It was only a short walk from the food place. There were Stagecoach performances from Chigwell ( which I always thought was a children's TV programme but now know is a bit of London), Brentwood, Huntingdon, Colchester and Norwich.
I thought the Norwich performance was the most involved and the best, but then I would wouldn't I? Poppy was great considering it was her first time on stage in front of an audience. The whole thing was enjoyable with each Stagecoach school showcasing its talents.
It was all over in the blink of an eye - or one hour to be precise and that included an interval. We then drove home in two hours and eight minutes. I like to be precise about these things. I know it was that because of the in car computer. It would have been a minute less had I not missed a turning on the A140 which meant going round a roundabout twice.
I do find the Suffolk part of this road annoying. It starts with a 50 mph stretch of dual carriageway which to me is senseless. It has a well known speed camera that catches many motorists out. To start with you are travelling downhill and if you try to overtake a lorry it's almost certain that you will exceed 50, albeit temporarily. If you stick to the limit and pull in behind the slower moving vehicles it makes a mockery of having a dual carriageway in the first place.
Then there's 30 mph limits interspersed with 40s and 50s and it all becomes confusing. I'm glad my onboard computer tells me what the speed limit is.
*. *. *
Now that classic rock venue I mentioned yesterday. It's called the Kursaal at Southend. There was a distinctive Southend sound and even a group called The Kursaal Flyers. Perhaps the most famous Southend band was Procol Harum. Dr Feelgood played the Kursaal on a regular basis and came from Canvey Island in Essex.
The Kursaal has an intriguing history. It used to spread across acres of land and was opened in 1901 as a purpose built amusement park. The main building has Grade 2 listed status.
The distinctive dome shaped building has played host to circuses, ballroom dancing, arcades and much more. Incidentally the word Kursaal is German for Cure Hall, which doesn't make a lot of sense.
It went through a number of owners and it's land has been used for football and even Greyhound Racing.
It was the 1970s that it became a rock music venue with the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Queen and AC/DC all playing there.
But gradually the Kursaal fell into disrepair and declined. Today it's empty apart from a Tesco Express. It's a sad decline that reminds me so much of the Winter Gardens at Great Yarmouth.
*. *. *
You know what they say about buses never coming and when they do you get two together. Well we have a different take on this. On Monday one of our scheduled buses broke down in Norwich and a second broke down on New Road, Hethersett. I have written before about the ridiculous number of local buses breaking down and it looks as if it is continuing. Obviously not enough mechanics being employed and not enough servicing being undertaking.
When I went out on Monday morning one of the broken down buses had been left in the road where it still was over three hours later.
It's been a busy few days on the local news front. On Monday I popped round to see Ceri Peterson who lives just a few doors away. She has just retired after 10 years as leader of the Wymondham Symphony Orchestra. We had a chat about that and music in general for a feature for the next Hethersett Herald.
Yesterday I had a chat with the new licensee at Hethersett Kings Head which officially reopens again next Tuesday. There have been so many false starts for this pub. Let's hope that this time it stays open and is a success. Our village needs it's two pubs to be thriving as it continues to grow.
On top of all that I have loads of information and pictures coming through for my two magazines and as yesterday was rather wet to start with, I cocooned myself away in the study and got on with things.
Then in the evening we ate out and went to the cinema for rather a poignant evening which I will tell you about tomorrow.