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20/09/09 10:03 Filed in: livejournal

Life and Times in Westgate, Louth
Worried about Andy

Jul. 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Time to get back on the blog to take my mind off whether Andy Murray will beat the other Andy!

Yesterday I had to go over to Horncastle and took the main road over the Wolds. It was a perfect, hot English summer's day and amazing there was so very little on the road.

The Wolds looked absolutely fabulous with the corn ripening and great swathes of swaying golden barley to left and right with fields red with poppies a wonderful contrast.

The drive down the hill from Cadwell to Scamblesby is always a joy, it still looks almost as it must have done centuries ago. Then the view from the road to Lincoln at the other side of the Scamblesby and Bain Valley looking over to Lincoln Cathedral was equally as beautiful. What a joy to be alive and able to enjoy them with the breeze coming in through the car window and a good piece of journalism on Radio 4 to add to the joy.

Then from Horncastle to Hagworthingham and joy oh joy the Wolds looked even more stupendous. I cannot understand why SnipeDales is well signed but nothing to direct the visitor to the site of the Civil War Battle of Winceby. We miss so many tourism tricks in this county.

This is the heart of Tennyson Country - it is the 200th anniversary right now but you see or hear little of it, another crying shame - and it really is quite sensational. Why do the national papers miss us out all the time? Lincolnshire is so quiet, so calm, so gentle, it really is a gem. If this were France they would be shouting the odds from every roof top.

For a lunchtime drink at the Massingberd Arms at South Ormsby. Their garden may need a make over but it was full of birdsong and buzzing bees - and they serve Batemans local beers. What heaven! Nice sandwiches and no-one else to spoil the peace.

Lincolnshire really is Britain's best kept secret!

London

Jun. 13th, 2009 at 6:01 PM

To London this week to attend a marvellous memorial event to celebrate the life of Sir Michael Levey.

He was the Director of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square at the time of Prince Charles' carbuncle outburst. He was remembered as a true gentleman, a world authority on so much in the art world - he catalogued the Queen's Collection at Buckingham Palace ..he was very knowledgeable about Canaletto ... and he wrote extensively and very well about all sorts of things far above the likes of me.

I loved the story from Colin who runs the educational side of things at the Gallery - he was appointed by Sir Michael - who recalled that when interviewed on some frightfully erudite programme on the radio, he was asked what his personal field was. The interviewer was cut to size by the reply. "I don't have a field, I am not a donkey," he was rebuked with one of Sir Michael's very famous roll of his eyes.

...to be continued

Jun. 5th, 2009

7:48 PM

Busy again today. Lawns to cut at 7 and 9 after a busy morning at a computer course. Business Links puts on some superb courses for we rookies. Today it was all about how to find a web designer and agency, what to ask for, how much it might cost and so on. To a person all the attendees said if only they had known all this last year when they were setting up!. Weather was rather nice, particularly in a warm car...but lots of rain is forecast for the weekend. This is rotten for my new guests...I end up feeling guilty for our Lincolnshire weather at times. Still fresh flowers and a nice cake will be there waiting for them to cheer them up...this time a nice lemon madeira type yummy version.
No change with our county councillors this time round. But there were shocks and people I know of all political hues have suffered some big shocks, nice shocks but some bad ones as well. The Independents made big strides which was heartening, they are a nice bunch who are very well meaning....which is heartening in this day and age.

