All In A Summer's Day

Friday. 3.00 p.m. It is a fine and sunny day. My work on my family tree is going exceptionally well. I can't spell genealogy (not sure whether that's the correct spell, but the spell-checker hasn't made any comments, so I imagine it's fine.) I have around 500 people on it, and it goes back over 500 years.

Saturday. 2.50 p.m. I drove off to Chipping Norton, for the study day, which was about rebellion and revolution in Oxfordshire and, in particular, Chipping Norton, and featuring 'The Ascott Martyrs.'

I had done some research on Google Maps, in order to learn where I could park, and had found the postcode of one car park and had it ready to put in the car's built in satnav. I knew the route well, as   Carol and I had used the road on numerous occasions. It was a delight to be able to enjoy the Oxfordshire countryside as I drove along and got to Chipping Norton at around 9.20. I found a long-stay car park and then discovered that the town hall, where the study day was taking place, just over the road and there was a sign on the pavement to show the way into the Town Hall and up some stairs.

Going inside the town hall, I was greeted by a lady who checked me in on a list. I had bought my ticket online, and I didn't have a paper ticket, but my name was on the list. It just goes to show that technology makes this sort of thing so easy. In fact, if it hadn't been for a post on Facebook about this event, I would never have known otherwise. In fact, if it hadn't been for the internet, I would never have discovered about the Ascott Martyrs.

I then went up the stairs to the hall where the talks were to take place. It was a large, old-fashioned space,  that had seen better days. A typical multi-functional hall with a stage at one end, with rather worn set of curtains and a balcony the other end, presumably with seating for performance, and below, as I came into the hall, ladies behind a counter serving tea, coffee and biscuits.

The talks were due to start at 10 o'clock, so I had around 20 minutes to wait.

The three talks were as follows: 1: 'The Otmoor Riots In The Wider Context.' Given by Ciaran Walsh.

2: Priests, Property, or The Prayer Book,' Given by Adrienne Rosen.

3: 'A Restless Town: Civil Strife and Public Disorder in Chipping Norton.' Given by Simon Draper. This talk was the one that covered The Ascott Martyrs, although I didn't really learn much that I didn't already know about. Having said that, there was a great deal that I didn't know about, particularly The Otmoor Riots, The Bliss Mill strikes who happened in the period of the First World War, 1914-1918.

The talks finished at around 12.30, followed by an A.G.M. for the Oxfordshire Local History Association, who were responsible for the study day. After that, there was to be a guided walk around Chipping Norton, to look at the various sites that featured in the talks. I wasn't staying for the A.G.M., because I wasn't a member of O.L.H.A. and the walk sounded as it would be quite tiring for me, and, having had that blackout at the beginning of the year, I didn't think it was advisable to risk going on it. So, I decided to leave and find something to eat, such as a sandwich, and, on my way back to the car, I saw a Sainsbury's Local on the street corner, so went in and bought a sandwich, packet of crisps and a drink in their 'Meal Deal' and then went to the car park and began the journey home to Milton Keynes, with the intention of finding a stopping place on the road, to sit and eat my sandwich,.

Having done family history research, I am discovering ancestors who I had never known had existed (understandable, I suppose.) Also, in most instances, where they live, and many of the villages I went through on the drive to and from Chipping Norton, or were close by, where many of these ancestors lived. A really strange feeling, to be so close to where they lived and worked.

I didn't find a place to stop and eat my sandwich, so I just kept going until I got back to Milton Keynes.

Monday. 4.55 p.m. It's been a warm and sunny day, and, as I write this, it continues to be the same.

Tuesday. 7.25 a.m. I woke up a good deal later than usual. Alfie has been out and it seemed as if it had been raining. 

I think I mentioned the chat I had with the lady who was registering people as they went into the study day in Chipping Norton. I said I was there because of my possible connection to the Ascott Martyrs, through my family history research and their connection to my mother's family, who came from a village called Leafield, which is near Ascott Under Wychwood. I had hoped to have a further chat with her because she had mentioned something about a family history day, which was going to be held in Ascott in June. But it didn't happen, so I sent an email about all this, and she has since replied and told me that the family history day will be on Saturday, June 22nd, so if I go to this free event it is possible that I might find further connections with the Ascott Martyrs.

