  I, of course, gave a short answer about recent events.  Memories were triggered, though.

The garden at home, when I was a child, was approximately 80 feet long (25 meters).  The house was 'double fronted', so perhaps 30 feet (9 meters) wide.

There were two ways to get to the garden, one from the kitchen put you on the left side, next to the coal bunker (and later the oil fired boiler) and almost in front of the main shed. This shed was painted green, and was build, along with its concrete base by my dad. It was probably 10x12 feet.  The other door, a 'french door, led from the through lounge to the right dis of the garden, near the back gate and almost in front of the bicycle shed.  This was wooden and creosoted, so looked matt-black, it was not built by dad, but was there when we moved in. 

There were steep step from both doors to a concreted patio area, about 5 ft wide.

From the kitchen door a path led past the shed down the garden to the greenhouse at the bottom.  To the left of this path, behind the shed, was the growing area.  to the right, which was most of the garden, was grass (a lawn, which took a lot of work to keep weed-free and short enough to play on). About halfway down, to the left of the path, was a large cooking apple tree, with a much smaller eating apple tree on the right side of the garden.  This was always unhealthy and eventually died.

A small patch of earth each side of the tree was reserved for my sister and I.  The strip nearest the shed was mine, and beyond the tree, my sisters. Our strips of garden went from the path to the neighbour's fence on the left. 

I have little recollection of what we grew, only a plant we called 'golden rain' which grew in clumps near the path, it was a couple of feet tall, with maybe 4 inches of yellow flowers that cascaded downwards to a point.   There were plenty of other plants, and we built a path up the centre, using sea shells from the cockle sheds at Old-Leigh.

I always enjoyed digging in the mud, moving plants around and watering them.  Most of what I grew was successful and I was said to be 'green fingered'. 

The rest of the growing area was for lettuce, beetroot, cabbage, runner beans, possibly potatoes, and other vegetables.  We tried sweet corn one year, but the ants ate it before we could harvest it. 

The plot beyond the tree, in front of the greenhouse was used for the bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night.  All sorts of garden waste was piled there from the end of the harvest season onwards, the ashes were later spread throughout the growing area.

The green house was used for succulents, which was dad's hobby, and tomatoes.

I remember dad repairing the roof, cutting new glass panes, and supporting them with strips of lead, the using putty to seal make the roof water tight.   

There was a barrel behind the green house to catch water from the roof.  This sat next to the wood pile and the brick heap. These were waste materials from various building and demolition efforts.  There had once been an air raid shelter (Anderson Shelter?) where the green shed now stood.

On the right side of the garden, behind the black shed, was a tall privet hedge that reached down to the apple tree and was home to hedgehogs and toads.  Beyond this hedge was a chain link fence that went all the way to the back of the garden, next to it was a narrow flower bed, I remember it had pansies, roses, forget-me-nots and some other flowers.

Opposite the green house was another growing area, I can't remember what was here, except that the wooden fence that marked the back of the property was used to grow sweet peas. Straight down was a gate that led into the woods.

We had an old shop awning that was thrown over a wire attached to the small apple tree at one end and a scaffold pole at the other.  The corners were tied with string and pegged into the grass.  It made a tent for us to play in.   There was also a swing built of  'angle iron' that sat in the middle of the garden past the two apple trees, for many years.

 

 

Hadleigh to Leigh-on-sea

We drove to Hadleigh Country Park.  Google Maps directed us further down the Benfleet Road than I remembered going. We ended up having to reverse up a steepish hill on a narrow driveway leading to two or three very large houses.  Then it was back to St. Johns Road, and down Chapel Lane, as I remembered it from our last trip.

It is a beautiful day, with clear views over the Thames Estuary.  The path from the Country Park to the Castle is covered in crushed stone.  We spotted a sparrow with something in its beak.  It looked like a piece of plastic, the sunlight glinting off it. As we watched the sparrow repeatedly bashing whatever it was on the ground, it became clear that it was a dragon fly.  Once it had knocked the wings off, it flew away with its prize, leaving us to examine the remains, a shining lacy wing. 

After about a mile, we arrived at the castle.  Once a trio of mums had decided they were not staying, I was able to take a picture of Southend Pier between the towers.  Last time I did this it was an overcast day.  (https://3cephas.blogspot.com/2022/06/hadleigh-park-and-castle.html)  Hopefully this is a better picture.

