More snow for the week before Christmas

The snow that fell on Monday evening was perhaps even heavier than that of Thursday night. And when the sun came out on Tuesday afternoon, it provided glorious views of the fields and hills. I cannot remember such a sight the week before Christmas.

Donning my boots and warm clothing, I set off walking from the house out of the village across the fields to the canal which I followed to Halton village. Then across the churchyard to the RAF playing fields before returning via Weston Turville church, just as the sun was setting. Magical.

A snowy weekend away

Our first snow of the year fell on Thursday night, so we were a little worried on Friday morning about how the roads would be for our journey to Cheshire to see Alison's family. But once we were on the main road through the village, all the roads had been gritted and just became better and better as we headed out of Aylesbury. The heavy snow that was forecast for when we hit the Midlands turned out to be a solitary short shower.

Our two nights stay turned out to be very cold, culminating in icy conditions the last morning. The car needed a push from the hotel owner and another man to get up the hill from the hotel car park to the main road. But we made lunch on Sunday with my brothers in Dorridge where fortunately the side roads were passable. And when we woke up on Monday morning, the snow at home had frozen.

Goodbye to Wake Up to Wogan

After 37 years presenting the Radio 2 breakfast show, Terry Wogan has said goodbye. For me, it is the end of an era. I didn't hear his first programme in 1972, but later that year I started listening whilst driving from Farnsfield in Nottinghamshire to Peterborough every morning.

Since then, Terry has eased the early morning drive, particularly those long journeys every morning in 1976 from Peterborough to Leighton Buzzard and the following year to Cheshunt. Then again in 1979 from Puckeridge to High Wycombe and all those years on my journeys to building sites and regional offices around the country. Thanks Terry.

131 Songs - Number12

Number 12 - Handy Man by Jimmy Jones

When we moved to Braintree in the summer of 1959, I became friends with one of the only seven boys in my class at Braintree County High School. I didn't go to David Hume's house very often, but I can remember their big radiogram. The one single that always reminds me of those times was this song released in 1960 and written by Jones and Otis Blackwell.

Honey Ryder

Isn't it great when you hear a new singer or band that you just love. I can remember hearing Sandi Thom first in a music store on Oxford Street. And when I visited London in August, and sitting in Caffe Nero, there was a track by a band I did not know. Checking the Caffe Nero website and cross referencing on Spotify, I found Honey Ryder. And what a brilliant album is their first called Rising Up. Honey Ryder are Londoners Lindsay O'Mahoney and Martyn Stone. The stand out track for me is called Freeze, just the best song that I have heard for ages.

Wendover Choral Society

Alison only joined the Wendover Choral Society in October and here she was singing with the choir in Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio at St Mary's Church in Wendover. They were joined by The Brook Street band, a fifteen piece "critically acclaimed" orchestra playing baroque instruments, and four exceptional soloists who sang the arias.

Part One of the concert started with a Bach overture from the orchestra followed by a Cantata for the choir. An interval was followed by the Oratorio itself. I have to say that good as were the soloists and the orchestra, the best parts were when the choir joined in. The 45 members created a wonderful sound that echoed through the church. Alison's sister Anne travelled down from Cheshire and came with me. We both thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Jennifer's Body, 2012 and Glorious 39

There is nothing like a good screenplay, and Diablo Cody has done it again. She is like a young female Tarantino, but with her own hip voice. And she puts it to great effect in Jennifer's Body. A horror film without too much gore, even film critic Mark Kermode, a horror fan and expert, admitted Cody knew her stuff. Well directed by Karyn Kusama, the female dominated movie also has Megan Fox in the title role (great casting and probably the best thing she has done, although other actresses may still have done better) and Amanda Seyfried, excellent as her "best" friend. Very enjoyable. And the soundtrack is brilliant. I wish I could say that I would love the album, but the songs fit the film, but not on their own.

Although the critics have panned 2012, I think they are missing the point. This is up there with all the massive disaster movies where the plot and script hardly matter. What you get is a story of survival whilst all hell breaks loose. Our heroes (or most of them) escape death by fractions of a second or millimeters, whilst the rest of the world is destroyed. OK, there is a flimsy premise to why the earth is suddenly breaking up, but it is the staging of the carnage by way of CGI, and the resulting peril the main characters are under, that is impressive. It is a long film, two and a half hours, and the action becomes a little tiresome after a while. But it is wonderfully shot with great lighting, and the sound should get an Oscar nomination even though it wont. If only Roland Emmerich had cut it to a decent length, we could have gone home happy.

Stephen Poliakoff has always been one of my favourite writer/directors, although over the last decade he has concentrated on TV drama where all his films have been fabulous. So does his transfer back to the big screen work? Only just. As always, what you get is a slow (some say plodding) storyline but with great dialogue. And originality, there is just not enough good original drama around. Glorious 39 is beautifully filmed, lovely colours and scenery, it captures the period of the title in wonderful clarity. The one problem is that Poliakoff cannot make up his mind if it as a drama or a thriller. Unfortunately, he is no Hitchcock as he fails to ramp up the tension of his heroine in danger. So the movie works best in the dramatic sections. Romola Garai is exquisite in the lead role as Anne, the one adopted daughter of parents Bill Nighy and Jenny Seagrove. The whole cast is excellent, but it is Garai that stands out.

131 Songs - Numbers 8, 9, 10 and 11

Number 8 - Somethin' Else by Eddie Cochran

Recorded in 1959, this was one of the earliest songs that I can remember from listening to Radio Luxembourg. Eddie made some great records in his short career including Summertime Blues, C'mon Everybody andThree Steps to Heaven. Any one would have made my list, but the raw energy of Somethin' Else makes it my choice. Eddie was killed on the A4 in Wiltshire in 1960 at the young age of 21. He was in a taxi that hit a tree and Eddie went through the windscreen. The taxi driver (who went to prison), his girlfriend and Gene Vincent survived the crash. His impounded guitar was found by a young police constable who used it to learnt how to play. It was Dave Dee (see my posting of 10th January). If Eddie had survived, who knows how big a star he would have become. He was an excellent songwriter and musician. Paul McCartney taught John Lennon the chords to Eddie's Twenty Flight Rock at that famous picnic where The Quarrymen were playing.

Number 9 - Hello Mary Lou by Ricky Nelson

Although for me, this has song has not stood the test of time, Ricky Nelson was one of my favourite singers of the very early sixties. When I was 15 or 16, I listened to Radio Luxembourg whenever I could. I used to write down the playlists from shows such as Jack Jackson's Jukebox. There is not a single entry of that name when I searched on Google, but I remember it well. Other dj's included David Jacobs, Alan Freeman and Jimmy Saville. The latter campaigned heavily for Elvis to tour the UK, but failed entirely to persuade his manager Colonel Tom Parker.

Radio Luxembourg was the only place you could hear popular music programmes in the early sixties, many back to back, most sponsored by a record label. Jackson's was Decca. It was the forerunner of pirate radio that started in 1964. And Ricky was one of the big American stars that we listened to. Between 1957 and 1962 he had thirty hit records. When he toured England in 1985, I went to see him at the Albert Hall. Little did I know that later that year he would die in a plane crash. So I am glad I saw him perform when I did.

Number 10 - Runaway by Del Shannon

Also on the same bill as Ricky Nelson was Dell Shannon. His everlastingly popular number one single Runaway from 1961 was the highlight of the show and the best received. It is probably the famous organ solo that made this record stand apart. It certainly was one of my favourite songs from that year and frequently on my playlist. It stills sounds good today.