The Walking Festival hits the Lincolnshire Coast

Jun. 4th, 2009 at 9:18 PM

Last year we walked along the dunes to Saltfleet from Rimac and found a Natterjack Toad! This year, in brilliant sunshine but a chilly wind off the sea, we walked out towards the sea...and boy has it all changed.
This year John from Natural England was our guide and he told us that the Rimac National Nature Reserve attracts half a million visitors every year. Incredible, I did not know so many people were able to find it. But it really is worth a visit, it is simply brilliant, especially when your guide knows all there is to know about birds, flowers, beetles, sand, bomb, and so on. No wonder he was getting the MBE later in the week. And if ever was there a man who deserved his honour, John is this man. More of him later....
When I was a child, and that is going back a few years now, we used to slide on leather cushions down the most beautiful sandy sandhill. That is now covered in grass - I think it may be called Signal Hill now but I could be wrong. Anyway no worries. We walked down on to the beach. The sand has now gone and it is grassland of sorts with tussocks and clumps of sea lavender and sea pinks. There is now another line of dunes springing up about a quarter of a mile away from where my childhood dunes were - what a shock. This is an area of long shore drift, our coast is building up whilst Suffolk is shrinking as is Yorkshire.
We saw at least a dozen painted lady butterflies, they are so rare, and we watched the skylarks rising on thermals and singing their hearts out. We explored anthills which are really really warm and when you scratch the sane out come the little devils. Most amazing about this new set of dunes is the presence of Marsh Orchids right out there. Wow, who would have thought???
Back through high grass into the original dunes of childhood years and explored the ponds which were home to dragonflies in turquoise, hairy bodies, different wing configurations and birds such as buntings which were swaying on reeds and singing their hearts out. There were purple orchids, ladies bedstraw, rattle and lots, lots more rare plants.
Three hours just flew by and what a treat...all free too! The Trust and the Nature people do pond dipping and other such treats, so do go there if you can, with or without grandchildren. It is so wonderful to learn so much from such a knowledgeable man who is so humble. Amazingly he opted to be presented with his MBE by Ted Smith at Horncastle rather than going up to London to visit the Queen. We told him we would have taken him too....I planted him with a big kiss to say thank you for such a lovely time and well done on the honour....his reply was lovely. "I thinking I should be aiming for an OBE next......" Everyone laughed.
Mark Rimac down for a visit. At present the orchids and the birds are great but it is fascinating whatever time of year you vist...and what other attraction in Lincolnshire has half a million visitors who are not eating chips, downing bottles of beer and coming away richer than when they arrived?

Gassy still

Jun. 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 PM

Still having problems with British Gas. Been trying to change my supplier for a year or more and still not managed to get it done! Please, someone put me out of my misery and tell me how it is done...

Still other good things to relieve the gloom. The Lincolnshire Wolds Walking Festival was superb this year. I managed four of the walks over the fortnight and very good they were too.

The first was at Brackenborough, where there is a deserted village. We walked round the farm first and were followed by the cows. Then round the fields watching their black Labrador chase a hare through a cereal field. The last bit was the medieval deserted village, which was fascinating. It is quite easy to see where the streets were and the tofts (the higher bits of land), where the strip cultivation was carried out. Little is know why these settlements disappeared. Interestingly, there was no church at Brackenborough (obviously God was displeased so closed the village down) which is quite unusual in a county which was so rich thanks to the sheep trade.

Second walk was at Belchford where we were up hill and down dale. We saw where the Home Guard from Louth, Horncastle and Alford practiced in preparation for an invasion and where there was a searchlight at the top of the hill to guide the Lancaster bombers back from their raids. The walk also took in a prehistoric barrow where burials were held. There was a ramp on the north side and interesting that it still is there after all these years. We wondered if perhaps the locals avoided such sites out of superstition.

The third walk was later the same day over the Wolds. Tennyson's Brook was read as we rested at a stream, which was delightful. We visited the village of Driby where most amazing man turned up out of the blue. He was dressed rather agriculturally and sported a huge bushy beard. He turned out to be Edwin, a retired farmworker. He told us the tale of an unwanted guest in a pinstripe suit who had bothered someone at the big house. It turned out that this was a ghost....but it was not immediately apparent. It was a walk in bright sunlight and really was lovely....Again we were accompanied by inquisitive cows who stop just short of you, which is comforting!! We went to Brinkhill, where I remember some years ago they filmed the television programme Nanny. Singer Barbara Dickson has a very pretty house in the village too.

More news of the fourth walk in the next blog which will follow tomorrow...probably the very best walk of the lot!

Wet Days and British Gas

Jul. 10th, 2008 at 10:03 AM

As if it were not bad enough that torrential rain was forecast - but took until tea time to arrive - I continue to get nowhere with British Gas.

Blog readers should know I have been trying to stop BG supplying gas to Number Nine for about two years now. Their billing is all over the place and this makes the practicality of changing horrendous.

I have a huge file with names, times, dates and readings all written down. I have had promises to phone back to sort matters out. But does the phone ever ring .... well it did as a matter of fact yesterday.

A nice helpful man called Richard listened, consulted his computer and said the manager would ring me back. But as I was going to the grand re-opening of the Louth Co-op I asked that it should be at 9am instead. Has the phone rung...what, dear readers, do you think?

Now I have shares in this shower, which makes matters even more frustrating. I figure that if I put £50 on my dining table and a BG person came in and took the money off my table and made off with it then they would very rapidly be in court. But not sorting out my bill and overcharging seems par for the course. Mr Brown would do well to sort this sort of annoyance out rather than lecturing and hectoring us on eco towns, not wasting food (like we can afford to) and not acting on tax on petrol which is a killer for we country folk!

And to make matters worse, it costs a fortune to phone BG. Ho hum, more news tomorrow!

But there is something positive to note....the sun is shining warmly today!

