So a bit more today to cover some of the other places we have visited.
We visited Evesham for the third time. It's a very pleasant town with plenty of history and historic buildings and nice parklands abutting the river. Last time we were there we had a Sunday morning breakfast at the yacht club which was open to the public. I seem to remember the person behind the bar getting pretty much everything wrong and continually apologising and looking and sounding very stressed. We ate the food overlooking the river. This time the boat house bar was closed so we had to visit some tea rooms in the historic part of the town.
There is a memorial in the parkland to Simon de Montfort whom I have always associated more with Leicester thanks to the de Montfort Hall. Simon de Montfort was the sixth earl of Leicester. He lived from around 1208 to 1265. He led the opposition against King Henry III and played a large role in the constitutional development of England. He is often credited as being a founder of Parliamentary democracy, having set-up a Parliament that included ordinary citizens from various towns. De Montfort was an anti-semite who expelled Jews from Leicester and cancelled debts owed to them.
For around a year he ruled England and was responsible for having hundreds of Jews killed. He met his Waterloo (or should that be Evesham) when he was killed in battle by forces loyal to the King at the Battle of Evesham. He was buried in Evesham Abbey but the site of his grave was destroyed during the dissolution of the Monasteries.
We also visited Hidcote Gardens - another National Trust property - smallish but interesting. Today's photographs are of the visit to Evesham.
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I find the situation at Chelsea Football Club interesting to say the least.
It's becoming pretty obvious that you cannot survive in the English Premiership without shed loads of money behind you in the shape of a very rich owner. We're talking mega millionaire or billionaire here.
It has become obvious over the past few weeks that Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich has been bankrolling Chelsea to such an extent that now he's out of the way they are seriously struggling.
This makes everything so fragile. Today's champions could be tomorrow's paupers if one link disappears. At Norwich we don't have this problem at the moment. We are bottom of the league and almost certain to get relegated. The fact of life is we can't compete with the big boys. But then at least we aren't faced with extinction like a big club such as Chelsea.
I'm sure another rich owner will be found for Chelsea but at the moment the club says it only has weeks to go before it runs out of money. And that's because they pay such ridiculously high wages.
But of course there are much more important things to worry about with humanitarian aid so desperately needed in Ukraine. I think I would like to say something now that might be viewed as being slightly controversial.
I am against the Government paying people £350 a month to take in Ukrainian refugees. I know it's not a lot of money and I know people shouldn't be out of pocket but I'm just afraid it might attract people more interested in the money than the people.
I would give a home to Ukrainian refugees at the drop of a hat because I want to help them. I would never consider wanting to be paid for doing this. It would be my gift to Ukraine. Of course people who receive the payments can always donate them back to the Ukrainian aid charities.
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How embarrassing was the BAFTA awards presentations? These award ceremonies are usually cringeworthy but compere Rebel Wilson almost took them to a new level of banality. I understand Rebel Wilson is an Australian actress and comedian and after the BAFTAS I should imagine you could add National embarrassment to her CV.
She tried to inject humour to the proceedings and failed miserably, hacking to pieces a cake she said was in the likeness of Benedict Cummerbund who looked on with one of those "I wish I was anywhere but here" looks. Cummerbund was up for best actor and just looked as if he expected to win, but he didn't. The award went to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air!
Rebel Wilson continued trying to be funny and wasn't and the dire acceptance speeches with all the usual "I would love to thank all the people who I really hate and my pet goldfish" type speeches didn't really sound convincing. The best speech came from Kenneth Branagh who won best director for his semi autobiographical film Belfast. I would say Belfast is a good film but not a great one, although we did enjoy it.
Meanwhile I think Ms Wilson probably ended the evening as a "Rebel without a cause!"
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Age seems to have fallen on my shoulders. As a young man I tried to be courteous, opening doors for elderly people etc. Now young people are opening doors for me. I've even been offered somebody's seat on a bus! Yet when I see somebody who is probably younger than me standing on public transport I still feel the urge to jump to my feet and insist that they sit down in my place. It's my way of saying I will decide when I'm old and it's not yet.
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My friend is a bit of a wag. When I ordered some Rocky Road cake with a coffee, he asked the server if it contained asphalt.
She looked confused "I'm not sure. I don't know what that is so I'll ask my colleague," she said. At that point we had to stop her and explain that asphalt was something you might find on a road surface.
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A couple of days ago I mentioned that a lamp column in Stratford On Avon had been sponsored and paid for by Norwich City Council. This prompted some interest. There is a website about these heritage lamps but it doesn't really explain why councils from various parts of the world paid for them. Not sure ratepayers in Norwich would feel that it was a good way of spending their money.
The website has the following explanation:
"This unique and useful historic collection is always accessible, free of charge, and while it may not rank alongside the Bard for illuminating the human soul, it lights our way to, and within, the streets and paths of the Theatre Quarter in Stratford-upon-Avon. The collection came about due to the brilliant idea of a County Council Lighting Engineer, Keith Brodie, back in 1986. The collection is formed of lamp posts donated by various towns and cities both from within the UK and from around the world. Keith's idea was to erect lamps that represented the origins of our tourists."
There is a friends group for the lamps.