Time Travelling

No, the title doesn't mean I have discovered a means of moving through time and space. I haven't got a time machine or created a Tardis, The Doctor's means of moving throughout time and space, as used in the  BBC science fiction show 'Doctor Who.' I'm referring to my interest in history. I am currently reading books that take me through the 20th Century right up to the present day, or, at least, as near as possible. I have actually started my in the 1840s with 'High Minds' by Simon Heffer, followed by 'The Age of Decadence', covering the period up until just before the First World War, then 'Staring At God', which covers Britain in the 1914-18 War, 'The Great War' as it was referred to. Then a book on the 1920s written by Fiona McDonald. I found it incredibly hard to discover a book that covered the 1920s so this was the only one I could find. Not very comprehensive, not covering the political or social history of the age and not particularly enlightening, but nevertheless worth reading because of the covering of such topics as the arts and entertainment, the birth of broadcasting, and the development of the film industry. I am currently reading 'The Thirties', written by Juliet Gardiner. Like the Simon Heffer books, she manages to weave some sort of narrative into her book which gives it a far more intimate feeling which draws you in. I remember when I was at school and then college in the late 1960s, history was just a collection of dates and numbers, You were just crammed with information, and usually about what I would call 'Establishment Figures', kings, queens, emperors, presidents and Prime Ministers, Nothing about the 'lower orders,' the 'ordinary man' or even woman. They seemed to be totally written out of the narrative. I have to say, by the time I got to Mander College in Bedford to do A-Level History, I found the teaching so boring it was enough to send you to sleep. I didn't even get as far as doing the exam, but I have to say, some fifty-plus years later, I don't really remember any of it. Just reams and reams of relentless notes on American history, European history and, I think, British history. A teacher just droning on and on and quite obviously just going through the paces and definitely not interested in the subject, doesn't make things any better for his students.

I'm still reading 'The Thirties: An Intimate History", by Juliet Gardiner. Part of my history journey through the 20th Century. It's very detailed and gives a real feel of what it must have been like to live in Britain in the 1930s. It covers the Depression, and it's clear how difficult it was for those who were unemployed. 

I've been doing my family history. I've been researching both my parent's trees. My mother is easier and I have got back around 15 generations. I am subscribed to My Heritage, and I've been with it for around 10 years, When the subscription ran out over a year ago I didn't continue, but all my work was still 'live' even though I couldn't access it. I kept getting emails from My Heritage attempting to get me to re-subscribe, but it was too expensive, around £160 for an annual pass. They continued with the emails, reducing the price. If it was possible to have a 'pay as you go' subscription it might have been easier to pay, or at least, on a monthly scheme, but that wasn't an option. Then an email offering a year for around £45, so I decided to go with it, hence the re-subscribing, which meant I could continue with my research. I have the app on my iPad and iPhone, and they seem to work better than the website. Far easier to move around my family tree and to connect with other people doing similar research and add their research to mine. I think I've already mentioned my discovery of some ancestors who lived in and around the village of Ascott in Oxfordshire, who was involved in a strike of agricultural workers in the 1870s, known as the Ascott Martyrs. Very interesting to have uncovered this bit of history, and the fact that it involved ancestors of mine makes it even more interesting.

No Social Distancing

I was out with Alfie quite late yesterday afternoon.  (Monday)Well, when I mean late, I don't mean it was dark, with the sun going down. I mean, around 4.45.  Oldbrook Green was busy, but any sense of social distancing had been totally disregarded. There were youths in the skateboard park, using it to . . . skateboard. People sitting on the grass in groups. We walked around and one boy was on a bicycle, attempting to ride it on its rear wheel. He came up behind me on the final lap, near the children's playground, and didn't make any sort of sound, which made me jump somewhat. What would have happened if he had come off and hit his head, requiring hospitalization? There were a couple of girls climbing over the fence into the children's playground, which was locked and had a notice clearly stating it was banned from use, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it was obvious that they wouldn't have seen this notice and then proceeded to sit on the swings, not designed for people of their size.

I had a telephone call this afternoon. Wow! That's a thing. From the cardiology department of Milton Keynes Hospital. I am going to get a call on Thursday at 3 p.m. from one of the cardiology doctors to see how I'm getting on. Not bad, just bored and sick of the lockdown, but I don't suppose they can do anything about that. Or maybe they can. Would be good if they could.

(Tuesday) Here I am, wide awake at 4.55a.m. I have had a shave, and done all the washing up (my kitchen must be the tidiest in the country.) Lockdown has turned my world upside down. It's no use sleeping, as I just can't get back to sleep. I have watched a further episode of the Peter Ackroyd 'Thames' documentary series on History Hit. It's fascinating. Read a bit more of the Simon Heffer book, 'The Age of Decadence,' and currently reading the chapter on the Suffragettes. What a brave lot of women. When people say that they don't intend to vote in an election, they should bear in mind all those who fought to get them the right to have a vote, not just women, but men as well. The force-feeding of women in prison would be considered abuse by today's standards.