My family history research has exploded somewhat. I have almost 700 people on my tree and goes back as far as 1033, which is simply amazing. I thought, when I began all this work, that I might get back to about the time of William Shakespeare, which would be about 1560-70. But to get back before the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is fantastic!

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

 Sunday. 6.15 a.m. Another sunny and bright morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 20ºc and the flat is cool and pleasant, thank goodness.

3.30 p.m. I have now watched both Doctor Who episodes 'The Space Babies', and 'The Devil's Chord.' Regardless of what people have been saying on the internet, I really enjoyed both episodes. Ncuti Gatwa really throws himself into the role of The Doctor and gives it a real life and energy. He certainly has a charisma that shines out of the television set. It's difficult to take your eyes off him when he's on-screen. His co-star and companion in the Tardis, Mollie Gibson, playing the part of Ruby Sunday. It's clear that the Disney co-production has paid off, in that the production values are far greater, because it looks slick and has a cinematic look, the special effects, the sets and costumes look fantastic.

12.10 p.m. I have restarted my Ancestry account. It is a family history site, where you can find your ancestor's details. If you read these blog posts regularly, you will know how much work I have been putting into this work. I discovered my connection to The Ascott Martyrs, and that I am going to a study day in Chipping Norton this Saturday, to learn more about them (Chipping Morton featured heavily in the incident.) The day isn't just about those ladies, and what they did in 1873, but about other rebellions and protests which went on over the centuries in Oxfordshire. I have managed to get back at least 500 years and the family tree which I am building on the Ancestry website is growing and blooming daily.

Tuesday. 8.20 p.m. I have spent most of my Nectar points on a Nutribullet. For those who don't know what that is, it's a sort of blender into which you put vegetables and fruit to make into smoothies. I haven't yet tried it out, because I am slowly going through the manual which came with it, and I don't have any fruit or vegetables to put in it. So, as I write this post, it is sitting on top of my fridge/freezer and will remain there until I got to Sainsbury's or any other supermarket, or even the market near the shopping centre, to purchase some. I have bought ready-made smoothies in Sainsbury's, and it occurred to me that I could make my own, which would be a very good way to consume my five-a-day fruit or veg. I will let you know how I get on with the gadget when I have tried it out. 

Yesterday, at around midday, I got a telephone call from Milton Keynes Hospital. It was from the cardiology department, telling me that I had to have a heart monitor fitted, which I had to wear for 48 hours and that I should go to the cardiology department this afternoon to have the afore mentioned device affixed to my person. I got to the hospital and managed to park in the multi-storey car park. A car was reversing out of a space, not far inside the car park, so at least I didn't have to search for a space, which made things easier. I and then walked to the cardiology department. Little did I realise how far it was. I had to walk part of the way along the Redway which runs behind the house where Carol and I lived in Eaglestone. I used to walk along there when I used to go and visit Carol when she was in hospital after she was diagnosed with cancer. We used to park in the small car park near the entrance to the cardiology department and when she was first diagnosed and in hospital, we could see building work going on outside and which has now finished and the building which was being constructed was the new cancer unit.

I went into the cardiology department. We used to walk through here when we went to the oncology department, where Carol went to have chemotherapy. I reported to reception and then had to wait in the waiting area. I was eventually called in to a room by a nurse, and we were joined by a student nurse (I presume she was a student.) who was there to observe the procedure of me being connected to a heart monitor. It is a very small device, about the size of a small mobile phone, and it connects to my chest by way of the type of sticky contacts they use when you have an E.C.G. it has a clip on it, so I can clip it on to my belt or put it in a pocket. I will have to take it back and give it to the receptionist at the cardiology department on Thursday morning.                   

Please Release Me!

Okay! 'Please Release Me', blog post title is taken from a song title. A song sung by Englebert Humperdink in the 1960s. Very appropriate when considering relaxing lockdown.

Monday. 7.20 a.m. Alfie and I were out around 5.45 this morning, really early I know, but I'm definitely not one to lounge around in bed, particularly when it's sunny and bright with the birds singing their little heads off outside my window, which is wide open. As I write this I can hear pigeons making their stupid noise. 