Instead of walking down towards the railway, we followed the Saffron Trail.  It runs about halfway up the hill and is a purpose made track, used for walking and cycling.  I'm not sure if it was here last time we came, but it has definitely been here a while as there are shrubs growing through the plastic base.

As we arrived in old Leigh, the tide was coming in.  We had lunch at The Peterboat and wandered through along the high street to the beach, where we turned back.  Now with an ice cream we sat on the sea wall and watched the river.  Then went to look for the cockle sheds.  I can remember it being very open, and running up (or trying to) the piles of cockleshells. I could dive into them too, like a ball pit. Now, it is much more developed and access behind the cockle sheds is much more difficult. The sheds themselves are much more modern with lots of stainless-steal in a bright environment.  It used to be dingy, hot, and smell of fish, none of that now. The boatyard is also now behind a huge fence, where it used to be open and easily accessible.

We decided to get the bus back, as it was due in about 5 minutes.  The driver of the number 26 had other ideas.  Pulling into the wrong stand, he drove straight through, and completely ignored the passengers, all of whom were less than regulars.  

The next one was 35 minutes away, so we waited.  We got off at Homestead Gardens and walked down Chapel Lane.  By now it had started to rain a little.  Once we were in the Hub Café, the rain came down harder.  I left my bag behind, over the back of the chair, so halfway down Rayleigh Road, we had to turn around to retrieve it.  Fortunately it was still there.

Artimis Mission

The first sign that the baby human race was about to take a step away from its birth planet occurred on 12 September 1962.  The President of the United States of America set his country the target of putting a foot on the moon and returning home.  I was almost 8½, and largely unaware of what was happening.

The program did not go well.  I remember being shocked and saddened by the disaster of Apollo 1.  Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee died in a fire in the command module, although I couldn't have named them at the time.  There was a short pause in the program.  

On 21 December 1968, Apollo 8 was the first spacecraft to leave earth orbit. The first tiny step had been taken.  My excitement at the whole program and the optimism it generated were enormous.  Apollo 11 put 2 men on the moon, as did 12, 14, 15, 16 and finally 17 in December 1972.

Next stop Mars, or so I thought.  But NO!

I've had to wait over 60 years before someone was prepared to try again.  The Artemis program has less hype, and has generated less excitement that Apollo.  My two eldest grandsons are a similar age now, to me at the Apollo launches. I watched the Artemis 2 launch with them, by the wonders of the internet, which certainly made it more exciting and interesting. 

The development has also been much faster, Artemis 2 is the equivalent of Apollo 8 - doing a loop around the moon.  Now they are safely back home.  I have to say that my excitement at this mission, though great, is nothing like my excitement in the '60s and '70s.  There is more awareness of the dangers, and the way corporate America works - including the shortcuts it takes.  But all credit to the to all the scientists and engineers involved in the mission for getting something so complex and leading edge, working so quickly.  I don't want there to be another disaster.  I'm looking forward to Artemis 4 and another landing and return.  I'm excited for that.

I'm looking forward to the baby human race taking its second tiny step. 

The Chalkwell Park Gorilla

Before we moved, so before I started school, we used to go for walks in Chalkwell Park.  There was recently an incident there, where a child was killed by a tree branch falling.  That is very sad, as the park had many lovely big trees.  I hope they can be managed better and are not simply cut down.

I also remember that the park had a little zoo, only maybe 10 cages - all way too small for the animals in them, but I didn't know that at the time.  I used to love walking by the fence, that separated people from the cages - just far enough so that we couldn't reach in, and they couldn't reach out.

One of the animals I remember most clearly is the gorilla.  The picture is AI generated, but fits pretty well with my memory.  The floor of the cage was covered in discarded orange peel, banana peel, and partially eaten vegetables.  Looking back, I realise what an awful life the poor creature had, but then I was just eager to see him, and the other animals.  I think there was a big cat, a lion or tiger possibly, pacing around and around as captive animals do.  I don't remember the other creatures.

This article https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/lovely-essex-park-once-home-9448938 suggests there was a Himalayan black bear called Lulu, I don't remember that.

