Big Birthday Celebrations

Penrith, Cumbria. Saturday/Sunday 25/26-January-2025.

A celebration of big birthdays Part 2: Mary and SIL Sandra birthdays are almost exactly ten years apart, January and December respectively. Rather than buy each other presents they decided upon a joint experience which we duly did - a luxury New Year's break in Pitlochry see [Pitlochry]. 

Mary‘s original plan for her actual birthday was similar to the last big birthday i.e to run away in denial but this time to New Zealand, but we couldn’t get reward flights on the dates that suited so instead we celebrated at home. We were joined for the weekend by Mary‘s sister, Sandra, BIL George, our best man, Pete, and his wife Amanda.

Saturday 25th.

We often celebrate Mary's birthday with a Burns' supper but were unable to find anyone holding one in the area. Instead we went for a traditional supper at home with haggis, neeps and tatties and a side order of pie and beans for George who is not a fan of haggis.

Starter was home cured salmon. Pudding was Christmas pudding soufflé - and excellent way to use Mary's leftover homemade Christmas pudding.

There was wine and whisky but I didn't count the bottles!

Sunday 26th - Afternoon.

We had afternoon tea at Bassenthwaite Lake Station. We have been there many times for wine tastings, murder mystery evenings and a brunch but this was the first time for afternoon tea. The venue includes replica railway carriages from the Orient Express. Not the real train but ones made especially for the movie set from the 2017 film, nonetheless a very elegant setting for a celebration.

The spread was half savoury, half sweet: sandwiches, fish goujons, cocktail sausage in Yorkshire pudding and a mini-burger followed by trifle, muffin, scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream plus two very chocolatey desserts.

They were able to provide a lactose free version so Mary and Sandra did not miss out.

Fortunately they are used to providing doggy bags so what we couldn’t eat did us for snacks over the next couple of days.

Sunday 26th - Evening.

Not a party as such but drinks with friends in the local bar; you might call it a private concert. We booked the astonishingly talented guitarist Jon Bowie to play a couple of sets in the upstairs room at Fell Bar and invited our friends.

He played a mixture of folk and blues, cover versions and original compositions. I am pleased to note that our friends were most respectful to the artist and there was minimal talking while he was actually playing. That is in no small part due to the man's sheer talent which commanded attention.

At the break and at the end we chatted with out friends and had a most relaxed evening - a delightful low-key way to celebrate. We staggered off home "and so to bed".

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells

London, England. Wednesday 08/Sunday 12-January-2025.

A long weekend in London. This production has been on Mary’s to do list for a long time. As part of a holding pattern we went to see Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet the year before last which likewise was a very non-traditional interpretation. 

We organised ourselves a Home Exchange in Hackney so we could make a full weekend of it.

Wednesday 08: We took the train down to London. Given the bitterly cold forecast, we decided that an icy drive down was a bad plan and that we would let the train take the strain.

The cheapest train was the slowest option but gave Mary the perfect opportunity to do some essential planning for our forthcoming New Zealand trip. By the end of the journey she had booked three wine tastings and three excursions.

We hit London and headed straight back out to our friend Andrea in Witham for a catch-up, a meal and a stay over.

Thursday 09: Next morning it was back into London and on to our accommodation. This time, unusually, we did a direct, simultaneous Home Exchange. Our hosts were staying in our house in Penrith while we were in their apartment. We overlapped briefly with the outgoing host when we arrived. He handed over the keys and then headed off up north whilst we headed into town for the main event.

We were not in a hurry so took a double decker bus into town treating it as an architectural tour. We got my favourite spot at the front upstairs which gives you a brilliant view of the buildings from shiny modern, through Victorian to some Georgian as we got further in. 

We would normally have dined at The Gate, a brilliant vegetarian restaurant, but the Angel branch recently closed down so we went for a nearby Japanese (Sanjugo, Angel) instead for a delicious pre-theatre supper.

As I bought the program I was able to check on my phone and astound the young lady selling the programs that I first went to Sadlers Wells way back on 28th March 1977 to see the Dutch dance company Pilobolus. The following year I went to Sadlers Wells five times and four times the following year as well as many dance troupes at other venues. Living in London I took advantage of ready access to some great productions - a proper culture vulture.

It was my first time seeing this ballet although I knew the music. It was a fascinating and spectacular take on the story. Switching the swans to male dancers means the prince falls in love with a man bewitched while his mother want him to marry a princess. Lots of scope for alternative readings of the prince's sexual orientation and relationship with his mother!

Friday 10: The plan was that Mary would go shoe shopping while I went to meet up with my oldest friend Catherine Bott who I have known since the very first day in primary school when it opened in September 1957! Sadly she had to cry off due to the lurgy.

The alternative afternoon was a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibition of prize winning photographs. That evening we were also able to meet up with two of my friends from the early 80’s coincidental with my early days in the bright lights, big city  era.

Saturday 11: Morning was of course parkrun at the nearby Hackney Marshes. 

It was a short walk from our accommodation and the marshes looked very atmospheric in the frosty morning light. Sunrise over the marshes.

The course runs, in part, along the side of the Lea River Navigation Wikipedia.

Mary got another volunteer credit as parkwalker in her fetching blue tabard with matching (of course) leggings!

That afternoon we met up with my best man and his wife at Bentley‘s Oyster Bar and Grill for a long overdue catch up and an extra extravagantly expensive meal but, what the heck, sometimes you just have to splurge because you’re worth it.

Sunday 12: The train was early-ish so we hastily flung all our stuff back into our bags when the alarm went and got the Overground with its new names and Lizzie Line back to Euston. Then it was another slow train back to Penrith, this time because it was a replacement bus service from Preston. However all went smoothly and we were back home by late afternoon to relax after a weekend well spent.