I was out early because I wanted to be back in time for the opening of the new news channel GBN, which officially came on the air at 8p.m last night but their first breakfast show began at 6 a.m. A totally new way to present news, not with 'rolling news, which is how the BBC News channel works, or Sky News. Interesting to see they have a set that is dark, compared to the light and airy sets chosen for ITV's Good Morning Britain or BBC Breakfast. I think it suggests a more serious approach, with bookshelves filled with books on a range of topics, art, science etc., wine glasses, and other artifacts which subtly reflect the type of audience they want to attract. The presentation style is intelligent but light. I'll have to wait and see how things develop before I can give a more nuanced assessment.

We're being threatened by the thought of yet another month of restrictions being imposed by our totalitarian government. Why is it, with infections falling, a vaccination programme being rolled out and reaching some 60-70% having had either one or two doses, do we now have to endure further lockdown? At this rate, we'll be stuck in this limbo more or less permanently. The scientists who deliver doom and gloom are working with flawed computer modeling, and results from testing aren't exactly accurate. It's the 'risk factor' which is playing such a large part here. The fact of the matter is that all life is a 'risk.' From the moment we are born, we have to encounter 'risk.' Being born is a risk, probably not as much as a risk as, say, if you were born in the Middle Ages, where ideas of hygiene and cleanliness were more or less unknown. Crossing the road is a risk. Getting in a car is a risk. We should be able to make our own  'risk assessments' and just get on with our lives. As things are and have been for the past almost eighteen months, we have managed, to a certain extent, to live with covid and it would seem it's not likely to disappear overnight. Humans have lived with viruses for thousands of years and survived. So, what is different with the coronavirus, covid-19, or whatever you want to call it? It's the fact that it's mutating, so we now get the 'Kent Variant'', the 'Indian' or 'Delta Variant. The virus is going to keep on mutating because that's what they do. Are we going to forever keep running away from it, in a sort of endless race, a sort of marathon of sorts? Just not going to work. Some scientists are now saying that lockdowns don't work. Well, I suppose they might be right. We need a certain amount of what they term 'herd immunity,' which is how we deal with such things as viruses. We've probably got this natural immunity now, which means we will build up natural immunity and probably more so with the various versions of vaccines.

Later. I'm up to episode 5 of 'Clarkson's Farm' on Amazon. I have to say that I have found Jeremy Clarkson incredibly annoying in the first few episodes. He just throws money around on goodness knows what, great big tractors which are really impractical. For example, it's too big to fit in his shed. He grows potatoes and then has to leave them in the ground because he doesn't have anywhere to sell them. He builds a farm shop and doesn't follow the planning rules and puts the wrong sort of roofing material on the building. He opens the farm shop and hasn't got a properly surfaced carpark, so when customers eventually turn up, and they turn up in droves, virtually blocking the surrounding roads with their cars, and then these cars get stuck in the muddy carpark and have to be towed out by Caleb, the young man who is employed by Clarkson and is only 21, but knows more about agricultural practices than men three times his age. In my opinion, he's the sort of hero figure in this show and I trust he gets paid properly by Clarkson because he manages to get him out of no end of problems. But by episode 5 we begin to see Clarkson growing into his job as a born-again farmer. When he has to get stuck in (and, in some ways, literally stuck in.) when the ewes begin to start lambing. He takes a while to get the hang of being a sheep midwife, but I have to admit he eventually becomes rather adept at delivering lambs. He starts off rather badly in episode one but as the series progresses he seems to rather enjoy his newfound place in the world. It's good storytelling. He begins his farming journey not sure whether he will like working as a farmer. He does, however, begin as a complete novice, but by episode five he says he enjoys the life, watching the lambs being born and actually contributing something to society with the food he produces. It's around this point that the pandemic starts and the first lockdown is introduced. It seems that it's the fulcrum around which the rest of the story-arc will be built and Clarkson changes from rank amateur to almost professional.  It's worth watching and because I had ancestors who lived in and around the area where it's filmed, Chipping Norton (some brave ladies, called The Ascott Martyrs were arrested for attempting to get their husbands to join a union and were imprisoned in Oxford Gaol. This was the 1870s and in some ways, things have hardly changed. Decent living wages being only one of them.) I have more than a passing interest in the show.

The Heat Is On

Thursday. 3.15 p.m. Okay! Okay!  Today's 'heat' or 'sun' theme for titles of blog posts. Any guesses where this one is from?  Marks out of ten . . .  no conferring . . . Phone a friend? . . . 50/50? . . .Ask the audience?  . . . The answer is 'Miss Saigon.