More Memories of Mum

A few more memories came to mind, after the publication of my last blog entry, so when I visited my sister we had a discussion.  Some of these are from me, but most are from my sister.

More accurately than in my last post, mum was born in Westcliff, in either Beedell Avenue or Shakespeare Drive, or around there. She would have like to be a teacher, but would have needed to go to Grammar School to achieve that. She could not, so she was forced to leave at 14 and then trained as a hairdresser.  She worked in a hairdressers at Cuckoo Corner roundabout.  She used to eat her lunch in Priory Park — at the same time that dad was working there. Believed in fate - that they were meant to be together.

One of mum's favourite singers was Val Doonican https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Doonican.  We watched his show on TV.  I don't know her favourite songs.

She would also listen to "Mrs Dale's Diary" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Dale%27s_Diary, on the radio in the mornings.  The other show she talked about occasionally was ITMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_That_Man_Again

 I remember her telling me how frightening the doodlebugs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb) were, when their engines ran out of fuel they descended silently, and you couldn't really tell where they would impact.

Some of the politicians we talked about were:

Harold Wilson, who she didn't trust at all.

Enoch Powell, who she respected

Gerald Nabarro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Nabarro, who she also respected because of his outspokenness

Mum was a brownie and later ran the brownie pack with her friend Ann. The pack was based at All Saints Church, Southend-on-sea (https://www.allsaintschurchsouthend.org.uk/).  She wanted both of us to join a similar organisation, but neither of us like the youth groups at the church at the top of the road.  We both said they were a waste of time (mine was Sea scouts, I only went to one meeting)

Knitting, crochet and cloths making were her hobbies.  I remember her adjusting the 'dummy' that she bought by mail order (rare in those days), and helping her with the split pins as she adjusted and re-measured to get the size right.

In my last post, I did not know mum's view of her driving lessons, she apparently thought that Dad wasn't patient enough.  She never took formal lessons, though.

Her younger brother, who we knew as Uncle Ron, was ill as a child and effectively isolated. When older, he rode to Wales (a long distance for cycling). She was proud of him.

Mum wanted us to learn to play the piano; she persuaded the piano teacher to take my sister, who was too young.  She did quite well, I didn't.  She also wanted my sister to go dancing, with the girl who lived next door, who was a similar age.  My sister didn't want to.

She was very good at maths, and was taught by her younger brother how to count money, she was quick and accurate.

During WWII, she worked at ECKO (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EKCO) making communications equipment.

Mum also wrote poetry, neither of us know what became of her poems.

Memories of Mum

My mum (on the left) would have been 100 a few days ago.  It seemed appropriate that I should record a few memories, before they disappear forever.  So here they are, not organised in any particular way, and all from my point of view and far from complete.

She was born and grew up in Southend-on-Sea.

One of the very few stories I can remember mum telling me of her childhood is of when she broke her arm.  She had been dancing on a table.  This was much against the advice of her own mother.  She fell off.  In the matter of fact way that stories were told in those day, she went to hospital and got it put in plaster and it healed.

She was, if I remember correctly, the middle of three children and had two brothers.  The older one moved to Scotland with his Scottish wife.  He later caused a family break-up trying to inherit her mother's estate, and as a result, I never met that uncle.

At some point she discovered a relative in Harold Hill, who we visited annually.  He was an old man and fond of telling his war stories and singing the songs from his era.  I don't think mum particularly enjoyed these visits, but she insisted we made them until he died.

Mum loved her push-bike.  She would cycle whenever she could. She had not learned to drive in her younger years, and despite many lessons with my dad (who drove for a living) she could not master the fine control required for hill starts.  I didn't realise until much later how surprising it was that this never caused a row between them, at least not one that we heard, as my sister and I were sat in the back seats.

The bike was walked along side her as she took us to school each morning, about a mile walk.  After dropping us off she would cycle home, or to whatever else she did. Sometimes one of us, usually my younger sister, would be allowed to ride on the saddle.  One day my sisters foot got caught between the peddle and the bike frame.  I'd never seen my mum panic before, she tried and tried to free my sister, but was unable to.  I offered to help, and soon had my sister free.  Normally, in a crisis, my mum was unflappable and rarely got visibly worked up or upset about anything.