Number 11 - Sea of Heartbreak by Don Gibson

This used to be The Wanderer by Dion, but listening to the lyrics the other day, I realised that they would be fiercely derided today.
"Oh well I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name
They call me the wanderer, yeah the wanderer
I roam around around around".
 There were other great records that nearly made the list. Bobby Vee's Rubber Ball was a big favourite, as were Freddie Canon's Palisades Park and Johnny Burnett's Dreamin. And I have missed Jimmy Jones, whose Handyman reminds me of our first year in Braintree. My friend David Hume played it on his parent's radiogram.

Whiteleaf Hill

My circular walk on Saturday from Whiteleaf Hill is the hardest of all my two hour walks. Saturday morning was chilly but with bright sunshine, perfect for a strenuous march. From the car park at the top of the hill I head downhill on the Ridgeway towards Lower Cadsden, but before the bottom there is a right turn which heads towards the valley floor. Heading through Nimms Wood, another detour and the path heads uphill until finally coming out onto fields. This is a nice open and level stretch before crossing Cadsden Road and gently up to Dirtywood Farm.

Up once again into more woods and an undulating path before reaching a minor road towards Buckmoorend. Here the paths heads downhill across a large field with views towards Chequers before crossing a main road and up into Pond Wood. The path through the Pulpit Wood rises gently before eventually reaching the top of Pulpit Hill. The views here over Aylesbury Vale are wonderful, especially on a sunny day. The Ridgeway has been joined again, this time to head first downhill and then left onto the open ridge. Here is Grangelands and Pulpit Hill Nature Reserve as the photo above. The ridge path is now open and high, so the views are good.

But it is not long before the downhill section reaches the road at The Plough at Lower Gadsden. I often think how nice it would be to stop for a pint, but lunchtime beckons and so does the steep uphill climb back up Whiteleaf Hill. Just time for the magnificent views at the top over Princes Risborough before heading back to the car park. There are so many ups and downs on the walk, but I felt good after an energetic couple of hours.

Marty's Operation

Marty had been on pills for his thyroid problem for a couple of years, but an increase to his dose was not solving the problem. So a week ago he had the operation to remove the thyroid gland that was enlarged. As the vet said, they had never seen such a huge one. After a week of looking miserable, he is thankfully on the mend. And no more pills to have to hide in his food.

Cosi Fan Tutte

A departure from our pre-Christmas treat to the ballet at Oxford (i just hate the cramped seats there), it was off to the opera at Milton Keynes Theatre and Glyndebourne on Tour. On Friday evening it was an early 7.15pm start for Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. Neither Alison or I knew the plot, such that it is, so it was interesting to see the action unfold in what the programme described as "the cruelest and most disturbing opera ever written", even though the title translates to "School for Lovers". But it was the score and the singing that attracted us, and these were excellent. Gillian Ramm was fabulous in the lead role of Fiordiligi and she was well supported by the other five members of the cast. The three hours (not including the interval) just flew by.

Swim class number 8

It was all in the shoulders. The final swim class, and this week Andy was my instructor again. Warmed up with breaststroke. It was not perfect after all. I need to get my elbows higher in the water if I want to go faster (which is not necessarily what I want to do). This does work, although it puts pressure on the shoulders, which I can really feel this morning.

Onto backstroke. A little better than last week. I am just getting used to the rhythm. Keeping kicking while concentrating on the arms in rotation and lifting my tummy up, whilst trying not to collide with other swimmers is all a lot to remember. I need to reach right back with my hands which should enter the water behind my head. But to do this I have to remember to rotate my hips. And then bend the elbow to pull. Again, this is all effecting my shoulders, but more practice may see them become stronger. Apparently, it is a stroke which can be relaxing. It just does not feel that way at the moment.

My crawl is OK. Andy just said that I need to concentrate on keeping my fingers together. Once again I could feel the tension in my shoulders, but it certainly makes a difference to my speed. But the faster I go, the more I get out of breath. Well, that is the end of my swimming lessons. I have learnt an awful lot, and need to put it all into practice. My instructors have been great, thanks to them all.

Flash Forward

Just I was about to give up on what is a fairly patchy series, along comes a brilliant episode called "Believe". Doctor Bryce is searching for the Japanese woman he sees in his flash forward. Keiko is a young, brilliant bio robotics engineer. The only senior female in the company, she has to serve tea at a board meeting. Her passion for the guitar surfaces when she watches an old video of Bob Dylan singing "Shelter From The Storm". The final sequence reprises the song at LA Airport. That does it for me.

A Day in London

It all started with an invitation to lunch from Nigel, a distant cousin with whom I correspond about our family history. He suggested Finch's Wine Bar on Bishopsgate as we are very distant relatives of the Finch family. My great grandfather Vincent's brother, Sidney Morton Pearson Roberts, had married a Kate Finch. The basement restaurant is now called City House, and this is where I met Nigel for a very pleasant lunch and chat.

I had the whole afternoon free before a play at the National Theatre in the evening. I wanted to revisit the Royal Exchange and Nigel pointed me in the right direction. Walking down Bishopsgate, I looked inside the open gates of the historic St Helen's Place, and there was the Gherkin towering above the old square.
Further down Bishopsgate, I took a photo of The Gibson Hall, now a conference venue, and this time it is Tower 42 in the background. I soon found The Royal Exchange. When Alison and I visited that Saturday in the summer, it was closed. I climbed some stairs in the corner to take this illicit photo before being told the mezzanine was closed.

I took the Underground to Charring Cross and it was a short walk to Trafalgar Square. Passing St Martin-in-the-Fields, and as I had plenty of time, I decided to look inside. To my delight, there was a rehearsal taking place for that evening's concert. The piano accompanied by a 12 piece chamber orchestra were excellent. It was a nice surprise to be able to sit and listen to Mozart played by such accomplished young musicians.

My main reason for being in Trafalgar Square was to visit the National Portrait Gallery for "Beatles to Bowie", an exhibition exploring the leading pop music personalities of the 1960's. "Featuring key pop cultural figures the exhibition begins in 1960 with hit groups such as The Shadows and The John Barry Seven". It was the photograph of the latter that really captured for me, the essence of the early TV programmes such as The Six Five Special. As well as a huge collection of photographs, the displays of memorabilia (programmes, record sleeves, sheet music etc) were fascinating.

It was dark by the time I left, time for a coffee and cake at Costa Coffee in Waterstones, before heading for the South Bank.

Walking down Northumberland Avenue, I saw the Golden Jubilee Bridge lit up at the end. This was a perfect vantage point for taking photos of the lights of London. I was lucky that it was so mild for the late November, and I could take my time walking over the bridge.

All along the South Bank there had been erected a German Christmas Market, which was at it's best in the dark with all the stalls brightly lit. It was such a colourful scene, and if I had been hungry, a vast number of stalls had different things to eat.

Then it was time for the theatre. At the small Cottesloe Theatre, where I had never been before, there was a production of Ferdinand Bruckner's 1926 play "Pains of Youth" in a new version by Martin Crimp. Wonderfully directed by Katie Mitchell. the young cast did a fine job.

I made my way back across Waterloo Bridge. I had never previously noticed how beautifully lit was Somerset House on it's frontage with the river. The end to a great day.

