Holiday in Chichester

FRIDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 

Leaving home just after 10am, we arrived at Cowdray Park at 12.15pm. We had lunch in their lovely cafe, sharing a BLT and some smoked salmon. A nice walk around the polo fields; it started off misty but soon cleared to lovely sunshine. A tour of the shop, and then, because it was so nice and we were in no hurry, we sat outside the cafe for tea and biscuits.

It's not far to Chichester, but we were held up in Midhurst before it was clear all the way to our destination. Arriving at 4pm to unpack. The weather had been mostly sunny and a pleasant 20C.

SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER

While Alison went off to Brighton to see Carolyn and Jem, I had a quiet time watching Mark Kermode's film reviews before walking into town. Outside the cathedral was a poster advertising tours to the top of the spire. In reply to my question to the lady on reception, she told me there were 185 steps. In the past I went on every possible climb to the tops of buildings, but unfortunately this is no longer the case. I always wanted to do the climb over the top of the O2 but should have done that years ago.

I was left with going to the visitor centre and a walk around the town. Two premier rugby matches to watch in the afternoon before Alison arrived back for the England vs Spain game in the evening. The weather had been great and a pleasant 20C.

SUNDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER

A quick walk to the shops for a Sunday paper, and we were off for the Chichester Walls Walk, this time the opposite direction to that of last year. Lots of stops along the way, including Priory Park and The Guildhall.

We ended up at the Bishops Palace Garden at the cathedral, where we found a nice bench or three.

An early lunch at the Cloister's Kitchen in the cathedral grounds. No queue to order our food, unlike how busy it was when we left. Alison stayed in town while I walked back to watch the third ODI against Sri Lanka. Another lovely sunny day, except for a short shower while we were in the cafe. Warm at 21C.

MONDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

Our day in Brighton. This time we took the car and parked at the Withdean Stadium outside the town. Here there is a park and ride with a regular bus service to the seafront. The only problem is the number of stops along the way, so it's not such a good idea in the end. But the parking in Brighton is astronomic, and there is too long a walk to the front from the station.

We were meeting Caroline at the pier. She is Alison's sister's husband's sister. We wandered down to pick up the Volks Electric Railway for a ride all the way to the end. It's on its 143rd year and closes for the winter at the end of this week; that was lucky: volksrailway.org.

At the end of the line and on the opposite side of the road is The Reading Room cafe, where we had a marvellous lunch, up a level with great views overlooking the seafront.

It was still quite a long walk to Brighton Marina, which was our final destination. I had heard a lot about its construction and had always wanted to see it. Construction only started in 1971, long after I left college in Brighton. Wikipedia has a great history of how it came to be. Was it worth the effort? Definitely, especially since I had no idea what it would be like having done no research beforehand. It is far larger than I imagined.

We sat on one of the benches that line the new perimeter overlooking the boats.

On the Volks Railway back, we were the only passengers. 

We found our bus stop near the seafront; the bus arrived quickly for that too long journey back to Withdean. Even the car journey back was awful; we should have gone by train! But the weather had been great, bright, sunny, and a mild 20°C.

TUESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER

I was due a rest first thing while Alison went out for a run. By midmorning we were off for a visit to Chichester Cathedral.

While we had been before, we found so much more of interest than on previous visits.

In one of the chapels we were looking at some graffiti, and one of the clergy came and talked to us about it. See the website of English Cathedral's: Chichester's Ancient Graffiti Brought To Life. But I preferred the odd remaining piece of a fresco.

We left at about one, just before an organ recital where the audience was already packing the seats. We picked up things for our lunch and dinner at M&S Food. Then in the afternoon we were off to Bosham, one of our favourite places. The tide was only just starting to go out, so the tiny road along the front was submerged.

Instead, we went into Holy Trinity Church after I sat on one of their many benches to take this photo.

Again, we found things we had never seen on our previous visits. The bell tower dates from Anglo-Saxon times, with the top completed in early Norman. Unfortunately there is no access for visitors, but we could see the ropes for ringing the bells. 

There is a detailed description of the six bells next to the tower door, but not on the internet. Here it is.

A few steps down to the crypt below is Allhallows Chapel. The Crypt was built in the fourteenth century and somewhere else we had not seen before.

A very short walk to the estuary and benches along the green. They were all free, probably because the breeze had become stronger, although it was mild.

A look around the shop and back to the big, now empty, car park. Interestingly, it is not signposted in the route through the village. Dinner at home with England beating Croatia in the Nation's League. Quite a cloudy day, very muggy, and at 21°C it felt much warmer.

WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

A quiet morning meant I was this far with my post for the holiday. Tried to transfer photos from the camera to my laptop and failed. Many times. (Fortunately back home they transferred instantly). Posted three film reviews on my blog. In the evening, dinner at The Ivy in town. Quite a reasonable bill for such a nice place, super food and great service. A bright day with some sun and a warm 20°C.