When I was old enough to have a second-hand bike, I spent a lot of time cleaning it. As mum's was also very old, I offered to clean hers as well.  She, rather reluctantly, agreed.  I like to think she was genuinely pleased with the result, if she wasn't she certainly gave me the impression that she was.

I remember her writing a lot of letters, sometimes to her MP.  She would research carefully and write the letter, then read it and re-write it.  There were always pads of blue writing paper in the house.  These were not her political views, but issues that were important for us as a family.  She would also write letters to companies.  When a plastic toy was improperly made and ruined some of our clothes, her letter resulted in the biggest tin of sweets I had seen being delivered to us with a letter of apology.

Mum was very good with young children; she had wanted to be a teacher, but the circumstances of her life had prevented her from going into training.  When I was talking to her about my 'O' levels, she told me that 'people like us' don't pass exams.  I think she was preparing me for not passing, as I was pretty confident.

She spent endless Saturday mornings with me in the local library, helping me take notes from the encyclopedias and other reference books to complete the latest home work assignment.  My writing was appalling, hers was always very clear and consistent.  Her notes were much more useful than mine.

As a child I was frequently unwell, and spent many days in bed.  I was also a Star Trek fanatic.  When I was too ill to get up and come down stairs to watch it, she watched it for me then came and told me the story.  She didn't like science fiction.

When I told her I had started to attend a church, she warned me about sects, and wanted evidence that the church was mainstream.  By this time I was in my 20s, it didn't matter, my mother would always protect me if she could.  That conversation, like so many others went on for a long time, she always had time for us and was always willing to talk.  Conversations were always easy with mum.

Although trained as a hairdresser, mum did not do regular work while we were young.  When dad was made redundant, she got a job in a local factory, in the evenings. That she could still look after us.  The job did not agree with her, I can't remember why.  She stuck at it long after she should have stopped.

Grandma only saw one of her grandchildren - my sisters oldest son.  By the time Jo was expecting she was already ill with an aggressive strain of leukaemia.  Sitting on her hospital bed telling us that the diagnosis was terminal, she said 'I just want to get out of this deadly place'.  It was a kind of pun and broke the sombre mood.

She was convinced that Jo was expecting girls, and she was right.  She passed on 12 hours before they were born.  She would have loved to meet them, our sons, and my sisters other daughter and son.  It was not to be.

Bird Song

30 March 2024

The alarm sounded at 5:40, way too early when you normally wake up at about 8:00.  We have to be in Norsey Woods for the Bird song walk at 6:30.  It doesn't help that the freezer suffered a minor malfunction, but we got there.  Binoculars and phone app to hand to identify the birds from their song and if possible to see them as well.  

The guides and the other enthusiasts put us to shame with their knowledge and easy identification.  It will take me a long time to be that proficient.  The app (Merlin) identifies birds in real time, allowing me to watch the bird come up, just as the song starts.  It is very helpful.  We walked around for about two hours, and I am slowly getting used to locating birds with binoculars, that's another skill I have to learn.

There is a great-spotted woodpecker at the top of this tree - you'll have to trust me because I only had my phone with me, and even zoomed in it is just a blob.

The sound of the birds was amazing, and I remembered an incident from school life.  One of the teachers in junior school asked if someone could get up early to record the dawn chorus.  A boy called Andrew volunteered, and was very enthusiastic.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get up early, so we never did hear the dawn chorus from his house.

From our house, it was amazing, but I was never an early riser, so probably missed the best of it.

Today's walk in the woods, and the birds we heard, was very impressive, but I suspect it would have been better 50+ years ago.

We definitely heard Chiffchaff, Robin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Wood-pigeon and the sound of woodpeckers pecking.  We also disturbed a Muntjac.

Dogs & Puppies

8 January 2024

I woke up thinking about Nina, a Dalmatian that my sister got for her 11th (I think) birthday.  She was scatty, I think that's the best description.  It was our job to take her for walks in the evening, up to the top of the road and down the hill to the brook at the bottom.  Sometimes we would take her to the recreation ground, a mainly open grassed space with a number of football pitches and a children's play area.  We rarely let her go free (off-lead) there, she always thought that coming back (or not) was some sort of game.  We would let her off in the woods that we backed on to - as long as there was plenty of time.