Swim class number 7

This week it was mainly backstroke with Andy, yet another coach from the swimming club. These one to one sessions are much more like hard work as quite intensive. As usual we started with just the kick, trying to point my toes and kicking with an upward motion (I include these tips for future reference) like kicking a football? Tiring, but at least I was making some progress.
Then onto arms using a constant rotation, for the first time I think I was doing OK. Managed half a length which, for me, was a massive improvement. Apparently you use different muscles for backstroke, which accounts for the stiffness the following day.

Rested with some breaststroke which, I am told, is pretty much perfect. It was tumble turns for the second half of the lesson, but I just do not have the flexibility. Andy said something about our age, but he was only 46. I don't think he believed it when I said I was 64.o I did breaststroke turns instead, keeping my head down at the push off. It also gave me the opportunity to try some more backstroke.

Ordinary Thunderstorms, deaf sentence and Too Close to Home

I very rarely read murder thrillers, but here are two with the latest by David Lodge in the middle. I heard William Boyd being interviewed on 5 live about his book Ordinary Thunderstorms, and it seemed quite interesting, apparently there are few modern murder stories set in Central London. It is a rattling good yarn , the action tears along with twists along the way. However, the whole essence of the plot means our hero has never watched a crime thriller on TV, or he definitely would not have done what he did at the beginning. The characters are interesting, and the locations vivid and familiar, the river never being far away. Not the best writing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

But if you want good writing, David Lodge is your man. This is the eighth novel of his that I have read, and deaf sentence is up there with the best. The words are music to the ear. Retired professor of linguistics Desmond Bates is going deaf, and the story revolves around his coping, or not, with his affliction. It is funny, poignant and life affirming. Brilliant.

I picked up Too Close to Home in out local Waterstones when out shopping with my dear wife. The previous book by the author Linwood Barclay, No Time for Goodbye, was a terrific thriller. His latest is a similar mystery, this time when next door neighbours of our narrator are murdered. Unfortunately, he is a pretty unpleasant character ( as are basically all the other characters), so our feelings about his harrowing experiences are somewhat diluted. The writing is pretty poor, and Barclay concentrates on the plot so much, he forgets about his reader. There is plenty of intrigue and you keep reading to see what happens next, but some of the twists are just not credible. A bit of a disappointment.

131 Songs - Number 7

Number 7 - Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly

Recorded in 1957, I first heard Buddy Holly on our old transistor radio tuned in to Radio Luxembourg before we left London. One of the early pioneers of the new rock and roll, he performed in 1955 with Elvis and Bill Haley. These influences contributed to him adapting to a more rockabilly style typified by his first hit That'll Be The Day earlier in 1957. Unlike Elvis, Buddy wrote all his own songs which were quite sophisticated for the day. That must be why they still sound fresh to me whenever I hear them. And Oh Boy, did he write so many great songs. There are 15 on my compilation of 36 tracks and I never have to skip one of them. Even The Beatles recorded Words of Love on their album Beatles for Sale. So why Peggy Sue? It must be the paradiddles played on the drums by The Cricket's drummer Jerry Alison, that fade in and out. And the raw guitar solo in the middle. Just magic.

Swim class number 6

Drills, drills, drills. It was Rob this time, another coach from the swimming club. Started with crawl leg kicks holding a float, first on my back, then my front. I get some sort of propulsion when I start, but half a length and I am done for. Cramping starts after only five minutes. Must be getting old. I don't seem to have the flexibility in my feet to make them floppy. It was such a relief to go onto crawl proper. Apparently my head comes too much out of the water, which I think I knew, and was able to make some progress in this direction.

After half an hour, it was swapping instructors again and Theresa from last week took over. Breaststroke this time, just legs again, but I can manage this quite easily. Had to concentrate on the leg snap. On to the full stroke, and I could feel the tension in my legs in stretching with the snap, but it does seem to work. My arm movement needed a slight alteration with cupping my hands at my chest which turns the shoulders for a more streamlined movement. Quite different than what I have done for the last twenty years. I even received a comment that I looked like a real breaststroke swimmer. Backstroke was next, starting with that awful leg kick on my back. Tried some arm pulls and did my first ever half length. Hope that I can try this again next week.

Triangle, An Education and A Christmas Carol

I expected more from director Christopher Smith after his splendid Severance, but his new film Triangle was a disappointment, especially after some great reviews. The first half was OK, but setting Groundhog Day on a boat with added scary bits just did not work. I found it too repetitive and the ending was really poor. There were twists and some shocks along the way, the script was fine and Mellisa George did well in the lead role. An opportunity missed.

From the opening bars of Floyd Cramer's brilliant On the Rebound (who was the genius who chose this intro?), I settled back in my seat in eager anticipation. And what a movie was in store. The best I have seen in years. Everything was perfect. When the heroine is in her first year in sixth form in 1961, the same year as was I, there would always have been a connection. But when one American film critic in his twenties said he was overcome by emotion and happiness, it is a film for all. Where to start. Probably Nick Hornby, who wrote the wonderful screenplay, one of the authors whose books I always buy, from Fever Pitch to 31 Songs and A Long Way Down. Then the cast, all fabulous. Carey Mulligan was brilliant in the central role of Jenny, Alfred Molina equally so as her father and Olivia Williams as her teacher. All three should win Oscars. Peter Sarsgaard is fine as the creepy David, and his friends played by Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike would in any other movie sweep up awards. The director, Lone Scherfig, captures perfectly the tone of pre-Beatles 1961. Jenny finds it all boring, but that is not how I remember. The coffee bar she goes to with her school friends had no jukebox. But ours did. Perhaps it is that first year sixth thing, I remember the following year as being so much more interesting. Jenny finds excitement in another world. Her relationship with an older man was never going anywhere, but even if it was a con, and you fell in love, or thought you did, sometimes it is worth it to be the subject of such a relationship. Maybe you pay emotionally at the time, but looking back, you would not have missed it for the world.

What is Robert Zemeckis up to? His experimentation with motion capture become ever more boring. The Polar Express was a novelty, Beowulf tiresome and now the hugely disappointing A Christmas Carol. I think it must be that he cannot write a screenplay. I could forgive him for the originality of The Polar Express, but his adaptation of Dickens is a complete disaster. And it's November for heaven's sake!

131 Songs - Number 6

Number 6 - Diana by Paul Anka

Not one of my favourite songs, but memorable for one reason. It must have been a sunny day in the summer holidays of 1957, when the record was released, that Mum took my brothers and I on one of our many visits to Kensington Gardens, a short bus ride up Kensington High Street. I have a vivid memory of walking into the park and hearing some music. As we passed the source, it turned out to be Diana being played on a portable record player, something we had never experienced before in the open air. It could not have been that loud, as by the time we reached the Round Pond, where we often sailed our toy yachts, the sound was gone. But the memory lingers on.

Stanley Boyd Roberts

My grandfather, Stanley Boyd Roberts was born on 21 October 1889 at No 2 Nelson Place Ecclesall Bierlow. His parents were Vincent Littlewood Roberts and Ellen Cundy, formerly Boyd. His father's occupation on Stanley's birth certificate is recorded as "Gentleman", the same as on his parent's marriage certificate just over a year earlier. Vincent had qualified as a doctor and by 1901 was practising at Chippingham House on Attercliffe Road (that must have been why Dad referred to him as "The Attercliffe Man").

Strangely, on the census of 1901, when Stanley is eleven, he is residing with his maternal grandmother (Ellen formerly Cundy, then Boyd) and her second husband, the highly successful electro plater and gilder (employing 19 men, 15 women, 6 boys and 3 girls) Arthur Millward. Stanley's mother Ellen had died when he was only three years old, but it is good to see he was still in touch with her mother. The reason why he is staying there must be because his step brother (John S Roberts) was only one month old and possibly ill, as he died when he was one year old. Stanley attended Dore and Totley High School and afterwards Wesley College.

