What We Did in London - Shopping, National Portrait Gallery, and Much More...

Yesterday, David and I went to London to pick up, and drink the bottle of Champagne which I won by leaving my business card in a prize draw when we were last there, on my birthday. We were very excited about the whole thing, I can't remember the last time I actually won anything. So, even though the weather was typically British, and we had to weave our way through the throng of London visitors with our umbrella, we had a great day.

Before we set off we decided to make good use of our day out, so there was a bit of shopping involved, a little culture injection, and a little self promotion. Here is a video of our day, warts and all, as they say. And for those of you who are interested in another video I made in connection with the work I do with Empower Network (in particular the young man from Germany who I interviewed) please click the link to this video:
Opening of 'Supreme' urban clothing store, in London. 

Now, follow me through the streets of London and find out how we spent the day. And tomorrow I will post the video of what happened when we got to Champagne Charlies to claim our bottle of champagne. Bye for now, love, Jane x

Famous People of Beckenham

David and I popped into the little Antique Fair today, which is held at the Public Hall in Beckenham. We were a little late, and the stall holders were packing up their pots and plates as we walked in. Undeterred, we had a quick look around at what was still on display, and got into conversation with a very nice lady who was selling antique jewelery. We explained that we were new to the area, but the lady told us that she had been coming to the Antique Fair in Beckenham for 40 years. She went on to tell us some of the history of the Public Hall, and, if it hadn't been near to closing time, I dare say we could have gone on talking for much longer. "There are lots of famous people who have come from Beckenham, you know," she went on to say.

So, when I got home I did a bit of investigation, and sure enough there are lots of famous people from Beckenham. I found this information on the Welcome to Beckenham website. Do you remember Noddy and Big Ears? I do!

Enid Blyton The author of more than 700 books for children from born in 1897 and grew up in and around Beckenham in fact moving many times, living in a number of houses in Clock House Road. When she was 14, Enid Blyton after winning a poetry competition began to submit articles, stories and poems to various magazines. Her first book, a poetry book for children was called Child Whispers, was published in 1922. Her major series of books included Noddy, Brer Rabbit, The Famous Five, The Secret Series, Malory Towers, St Clare's, The Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair. Enid Blyton dead in 1968 the most prolific childrens author of all time. Her books have been translated in to over 40 languages and have sold over 400 million copies throughout the world. David Bowie The singer/songwriter, real name David Jones, grew up in Beckenham and played some of his first gigs at The Rat and Parrot (formerly The Three Tuns) pub. Part of the Beckenham Arts Lab he had repeat performances and put on a free festival at the Croydon Road Recreation Ground. David Bowie move on from Beckenham and his career moved quickly through the 1970's with his Ziggy Stardust creations, his worldwide hit of "Space Oddity" sent him to superstardum. His many reinventions helped him to become the international superstar that he is today. Now living in America. WG Grace William Gilbert Grace, known to his family as Gilbert, was born in 1848. An outstanding cricketer of his day, and many years following. Even as the years went on, his energy for the game was unabashed. He was also a founder of the Bowls Association. In 1913 at Crystal Palace is captained England against Scotland in the first international bowls matches. W.G. Grace died in 1915 and is buried in Elmers End Cemetery. Thomas Crapper Thomas Crapper was born in Yorkshire in 1836. At 14 he was apprenticed to a Master Plumber in Chelsea, London. In 1861, after his apprenticeship and then working as a journeyman, he set up in his own right as a plumber in Robert Street, Chelsea. It is popularly thought that Mr. Crapper invented the W.C., and that the vulgar word for faeces is a derivative of his name, but neither belief is true. He relentlessly promoted sanitary fittings to a somewhat dirty and sceptical world and championed the 'water-waste-preventing cistern syphon' in particular. Thomas Crapper died in 1910 and is buried near the grave of the cricketer, W.G. Grace, in Elmers End Cemetery. Frederick York Wolseley Famous for the first completely mechanical sheep sheering machine back in 1888. Born in County Dublin in 1837, he moved to Australia in the 1850's and began work on his inventions in the 1870's. The company he founded moved to England in 1893 and began experimenting with motor cars, producing the first one in 1895. Wolseley motor cars were made in Great Britain from then until 1975, being among the very first British cars put into large-scale production and actually leading the car production figures during the Edwardian period. Fredrick died in London in 1899. Carey Blyton Composer of 'Bananas in Pyjamas' Millions more people have heard something of Carey Blyton's music than realise it. He wrote widely for television, film and advertising, and his nonsense song "Bananas in Pyjamas" was taken up by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1973 and eventually became a huge international success in The Great Banana Phenomenon, a series of some 200 five-minute TV shows each topped and tailed by Blyton's song. Carey lived in and around Bromley for 60 years. He was born in Beckenham in 1932 and lived there some 30 years before moving to Swanley in 1965 where he lived for another 30 years with his wife Mary and their two sons Matthew and Daniel. Although it was in Swanley where most of his music and stories were written, it was the formative years in Beckenham that developed Carey's character and musical career. However, Carey is well known all over West Kent, where his music and stories have been broadcast by local radio. There are more but space has run out. Some other names for inclusion would have been Col/Sgt Bourne of Rorkes pass, Walter de la Mare, Admiral Sir Peircy Brett, Dinah Craik, Bob Monkhouse, Julie Andrews, Peter Frampton, Buster Mottram, Duncan Goodhew, Bill Perks aka Wyman, Robin Knox-Johnston and more recently the 2002 Big Brother winner Kate Lawler.  You never know who your neighbours are, do you? I wonder who will be the next famous person from Beckenham. And for more info about famous people of Beckenham, and interesting snippets of Beckenham history, take a look at the Beckenham History Website. Oh, and yesterday I forgot to mention the brilliant Fish and Chip Shop on the High Street - The Big Catch. It is open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. and has a very nice restaurant, or you can take out. Personally, I think they are the best fish and chips in Beckenham. It is straight across from Liddle's supermarket. Well, I've got lots to do now, my new vacuum cleaner came yesterday, a Morphy Richards' upright. It hoovers up like a hippopotamus siphoning a muddy river bed. Fantastic! And now the hoovering is done, I feel a mopping of the floors coming on.  Talk again soon, Love Jane x

