Yesterday I added another seven miles to my Steward Strolls and now have completed 30 miles of my 100 mile target and that's in just six days. So I'm on target to do around 140 by the end of lockdown, although I anticipate some wet days when getting out for a stroll might be problematic.
Today I'm off to take photos of a very special tree planting in the village. Will tell you all about this tomorrow.
* * *
Last night I had another trawl through You Tube and, for some reason which I can't explain, decided to have a look at the This Is Your Life programme featuring Kevin Lloyd, an actor who played Tosh Lines in The Bill.
This may have been prompted by a documentary on BBC journalist Frank Gardner who was shot six times in Saudi Arabia in 2004 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. This of course has nothing to do with Kevin Lloyd, although there is a very tenuous link. Kevin was the brother of journalist Terry Lloyd who was killed when he was caught in crossfire between Iraqi and American troops in Iraq. Ironically Lloyd was killed by US gunfire.
I had the pleasure of working with Terry before he joined ITN. He was news editor for Raymonds News Agency in Derby whilst I worked as their district reporter in Nottingham. I had day to day contact with Terry and he and his wife Lynne spent the evening with us at our Long Eaton home on a couple of occasions.
Working for the news agency was my least favourite job of my career. I was unsuited for the "foot in the door" kind of journalism needed for this and never really got to grips with my role which mainly consisted of listening to radio bulletins or searching the local newspapers for stories that could be flogged by the agency. It also involved quite a bit of Crown Court work and football reporting (Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Chesterfield mainly). It would be fair to say that I didn't enjoy the work and didn't greatly like the people I either worked for or with - apart from Terry Lloyd and Bob Mason who was the photographer covering Nottinghamshire with me.
So I watched the Kevin Lloyd This Is Your Life and Terry and his wife were there. It was difficult to accept that not long after this programme both Terry and Kevin would be dead - Terry from bullets and Kevin from alcoholism.
I had a problem with This Is Your Life as it portrayed everyone as superb human beings, completely ignoring their faults - in other words giving us an homogenised and misleading portrait
I only lasted a few months with the press agency before realising that I had to have a change of direction and it came in the form of being appointed editor of the Belper News in Derbyshire - something that brought me considerable relief. Again I didn't stay long before moving back to Norfolk. But I was interested in the news item yesterday that residents of Belper have gone more than a touch mad.
This was the story online:
A "crazy" town has come up with a unique way to fight lockdown boredom - by mooing in unison.
Every evening at 18:30 locals in Belper, Derbyshire, gather on doorsteps and lean out of bedroom windows for a two-minute cattle chorus.
Jasper Ward said the bovine bellow was a way to make staying in "a little bit more bearable".
"The crazy people of this town have taken to it like cows to grass," he said.
I remember Belper as being a tad conservative and certainly not mad like this.
I do remember one amusing incident from my time on the Belper News. There was a general election. The conservative sitting candidate was defeated by a labour politician by the name of Roderick MacFarquhar. You have to admit there's something quite rude about that surname.
I had occasion to phone him up to introduce myself and obviously stumbled over his name.
"Just call me Rod," he said. Come to think of it I believe he pronounced his surname MacFanshaw!
* * *
Good to hear that the Government have done a U-turn over the free meals for disadvantaged children during school holidays. Of course in Hethersett we had the Sandwich Superheroes who made such a difference.
It's good to know that one person can make a huge difference. In this case that one person was Marcus Rashford. Mind you it helps when that one person is a famous sportsman.
* * *
So how do you survive lockdown? More home spun philosophy coming up. My advice for what it's worth is: Do what you want to do and what makes you happy.
If you like reading - then read
If you like writing (like me) - then write
If you like walking - then walk
If you like gardening - then garden
Of course that's very simplistic advice and doesn't take into account mental health or financial or employment status.
* * *
Below are a few pictures taken with my small sports camera. It's very limited in what it can do but hey ho!