He was still living with his grandmother in 1911 when he was 21. She was 70 by then , her husband Arthur had died, leaving her very comfortable with two servants at Clifford Lodge on Abbeydale Road. Maybe Stanley did not get on with his stepmother, as she and father Vincent lived not far away on Psalter Lane. Stanley was then studying the law at Sheffield University and he qualified as a solicitor. His obituary in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of 13 January 1937 reads: "Mr Roberts was a musician with a medical ancestry and a legal history. He learned to play the piano when so young that he had to be lifted on to the piano stool. At Wesley College he received special musical instruction and won the music prize in his first term. Afterwards he received tuition from many eminent musicians, notably Mr Frederick Dawson. At the early age of sixteen, he was appointed organist of St John's Church, Abbeydale. He had a desire to take up music as a profession, but a career in law had been planned for him. He was admitted a solicitor in 1912."

Stanley married Edith Haywood Hoyland on 2 July 1913 at Christ Church in Dore. They had four children, all boys: John Haywood Boyd Roberts born 1915, Arthur Wynne Boyd Roberts born 1916, Peter Richard Boyd Roberts born 1917, David Littlewood Boyd Roberts born 1918 (who died of Spanish flue in 1919) and James Brian Boyd Roberts born 1923.

As a solicitor, Stanley was in partnership with Robert Benjamin Grayson in the firm of Roberts and Grayson. The partnership was dissolved on 30th November 1925. It seems that Stanley then practised on his own, but in 1932 he was made bankrupt. A petition was filed on 13th April 1932 in Sheffield Court. There is an Official Receiver's Summary of Affairs showing a deficiency of £1,930 12s and 5d. This seems to coincide with Dad and his brother Arthur having to find employment, they would have been 16 and 15 years old. They had been educated at home, instead of an expensive private school, so Stanley obviously had financial problems for some time.

After his failure as a solicitor, Stanley concentrated on his music. For the last six and a half years of his life, he was the conductor of the Sheffield Orpheus Male Voice Choir, and was involved in the Philharmonic Society. In 1936, he became organist and choirmaster at St Mathew's Church, Sheffield. Shortly before he died, he accompanied the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus in an arduous rehearsal of Berlioz's Te Deum. He died suddenly of pneumonia on 12 January 1937 at his home at 88 Ashdell Road in Sheffield. He was 47.

Swim class number 5

It never ceases to amaze me how different is each swimming lesson. I thought something was up when I walked into the main pool area and the three instructors who wait on the far side were joined by lots of young women. It turned out that they were trainee instructors. I was paired with Theresa who had a list of drills for the breaststroke. The same old agony of holding a float and just using my legs, first on my back, then the front. Exhausted after fifteen minutes. Then some proper swimming concentrating on the leg snap we had been practising , which seemed to improve my technique. Finished the half hour with some playtime, picking up objects from the bottom of the pool.

I was amazed when Theresa handed me over to another young lady for the second half. This was Carmel, her sister. I know. They could not have been older than twenty. On to crawl, the same torture as last week holding a float and leg kicks. I think I gained from this one to one session, as my tendency to bend my knees was spotted and sort of corrected. I think I was getting the hang of it. It was a relief when I could do a normal stroke, apparently my arm movement is OK, which was a surprise. Ended the session with some more games. The hour flew by.

Ralph William Askew

My grandfather, Ralph William Askew, was born on 3rd August 1895 at 22 College Road, Masbrough. He was the ninth of ten children. His father, George, was born on 27 December 1852 at Toynton St Peter in Lincolnshire. He moved to Rotherham to work in the coal mines. The census of 1881 for College Road shows he was married to a Jane Cuthbertson, but despite a number of searches, there is no record of an official marriage.

George was still a miner at the age of 57. He was joined at the pit by sons Thomas, George and Ralph, the last two being 17 and 15 classed as pit boys. So we know Ralph had a hard upbringing. In 1914 he was 19, so he joined the army for the first world war. I have no details of his war record, Mum never mentioned it. After the war, he met and married Edith Agnes Leather on 1 August 1921 in Rotherham Parish Church. The photograph was taken while he was in his twenties. My aunt Iris told me he was a tap dancer and loved the popular music of the time. They had four children: Dorothy, Iris, Donald and Geoffrey.

After the war, Ralph was back at the pit. But during his time as a miner, Ralph suffered an accident and broke his back. He received £200 in compensation and invested the money in two shops in. The hardware shop in Cambridge Street, over which the family made their home, made no money. Apparently he gave away leather when he saw children with no proper shoes. The shop went bust. At the same time his wife had a baker's shop in Barley Terrace. She used to get up at 4am every morning to make barm cakes etc. They were always sold out by midday. But she suffered with four getting on her chest, so they had to give up this shop too.

So for the first time, Ralph and Edith had to seek the support of the council, who found them a house at 88 Wordsworth Drive in Rotherham. However this was in a very poor neighbourhood, the children eat bread and lard outside. Ralph and his family may have been poor, but they always had good manners and eat proper meals.

Ralph had a number of jobs after the shops closed. He was a postman, a bus conductor and, according to his death certificate, a brassworks water valve tester.

It was not until Mum was working for one of the bigwigs at the Municipal Offices that this helped to find another house. 58 Wordsworth Drive had been occupied by an old lady, and when she died, it became available. Their names were on the list and they were offered the move to what was a much better property in a much nicer location. It must have helped that Mum did babysitting for this man at the Council. The house was a reasonably new in the "Wembley" design. It was very close to Herringthorpe Playing Fields, the largest open space in the town.

Ralph died on 13 April 1945. He was 49 years old. The death certificate records that he died of a respiratory obstruction that led to cardiac arrest.

Swim class number 4

Steve's torture hour. Yes, it was the same instructor from last week, and the same old routine. Last week it was breaststroke, this week crawl. As last week, we started with floats in our outstretched arms, and concentrated on the kick. Hips as high as possible, kick with the feet together just below the surface and ROTATE THOSE HIPS! My first two tries I was going nowhere fast. So my legs were tiring after only a couple of minutes. But after a rest, the next proved more fruitful, and I even had an "excellent" from Steve, so I must have been doing something right.

We then dispensed with floats, kicking off from the wall into a glide and kicking with arms outstretched. Seemed a little better. Onto using one arm outstretched, then the other, then one pull every eight kicks, then six kicks, then alternate arms every four kicks. I know what was going on, Steve was showing the breakdown of the technique before we were allowed to do a proper crawl, by which time 40 minutes had gone by. But by this time my legs were objecting, so technique goes out of the window. Some gentle breaststroke and with ten minutes left we were on to diving. After last weeks pathetic two attempts (my first ever) of a crouch dive, I did get in five this week. The last felt the best so far. I just need to get used entering the water head first before I can concentrate on the push off with the legs. Luckily Steve is away next week.