It was the time she had pups that was the memory I woke up with.  I can't remember how many she had, it may have been ten.  There was a runt in her litter - all the others were a similar size, and we named them all.  The runt was a lot smaller and was called 'Littely' (for obvious reasons).  Us children, in our early teens perhaps, made far too much fuss of this tiny pup.  So, its mother started trying to kill it.  She would sit on it and prevent it from feeding.  Mum changed her name - I don't remember what to, but it was enough to fool the dog into believing that the runt was gone.

We kept one of the pups - a male we called Monty.  He was nominally my dog.  That's a story for another time.

Hadleigh Park and Castle

We walked from Hadleigh Park, down towards the railway line, along towards Leigh-on-Sea, up to the castle, up into Hadleigh, along the High Street and back to the Park.  A total distance of 3.4 miles (5.5 Kilometres).

We had been doubtful about this walk as the forecast was for thunderstorms, but this morning, not even rain was forecast for Hadleigh.  So we set out, substituting the new camera for the old, just in case.  

Parking is expensive and works like the hospital car park, you pay on exit and cameras record your entry.  As usual in these places, my credit cards would not scan and a card reader was not installed.  We found one that took cash, what a relief, as the parking app that it says to use has completely different paying instructions.

The walk itself is pleasant, the tracks are quite steep in places, but mostly the paths are clear.  Some of the tracks are dressed with stone chippings. It's not that great for walking on, but when there are hundreds of people it is better than leaving the path to erode.

There are some great views of the Thames from various places, below is the first clear view of the river as we made our way downhill.

An early view of the River Thames.

While the early part of the walk is through scrub, with warnings of cows and a bull (we didn't see any), at the bottom of the hill there are cultivated fields at least as far as the railway line.  Wheat, barley and rape seed.  We saw only two trains on the entire walk, this being another strike day.

A field of rape seed almost ready for harvest, looking toward the railway.

When the castle first appears, it is a stunning view.

View of Hadleigh Castle from the footpath.

 Turning towards the castle, we walked up the footpath as directed by the way marker.  It was very overgrown, and the secateurs came to good use, then we noticed two people walk down the hill with apparent ease.  Just 10 metres further on, there is another track running parallel with the now (mostly) disused footpath.

After visiting the castle, we headed for the Salvation Army tearooms.  It was closed, they are just now beginning to get it up and running.  The tearooms were always staffed by those with educational difficulties, now it is to be run by them too, with some assistance from the Salvation Army.  We will have to return for another visit in a month or two.  Meanwhile, we met two of the employees and were treated to some samples of the cakes they had made.  

Walking through the High Street brought back many memories, Hadleigh was where I grew up.  The butchers shop where I was stand-in delivery boy for a friend.  And the 'Arkwright' bike that I used to ride.  Granville would have been proud of me.  The scrapyard overflowing with rusty who knows what to about two storeys high and the shop next to it where we bought fireworks (both now gone), the old fire station, still not re-developed, the Wagon and Horses, now flats, and much more if I'd stayed longer.  We headed back down Chapel Street, passing a little park, beyond which there are allotments, which my dad waited more than twenty years for and was only offered one just after he moved away.

Finally, back in the park, we had lunch at the 'Hub Café'.  The food is very basic and partially green - all the packaging for the salads and sandwiches is recyclable, but there is only a normal general rubbish bin to put it in.  Rather odd, I thought.

View of Southend pier from Hadleigh Castle

'Race' Day Remembered

A while ago we received a new mattress, so there was a lot of tidying up to do.  Many things were found and disposed of, most of the contents of a silver box was shredded, what remains has been scanned and appears below.

http://3cephas.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/mini-cooper-racing-at-rockingham.html

http://3cephas-notes.blogspot.co.uk/2006/10/rockingham-mini-cooper-driving.html

Education Sunday - Teachers who have influenced us

We were asked to think about teachers who had influenced us, so here are the three that came to mind.

Mr Neale. A physics teacher at my senior school, whose lessons allowed us to experiment and who engaged his class with the practical things of physics as well as the theoretical things. He was responsible for me subscribing to 'New Scientist' for a number of years.

