A Right Carry On 'Scarred for life, not only mentally...' + Trains, and Boats, and A holiday on the Isle of Arran

 'Scarred for life, not only mentally...'

Hello Everyone, 

It's not been an easy week, and activities spilled over into the weekend, but I am finally here with an update of last week's events.

It all started a week last Saturday with our journey to Oxenhope where we met up with family and boarded the Worth Valley Railway steam train for and celebratory 50th Wedding extravaganza. David's sister, Nan and her husband, Lawrence were the hosts of a brilliant party aboard the train as it travelled up the valley and back. Here are a few photos:

And at the end of a wonderful afternoon of booze and buffet we tumbled out of the train and began our holiday. First stop Settle, North Yorkshire, where we met up with my second cousin, Carol, in the Golden Lion. We had a lovely meal and later stayed in the holiday flat, which daughter, Jo had rented for the week. (Her holiday). Next morning David and I were away early on our journey to the Isle of Arran, Scotland. We caught the ferry at Ardrossan and were united with our friends, Bob, Barbara and Lorraine, who had travelled up the day before (while we were whooping it up on the train). Our holiday house was the most beautiful, modern, 4 bedroom raised bungalow, with views across Whiting Bay. So, here is a taste of our hols in pics:

Entering the Jaws of the Ferry.

On Deck Leaving Ardrossan

And we are there, Brodick.

Views of Holy Isle

The House at Kildonen

Climbing the Mountain on Holy Isle, Mullock Mor

Basking Seals

And by our last day, the bottle of gin was almost empty

The Ferry Home

Pie and Chips, yummy!

And we were back on the mainland and on our way home. We arrived back in Birdwell at about 8.30 pm after a 270 mile drive down almost empty roads. It was a fantastic week of great food, drink, entertainment and exercise. We had travelled around the Isle of Arran, we had taken a boat to Holy Isle and climbed a mountain, we had visited a distillery, a burial mound with huge standing stones, art workshops, and numerous small craft workshops. And, yes, we did bring home a few souvenirs, some were bought and some were picked up as we beach-combed along the shore. I can't wait to return to Scotland for another such holiday - maybe next year, who knows?

The very next day, Saturday 11th September, was the opening night of 'That's the Spirit' at the Academy Theatre in Birdwell, where we spent the whole afternoon in rehearsals. The show went on to an almost full capacity audience on both nights, and I can't say just how fulfilling the whole experience was. What a great team of people to perform with, what brilliant writers, what a great audience. We had a little party when it was over, in the bar, with a great buffet brought by Bev, one of the cast. And I am going to single out Jade, our prompt, who, I think, had the hardest job of the night, sitting in the wings with the script and a little torch ready to keep everyone on track. Luckily she didn't have to shout at us, but she still had to follow every word. Well done, Jade! And well done, David for swinging on the curtain rope backstage.

So, here are a few pics:

Script writer, Lee Pollard

Script writer (and set erector), Paul Athorne.

,

'Scarred for life, not only mentally...'

Paul, dreaming up his next script

Now we are all fired up waiting for the next play. Over to you, Lee and Paul. Meanwhile we have news of 'That's the Spirit' being performed at Penistone next March as part of their Art Festival.

The Shedcast was a bit of a sorry affair this week, just a short report as we drove down from Scotland. But at least we tried. So here it is:

And that is us for another week. The week ahead looks a little quieter, though I have words to write, paintings to paint and music to practice. On second thoughts it might not be such a quiet week.

I'll report back next weekend, all being well.

Until then, keep well, and keep smiling.

All our love, Jane and David xx