Turville Valley Walk

I had kept the cutting from the Sunday Times of the 3rd of February as it described a walk in the western Chiltern Hills. Friday was sunny and cool, just right to explore this part of Buckinghamshire.

I had never been to Turville which was my starting point. Famous as the village where The Vicar of Dibley was filmed, it certainly is very pretty. The hillsides surrounding the valley were beautiful in their autumn colours.

The first half of the walk had the best views as it followed the ridge in and out of woods above the valley. There seemed to be red kites in the sky whenever I came out into the open, some came extremely close.

Once I reached Northend, the last forty five minutes was not so interesting as the route went through woodland parallel to the road back to Turville. The road was Holloway Lane, but was this the Holland Lane described by Ian McEwan in his book On Chesil Beach as "a sunken chalk track overhung with crumbling mossy banks that ran downhill to Turville". It must have been.

October Snow

It is amazing how the weather can change. Just over two weeks ago, it was a warm 19C. I n fact it was too warm for Alison's running the Ridgeway 10 at Tring. And I walked up Coombe Hill in warm sunshine.

It all changed this week. Temperature plummeted with frost overnight and a maximum of 7C in the day. And last night the snow arrived. Here it was little more than a light covering, but other places nearby had a lot more. Football that had started in the evening at Wycombe, Luton and Northampton all had to be abandoned. The South of England had it's first snow in October since 1934.

At lunchtime, Alison and I went for a walk in Wendover Woods. There had been at least two inches of snow and it made for a great sight, although it was starting to melt.

Brideshead Revisited, Taken and Eagle Eye

Just like when I went to see The Duchess, I was in two minds whether I wanted to see a period drama like Brideshead Revisited. But once again I was glad I did. Yes, the location shots were great, but it was the writing and acting that held the piece together. Emma Thomson had gained all the plaudits from the critics, but I thought the three younger members of the cast were even better, particularly Ben Wishaw as Sebastian Flyte. A man trying desperately to be happy and failing. That makes the movie a better modern version of the TV series.

Taken starts slowly, but you know whats coming. It was all pretty familiar and totally contrived, but you just sit back and enjoy the ride. It is Luc Besson back to basics, and his director Pierre Morel packs a punch. So does Liam Neeson, although he takes a bit of getting used to as the killing machine as much out for revenge as on a rescue mission. Powerful stuff.

Although Eagle Eye had been panned by the critics, I thought the trailer was good enough to give it a go. OK, it was a pretty trashy story and the writing was no better. But as a high tech action movie it worked fine on the big screen. You just have to leave at home that part of your brain designated intelligence.

The Barber of Seville and Sleeping Beauty

We have only been to see an opera once or twice, but I did want to see how the London Coliseum looked after it's major refurbishment in 2004. So I booked to see English National Opera in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The theatre looked fantastic. The inside of the huge auditorium is highly ornamental and looks brand new. The stage is one of the largest in the world, so is great for big casts, and this production made the most of it. I really enjoyed the whole performance.

This was the fourth consecutive year that we have been to Oxford to see English National Ballet. After Alice in Wonderland and The Ice Queen, this year it was Sleeping Beauty. We always book early, so we are only a few rows from the front. This means that we are very close to the orchestra, which Alison particularly enjoys. The music is superb from the 60 musicians, and the dancing was very good. Alison thought the men were quite weak, but the performances of the princess and the lilac fairy were outstanding.

Walking Tour of Hampstead

Friday was the perfect day to start out on my exploration of Hampstead Village and Parliament Hill. These were high on my list of places to visit when I had retired. The weather was sunny and cool with clear blue skies, just right for my walk. I had plotted a route from "A Hampstead Village Walk" I found at www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkhampvillage.htm and used this as the basis of my tour.
But I wanted to start with Parliament Hill, so I tried the car park on East Heath Road. But as this was full, it meant trying to find somewhere else. I turned down Well Walk and there was meter parking with plenty of spaces. In fact, this turned out to be quite central and I left the car there all day.
I started off towards Hampstead Heath, past the station and up the road named Parliament Hill. At the top, the path in the picture leads up the Heath.

At the top, the skyline of London come suddenly into view. This is the photo showing Canary Wharf, the sight to the City with St Paul's is even better.

I made my way back across the Heath and took the path between Hampstead Ponds.

Back to where I left the car, I started off down Well Walk and , past the Wells Tavern, Burgh House and Campden Baths. At the High Street, a stop for a coffee and cheesecake in Starbucks was a welcome rest. The other side of Hampstead was just as impressive. These are the houses on Church Row.

Most of the streets are very quiet, the hilly squares are very pretty. Holly Walk, Mount Vernon, Holly Hill, Holly Mount, Holly Bush Hill, Admirals Walk and Windmill Hill took me up the Heath once more, before making my way back to Well Walk. It was still early afternoon, so I headed down East Heath Road, and made my way to Keats House. Back up Downshire Hill and Willow Road, it was time to make for the National Trust owned Fenton House which opened at 2pm. This was my last port of call, and well worth the visit.

The views from the second floor are almost as good as those from Parliament Hill. I thought I would enjoy a walking tour of Hampstead, but this surpassed my expectations. I was lucky with the weather, but that is one of the joys of retirement. You can pick the right day.

Family Historian 3.1.2

At last, I have purchased some family tree software. Family Historian 3.1.2 is the best british made programme on the market, and was used for the BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?". I only installed it yesterday, and already have entered basic data for 32 ancestors and relatives, starting with Samuel Roberts born 1649. I also bought the manual, which is great for getting started.

So far, I have entered five generations. The chart is colour coded, but even in a black and white print, I am very pleased with the result so far. This is the ancestry diagram for Sidney Roberts born 1805.

The most interesting feature so far has been finding the parents of Sidney's mother, Mary Ann Morton. The extracts I took from "Hunters' Pedigrees" (of old Yorkshire families), when I visited Sheffield Archives in 2002, helped to confirm that her father Richard Morton was a silversmith, probably the one described in Edward Laws "Sheffield Silversmiths". This will be worth researching in time.

The Duchess, Tropic Thunder and Death Race

I had low expectations when I went to see The Duchess. One review said it was even less exciting than Marie Antoinette which was one of the most boring films I have ever seen. So I was pleasantly surprised by the charm of the photography, sets, costumes and particularly Keira Knightly. It is not a happy story, so to make it as watchable as it was says much for the director, writer and cast.

It is hard to describe Tropic Thunder. It's like a one trick pony as a pastiche on Hollywood. So it does become a little tiresome after a while. If it had been cut by half an hour, that may have helped. It was watchable in a mesmeric sort of way. Maybe without Robert Downey Jr it would have been less so. This is why I go to the cinema. On a small screen it would not have had the same impact.

Death Race is in the same category. English director Paul W.S. Anderson specialises in action pics ever since the success of Event Horizon and his latest film is all about action. Fortunately, the races themselves are only just not too long. A lot of the money went on the set of the island prison, and it paid off. The photography was splendid. I guess the film was panned by a lot of the critics because it had little story and pretty basic dialogue. But what you get is what you see.