131 Songs - Numbers 4 and 5

Number 4 - The Fat Man by Fats Domino

The early fifties were marked by the transition of black American rhythm and blues into white rock and roll, led by Bill Haley and the Comets. There are a number of black artists who pioneered rhythm and blues, from Muddy Waters to Little Richard. But for me, Fats Domino was the greatest. Even Little Richard wanted to sound like him. The Fat Man, released in 1950, was his first hit record, and predates many of his contemporaries. It may be cruder than his subsequent, and probably better successes from incredibly four years later of Ain't that a Shame, Blueberry Hill and, what was almost my first pick, the little known Let the Four Winds Blow, but the sheer power of his dominant piano sounds like he was teaching the world how a few basic chords can get you on your feet. When you think that Bill Haley and Elvis were unknown before 1953/4, Fats may have been the first to make the transition from blues to the raw sound of rock and roll. I cannot think of anyone else.

Number 5 - Roll Over Beethoven by Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry often covered the songs of his idol Muddy Waters. But his moulding of rhythm and blues with rock and roll brought much bigger success than his idol. There are just too many great songs to pick from. Maybellene was his break through record in 1955 when he was signed by Chess records. And Chuck was still composing fabulous songs in 1964 such as No Particular Place to Go, and two songs that also make it onto my list. Promised Land appears later under a section of favourite cover versions, and You Never Can Tell in those from movies. But going back to Roll Over Beethoven, recorded in 1956, it obviously inspired groups like The Beatles who used it on their second LP, and the Rolling Stones who also made a cover version. I saw Chuck in concert at what was then the Odeon (now Apollo) Hammersmith, and as I said in a previous posting, ".... in May 1964 by the best rock and roll show ever with Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. They were supported by new British groups such as The Nashville Teens (Tobacco Road had not yet entered the charts), The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Animals. Wikipedia confirms they played their version of House of the Rising Sun on their tour with Chuck Berry in May 1964 but did not release a recording until a month later. I can still remember what a great job they did with Alan Price on keyboards." And I now have the programme, courtesy of eBay.

Romola Garai

The four episodes of Emma on the BBC were a delight, particularly for a fabulous performance from Romola Garai in the title roll. She has a magnetism I cannot recall from any actress for a long time. Her first major film role in I Capture the Castle in 2003 impressed the critics, and she has gone from strength to strength.

I was lucky enough to see Romola in two RSC productions in 2007, playing Cordelia opposite Ian McKellen's King Lear, and as Nina in The Seagull. Then came Atonement where I thought she gave the best performance.

I had hoped that Emma would go on for ever, but I will have to make do with her starring in the forthcoming film Glorious 39, written and directed by one of my favourites, Stephen Poliakoff. Roll on November. I have just seen the trailer on You Tube.

A Chilterns Autumn Weekend

My favourite walk for a Friday afternoon is at the reservoirs and canals at Marsworth, where British Waterways have a good size car park and stoned footpaths. A walk here on a Friday afternoon always reminds me how lucky I am to be retired and enjoy the outdoors. The canal was particularly picturesque as the sun showed dazzling reflections in the water.

Saturday was wet, so in the morning we went to Milton Keynes shopping. Quite successful, mainly adding to the profits of M&S. Coffee and a toasted sandwich in Thortons was very nice.

Sunday was another sunny morning, so my camera and I headed for the Ridgeway out of Wendover. The beech avenue at Boswells Farm, looking towards the Amersham Road, was quite spectacular.

Up into the woods, the views were equally colourful. After some cold nights, the mild weather of the last couple of days has made this one of the best autumns I can remember.

Swim class number 3

Aaaaahhhhhhhh. Our third instructor in three weeks. It gets even harder. When Steve said it's breaststroke tonight, I thought good, an easy session. I could not have been more wrong. We started off with floats in our extended arms, and so we had to concentrate on the kick, keeping our hips as high as possible. Disposing of the floats, it was then one pull to three kicks working down to one pull and one kick. I thought that was it, but no. There is the glide. Steve wanted us to hold the glide for three or four seconds. I have to say that after a couple of lengths, it was improving my technique.

Then onto crawl. Again it was with floats to start, and just using the legs. I went nowhere. Apparently it's all about turning your hips and kicking like mad. To say this is tiring is an understatement. Maybe I should have done this twenty years ago. A couple of crouch dives at the end (my first ever attempt from a standing position), the first quite good, the second awful. As I write, it is beautiful blue sky outside, perfect for a walk. I just don't think I could get very far.

The Invention of Lying, Zombieland and Up

I guess with that face, Ricky Gervais always has to play the loser. So it is no surprise that is how he starts off in The Invention of Lying. Although there are quite a few funny moments, it is hard to make a full length movie out of one concept. So it is patchy and loses momentum half way through. For me, it is the songs in the second half which hold it together: Donovan's "Try and Catch the Wind", Supertramp's "Give a Little Bit" and ELO's "Mr Blue Sky".

I do not like movies that have a narrator, but this time I will make an exception. Zombieland shows what can be done with a brilliant script. In fact, the scenes with Zombies being dispatched are the only boring and repetitive parts of the movie. The rest is the relationship that build between the four characters, and this is so well done. That they only use their destinations as names, is a neat twist. Woody Harrelson is made for the part, and Jesse Eisenberg is convincing as narrator and lead. Ruben Fleisher directs with a flourish, and the set piece ending wraps up the film nicely. There is one cameo appearance, and that is also terrific. In the same league (and another romcomzom) as Shawn of the Dead, it was a great fun movie.

If it were not for the critical acclaim, I might have given Up a miss. I am glad that I didn't. It is a great piece of film making. Again it is the script that makes it so good. The characters are lovable, and the movie has a real emotional impact. It is just not necessary to see it in 3D. I'm glad I stuck to the standard format. You could see in the action sequences that these were made for 3D, and although they were well done, it was the relationship between Carl and Russell that makes the movie. Bring on an exotic bird and Dug the dog, there are plenty of laughs. Equally good as WALL-E, it is no surprise that it gets 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Family History - The 533

I have now traced 533 of my father's ancestors and their families and they are now all on the database of my Family Historian programme. There remain a few tasks for the future, but the list of individuals is complete as far as I can go. They have now been transferred to a folder which can be written to a CD with the following introduction:

Charles Augustus Roberts, the brother of my great Grandfather Vincent Littlewood Roberts, created a family tree in 1937 entitled "Genealogy of the family of Roberts of Sheffield". So the contents of this CD are not only the ancestors of my father, but also updates Charles' family tree with the descendants of Oliver Roberts of Wooldale born around 1496.For this, I am indebted to the book given to me by Sir Samuel Roberts of Cockley Clay called "Some Memorials of the Family of Roberts". This was originally written by his ancestor, Sir Samuel Roberts of Queens Tower in 1862 and distributed to family members including Grandfather Vincent. This was updated by the next two Sir Samuel Roberts and finally (and extensively) by Sir Peter Roberts in 1971. It was Sir Peter who, as he describes in the "Introduction Extended", made a special study of the area of Holmfirth and concludes "At Wooldale in the first half of the XV1 century lived two families; one, that of GEORGE ROBERTS, who died in 1568, and the other of OLIVER ROBERTS, who died in 1588. It is likely that both these families had a common ancestor in one OLIVER ROBERTS who was a farmer, and paid King's Subsidy on land worth £50 in 1524. I consider that it is beyond reasonable doubt that the said GEORGE ROBERTS is the progenitor of the present Roberts family".I also wish to give thanks to Chris Rathbone and Nigel Buchanan who have given me invaluable information.

I still have to create some family trees ( ancestor and descendant diagrams), and add some other material. The CD will then be available for distribution, and sometime I will put it all on a website. The modern equivalents to those described above.

I can then turn to my mother's ancestors, a far different proposition. No previous researches this time. If I get more than fifty ancestors and their families, I shall be doing well.