I needed a different place to take Alfie for a walk this afternoon, so I put the cage in the back of the car and installed his nibs in it and we drove down Chaffron Way to the Ouzel Valley Park, which Carol and I visited on many occasions with the dogs. I was able to let Alfie have a run, and he seemed to appreciate the fact that he could run free, but I made sure that there was no livestock in the meadow we were walking across, although there were cattle in the adjoining meadow. There were lots of other people who had the same idea as myself, many with dogs, in family groups and many with children in various forms of pram and buggy. We walked through several kissing gates. This is how Wikipedia describes kissing gate:

'A Kissing gate is a type of gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through.

The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoid or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When the gate is touching an arm, it must be pulled or pushed to pass through. The gate may need to be pushed to give access to the small enclosure, and when in the enclosure, the person pulls the gate past the bulk of the enclosure to exit. Some examples have latches. Most are installed self-enclosing, to the side away from the pasture (livestock field), by hinge geometry, a spring or weight.'

So, if you didn't know, now you should. They are usually installed where livestock are in a meadow and allow people to move through without allowing the livestock to go through, usually where there is a cattle grid. (no, I'm not going to explain what they are here.)

We went through several kissing gates and then began the walk back towards the car. Several more people with dogs and then as we approached the car park, a couple was coming towards me with a large dog. Alfie was on his lead and when we got closer Alfie began barking and the dog came at him, attempting, well it seemed to me, that it wanted to pick him up in its mouth. I scooped up Alfie in my arms and the couple were most apologetic. Alfie was just as much to blame, barking as he always does, but he always wants to be friends with every dog he meets, as he has virtually no fear. The other dog continued to growl. Probably because it didn't like Alfie's aggressive noise, or so it probably was thinking. What do dogs think? That's a matter of dispute. I was upset, as anyone would be who has their dog attacked by another dog. But it probably wasn't. The bigger dog was probably just putting Alfie in his place, a big dog telling off a smaller one. We walked on and I put Alfie in the cage in the car and drove him.

(Wednesday) It has been raining, although very lightly, this morning, and we didn't remain out very long. I think Alfie was quite happy to return home quickly when he discovered that he was getting wet. We needed the rain, whatever the amount. It didn't last long, and it barely laid the dust. The grass is beginning to look very brown and parched in many areas.

I have managed to stitch together various parts of my writing project and it is now over eighty pages long. I cut and pasted these elements into the 'core' storyline, and I'm grateful to the technology because I can't imagine writing it in longhand or on a typewriter. 

Stir Crazy

(Tuesday)This confinement is not easy. Just being stuck in my flat with just Alfie for company is having a somewhat deleterious effect on me. Mentally and physically. We are being told by the government that we can have one exercise session per day (which is all very well, but one small Yorkshire Terrier needs a good deal more than one walk per day.) I am reading a good deal more than I have done in some time, not just my book '"The Age of Decadence" by Simon Heffer, but articles from BBC History Magazine as well as History Today. Watching television has become somewhat predictable. Daytime television has become one endless session about buying and selling houses, mostly people who insist on moving to the countryside because they have more money than sense, and why would you want a house which is far too big for a couple, and probably have extra bedrooms for friends and family to stay so they can be entertained in the surroundings of a large house. Antiques are fine, but it's just becoming boring, experts driving around the British countryside and buying antiques which they find and attempting to sell them for a profit.

The government has bought in stricter controls to attempt to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Over the last weekend a lot of people have not heeded the social distancing. People crowding onto Underground trains in London as well as at beauty spots. If they are young people, in the 18-30 age group, the chances are they don't watch broadcast television and probably not read newspapers (at least in print-form at any rate.) and are not interested in politics and wouldn't watch the daily press conferences. In general, the British don't like being told what to do. Unlike communist countries where the population is spied on and their citizens controlled by The State. Bureaucracy gone crazy. Just look at the EU and then you have a good reason for the Brexit vote. Many European countries, such as Greece and France, were invaded by the Nazis during the Second World War, so you can see how they would just roll over and be subjugated by the EU. A load of 'you can't do-this-and-that.' Control gone made, so that explains why it has such a hold over people's lives. Rant over.

(Wednesday) The sun is shining. It's a lovely spring morning. No wind and no rain. But we have to remain in our homes. I've taken Alfie out for his second walk of the day. It's eerily quiet. Rather like a bank holiday. Very little traffic around. But the silence is strange, to say the least. People seem to be making an effort to be socially distant. At Dexter House we can't use the lounge or kitchen. It doesn't bother me because I don't utilise them much anyway.