Adventures on the Norfolk Broads

A FAMILY HOLIDAY ON THE NORFOLK BROADS

Joanne and Jack picked me and David up at about 9.30 a.m. in their little, navy blue Fiesta. The poor car was already laden down with a couple of small ruck sacks, 2 garden chairs, badminton rackets, 24 cans of cider, 2 bottles of wine, water, and big bag of groceries, from cereals to sausages (in fact, fine Beckenham sausages from Villagers Fine Sausage Shop). By the time our bags had been squashed into the remaining space, and we were in the car, its springs were feeling the strain. Loaded up as it was, we set of gingerly, down the road.

Feeling the swing on each corner, Jo soon got used to the extra weight, and in no time we were heading out of London towards the Blackwall  Tunnel. And that is when we hit a queue that stretched into the distance like a giant, colored bracelet going round the earth. With a sharp turn to the left, we swung onto a side road. "No, it is too early to join queues," Jo stated, and we were on our way to the Rotherhide Tunnel. It seemed like other people had had the same idea because the road was very congested. But the traffic did keep moving, and after about an hour, we were reading the sign over the tunnel, 'Built in 1908' and being gobbled up into the mouth of its Edwardian facade.

I, for one, was thankful to get out of that tunnel. We had to proceed very slowly behind a mini bus that crawled at an unusually slow pace, as though the driver was drunk, or on his mobile phone. He even mounted the safety curb at one point, making us hang back a little. There was a build up of fumes in the tunnel, too, diesel and petrol exhaust, it wasn't pleasant. Ah well, we survived! Next we made for the motorway, headed for Cambridge, and then on towards Norwich. Our destination was a little village called Ackle, in Norfolk.

Safely arriving at Ackle, we located Richardson's boatyard and found the boat that we had hired for four days, moored, and waiting to be loaded with our bags and baggage. Very soon, Bill the boatman was explaining the ins and outs of how to handle the boat, and explaining river regulations.

We set off, David at the helm, for a practice run, and once it was clear that we had mastered the art of knots for mooring the boat, and proved we could handle her on the river, Bill the boatman hopped off, and we were on our way. I think the pictures tell the rest of the story.

 And so the sun set on our first day on the river Bure.

 This is my favorite photo of me with our grandson, Jack.

We all had a turn at steering the boat.

 But only Jo and Jack braved this tree top walkway when we went to BeWILDerwood for the day...

And Nanny and Granddad watched while they came down the slippery slide.

 I did enjoy a game of badminton with Jack, on the lawn at the pub, where we moored for the night.

 Even though we had a bit of drizzle on day four, it didn't stop us exploring the nature trails of the area.

 .

 We passed several windmills, mainly used for drainage. And the ruins of St Benet's Abbey, which was once patronized by King Canute.

 This is all that is left of the gatehouse of St Benet's. The windmill, now also a ruin, was built here because of the sound footing that was available. I bought a book on the history of the abbey, apparently it was the only abbey not to be dissolved in the time of Henry VIII. But by 1545 it was no longer sustainable, and fell into ruin. Most of the stone has been carted away and used elsewhere, but a big cross has been erected in recent years, and the Bishop of Norwich, holds a ceremony there every year on the first Sunday in August.

 What river would be complete without its floating ice-cream man?

 Jo and Jack played word games, while I talked to the swans.

And then it was back to the boatyard, and the end of a wonderful four day break on the Norfolk Broads.

I hope you have enjoyed sharing the joy of our little adventure in Norfolk. Don't forget to click on the highlighted words, for more information, especially for info about the fantastic sausage shop in Beckenham. Please join me for my next adventure, which I'm sure will happen very soon.

Bye for now,
Love Jane x