The payment for the market research I did yesterday has been paid into my bank account via something called Wish, which is similar to PayPal. You set up an account with a password, your email address, and so on, and details of your bank account, and the money is transferred into your account. Very simple and I was impressed by the whole process.

It's extremely hot and sultry at the moment. Thankfully the flat is far cooler since I've had the windows open and the electric fan on. I have made a further batch of scones that are cooling on the work surface in the kitchen as I write this. They look good! They also taste good, because I have eaten one.

Later. Just been watching 'Clarkson's Farm,' a new documentary series about Jeremy Clarkson, he of 'Top Gear' and charging around being crazy in cars and causing mayhem, attempting to get to grips with all things agricultural on his farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. He doesn't start off too brilliantly, buys a tractor that is far too big for his needs, has no idea what basic implements he needs to set about cultivating some 40 areas of land so that he can plant the seed for his first crop of corn. He is assisted by a very well-informed and practical young man who knows more than most about farming, 21-year-old Caleb Cooper, more knowledgeable and skilled than most people a couple of decades older. Quite hilarious in places and sad and a real revelation in other places. This is on Amazon, and far exceeds what you would expect on a BBC channel, where it would be vetted for political correctness and certainly doesn't tick all the usual boxes. Beware, though, if you are offended by strong language. It is full of expletives and the odd word that might get your granny upset, or, at least Daily Mail readers. One might ask, why Clarkson didn't get some sort of experience of farming before he set out on this adventure, how much money he has wasted on not only buying the farm but also on equipment and other expenses. Then one also ask, does he succeed and can he make a real living out of it? Obviously, you'll need to watch the rest of the series to find out. Is this likely to be the only series? Be a pity if it doesn't go to enough episodes so we see the journey from complete beginner through to making a real success of it.

11.55 p.m. So, it's hot, and I'm sitting here working on this because I couldn't sleep. I have done washing-up in the kitchen. The recycling is in its bag, tied up and the black bin bag out of the bin in the kitchen is likewise tied up, with a new one in the bin. Both bags are now ready to take out to the bin outside in the yard at the rear of Dexter House. Work surfaces wiped and are spotless, Kettle filled ready for tea and I've had a shave. So, at nearly midnight, it's noisy outside. Some idiot is driving around in a vehicle that must have a broken exhaust, speeding around on Strudwick Drive and probably Oldbrook Boulevard. Just crazy and dangerous. It would only take a mistake and he (or even she) could cause a really nasty accident.

Could it be anything to do with football? There's some football event going on at the moment, the Euros or something. The competition was postponed from last year, due to the pandemic. Some games played at Wembley stadium (I may be right, but it could be elsewhere, but I'm not a football fan and take no notice of what's going on. Anyway, what I want to know is, why are we being told we won't be able to get some of our freedoms after 21st June when this is going on? Also, a probably more important event is the G7 conference in Cornwall, with this taking place in St Ives. Just tell me this, how come this event together with the football, hoe is it they're now telling us (the scientists, not the politicians.) that Freedom Day, the day when lockdown restrictions will be removed, will not happen, probably for another month at least, with politicians of the likes of Joe Biden and goodness know how many of his entourage, which will include security staff, as well as many other world leaders, weren't supposed to travel internationally unless we self isolate and take goodness knows how many tests to show we're not infectious? It all sounds very contradictory to me and seems we're being controlled by people (the scientists,) who have no democratic right to turn the country into a totalitarian state. 

Possible Walk-On Job next week

I've just had an email from one of the many agencies I'm signed up to for television and film walk-on and extra work (actually 'extra' is not the word to use. I've never merely been an 'extra' or supernumerary on anything I've done. Whatever I've done I've almost always been directed by someone or other, even if it's an A.D. (Assistant Director) or even the actual director on a shoot.) It's to be a gardener in something shooting near Chipping Norton. I have a hunch if might well be for the BBC television series 'Father Brown' which is filmed in that area. We drive through that area regularly as we go to different National Trust properties out towards Cheltenham and Stratford-Upon-Avon, or towards Worcester which is where Chloe and Steve live. It shouldn't be much more than an hour's drive and not too difficult to find the location as we have a SatNav.