(Thursday) The weather has changed. That's what makes the United Kingdom what it is; the fact that the weather is so changeable. It has turned quite cold and there was a light frost on the cars as I walked Alfie along Dexter Avenue before 6a.m. this morning. It is sunny and bright, but as I say, it has turned chilly.

If anything, this current situation has got we writing again. I have pages of notes as well as part-written bits and pieces of stories, which are part of a far longer piece. I have started off on an entirely different tack with my current piece of writing, sparked on my a BBC documentary presented by Lucy Worsley about Jane Austen. I've always loved Lucy's programmes and she has a wealth of knowledge. I won't divulge too much of what I'm creating, but I can't think of a better way to spark off an idea than from Austen.

Later. I spent some more time writing. As a consequence, Alfie didn't get an earlier afternoon walk, but I took him out at around 4.15. I noticed that some of Oldbrook Green has been mown. They had done the end nearest The Cricketers public house, but the opposite side had only been mown along the edge. Such is my life at the moment that I have to mention such mundane matters as mowing. Unfortunately, whoever does the mowing, they have to run their vehicles over the grass and leave horrible tyre marks. It would be nice if this doesn't happen.

There's been a crazy woman (I'm not sure if she lives at Dexter House or not, or whether she's a friend of one of the residents. I doubt it, because visitors aren't supposed to come here at present.) who has been outside in the garden, sitting on a deckchair and who has been wearing what looks like a thick coat with a fur collar. She must be a bit loopy, because it has been really warm today. I saw here when I was standing at the kitchen sink doing some washing-up. She must have seen me because she waved. Another woman was with her and I get the distinct impression they have been drinking, what is probably wine, as I saw them with glasses in their hands and one of them produced a bottle and poured whatever the contents were into one of the glasses. The things you see from your kitchen window when you are doing the washing up!

Friday morning. I was surprised by how cold it is out this morning, when I took Alfie out for his walk. It was well before 6 o'clock. Am I crazy, or what? No, definitely not. If it's light, we'll go out, regardless, even though he makes a great deal of noise as soon as he catches on I'm in the process of getting ready to go out.

Doctor's Phone Call and Coronavirus

(Monday)I had a doctor's appointment booked for this morning. I made it, following my blood test which was done a few weeks ago. It was easy enough to make the appointment by using the surgery's on-line service. It's very much less stressful than trying to get through on the telephone, although I haven't, as yet, done this. Since moving from Ashfield Medical Centre to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre I have to say I'm a good deal happier with the new surgery. I got  text message a few days ago asking me if my appointment was urgent and to, please, telephone the surgery to let them know and I was prepared to visit this morning, but then I got a further test message to say that the doctor would ring me to discuss the blood test.

It seems, in general, the blood test didn't show anything much to worry about. My cholesterol is at 3.1. I'm not sure exactly what that measures, but it's a good score. They usually say that you have to get your cholesterol below 5. I'm not entirely sure what the number represents. I should do some research first. Apparently there is something concerning the doctor which shows up in connection with my liver and she suggests having a scan which uses a sonic device (I think similar to what they use to check on the unborn baby when a woman is pregnant and I think was used when I had a heart check at Milton Keynes several years ago.) and I will be sent a letter from the hospital when an appointment comes up for me to attend.

Then I had to ask about coronavirus. Considering my heart condition, which makes me vulnerable to coronavirus, meaning it could be serious if I caught it, would she advise me to stay away from Camphill at the moment? Not actually necessarily for my safety, but also for the residents? To which she said it would be a good idea not to go, which means isolation. So, tomorrow I shall stay at home. I texted Teo, the leader of the drama workshop at Camphill and he soon texted back to say he'd got the message.

Having been watching Boris Johnson this afternoon during the latest press conference regarding the coronavirus outbreak, it would appear that guidelines suggest that everyone 'self-isolates.' I can order from Sainsbury's on-line and have it delivered, but I'm not sure about my repeat medication. I'm not sure whether I can have my order delivered or whether I have to go and collect from Lloyd's Pharmacy within Sainsbury's.

(Tuesday) I'm at home today. I am 'self-isolating,' attempting to keep myself free of the coronavirus outbreak. I needed a few items of shopping and decided to go to Aldi in Bradwell Common. I drove away from Oldbrook and had intended driving directly there via Witan Gate and went along Evans Gate, but at the roundabout at Childs Way there was some sort of incident, with police in attendance and the road closed. It's only a short distance to Sainsbury's and then on along Witan Gate and then across several sets of traffic lights and over another roundabout and into Bradwell Common. Aldi is directly opposite Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. So, because of the road closure I had to take an alternative route and turn left and onto the next road across. Arriving near Aldi, I was really surprised by the number of cars arriving in the carpark. Considering it was mid-week, the volume of cars and people arriving was quite unbelievable.