Mr Harris, who was never my teacher at all, but taught me more than many of the others put together. After and during exams we had lots of free time, which had to be spent in school. Mr Harris allowed me (even encouraged me) to help out in his class. He ran a game, which taught the children history, if I remember correctly. The game required quite a bit of practical help, and I was one of the helpers. I learned about teaching, and encouraging children to be engaged with the game and learn through it. As a sixteen year old it was a new world to me, and one I explored and enjoyed being involved in. It set me up for running youth groups in my 20s and 30s.

Ed Wilson, my sixth from maths teacher, the last in a long line of brilliant maths teachers, that made maths my subject. His worked with the three of us on the extended course, it made him almost a friend, and in the sixth form that is just what you need to learn. I passed the exam. At the end of the two years he took us to the pub over the road for a 'leaving drink'.

My first shopping trip

As you may know I am an assistant tutor for the course in Christian Studies. Last week's exercise was to create a 'map' of your life journey, locate on it the highs and lows, determine the place of prayer and your (perceived) closeness or otherwise to God.  There is a warning about the dangers of remembering the dark and difficult times of the past, and a recommendation not to dwell or even approach those times.  As a tutor I don't have to do the exercise, but I like to be prepared, so I sat down to think.

Starting at the beginning, I began with some early memories, the most vivid of which was a visit to a shop.  Sounds exiting doesn't it? Well for me it was.  This was my first visit to a shop on my own.  We lived in a road crammed with Victorian terraced houses, all very narrow with a scullery at the back a small garden and an alley way behind running parallel to the road.  This road is now a one way street with parking down one side and driving down it requires care - it is very narrow.  At the time of my first shopping trip, there were no cars parked in the road, neither did any drive up or down it.  The only thing we saw in the road regularly was the milkman and his horse and cart.  I also have memories of the sounds of hooves on tarmac, and of feeding the horse with carrots.

I was given a piece of paper with writing on it - just two or three words which I couldn't read, but was told what they said (can't remember that bit) - and some money - perhaps a shilling or a half crown.

British Currency pre-decimalization: 12d (pence) to the shilling and twenty shillings to the pound.  A price would be written as 2/6 meaning 2 shilling and six pence - the value of a half crown.

I was given strict instructions to go to the shop, speak only to the shopkeeper and return straight home with the goods and the CHANGE.

I walked up the road, got to the junction with the London Road (A13), turned left and a little way along, before the toy shop was the grocery shop.  I went in, and attracted the attention of the man behind the counter.  He recognised me and knew my name (though I didn't know his).  I handed him the list, I couldn't put it on the counter - I could't reach the top of it.  He read it and got the goods requested which were put in a brown paper bag (I think).  I gave him my coin and asked for the change.  He returned the list and had wrapped the change inside it for me.  I ran home - extremely pleased with myself!

Five Earliest Memories - an exercise from my school days

1) Age ? The Wasps.  At the bottom of the garden where we used to live there was a wasps nest.  I first realised this while playing there.  A swarm of wasps rushed out of a hole in the ground.  A few weeks later a man came in and sprayed a hole which had been dug in the ground to make the wasps go.  They did go, but it took quite a time for them to leave the nest - an old mattress.

2) Age 3 The Cat. We had a very large and fluffy tabby. He was very old and would move very slowly.  I was upstairs one day when mum told me I should not go in the kitchen as the cat was very ill and would probably die.  She did and the next day the vet came he told us that our cat died of a very nasty and dangerous disease and that we could not have another cat for six months, because the disease could still be lurking around the house.

3) Age 5 We were thinking of moving and had looked in many houses.  One particular one we visited was dark on the outside and when we got in it was black, although the wall paper was a lighter colour.  The room that would have been my room was covered in a light blue peeling wallpaper with the same shade of paint and after seeing around the house for the last time we went to go.  The door was stuck solid and would not move.  We were lucky because dad was going to come and see the house straight after work.  He did and we got out.  After the experience I did not like the house anymore.

4) Age 5 Starting school on a rainy day was not nice but I enjoyed it and as we entered the school the head teacher talked to me.  I remember saying to her how big the school hall was.  Of course she agreed and after sitting in her office for a while we walked back to the classroom a very long way away. The teacher was tall and the first lesson I remember is two plus two.

5) Age 6 Soon after I learned to ride my bicycle I was riding along very fast and decided to turn completely round.  I did not achieve this and found myself lying on the ground with a stone in my knee.  Later I dug the stone out with my finger nails. Mum and dad did not want to touch it.

