My taste in music simply consists of things I like. The other day I was listening to some heavy rock and some experimental jazz followed by a few songs by the English crooner Matt Munroe.
So my taste cannot be pigeon holed. So why am I mentioning this? Well I want to take you back to a day in London many many years ago.
I went secretly in search of two 45 rpm singles. I say secretly because to admit to either would have done my street cred no good at all.
You see these two pieces were by Ken Dodd and Vince Hill. Doddy's was entitled Azurro and Vince Hill's was a song from the Film Love Story entitled "Look Around (and you'll find me there)".
I'm not sure whether I found them in HMV in Oxford Street or whether I had to order them. I'm sure I only played them when I was on my own - my guilty secret pleasure.
I write this because Vince Hill died this week at the age of 89. I stared at the picture of him taken a couple of years ago. He had the same cheeky grin he always had but my had he aged.
Isn't it strange how you never expect TV personalities from decades ago to have aged. You expect them to stay the same as they were in the 1970s or 1980s. I saw a recent picture of Mike Yarwood and had the same feeling.
The other threequarters will look at somebody like Paul McCartney and declare "My goodness he's beginning to age." That's probably because he's over 80 and looks very good for that age. Same with Sir Cliff.
Vince Hill used to pop up on our TV screens in variety shows an awful lot. He hosted a number and had his own slots as well. His biggest hit was his version of Edelweiss from The Sound of Music which got to number two in the charts. But that was far too saccharin sweet for me.
As for the Ken Dodd disc. Well that was a former Italian sing-a-long song that just made me feel good. You've probably not heard it. Do seek it out but don't tell anyone that I recommended it to you. I need some street cred left.
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What has happened to the dawn chorus? I used to wake up early in the morning to the sweetest bird song imaginable. Now all we seem to get are the discordant sounds of a few pigeons and a few rooks.
And what has happened to the rooks? At the back of the next road to where we live are some whopper trees which provide the home for some cacophonous rooks - hundreds of the things. They return at night, making an almighty din. A friend lives nearby and she says that this week the birds seem to have flown. A few predatory Kites have been seen in the area but are these responsible for the rooks taking flight or is it something else? Hopefully someone reading this can enlighten us.
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Yesterday I mentioned our visit to St John's Church at Hoveton on a wet and miserable day. Below is what I wrote about the visit and there are also some photos. Apologies that the inside photos are none too sharp. See you all tomorrow.
We start with a visit to St John's Church at Hoveton, just through Wroxham. Wroxham calls itself the Capital of the Norfolk Broads. Just round the corner is the very quiet church of St John at Hoveton. We visited on a very grey and wet day so the photographs aren't too sharp. But a little bit about the church.
The original St John's Church dates back to the 11th century but it has been restored and added to.
The brick tower was built in 1765 and replaced the original medieval round tower which was destroyed by lightning. It houses a single bell which was cast in 1678. St John's is built on land belonging to the Hoveton House Estate which belongs to the Blofeld family.
Cricket fans will be familiar with Henry Blofeld or Blowers as he was known on Test Match Special. There are numerous Blofelds buried in St John's. Henry's father Thomas Robert Calthorpe Blofeld was at Eton with Ian Fleming and his name was the inspiration for one of James Bond's arch enemies Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Bond books.
There is an interesting Rood Screen from the 15th century with poppy head carved ends. This like all rood screens was designed to partition off parts of the church.
The panels of the windows date from the 17th century and are of Swiss, German and Dutch origin. There are also fragments of English glass from the 15th and 16th centuries.
We only had a very fleeting look round the churchyard due to the rain but did find a Commonwealth War Grave to Percy W. Nolleth. Private Nolleth was the son of Alfred and Eliza Nolleth of Hall Farm, Mautley, Great Yarmouth. He died during the First World War on April 8th, 1917, aged 18. At present we have been unable to ascertain where and how he died but we do know that ironically he died on Easter Sunday. It was also a day before the infamous Battle of Arras.
Pictures of St John's Church are attached.
Sources
Imperial War Museum.
Wikepedia
St John's Church, Hoveton, Visitors' Guide.