I've had an email from Shenley Christian Fellowship. The quiz night has been postponed until October. I was really looking forward to this. It has already been postponed from before Christmas. The leadership team is meeting, I think today, to decide whether the Sunday services should be cancelled. It must be a very difficult decision to make when government guidelines say we shouldn't meet in groups and go into self isolation. It must be very difficult for families with young children.

(Wednesday) I'm bored silly. I'm reading more than usual. The next book in Simon Heffer's trilogy of books which lead up to the First World War. I've already read 'High Hopes,' which starts in C.1840 and ends C.1880. I'm currently reading 'The Age of Decadence', which takes the story from 1880 up until 1914.The next book, 'Staring At God,' isn't due out in paperback until mid May. As each book is around 800 pages long, I will be reading until at least then. Excellent reading and so detailed. Highly recommended if you're like me and have an interest in history.

Just been emailed by Ross at SCF. All church activities have been cancelled until the foreseeable future. Going to be odd not going on Sunday, but with the coronavirus pandemic, I can see why this has to happen. They are going to have some worship put on Facebook video, which should be interesting. Not entirely sure how it works. I can watch via my Firestick and have it on my HD television. I don't think I would want to have it on my MacBook.

I've discovered something called 'Sofa Singers,' which was mentioned on BBC Breakfast (I think it was there, or else it might have been on The One Show.' It allows those who are self-isolating to join others all around the world (or it might be just in the United Kingdom.) to join together and sing. Sounds like fun and a good way to do something to while away the boredom when you can't meet other people because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Reading and Viewing- Part 1

So what have I been reading and watching recently? On the book front I recently completed reading 'High Minds,' by Simon Heffer. It was a hefty read, some 700-800 pages, taking things from around 1840 to around 1880. I have since ordered the next volume which is called 'The Age of Decadence' which takes things up until the start of the First World War, which I have already received from Amazon and then the third book, which is already available in hardback but comes out in paperback in around May-June and called 'Staring At God,' which covers the First World War. If these books are as well researched and written as the first volume, then they should make excellent reading. I can recommend the first one, but since I haven't started the next one, I can't as yet comment.

I next read 'The Old Vic: The Story of a Great Theatre- From Ken to Olivier to Spacey' by Terry Coleman. Right up my street, being something of a theatre fanatic and having worked in professional theatre myself. Carol and I went to see a production staged by Propellor Theatre, in a performance of 'The Taming of The Shrew at the Old Vic, when she was a teacher at Stantonbury School and we were hooked on this all-male company and following this production, managed to see them several times more, at Milton Keynes Theatre and the Oxford Playhouse. Really great theatre and rip-roaring productions.

Having read all that history (and there was a lot I learnt as a result.) I decided I needed some fiction to read next, so I turned to my good old stand-by, Sherlock Holmes, as i'm gradually working my way through the entire canon and I have now reached 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes,' which begins with 'The Empty House.' Since reading that I decided to read one of Anthony Horowitz's take on Sherlock Holmes, so I have bought the first one in the series, which have apparently been approved by the Conan-Doyle estate, called 'The House of Silk.' I wasn't sure I would like this novel, and have been pleasantly surprised by how good it is. Horowitz has managed to write in the style of Conan-Doyle, the voice of Doctor Watson is very well done and completely convincing, but done in a modern manner. We get a fair amount of backstory for Watson and the typical Holmesian 'tropes' are in place; the arrival of the gentleman who wants Holmes to investigate the crime (I won't give to much of the plot away on here.) An easy read, which is what I wanted and I will have to read more of this series.

I've finished the third series of 'The Crown' on Netflix and as a result I've closed my subscription. I've enjoyed the show, but I don't think this last season was as good as the first two. Olivia Colman as Her Maj is good, but the episodes haven't been as enticing and engrossing as earlier episodes. Out of the 10, several were duds, nothing wrong with the writing, but a couple just didn't gell somehow. I can't explain, but I realise out of ten it must be difficult to maintain a particularly high standard and were there just to make up the numbers. I still think it would be better to have some sort of connection between each episode, a story arc which links them. There's nothing to keep you wanting to carry on watching. I know there was no intention to be a 'cliff-hanger' at the end of the episodes, but it's what keeps you wanting to continue watching. I can understand why they're ending the show with the 5th season as it would become to close for comfort when it gets nearer to the present and some difficult events in the royal story would have to be covered, I imagine the death of Princess Diana would be difficult to handle as well as several royal relationships and particularly what the Queen referred to 1992 as her 'Annus Horribilis.' It still has amazing detail, the period is beautifully portrayed, the costumes, makeup and sets are brilliant and it deserves all the awards. I may resubscribe to Netflix in time for the fourth season, but there is nothing else on Netflix which makes me want to continue with it.