Hadrian's Wall Walk in Aid of Alzheimer Society

Cumbria. Saturday 08-August-2015

Mary said "We haven't done a challenge this year". "Oh dear" I thought. So she signed us up for a 23 mile walk along part of Hadrian's Wall in aid of the Alzheimer Society. That explains why we have been doing lots of walks this year - all part of the training regimen.

We took the day off and went up by train, picked up a hire car and drove to Brampton where we had booked a B&B for two nights. A walk round the town and a pint of local ale in the Howard Arms followed by a meal in a Brambles Bistro and an early night.

It was an early start: drive to Lanercost Priory for assembly at 6am to be bussed to the start point from where we would walk back to the priory.

It was a lovely day, perfect for walking, admiring the countryside and marvelling at the feat of Roman engineering as it snaked across the countryside following a natural ridge.

"Boys will be boys" and we passed several groups of men dressing up as centurions. And good luck to them, they are having fun, it adds to the general jollity and provides lots of photo opportunities. As I said to one lot they must appear in so many people's photo albums.

At times the escarpment that forms the basis of the wall's route is positively spectacular.

There are turrets every third of a mile and forts every mile.

It was a long hard slog. Some serious ups and downs at the start. It levelled off in the latter stages but by then we were running on empty. Mary had it worse as she was recovering from a horrible cold. But we made it - 23.6 miles in 8.5 hours.



A grand day out and we raised a reasonable amount of money for the Alzheimers Society.

Cisternino Celebrates San Quirico 2015

We fitted in an extra visit to Puglia to surprise our friends who were staying in Trullo Azzurro. As luck would have it coincided with the feast of the patron saint of Cisternino - Saint Quirico.

The first thing we noticed is the repaving of our street. The town council are laying quality flagstones from Via San Quirico along our street, Via Manzoni, down to Corso Umberto. It's looking good.

Still work in progress. Our street is one of those that form the circumnavigation of the city walls which means that all the parades and festivals that involve a tour of the town pass under our window.

It would not be a trip to Puglia without a visit to our favourite seafood restaurant: La Rotonda de la Rosa. Reviews vary wildly but we love it.

Over the weekend the saintly celebrations included lights, live music and fireworks. In the evening the passeggiata was in hyperdrive.

In Via Roma the stage was set up for Italian rock chick Greta Manuzi.

In the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele a stage was set up for some classical music we heard brass band versions of some Verdi arias.

There were two days of celebration; Saturday was more secular, Sunday more religious. We had holy men of God pass down our street complete with a quaint PA - battery-driven loudspeaker on wheels - so the priest could broadcast the blessings.

Then came the great and the good with the holy saints, mother and son Julietta and Quriaqos, carried shoulder high.

That evening we were originally due to fly home but moved our flight out one day to fit in a concert from George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. That didn't start till 10:30 pm and went on till 1:30 the next morning.

We got back to the apartment just in time for a spectacular firework display which from our terrace gave us ring-side seats.

A real shame to go home but it has taken me so long to get round to writing this post that we are already back there now.

Merton Priory & Wandle pub crawl

Colliers Wood Saturday 25-July-2015

A friend who lives down near my old neighbourhood (South Wimbledon / Merton) suggested a visit to see the remains of Merton Priory which was holding an open day. An opportunity to see a bit of local history not normally open to the public. Given the friends involved this turned into a pub crawl.

We started in The Charles Holden opposite Colliers Wood tube station where we tried their own ale brewed on the premises, very nice. We were somewhat surprised to bump into Mary's godson Alex who lives on the Isle of Wight. It turns out that his sister Zoe works in that very pub and he was meeting her there before returning home.

After a pint, and once the company of six was fully assembled, we went across the road to spend an hour looking at the remains of Merton Priory. We learned all about the Chapter House of Merton Priory. "Merton was a major Augustinian priory, founded in 1117 and dissolved in 1538, whose foundations are preserved in a chamber under Merantun Way" We also learned more about William Morris' workshop at Merton Abbey Mills.

History is thirsty work so we had a crepe and a drink at the Belgian Brasserie. They do some delicious fruit beers. I had a Leffe Blonde but next time I will definitely try a strawberry beer, it would be delicious with ice cream.

Our friends were not aware that the Wandle Trail continued all the way to the Thames; we were able to reassure them as we headed north along the river. Armed with my trusty "River Wandle Companion" I was able to regale the assembled company with facts about the river past and present until we reached Earlsfield.

There the third and final pub stop was agreed upon. Eschewing "The Wandle" pub, Mary checked beerintheevening for pubs near Earlsfield and the recommended option was The Country House (formerly The Fog). Just off the main road it is a little gem of a pub, friendly landlady, some decent beers and enough seating for all of us.

We then dispersed and a short bus ride got us home for a quiet evening in after a well spent afternoon.