Rainy Sunday - July 6 2008

Jul. 6th, 2008 at 4:37 PM

Oh what a lovely summer.....when the sun comes out it's hot but we all we have rain, wind and more rain. Trouble is when it's warm and wet it just makes the grass and the weeds grow rather too quickly for comfort.

A family from the south of France are at Number Nine this week. Poor them. When they flew out of Bordeaux yesterday the temperature was 30C, here in Louth we were in the mid teens! But say, you can have too much heat and too much sun (can you?)

Not all is bad with the world though. Lewis Hamilton has just won the British Grand Prix and we managed to have a junior Wimbledon champion with Laura Robson. Things go in threes, so perhaps there is more to come this weekend!

Still not much sign of the fishes in the pond at Number Nine. Last year there were lots but this year there are more amphibians. (Bit reticent to put frogs, but they are fledgling anura make no mistake. Apparently anura means tail less in Greek and interestingly the Old English was frogga.) I thought earlier in the year the visiting two drakes and their flirty duck companion had eaten all the spawn but obviously I was mistaken.

I am now hoping someone can come up with some help for why the fish might have disappeared. There is a laurel overhanging the pond and weed does grow in it but it's cleared regularly. So mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the fish. Whodunnit experts please come forward with suggestions.

By chance I had a nice addition to the flower border on Friday. A dear old man on Newmarket, a Mr Mountain, was cutting back some Valerian in his little garden and I cheekily asked if I could have some. He kindly dug up a root and then it was wrapped in a Jim Luck carrier and off I cycled with it attached to the handlebars (children, do not attempt to copy please).

Back home I was able, with a bit of skill or perhaps that should read determination, to split the root first into two and then into two again. So I now have four possible future plants to nurture .. so perhaps the rain is welcome after all!

Sunday June 29

Jun. 29th, 2008 at 1:50 PM

The English summer is wonderful...the day starts off with bright warm sunshine encouraging use of the bike instead of the car (top marks for green credentials). But once out on the road down comes the rain. Not just rain but torrential rain. Ho hum!

Bikers are staying at Number Nine and they ventured off on their Hondas to explore our lovely countryside. They could not believe how good our roads are compared with Buckinghamshire (try riding a cycle and the holes are so much more apparent!) and how empty they are too, even at weekends. They stopped at Willingham Woods on the way here and found lots of other bikers - all really nice people - and were most impressed. It is up to Cadwell tomorrow for a Bike Day as a 40th birthday present. So imagine their excitement when they found out that Louth is home to Honda Racing's British Superbike Team. They are now hoping there will be an open day so they can tour the team's home. It really is an impressive set up there, so clean you could eat your dinner off the floors! More news if I can find out when that might be!

The tame blackbird, a youngster by the look of things, is back. She has been nicknamed Bridget and like the young lady of diary fame is frightfully forward. Up until today that meant perching on a chair about a foot away and bravely begging for food. But today Bridget was even more determined....and invited herself into the house. We countryfolk associate birds in the house with a death in the family, and yes, whilst I know that is folklore it is a bit off-putting. Happily I met someone in town who reassured me that it did not apply to blackbirds just ravens but I am not sure I go with that! Feathers and fluttering ensued but Bridget is now back outside and has been warned to moderate her behaviour!!!!

Green recycling tomorrow, so now its out into the damp garden to fill up the green bin so we can keep our quotas up. I don't like to compost the weeds, they go to the council who know just what to do with weeds....enough, enough!

Untitled

Jun. 27th, 2008 at 7:07 PM

view this morning in the sun looking over Westgate

Friday June 27

Jun. 27th, 2008 at 5:34 PM

Well here goes with the newest addition to NumberNine ... a blog!

The Inspector has called today. No, not trouble with the Police, it was the tourism lady. She viewed the cottage from top to bottom, inside the cupboards and the wardrobes, kitchen drawers and dishwasher and pronounced the property a really beautiful, sympathetically converted, high three.

Celebrated with a picnic lunch in the garden ... with an unexpected guest. There have been a lot of baby blackbirds this year and one youngster insisted on joining in. She was insistent she should be given food, gobbled it up and returned to the table when she had eaten up. Amazingly she had no fears at all and seemed to rather enjoy herself.

Sadly this was marred with a sudden downpour, made all the worse 'cos I had not put the mower away! The weather this summer is a little unpredictable, the weeds however seem not to worry about such details. The bunny has yet to be seen at NumberNine, perhaps because he is still eating the greenery next door, having polished off all my beans and attempting the spinach and kale too. Cheeky animal has also had a bit of a go at the leeks.

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