Outing to The Cotswolds and Rollrights Stones

Yesterday morning we didn't get up until quite late. It was a reasonably good evening on television, with "Strictly Come Dancing", the finale to the current series of  "Doctor Who", followed by the first in a new series of "Merlin."  We didn't get to bed until fairly late.
The last week or so has been very warm, temperatures reaching heights not normally reached in late September/Early October. We decided to make the most of the sunshine and have an afternoon out. Carol has wanted to visit the Rollright Stones out the other side of Oxford, near Chipping Norton, so we made a sort of picnic up and took the cameras and set out. I have to say that the Cotswolds are my favourite places to visit in this country. Having worked in Cheltenham in the late '60's as a Student A.S.M. at the Everyman Theatre, I know the area well. My mother had relatives around the Cotswolds, and visiting them was always a pleasure. We would have taken the dogs, but it would have meant them spending a lot of time in the car, and Alfie, in particular, doesn't travel well, and he is very susceptible to heat. We went to the Shell petrol station along Grafton Street and then towards the A5 and out towards Towcester. It was a real joy to be getting out of the house and to be out in the countryside. We have found, when travelling west from Milton Keynes, there is (or was) a problem with the M40. It seems to get in the way. It is difficult to cross. This may sound odd, but you try it. We have more recently discovered that you need to go through the village of Aynho and find a bridge that goes UNDER the motorway. We were trying to get to a National Trust property (Hidcote) and spent around 2 hours trying to avoid the motorway and get through Banbury. We have found this route thrrough Aynho and it makes the westerly journey so much easier. Anyway, we had to go through Banbury to get to Chipping Norton and then find the Rollrights Stones (having looked on Google Maps and a print driving atlas we have.) Attempting to get through Banbury and finding the correct road was something of a problem and this happened on the way home. Why can't local authorities do something about signage? It wasn't very good. Neither was signage approaching the Rollright Stones, you had to really concentrate to see where the turning was to get there and then there was a tiny parking space near the stones.There is definitely something mysterious about this place. It has a strange atmosphere, somehow, very similar to that at Stonehenge, which we have also visited. Together with the spectacular scenery, it makes an interesting afternoon. We visited the single stone which is set within it's own field over the road from the ring of stones. We sat on the rocks and ate our picnic. We had to get something to drink when we stopped for petrol at the Shell service station. The heat made us very thirsty. I took photographs of the scenery (and hope to upload them onto this blog later this week after I have sorted out the iMac which has no further space on it's hard-drive, due mainly to having around 12,500 digital photographs on it. We have an external hard drive ordered from Amazon and should arrive by Wednesday.)

Rollright Stone Circle

There are three areas to visit at the Rollright Stones. The first area we went to was opposite the main area of the 'complex' (as you are supposed to term it, apparently, having read the little handbook we later purchased at the near-by garden centre.)  This is called the 'King Stone' and stands within a fenced area. This is, apparently, to disuade people from chipping of chunks of it, as it's supposed to be lucky this stone.) It has all the appearance, from a distance, of a stooping figure, probably covered in material or something. As the legend which surrounds these stones is that a witch turned a king and his nights to stone. That figures.  It really does look like a person. This is where we sat and ate our picnic. Then we walked over the road to the main site, where we came across the ring of stone, 'some 40 strides across' as it says in the handbook.) A legend states that if you count the stones, on each following attempt, the number of the stones will change! We did not immediately take up the challenge, but as we were taking photographs, two couples appeared and one of them began to count the stones. The second couple had a go. Both came up with different totals. Then we had a go. We made the total 81. Who knows the correct number? To the east, at the far edge of a field, are the ruins of a so-called 'Portal-dolemen' called the Whispering Knights. We didn't attempt to walk to this site, as it was some distance from the main site. Having taken enough photographs, we decided to leave. We knew, from reading a sign near the lay-by where we parked the car, that there was a garden centre nearby which sold the handbook and other Rollright-Stone related items, and where we could get a cup of tea. So we left and made for this garden centre. Having had our cup of tea we left, making our way home back through Banbury towards Towcester and onto the A5 and home to Milton Keynes.

I have since learned that the Rollright Stones were used as a location for the filming of a "Doctor Who" story in the '70's, which makes our trip there all the more interesting. The story was called "The Stones Of Blood" and it was quite a good story. Being a "Doctor Who" fan I am more than interested. I do remember the story quite clearly. It was a Tom Baker story, and apparently the 100th serial.