The Wandle Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to restoring and maintaining the health of the River Wandle and its catchment. They hold community river cleanups on the second Sunday of every month, up and down this unique urban chalkstream – pulling out everything from shopping trolleys to shotguns, and improving the environment for birds, fish, insects and local people. For more visit: http://www.wandletrust.org/.

Cuban Combination at Ronnie Scott's

Friday 24-July-2105

Our friend Andrea was home alone as John had taken the children for a holiday to Ireland. That meant an opportunity to come to the big city for a grown-up night out without "Mummy this" and "Mummy that". So she went for it big time.

First up was a meal in the gloriously, kitsch surroundings of The Criterion Restaurant (Grade II* listed). An OpenTable deal - two courses and a champagne cocktail - put us in a good mood for the rest of the evening.

Next up a short stroll to Ronnie Scott's for the late show: Irakere - a Cuban ten piece band for some high energy Latin rhythms.

The FT writes: "Irakere are soaked in rhythmic intricacy. It begins with Valdés orchestrating harmony and rhythm with asymmetric riffs and lines that twinkle. It breaks out when one of the five-man brass section grabs something to shake or scrape. Or when drummer Rodney Barreto forsakes the beat and becomes an extra voice in an already complex rhythmic lattice. The pulse never falters, but when the beat kicks back in, the effect is dynamic." Full review...

At Ronnie's if you go to the late show you have the option to stay for the late, late show for free so that is what we did. Mary and Andrea decided the blackberry margaritas were particularly delicious and repeats were ordered.

We staggered out into Frith Street as 2:30 am. Fortunately a black cab turned up just as we did so and which we hailed for a quick journey home.

Prom 09, 2015 - Beethoven Piano Concertos

RAH Thursday 23-July-2015

This was an unplanned visit to the proms as Mary had booked tickets for a later Prom not realising we were in Italy. The RAH will not do refunds but they will do exchanges. So we swapped for this on the grounds that you can't beat The Big "B" and we get of bit of Stravinsky thrown in as well. Full details on the BBC website. We went with our friends Bron and Maggie and had a meal beforehand in the Elgar Room.

Despite the fact that for a period in my life I had been to more Proms than rock concerts I never had a classical music upbringing so my review consists of "Actually I enjoyed the Stravinsky more than the Beethoven"

The Telegraph was more eloquent: "Utterly absorbing."

"For the past four years, the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has been exploring all five of the piano concertos and the Choral Fantasy in a "Beethoven Journey" that is now culminating in a trio of headline concerts at the BBC Proms. His partner on his global travels with these programmes has been the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which again joined him in this pairing of the First and Fourth Concertos separated by Stravinsky’s palate-cleansing “Apollon musagète”. Together they gave utterly absorbing performances that were a testament to the strength and subtlety of Andsnes’s interpretative stance in this music and an unequivocal vindication of his decision to direct all the concertos from the keyboard." Full review...

I noticed was how many of my fellow audience members are able to sit stock still for the duration of each piece as if frozen by the Gorgon's stare. I am a real fidget pants, itch here, scratch there, shuffle in my seat, legs doing St Vitus dance. How I envy them their physical immobility.

Another friend Bill has been making use of his retirement to become a hard core Promenader attending almost every single prom. So much so that he is now one of the official music charity bucket rattlers standing at the exit doors collecting donations. We were able to spot him at the interval for a chat and meet at the door afterward for more catch-up.

A fine cultural evening.

Walking Hadrian's Wall in aid of the Alzheimer's Society

Saturday 08-August-2015

Sponsor us on Mary and Mark's page: https://www.justgiving.com/mgalashan-hw/

We have signed up for a 23 mile trek along Hadrian's Wall in aid of the Alzheimer's Society from Broccolitia Roman Fort to Lanercost Priory.

"Level: Tough As we walk we can admire ancient monuments, beautiful scenery and the skill of the Roman engineers who built this famous landmark. This challenge should not be underestimated as it will take at least 12 hours for the majority of walkers."

We have been doing a lot of weekend walks the last couple of months to get the legs and lungs in shape for the walk which they describe as ""extremely tough one-day event over hilly landscapes".

Facts about Hadrian's Wall

• We will be walking roughly 23 miles on the day but the entire wall stretches more than 73 miles in total
• The wall and most of its defenses were built between roughly 122 and 128 AD. Its purpose was to mark the northern extent of the Roman Empire, which then covered much of Europe
• The Romans also built 16 forts along the length of the wall, the remains of which can be seen today. Each one could house 800 soldiers and had its own prison, hospital, bakery and stables
• The emperor, Hadrian, after whom the wall is named, wanted to make sure the soldiers stationed on Hadrian’s Wall were happy. He personally met with the troops and encouraged practice drills

So show us the money - donate on Just Giving!