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We have been clearing out the loft  in preparation for insulating it.  There is no date on the single sheet of exercise book paper (6.5 inches by 8 inches), but it was with things from the third year of senior school (age 13-14).  The stories are supposed to be 9 lines each.
Now I have no recollection of the first one and little of the second.  I remember that the cat was doubly incontinent - yuk! Being locked in the house (3) is still a frightening memory but I do not remember anything about the inside, just wondering what we would do if no-one came. 
I started school late because of moving house - that's why I had such a personal induction. 
The stone in the knee episode is still quite a clear memory, especially digging into the hole and slowly prising a fairly cubic stone out of my flesh.  I still have the scar, but not the stone.

Pirate Radio

On the way to church this morning the presenter on BBC Essex was talking about Radio Caroline.  (Radio Caroline today)  Jo asked me if I listened to it.  I was immediately back in my garden at home.  We had a large area of grass in the garden - 80 feet long, behind a double fronted house.  I used to ride my bicycle round and round, with a small transistor radio in a leather case strapped to the handle bars.  Listening to the Beatles, the Kinks and whatever was playing.  My memories of those days are of warm sunny evenings with nothing better to do, and the joy of the sprint down to a tight turn at the bottom, keeping as near to the edge as possible, then back up to the top through the longer, greener grass on the 'wet' side of the garden.  Happy Days (but well before the program was made).  It was '64, '65 or '66.  Radio Caroline gave good reception where as Radio Luxembourg was on long wave and the reception was poor.  The radio took a 'square' 9volt battery (no rechargeables then)  and I was forever trying to persuade my parents to buy another.  When I crashed off my bike, as I often did, the radio would come out of it's case and go flying.  If it hit the concrete path along the back of the house the case would break and I have to get the polystyrene cement (air-fix glue) out and repair it.  Somehow the radio always worked afterwards - but it soon looked like more glue than plastic case. I can't remember the make and model - it was of no interest to me, but I remember what it looked like.  Take the metal fittings off, move the speaker to the bottom and put a plastic cover over it, then move the two controls so that the dials are just slightly proud of the sides and that's about it.  The picture is 'borrowed' from flickr. Mine also had a stand, like the Zenith further up the page, but that was soon lost.

Today at Christ Church we had a very high attendance for a Palm Sunday Service.  Warner spoke on the tag lines "As a leader today it can be hard to know if you're being followed or chased"  and "If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail". In the case of the people who set up Radio Caroline, they were followed by some and chased by others.  It is probably true for all leaders, but was definitely true for Jesus.  His careful plans for his entry to Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) with his followers, made him easier for the authorities to chase.  In four days time they will have caught up with Him to put an end to his plans.  What they don't know is ... Jesus wasn't planning to fail ...

Frost Damage

Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the Garden, we are promised that the cold weather will return.  Since I started travelling on the bus, I have stopped liking the cold weather.  It's not being ON the bus that's the problem.  We are protected from the wind, and even the ones without heaters have enough people on them to raise the temperature a degree or two. The problem is waiting for a bus.  No comfortable (relatively) train station, nicely covered, and partly underground.  There is just a bus shelter with barely enough roof to keep the rain off, or sometimes just a pole stuck into the path.  I just have to stand there and wait. 

I could walk to the next stop - it's only three or four minutes away, but the bus could pass me as I do - and it has happened a number of times.  Alternatively, I could walk four or five stops and still the bus doesn't come.  It's on those occasions, whether I've walked or not that I get very cold.

Other things have suffered in the cold too.  The water gets in, freezes, expands and pushes things apart.  If you're visiting my house - take care.  I hope it will be fixed soon. 

Meanwhile, I have been potting the amaryllises and dahlias in preparation for better weather.  Next week contains February 9th, which was my Dad's birthday.  I remember there being snow on the ground for almost all his birthdays.  Let's see what the week brings.

Burnham sea wall

Wondering what to do on Friday we decided to visit Burnham-on-Crouch. We have been there before, it's about an hours drive and the walk along the sea wall is usually pleasant. There are plenty of pubs for a quick drink, and if you park at the leisure centre its free. We had not been before in the day time. (Obviously,) in the day time there is much more open and much more going on. We tried to spot the spot on Foulness which I had thought was the Church. We managed to get closer to the North Sea this time, and the tower (it is definitely a tower) looks too wide to be party of a church. More like a water tower perhaps.