Jon Bowie plus Open Mic at Penrith Players

Penrith, UK. Sunday 05-January-2025.

Our third open mic outing at this venue. We went because the post-interval act was the excellent Jon Bowie and, as at previous events, we have enjoyed the variety of the support acts.

This venue and these open mic events are very much supported by the locals. It makes me feel like a local. There were at least half a dozen of our friends and acquaintances in the audience including four fellow Eden runners. We were slightly surprised when two of them were called up on stage as the first act - we didn’t know they played and had put their names down.

I would say more about the acts and songs but I didn't take notes so writing this a couple of weeks later the details start to fade. I would say that anyone who can a) play an instrument and b) has the courage to play in public has my admiration. If I learn their names I'll update.

Mark and Paul - fellow Eden Runners who I normally see on a Thursday morning doing a social run round the Lowther Estate. Strange to see them in a wildly different context.

All the acts did three songs apiece before handing over to the next.

Reminding me a little of the early Joni Mitchell, gentle lyrical songs.

A mix of covers and original songs seem to be the order of the day for all the acts.

A double act with banter between the pair.

Then there was a break and an opportunity to refill our glasses. Then it was the turn of Jon Bowie who did a longer set as befits the main act.

We had a bit of a chat with our friends and then, the joys of living in the centre of town, a mere five minute walk home.

Pitlochry New Year 2024

Pitlochry, Scotland. Monday 30-December-2024/ Friday 03-January-2025.

A celebration of big birthdays: Mary and SIL Sandra birthdays are almost exactly ten years apart, January and December respectively. Rather than exchange presents for their special birthdays they decided upon a joint experience - a luxury New Year's break in Pitlochry. Mary and I last went there for New Year 2013 with Mary’s mum, May, and had always wanted to return.

This year it was a four night dinner, B&B deal in Fisher’s Hotel right in the centre of Pitlochry. 

Monday 30-December-2024. We drove up to Pitlochry on the Monday and snagged the last space in the hotel carpark. The rooms were fine with a hint of faded grandeur - Pitlochry experienced a tourism boom following Queen Victoria’s visit in 1842 and many hotels date from that era.

Tuesday 31-December-2024. On the Tuesday morning we had time for a quick wander round the town and purchase of the obligatory fridge magnet to document our travels.

In the afternoon we went for a whisky tour and tasting at Blair Athol distillery.  On the way we were treated to a saltire in the sky. We were not sure if it was deliberate by the planes or just a happy happenstance.

Me "nosing" while Mary listens to our tour guide.

Before our New Year's Eve dinner Sandra and George very kindly provided a bottle of Krug to start off the evening’s celebrations in style.

Back down for reception drinks, we were piped into supper by this duo.

We ate and drank, some of us danced, we chatted to strangers on our table, hugged and kissed at midnight and finished the night with the obligatory Auld Lang Syne.

Wednesday 01-January-2025. Every parkrun country had the option of an event on New Year’s Day at the discretion of the local volunteer team. Fortunately Faskally Forest just 2.5 km outside of Pitlochry was planned and not cancelled by weather unlike many others around.

A lovely trail through the forest, some horrible hills, a small, lovely loch and a great bunch of volunteers. George (BIL) reported that breakfast at the hotel was finishing at 10:45 and not midday as per our itinerary. Luckily we were able to cadge a lift back into town with a couple of volunteers and get our essential post-parkrun bacon butties.

Part of the fun of Pitlochry is the New Year's Day ceilidh in the Main Street kicked off by a pipe band.

The Main Street is closed off for the whole of the afternoon so people can dance the Dashing White Sergeant, the Gay Gordon and Strip The Willow, etc. Everyone looked as if they knew what they were doing although we did see some folks doing a sort of "follow my leader".

Thursday 02-January-2025. An excursion to the nearby outlet mall, House of Bruar, and a short walk to a local attraction the Falls of Bruar. 

Robert Burns, although taken with the falls themselves, was unimpressed by the lack of vegetation. After his visit in 1787, he wrote the poem,The Humble Petition of Bruar Water to the Noble Duke of Atholl. It entreated John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, the owner of the land, to plant some trees and bushes around the falls. [wikipedia] 

Would then my noble master please 
To grant my highest wishes, 
He'll shade my banks wi' tow'ring trees, 
And bonnie spreading bushes.
Delighted doubly then, my lord,
You'll wander on my banks,
And listen mony a grateful bird
Return you tuneful thanks.

Then it was back to the hotel for Cream Tea followed by a quiz. We didn't win but neither did we disgrace ourselves, coming in third.

Friday 03-January-2025. The original plan was to pack up and head home to recover, birthdays having been duly celebrated - possible fitting in an overnight stay end route for a new parkrun on the Saturday. In the end we decided to go and spend the night with Sandra and George in Erskine and do a local Glasgow parkrun.

Saturday 04-January-2025. As it turned out that was a wise choice. Many possible parkruns were cancelled including Sandra's and our planned locations. We spent the Friday evening watching the cancellations roll in.

In the end Greenock was almost last man standing and only half an hour's drive away so off we went. Still some treacherous black ice on the non-gritted roads so we were very grateful for the 4-wheel option on our Kia Sportage.

A bit blustery, double out-and-back along the River Clyde.

We spotted a seal basking on an outlet pipe.

We were amused by this crocheted pillar box topper of "Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey"[Line of Duty (YouTube)].

Then it was back to Sandra's for a quick coffee and finally go home to Penrith to recover!