Battersea Park in Concert 2026

Battersea Park, London. Monday 31-August-2026.

As part of our Bank Holiday sojourn in London we went to an open air concert in Battersea Park with Annie, an ex-colleague of Mary’s, her partner Simon and a couple of their friends.

We all brought a picnic and some wine; Annie very kindly rustled up an extra set of picnic chairs for us. 

The headline act was Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra preceded by the Amy Winehouse band.

Timetable:

• Gates Open - 1.30pm
• Jazz Dynamos - 1:45pm
• Inzeza - 3:00pm
• Toby Lee - 4:20pm
• The Amy Winehouse Band - 5:45pm
• Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra - 7:20pm
• Last entry - 8.00pm
• Expected show finish - 9.00pm

We entered just as the second act, Inzeza, was finishing up and got settled in for Toby Lee, previously Young Blues Musician of the Year. He played some impressive rocking blues.

The next act was the Amy Winehouse Band (her original backing band).

The singer did a good job of standing in for Amy.

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra played an a mixture of big band and jazz standards with a good sized horn section to belt out the tunes.

This guitarist added a splash of colour.

They had three different guest singers, unfortunately I didn't capture their names, but the best was the last.

Then we went home via the new Northern Line spur line tube station at Battersea Power Station - a public transport first for us.

City Break - York 2026

York, UK. Friday/Monday 21/24-August-2026. 

Fabulous long weekend in York with the in-laws, Sandra and George. Ever since York started up a second parkrun beginning with Y (York Community Woodland) this visit has been on Mary’s radar to help us complete our second parkrun alphabet.

It was planned that Sandra should complete her 100th different location at the same event. Sandra and George also wanted thank to us for letting them stay in our house for three months while their new build home construction completed. The deal was they would treat us to a nice meal (or three).

Friday 21-August-2026.

George and Sandra drove down from Scotland, dumped their car in the long stay car park at Penrith bus station and we loaded their suitcases into our car for the rest of the journey down to York.

That evening we dined in Guy Fawkes Inn as George does like a pie.

Saturday 22-August-2026.

York Community Woodland, 22/08/26 32:04 [428/621].

Saturday is of course parkrun day and, as is the custom when Saturday falls on the 22nd of the month or "two-two" day, people are encouraged to wear tutus. We were joined by our friend from Halifax, sans tutu.

The event was a double celebration: to complete our second parkrun alphabet and Sandra's 100th venue.

We had bought the flag for this event and donated to to the volunteer team as there will doubtless be others completing their alphabet here as the are not many Ys in the UK. 

Sandra is sporting Cow ears, a present to Mary from parkrun friends Marcus and Manuela, as 100 locations is known as a Cowell after the first person to reach this milestone.

First port of call in the evening was beer at the historic House of Trembling Madness with lovely oak beams.

Supper was The Whippet Inn where we had a classy meal. Walking back to our accommodation we were treated to a lovely sunset over the River Ouse.

Sunday 23-August-2026.

Sunday morning, we did a trail of a temporary exhibition of highly decorated Wyverns. We walked around the town using a map supplied by the tourist information office and found all twelve (examples below).

On the trail we encountered Mary's third Paddington (after Penrith and the Strand London).

We passed the interesting looking Treasury house, an NT property, so put it on our list for next time we are in York. 

As we had a bit of time to spare we popped in to York museum gardens with very tame squirrels hopping about expectantly for peanuts. 

After lunch we met up with George and Sandra to do a treasure hunt. Mystery Guides publish several in the series. We had to wander around the town looking for clues which we then had to decipher to eliminate one of several possible suspect. A bit like Cluedo. After several hours and a couple of beers we arrived at the guilty party’s identity. 

To celebrate we drank beer and then dined at Kalpakavadi a Keralan restaurant where we enjoyed two different fish curries. This prompted me to Google all about the Malabar coast home of which Kerala forms a large part and has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BC, according to Sumerian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India".

Another lovely sunset.

Monday 24-August-2026.

A leisurely start and a drive back to Penrith for a light lunch before George and Sandra headed on north to Scotland. A fabulous long weekend.

Nell Gwynn at Theatre by the Lake

Keswick, UK. Saturday 01-August-2026.

Another trip to the excellent Theatre by the Lake for a lighthearted production of Nell Gwynn telling the story of strumpet turned actress and her affair with King Charles the Second.

Our usual pre-theatre dinner venue was fully booked and we ended up in the Pocket Cafe Bar. An excellent new discovery for us they did a decent range of beers and good food. I had the special "pizza of the day" which had an excellent thin base and a topping with 'nduja and honey. A slightly odd combo but it worked for me.

Then a short stroll to the theatre where we had seats in a box which works well for a production in the round, as this was.

From our vantage point, we could see all the action. For us it was part drama, part love story, part history lesson. It presented the affair between Nell and Charles as a story of deeply felt love and affection despite Charles' many other mistresses. 

With a modest sized cast there was a fair amount of actors playing multiple roles. The production also included musical numbers with some members of the cast playing their instruments for real. I am currently reading Pepy's Diaries and hadn't realised he was a contemporary so it was interesting to learn about the connections - I am now much better informed about Restoration England.

A very enjoyable evening and great to support such a local gem of a venue.