We had to be back in Billericay at a reasonable time so had reached the limits of our walk. Our pub walks book had one of its circular walks at Burnham, but as we had already done half of it travelling the wrong way we decided just to eat and return home. We had lunch at 'The Quayside'. It was almost empty when we arrived, so being a lovely day we decided to sit outside. By the time we left the outside was full. We are trend setters!

On the way back to the car we walked along the road, and came across Burnham's cinema.It reminded me of the Empire in Sandwich. I can't remember what we saw, possibly a Narnia Film, but I can remember the experience of a small Cinema. (Even my good friend Google can't find my blog on that.) We resolved to try the Rio.

As my holiday time comes to an end, I am starting to look at events in October, and beyond. I have been offered a chance to speak at 'A life worth living' which I am looking forward to. It has also been suggested that I volunteer for 'The Ultimate Goal', with Through Faith Missions. That is likely to be much more of a challenge.

Foulness, Old Leigh, Hadleigh Castle & Wallasea Island

An alternative title might have been "No Entry" or "Places we haven't been", either as it turned out could have been the theme through the day.

2009_0907 Old Leigh, Hadleigh Castle, Wallasea Island

We started the day on an ancestor hunt. James Knight is a great grandfather of mine, he was rector of Foulness. We decided to visit the church. There was information on the web that suggested there are public roads on the island. The man at the gate agreed they were public, but still insisted that we could not drive on them. He seemed incapable of seeing the contradiction. We tried the next island round, and couldn't get on there either. The road to Potton Island was just a dead end.

After discounting a visit to the archives on such a lovely day we went to Old Leigh. Last time I was there was probably 30 years ago. Many of the boat yards have gone, and the town is now full of places to eat. The other noticeable difference is that the trains are much quieter. There is also a museum now, and in what looks like a derelict house a stone marking a spring, which is presumably why the town was recorded in the Doomsday Book.

Then on to Hadleigh Castle which has changed a lot. I remember it as a neglected ruin, now it has had the English Heritage treatment - about time too. There are still cows in the surrounding fields, and they are still menacing enough to stop me going in the field. We had lunch at the Salvation Army Tea Room. I think they were a little overrun by the result of the good weather, they had already run out of some items.

We decided to return to Wallasea, and got to walk along the sea wall. Even this is being blocked (further on from our walk) as they return some of the land to salt marsh. There are pictures on Picasa (see link above), in one there is a tiny spot on the horizon which we believe is Foulness Church. On another there is a large plume of smoke. The sky was dark at the time and I thought it was thunder, but I suspect it was just a test on Foulness.

On our way back from the first attempt we saw a sign saying 'Foulness cycle ride' - perhaps that's the way on to the island.

Fairy Cake

In my browsing this morning I found out that it was the Anglican Feast Day for St. Julian of Norwich on Friday. It seems that she saw in her visions God in (something the size of) a hazel nut. The revelation that God is everywhere and in everything shouldn't be a surprise. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Heb 1:3.
Even the atheists recognise that the universe has something of itself in every part of it.

Total Perspective Vortex - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
"Have some sense of proportion!" she would say, sometimes as often as thirty-eight times in a single day.

And so he built the Total Perspective Vortex - just to show her.

And into one end he plugged the whole of reality as extrapolated from a single piece of fairy cake, and into the other end he plugged his wife: so that when he turned it on she saw in one instant the whole infinity of creation and herself in relation to it.

I have not read much about Julian or much of her work, though I do remember (something of) a long piece I read at Pleshey on my first Reader training retreat many many years ago. It had to do with God not being angry, or rather not being capable of being angry. The context I think was individual Christians. I found it very hard to believe that I could not make God angry, not that I was trying to, just that I was so inept that I couldn't see how he couldn't be angry. Likewise how could God not be angry when two 'Christian' nations are at war with each other (e.g. WWII). Is this the reason that western Europe is such a Godless place? - because God is angry?

I struggled with the concepts for a while and eventually left it alone, but every time I hear of her, it all comes straight back. Maybe I do her an injustice on such flimsy evidence - just maybe.