131 Songs - Number 3

No 3 Travellin' Light - Cliff Richard


This is only on the list for one reason. In October 1959, when I was fourteen, my family came into possession of it's first gramophone. It was very second hand and only played 78's. It may have been Nanan (again) who took my brother John and I to a nearby shop in Braintree to purchase our first two records. Cliff was No 1 in the charts at the time with Travellin' Light, so we chose this and his previous chart topper Living Doll. Both records are notable mainly for his backing group, originally known as The Drifters on the earlier record, they had to change their name for legal reasons to The Shadows for Travellin' Light.

I cannot remember any other 78's we bought, except for Lonnie Donegan's Battle of New Orleans, also from 1959. It wasn't long before I had my own tiny record player, again second hand, that would play 45's and LP's. That was when my record collection really started.

Tring Park in October

One of the best places in the Chilterns to see autumn colours is Tring Park, as the open parkland gives great views of the surrounding hills. I park in Tring, walk past the Natural History Museum, and take the footbridge over the A41 dual carriageway. You are greeted by the view above. At the top of the hill is the Ridgeway footpath.

It was deserted when I took this photo.

The Secret Scripture, A Most Wanted Man and December

I often search the bestseller lists for human dramas, and The Secret Scripture was there for some time. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Costa Book of the Year, I had to give it the novel by Sebastian Barry a try. I have to say that despite the beautiful writing, the first half of the book was heavy going. Written from the alternating accounts of Roseanne McNulty, who is close to her one hundredth birthday, and her psychiatrist Dr Grene, the book picks up when Roseanne memories go from childhood into when she was a young woman. It then becomes a masterpiece of tragedy, and the revelations of a shocking secret lead to an uplifting conclusion. I am so glad I stuck with it.

Whenever I pick up a new novel by my favourite author, John Le Carre, I am strangely anxious that very soon it will be over and I will have to wait another two or three years for the next one. A Most Wanted Man is right up there with his best work. A great plot, the story is fuelled with superb characters on a collision course to the dramatic conclusion. I now don't have to wait for Le Carre's next book, I am picking up a couple of his earlier work that I may not have read.

I'm not sure why I went for December by Elizabeth H. Winthrop. It is about an eleven year old girl who has not spoken in nine months and the impact on her mother and father. Told from the alternating views of the three, the only good parts are surprisingly from those of young Isobel. Her father and mother are not particularly interesting or sympathetic. Nothing much happens, although at times absorbing, the writing carries you along to the inevitable conclusion.

My second swim class

It's all happening at the pool on a Thursday evening. I thought it was all going to be easy, improving my breaststroke. But then Tamzin suggested I might like to learn backstroke, something that I have never tried. It started with just kicking my legs furiously, trying to get movement from the hip and teaching me to relax my ankles. The first two times were hopeless, including getting cramp in my foot and then my thigh. After being ordered to do some stretching poolside, the next time felt so much better. I was actually getting some propulsion out of the leg movement. So I then had to try with my arms, but was stopped immediately and told it was little finger first. A couple of tries and was advised to wait until next week to try again.

On to crawl, and I now know I really need to slow down the stroke. Actually, it did seem a lot better when I did. It was nearing the end of the session, and the other three in my group were off practising diving at the other end. Eventually I decided it was time I joined them. I cannot remember the last time I tried a dive, so I had to start off with sitting on the edge. This was fine until I lost a contact lens. So that was that. But if I can learn backstroke and diving by Christmas, I shall be delighted.

131 Songs - Numbers 1 and 2

No 1 Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan


There could be no other place to start. It was on one of my first blog postings in May 2007 that I described my introduction to popular music, and American folk music in particular:
"When we lived in London in the 1950's, I can remember my brother and I being put in the care of the guard on the train from St Pancras to Rotherham to visit our grandmother (Nanan) in the summer holidays. She used to meet us at the station and take us to the semi on Wordsworth Drive. Still living at home with her were three uncles, all in their twenties. The youngest was Geoff and he was the one who owned "Rock Island Line" by Lonnie Donegan on a single 78 (rpm). During the day we were allowed to play this and an LP of Bill Haley's "Rock around the Clock". It was the single that I thought was magic, and it was played time and time again. It certainly has influenced my musical taste to this day. When Johnny Walker included requests in his Drivetime show on Radio 2, the four he played of mine started with "Rock Island Line"."

Rock Island Line was first recorded by Hudie Ledbetter (or Leadbelly) in the 1930's. Alan Lomax was collecting folk and blues numbers and on his travels with Hudie, heard this sung by a prison gang. Lonnie's recording is described on my posting in May this year:

"On July 13th 1954, Chris Barber and his jazz band went into the Decca studios in Maida Vale to record their first album. At the end of the session, they persuaded the producer to let them put down two "skiffle" numbers. With Chris on bass (quite a change from his usual trombone), Lonnie Donegan on guitar (He normally played banjo in the band) and Beryl Bryden on washboard, they recorded Rock Island Line and John Henry.
The album called "New Orleans Joys" was fairly popular. During the mid fifties, the band toured extensively, and the "skiffle" group always had a session in the middle. This was hugely popular and became quite notorious. This encouraged the record company to eventually release the two skiffle tracks from the album as a single in November 1955. By the following year, Rock Island Line had sold over 3 million copies and entered the top ten. John Lennon said he listened to it incessantly. He was not the only one. At my grandmothers in Rotherham, I must have worn out the 78. In my view, this was the first ever British guitar based popular/rock record. So July 13th 1954 is when it was born.
Early in 1956, Lonnie insisted he would not leave Chris Barber, and recorded more songs with him, even though later in the year he toured on his own in the USA. When he returned, his popularity was such, it was obvious he could not continue with the jazz band, and embarked on his successful solo career. In 1958, one of my favourite TV shows, "The Six-Five Special" (an early version of "Top of the Pops") was made into a movie, on of the first I saw at the cinema. Lonnie's Jack O'Diamonds was the highlight."

No 2 Only You - The Platters

This was the only other record I can remember listening to at Nanan's. Also released in 1955 ( this confirms my age at the time as ten or eleven), this was the first hit for the American vocal group. Composed by Buck Ram and Ande Rand, it's melody and harmony have stuck with me all these years.

Coming soon - 131 Songs

When I read Nick Hornby's 31 Songs, I thought that everyone should write about the songs that mean something to them. Each might reflect a moment in one's life, or just be a favourite piece of music. I could not limit my list to thirty one, but I am a lot older than Nick. Only one of his songs (from the Velvelettes) appears on my list, and it was only because he reminded me in his book what a great track it is. Four of his other of his favourite artists will also appear (Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne) but with different songs. So far I have one hundred and twenty eight on my list, so I'm sure by the end I will have found another three.

My first swimming lesson

I started swimming 24 years ago and have never had a lesson, until last week. I have improved my technique with the help of books. But now our pool has adult classes on a Thursday evening, I decided to give it a go, even though the course had been going a few weeks. Three teachers alternate between learners, improvers and advanced. I think I was in the final category of one, as my hour's session with Tim seemed to be on a one to one basis.

Apparently my breaststroke only needs some fine tuning. But crawl, which is not my favourite stroke, needs a lot of work. Although I didn't do many lengths during the session, I was absolutely shattered at the end. Something tells me the improvement will be slow and hard. I have booked for the remainder of the lessons which go on until the end of the year. Hopefully, by then, I might have even learnt how to do backstroke.