THURSDAY IST OCTOBER

We had saved our big day in Portsmouth for our last. We parked in the multi-storey near Chichester station, and we took the train to Portsmouth Harbour. 

We walked along the seafront all the way to Southsea Castle. This was where we usually parked the car, so we were going in the opposite direction. Lots of stops along the brand-new promenade. It was all closed off last year as the works were in progress. The £185 million scheme that is really quite something.

Southsea Castle is where we turn round, but not before we sat outside for tea and cake.

A wander back to Gunwharf Keys for a late lunch at Bella Italia. We always seem to find a table next to the seafront. Overlooking the harbour and looking up from my seat to Spinnaker Tower.

The shopping centre is next door, but this time only for some chocolates at the Lindor store. Back at the station we found that trains to Chichester had been cancelled. We decided on taking the bus instead. The number 700 coastliner sounded promising, and we didn't have to wait long. However, it might have been a mistake, as the journey took far longer than the scheduled hour and a quarter. Ours took an hour and forty-five minutes, and there were 55 stops! Back at the car park at 6pm. But we only had to pack, as we had brought our tea with us. It had been a lovely day, sunny, warm and 21C again. 

FRIDAY 2ND OCTOBER

A good journey home via the A3 and M25 with only a short delay on the motorway. That was very lucky.

Movies at Home: Breakfast at Tiffanys, Lover Come Back and Blue Sky

 

Not sure why I had never seen this famous film before. Breakfast at Tiffany's is directed by Blake Edwards from the novel by Truman Capote and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly and George Peppard as Paul Varjak, her new neighbour. It should have been great. But it wasn't. They meet almost immediately as they occupy the same apartment building in New York and strike up a sort of friendship. Lots of nonstop dialogue courtesy of George Axelrod. The story is told from Paul's point of view, twisted though it may be. She thinks she will marry wealthy Trusty Lawler, but her secret background is a letdown, and he marries someone else. 

What could have been a great rom-com is spoilt when the two stars explore places each had never been. What was supposed to be interesting I found to be just tedious. The film lost all momentum in the absence of that earlier witty dialogue. Thank goodness for the cat. And Martin Balsam as the rich O J Berman who saves the day, if not the film. Also, Henry Mancini's music won an Oscar, and his theme tune had lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

Lover Come Back is a Doris Day and Rock Hudson vehicle that was not as funny as it wanted to be. They are competing advertising executives; he is far more unscrupulous than her. But for me, the star of the show is Hudson's boss, the rich owner of the firm, played by Tony Randall. "I started at the top, the hard way." When Hudson beats the opposition to a big account, he's up before The Advertising Council. But he sweet-talks the main witness by putting her in his next campaign. But it's a fake, and you can guess how it all goes wrong. Doris Day's job is on the line, but there are many twists and turns before the end. Including the two stars waking up together to find they are married. That was too much. I was amazed at how Rock Hudson was far taller than anyone else. He's six foot five inches. Just thank goodness for Tony Randall.

I'm not sure who recommended Blue Sky, but this was a strange movie. Tommy Lee Jones plays Major Hank Marshall, who is an engineer on the American nuclear experimental programme in 1962. He is quiet and solid, the opposite of his flirtatious and volatile wife, Carly. A leading actress Oscar winner for Jessica Lange. She loved it when they were in Hawaii but was brought down to earth with a bang at their next posting in Alabama. She gives little support to her two young daughters at Fort Mathews. Their lodgings are awful until Hank gets to work. But soon Carly is up to her old tricks, this time with the camp commander when Hank is sent to the Nevada nuclear testing facility. It's here that Hank wants underground testing, but to no avail.

Back home his daughter spills the beans on his wife, and a fight sends him into custody. With her husband under sedation, it's up to Carly to invade the site with all the attendant publicity. This works as eventually Hank is released. But apart from the plot, there is nothing much here to admire. Obviously there is the performance of Jessica Lange, but this seemed very much over the top to modern audiences. 

A couple of good songs that I had not heard for years: "Baby, You've Got What It Takes" by Brook Benton and Dinah Washington, "Venus" by Frankie Avalon and "Something's Got a Hold on Me" by Etta James. The repeating haunting theme from Jack Nitzsche reminded me of Twin Peaks.

The Death of Robin Hood, Practical Magic 2 and Resident Evil

 

The violent opening of The Death of Robin Hood is replaced by something far quieter and ruminative. Hugh Jackman plays the elderly outlaw who cannot outrun his past. Almost dead from his latest fight. He's taken to recover at a priory on a remote island, looking to me like a version of Lindisfarne (Holy Island), including the castle. It was actually filmed at The Rock of Cashel in the Republic of Ireland. "The mediaeval fortress complex rising from the Tiperary plain." (See moviewalks.com which has all the locations). Here it is a fictionalised retreat where Jody Comer is Sister Brigid, the prioress. She is the one who nurses him back to some sort of health. Jody Comer is absolutely brilliant and my favourite performance of the year so far. Also very good was Faith Delaney as Little Margaret. I loved her jumper; it looked so modern but old. The stitching around the slit and the neck.

Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski, I was never bored, but unfortunately, quite a lot of the dialogue is inaudible, and this time the music is not to blame. I thought that Hugh Jackman was fine despite others having criticised his accent. He was hamstrung by being elderly and tired. Mark Kermode said it was "an easy movie to admire," and Simon Mayo thought Jodie Comer brought "a sense of peace." She was very good. Sophia Satchell-Baeza, in her review in Sight and Sound Magazine, talks about this "sombre mediaeval drama" and "the futility of revenge and the nature of legend." Hadley Freeman in the Sunday Times Culture says that after the brutality of the first 20 minutes, "the movie then makes a shuddering gear change into boring." She was not impressed even though she gave it three stars. 

How disappointing was Practical Magic 2? It's almost thirty years since the original movie, and you would have thought they could have come up with a better story after all this time. I agreed with Mark Kermode that everything was there for the film to be a success. Three good writers, top director Sussane Bier (The Night Manager and lots of others), great locations (see below), a good soundtrack including Stevie Nicks, and the two big stars from the previous film. Sanbdra Bullock especially puts her heart and soul into the part, and Nicole Kidman compliments her perfectly. So what went wrong? The story and the script were pathetic. There were fine older actresses in Sockard Channing and Dianne Wiest and also the children of Sandra Bullock's character.  

The production felt cheap, and the UK setting seemed to be something straight out of Midsummer Murders. Hambledon stands in for Thornfield. The Royal Standard of England in Beaconsfield was the inn where they stayed (it has been popular for all sorts of movies; I don't know why), Langlebury Mansion in Hertfordshire, Black Park Country Park (my first parkrun), the Wormsley Estate, The Royal Chelsea Hospital, the Victorian flats of Cromwell Buildings and a finale at Old Wardour Castle near Salisbury. 

Now I know it might have been difficult to come up with something to match the earlier success, but this was not it. It has been called "a slapdash sequel", and "the script should not be this bad". I think I finally lost faith less than halfway through when arriving at the airport; Nicole struggles with two huge suitcases, and Sandra has a shoulder bag. A stupid joke that repeats time and again. "A real shame, as in this mess there is a positive female-driven narrative." 

A courier takes on one last job, but he has no idea what is in the case; he assumed maybe a heart or a kidney for a sick child? No! Austin Abrams as Bryan is perfect as the everyman hero stupidly ignoring the advice for snow chains for his car. The film plays out in real time as we follow his journey, one trial after another. So typical of the video game on which the franchise was originally based. I liked the fact that in the first half he tries so hard to do the right thing given the extraneous circumstances of injury and death. At times this is just a one-man show, almost a silent movie with added profanities. 

However, as a fifteen-rated movie, it avoids, just about, the realistic horrors of an eighteen. What we do see are obvious fantasy reconstructions of any gore that is on show. There are some lowly "jump scares", but I never had to look away once. It is not a zombie movie. There are constructions that are beyond belief. In fact, I almost felt embarrassed when on occasion I laughed out loud. When Bryan is struggling to fix a firearm and it goes off. He is pretty useless, but just like we would be in the circumstances. It's that sort of film. 

Writer and director Zach Credder (Weapons and Barbarian) has made a roller coaster of a movie; his creation of the monsters is something I have never seen before. It has that visual weirdness and humour that sets it apart. Mark Kermode, in his online review, outlined the series of Resident Evil movies starting with the original by Paul Thomas Anderson. Then all those sequels, re-boots and even one failed Netflix series. (See my reviews from 2010 and 2012). Mark says the film had "a gleeful attitude to body mutation", it was "an absolute romp" and "I really enjoyed it". Me too.

Bye, the way. I love the posters for these film reviews. 

The Garden in September

 

The first photo and those below are a little misleading, as the lawn looks fine after the rain of the last few weeks, and the bedding border is quite colourful with the Antirynums. 

But the main border has hardly any colour at this time of year.

The Echinachea and Verbena on the left of the side patio have been hanging on, but the flowers are just over. 

It's the roses that have been so great through the drought. I resisted giving them any water as advised, and they have bloomed all summer. There are lots of buds on the rose "Blue for You," but as yet they are resisting opening for their third flowering this year. But the others keep on blooming.

The latest plants to flower are the asters that were banished to the wild flower border. This is the first year they have been a success.

However, the most impressive plant has been the hydrangea macrophylla that has flowered consistently all summer. As I said before, it's hidden away, but that might be why it's been so good.