District 9, Surrogates and Pandorum

District 9 was all I hoped it would be and more. There have been a few comments about the holes in the plot, but who cares when you are watching such an original, clever and fun movie. A cast of newcomers always seems to help this type of film, and adequate as they are, it was all about the direction. The humour is always black, exactly as it should be, and the second half "man in peril" works in a highly novel way. I'm sure we shall hear a lot more of writer/director Neill Blomkamp.

They must have worked really hard on Bruce Willis to make him look forty years younger in Surrogates. All the other surrogates look equally young, good looking but sterile, typified by his wife played by Rosamund Pike. The only one who looks half human is Radha Mitchell who is always worth the admission alone. When the "real" Bruce Willis ventures out on his own, it is fun to watch his grizzled, ageing body being transported into DieHard territory. The movie? I thought it was entertaining and a good high tech thriller.

Reading the reviews of Pandorum, I thought there would be a cast of just two as Dennis Quaid (another actor worth the admission) and Ben Foster wake up on their spacecraft. How wrong I was. Elements from every movie ever made about a disaster in space have been shoehorned into this scifi thriller. Dark and noisy with very little plot, waking up after so may years with just an hour left to save the reactor seems just a little too far fetched, even for me.

Cornwall Holiday

It's September and our eighth successive visit to the National Trust property at Doyden outside Port Quin. And as usual we arrived on Friday to be greeted by beautiful sunshine. Not a bad journey down, 4 hours 45 minutes plus a stop at Taunton Deane for lunch. After unpacking. there was still time for a walk down to Port Quin and back.

Saturday was also sunny, so we went for our usual coast walk to Rumps. But this time we went further to Pentire Point. This was well worth it for the views to Padstow and the Camel Estuary, and particularly to Polzeath as the photo below. This is where we go bodyboarding.

Sunday was sunny again, so we did what we normally do. Alison runs from the house to Rock from where she gets the ferry to Padstow. I drive there and go for a bike ride down the Camel Trail to Wadebridge before meeting back at the car. We then have a wander around the resort and I have fish and chips at the Quayside cafe. We then walk up to the monument to sit on one of the many benches overlooking the harbour and across to Rock.

Monday started a little cloudy, so it was off to Polzeath for bodyboarding. We were at it for an hour and a half which was probably too long. Back to the apartment for a shower and rushed to Wadebridge to catch a late lunch at our favourite cafe called The Granary. My all day breakfast is always superb, as was Alison's bacon and sausage roll. Still cloudy, so we decided to take the car explore and explore the beaches to the south of Padstow. Harlyn Bay was £3.50 to park, so we went on to Constantine Bay. A walk along the almost deserted beach thinking how nice it would be if it had been sunny.

Tuesday was equally cloudy, so for a rest day after the exertions of yesterday, combined with the day we look for new places to see, we plumped for the National Trust property at Trerice. It was very quiet there, to the extent that we were the only ones in the cafe when we stopped for coffee and cake. We didn't go in the house, but the gardens were quite pretty.

The clouds refused to shift so we decided to see what Truro was like. We had forgotten it was a city, and so headed for the cathedral that is prominent from all around. As a relatively new building, it was quite impressive. We found a Costa Coffee in Waterstones, Alison visited Lush and it was time to head back. Calling in at the Porteath Bee Centre for some honey, as it is only a couple of miles from Doyden.

Wednesday was brighter and we took the car to Port Isaac. We had a lovely morning wandering around, especially a climb up the hill for the views.

The tide was out when we arrived so we were able to walk along the path to the sea wall (see above) where we climbed a ladder and walked along the top. We even had a baguette and coffee sitting on a bench just above the slipway. We needed to be back at the apartment in reasonable time to get out to dinner at Watergate bay, but we still had time to stop in Polzeath for a walk along the beach. We could have gone bodyboarding again, but we probably stayed too long the first time. We had a couple of hours to have a rest before we went out, but Alison decided on a run while I finished the latest John Le Carre novel.

We had booked a table at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant at Watergate Bay for 6.45pm. It was a set tasting menu, something that was new to us. We were the first diners to arrive, so we actually had a choice of tables next to the full height windows overlooking the bay. It was the most perfect view, particularly as it was a sunny evening and we able to watch a glorious sunset.

The menu looked fabulous and the food was excellent. After the bread and two tasters, there were two choices of the Insalata and Primi courses. These were so good, we had each selected a different choice so that was four that we each could try. We both had sea bass for the main course and a heavenly chocolate tart for desert. Even the coffee and Amedie chocolates were perfect. Some reviews had said that people left hungry, that was definitely not the case for us. It was a memorable experience, one we hope to repeat sometime.

Thursday. We always do the same thing on the last day. Park in Rock, a walk down the beach of Daymer Bay, the ferry to Padstow, a walk up to the church through the pretty lanes, then back up the other side of Padstow and along the coast path, before returning for some shopping. Goan curry paste from Rick's, a jute bag from seasalt, some cards from Whistlefish and some pasties to take home. An energetic conclusion to a fairly action packed holiday. Glad to get home for a rest.

The Final Destination 3D, The Hurt Locker and Dorian Gray

Having seen the three previous movies, the prospect of the new Final Destination being in 3D did have a certain appeal. However, I find the effects created just to use this formulae as being just that. Something that hurtles towards you out of the screen somehow loses it's impact. Where it does succeed is surprising. Crowd scenes at the racetrack come to life as do disasters on a building site and an escalator in a shopping mall. The story is the same as ever, young people escaping death due to a premonition, only to have death on their tail. A good idea that has probably now run it's course.

The Hurt Locker is almost a great movie. The one problem that becomes evident from the start (38 days left for the tour of duty) is that this film has no plot. It is just a series of events in the life of an elite team of bomb disposal experts in Iraq. Having said that, it is a quite brilliant nerve jangling experience. Kathryn Bigelow has always been one of my favourite directors. Here she brings us up close and personal with these particular heroes. as they tackle IED's or improvised explosive devices. Jeremy Renner should come close to an Oscar nomination for his role as the almost renegade Staff Sergeant who disarms the bombs. Congratulated on one occasion by a senior officer, he finally reveals just how many devices he has attended. Like the film, awesome.

Oliver Parker likes Oscar Wilde. His third attempt, after An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Ernest, is a much darker piece. Or rather it should have been. There seems to be a superficial gloss added, perhaps for the female audience? Ben Barnes is miscast in the title role. Handsome though he may be on the surface, he fails to convey the inner depravity that goes with this territory. In fact, the acting is decidedly patchy. Even the wonderful Rebecca Hall seems to go through the motions. Colin Firth is an exception as Gray's corrupter Henry Wotton. The script was good, as were the sets, costumes and photography so plenty to enjoy. Just a shame it could have been even better.

How I Remember The Beatles

A review in the Culture section of the Sunday Times about the release of their remastered albums reads "Want to know what it was like to have a new record by The Beatles". Well I was fortunate to know, being nearly eighteen when Love Me Do was released as their first EMI single in October 1962. My first memory at that time is of my brother John predicting that this band would be big. I think it was because he played a little harmonica, so he felt some connection to its prominent role on this record.

When the first Beatles album, Please Please Me, was released in March 1963, it was played non stop four months later at my school's outdoor leaving party. But the first LP that I bought was the next release, With The Beatles. That summer I had left home to work as a trainee for George Wimpey in Hammersmith, so my purchase was from a record shop on King Street in November 1963. I still have the LP, although it is pretty much in a sorry state. I played it time and time again every evening when I returned to my digs. It was played at parties and had beer and punch spilt on it on numerous occasions. Who cares when you are nineteen.

I never saw The Beatles live. There was absolutely no point when it was impossible to hear the music for the screams. But the next best thing came with the release of their first movie. Three of my top ten favourite Beatles songs are from the soundtrack of A Hard Days Night, and five from the album. I went to the old London Pavilion the first week after it's premier there in July 1964. It was the closest thing to a concert. The soundtrack had not been released, so it was quite something to hear the new songs performed on a big screen, especially as they reprised these two at the end. I Should Have Known Better stuck in my memory for ever, being the second song in the film when they are on the train from Liverpool (although the station is Marylebone as the photograph below). If I Fell is just as good, especially the harmonies and the change of key. And I Love Her is my other favourite from the soundtrack, whilst two songs on the album are even better: Things We Said Today and You Can't Do That.

The writer of A Hard Days Night was Alun Owen who was nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay. He and his family lived a couple of doors down from where we lived on Napier Road in West London in the mid 1950's, and he and his wife were good friends of Mum and Dad. When I left our home in Braintree in 1963 to work in London, they asked me to call in to see Alun and Mary his wife who were then living in Bayswater. If I had known a year later that he had written the screenplay, I might have been able to engineer an invite to the studio.

By the end of 1964 I had saved enough to buy a Grundig tape recorder, so there I was with the 1960's equivalent of illegal downloads, taping Beatles for Sale, Help and Rubber Soul. But it wasn't until the last of these that In My Life and Norwegian Wood captured my imagination in the same way. That must have been why I bought Revolver. It was OK, but for me it did not have the same impact as their earlier recordings, except for Got to Get You into My Life. So Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band went onto tape. I should have bought the LP, I played it so much, particularly A Day in the Life.

I cannot have been the only one who waited with growing excitement for the premier of Magical Mystery Tour on television in December 1967. I have to admit now, but never at the time, that it was a bit of a let down. The next summer I was married and missed out on The Beatles, Yellow Submarine and Abbey Road. In retrospect, I not sure if I really missed out. Nothing stands out like the old stuff, so it is not until the last on their last album Let It Be that Paul takes them back to their roots with Get Back. At least he had not forgotten how to rock.

PS There is one other song that has to be added to my top ten and that is One After 909. It was recorded on 5th March 1963 but it had to wait until 1995 to be heard on Anthology 1. The Beatles also made a later recording on the roof of the Apple HQ at 3 Savile Row in 1969, and it appears on the Let It Be album. John wrote it when he was about seventeen with some help from Paul. What else is there to say.

A Perfect Getaway, The Time Traveller's Wife and Ingloriuos Basterds

Apart from the gorgeous Hawaiian scenery, the first hour of A Perfect Getaway is fairly pedestrian. OK, it has to introduce the characters and set up the twist at the end, but we have to wait until the final third for tension to ramp up. And the last half hour is action packed, but was it worth the wait? Just about.

Successful novels are more than ever reaching the big screen. I just loved The Time Traveller's Wife when it came out in paperback, so I was looking forward to seeing how it was adapted into a movie. I wasn't disappointed. The sensitive treatment completely reflected the feel of the book. Rachel McAdams was terrific in the central role, Eric Bana not quite as good. Some people who don't know the book may find it quite dull. I found it a warm reprise of a well loved story. Next up is The Lovely Bones.

I was rudely awoken from the warm glow of the previous film when I went to see Quentin Tarrantino's Inglorious Basterds. It could not be more different. To begin with, as expected, it is absolutely packed with dialogue. The screenplay must be one of the longest ever, with the film running over two and half hours. Tarrantino must have worked for a long long time to write it all down. It is really a western set in World War Two France. There are so many obvious references to old cowboy movies, and movies in general. For the opening shots, just change horses to motorbikes. Christophe Walz takes the acting plaudits with the central role as the Nazi "detective". Brad Pitt seems to be acting in a different film altogether. Some of the minor roles are just fantastic. Melanie Laurent is brilliant, and Michael Fassbender and Mike Myers not far behind. The soundtrack was a disappointment, but David Bowie's superb Cat People (Putting Out Fire) playing over Melanie Laurant making herself ready is both poignant and ironic, and Tarrantino's best music sequence since the Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest. Yes, this is his best film since Pulp Fiction. I would definitely see it again if there were not so may other autumn releases I want to see.

Bus tour of the Olympic Park

This must be the best free tour in the world. The bus tour of the construction site for the 2012 London Olympics is not widely advertised. Not even the London 2012 website gives you a clue. The tour runs from Stratford Regional Station, so on Saturday I started off early to drive through Walthamstow and Leyton ( areas of London that are not familiar) and was parked in the shopping centre opposite the station before nine. I had booked the tour that starts at 10am, so had time for a coffee and muffin at Starbucks.

Our tour guide met us at the bus stop, and inspected our ID as we boarded the single decker bus. At the entrance to the site, security came on board to inspect our bags, over in a flash. Our guide told us we could take photos, although all these are through the window of the bus. The first building inside the entrance is the Media Centre. Apparently the BBC and NBC will be in the building a year before the games commence to fit out studios and plan their production.

The Velodrome was next. It is still in the early days of construction. 12,000 seats during the games with half of those temporary.

The frame of the Olympic Village is almost complete. The fact that it is situated right next to the Park will be great for the athletes.

The most iconic building on the park is the Aquatic Centre. Zaha Hadid is the architect, but I think it is the structural engineer who deserves the most praise for making the design work. The 160m long and 90m wide roof has 2800 tonnes of steel in it's frame which is then supported on concrete plinths at each end with no intermediate columns. This will be the first to be of Olympic standard in the UK, requiring the 50m competition pool to be supported by a separate 50m training pool. Seating for 17,500 during the games. There is a better photo of the roof from the otherside on the ODA webcam.

The stadium is visible from almost everywhere in the park. With 25,000 permanent and another 55,000 temporary seats, there is a large demountable element. The fabric that eventually wraps around the stadium will, I believe, be cut up after the games and sold as souvenirs.

One interesting fact from our superb tour guide is that the north end of the park will have a large open area of grass that will have a big screen. You will be able to buy a ticket for entry just to the park and watch the events with a picnic. What a good idea.

Songs on repeat

The last few Cd's I played in the car produced three particular tracks that I repeated time and time again. The first was Wish You Were Here by Fleetwood Mac. The last track on Mirage, one of their less popular albums, this song was written by Christine McVie (music) and Colin Allen (lyrics). A piano intro leads to Christine's haunting vocal backed by John's bass and Mick's drums which dominate throughout. Lindsey's guitar echoes occasionally in the background. The piano comes back as the vocal fades and the pizzicato guitar takes the lead for the exit instrumental. Brilliant.

The Time Comes composed and sung by Nina Gordon on the album Bleeding Heart Graffiti just shows what can be done with a piano accompaniment to a wonderful song and voice. I might be alone in thinking this is just the most outstanding piece of music.

I have mixed feelings about Jewel. Her songs are uneven and unpredictable. And then comes along Life Uncommon. More anthemic than the other tracks on the album Spirit, I just played it again and again.

I searched and searched for the tape I made of Roxette Live at Wembley Arena, recorded from a Radio One concert, probably in 1993. Their Tourism album that arrived a couple of weeks ago did not have as much live stuff as I had hoped. I was glad I found it. The intro to It Must Have Been Love was unmissable. But it did take longer to wind back and repeat.