May Bank Holiday and Milton Keynes Marathon

May Bank Holiday Monday. Why is it that 1st May is a Bank Holiday in Great Britain? It never used to be such, although I recall the May Day celebrations in Ickwell, a village in Bedfordshire, not too far from where I used to live in Cardington, where they had (and no doubt, still have) a May Day Festival, with dancing around the Mayple, which is on the village green. Having now Googled the subject, yes, the Mayday celebrations do still happen, with dancing around the maypole and the crowning of a May Queen. It's been going on virtually uninterrupted since the time of the Tudors, but it was banned by Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth (miserable old so and so.) but reintroduced when Charles II became king after the Restoration.

So, we get a day off. Doesn't bother me one way or another, as I'm now retired, but I know Carol needs a rest from her efforts, working as a science teacher at Milton Keynes Academy.

After the last Milton Keynes Marathon a few months ago, when the route went past our house in Eaglestone (which meant we were locked in for a couple of hours and couldn't get out) and I vaguely mentioned the fact on one of my posts on this blog, it seemed to upset someone or other connected with this event. It seems you're not supposed to have an a opinion unless it's that of the mass. So much for the idea of the good old British thing called 'Free Speech' or 'Freedom of Expression.' I dared to suggest that the route went along the nearby Redway (only a few yards away.) It was almost as if I'd made some obscene remark, the reaction it caused.

On Sunday we were lead to believe that there was to be a marathon and that we'd be locked in to Eaglestone for several hours whilst this event took place. We saw the yellow signs along some of the Gridroads near Eaglestone, and, as a result, we wouldn't be able to drive to M.K.C.C. for either of the three services. As I'm involved in Better Together (see previous post.) I wanted to make sure I heard the message delivered. But I managed to be able to see this as services are broadcast 'live' via the internet and YouTube, which we can see through our SkyQ box. As it turned out we didn't have any runners come past our house, so whether the marathon (full, half or whatever) actually was diverted away from Eaglestone, I don't know. But on Monday (today) we weren't certain what was going on. We certainly didn't want to be stuck indoors and wanted to get out somewhere. It was a rather undecided day on the weather-front, but mostly it was sunny, although there was some rain during the day. We had talked about a trip to Rutland Water and we were considering taking Alfie. It doesn't take much to encourage him to go out with us and a walk around that stretch of water would have been good for all of us. I have visited before and it's certainly a good place to go to and plenty to attract attention. But then we changed our minds and decided on going to Bicester Avenue, a retail outlet and garden centre. It's very near Bicester Village and a good 40-minute drive just beyond Buckingham. We got away from Milton Keynes before the marathon began and intended getting back home after it finished.

So, we drove out of Milton Keynes and made for Bicester. On arrival at the retail park we had a stroll around the various shops and eventually went into the Wyevale Garden Centre there which is the central largest outlet within Bicester Avenue. We had coffee and scones and then looked around the plants and some of the bird-feeding paraphernalia on sale there with the eventual intention of adding to our bird feeder we already have set up in the garden at home.

We browsed in several of the other shops at Bicester Avenue, one being a pet shop where we actually managed to find Alfie another 'sound' toy (if you read earlier posts regarding the difficulty we've had finding a replacement for the Comic Relief 'laughing ball' which he loves so much, then you'll realise how great it was to find this toy. Actually we bought '2 for £5', which made it doubly great.) Then, into the Cotton Traders shop. We have bought quite a few items of clothing from this company, and get their catalogue in the post. From there, back to the car and home. The traffic going into Bicester was very heavy. Most seemed going to Bicester Outlet Village, another destination we've visited on various occasions, and then back towards Buckingham and Milton Keynes. As we approached Buckingham, the heavens opened and there was quite a rain storm. It didn't last long, but it's as well we didn't go to Rutland Water because we heard on the car radio that there were traffic hold-ups in and around that area, so we might have found ourselves held up on either the M1 or the A1 either outward bound or returning. We had intended visiting Aldi in Buckingham, which has a branch on the road going into Buckingham, but for some reason we couldn't find the exit and must have gone past, but then made the decision to visit the Aldi at Westcroft where we usually shop. The traffic was excessively heavy on the approach to Milton Keynes and, having done some basic shopping in Aldi for the evening's meal, drove home with the simple idea that the marathon had come to an end. How wrong could we be. The roads were chocker-block with very long queues of cars and we couldn't go towards Eaglestone along Chaffron Way and had to turn right along Grafton Street and then onto Standing Way. Completely grid-locked and it took a good deal longer to eventually get into Saxon Street, which by then had been opened up. Runners still running along some of the Redway system as we eventually drove into Eaglestone and home. 

Another Visit to Whipsnade

The thought of just sitting indoors all day today because of the awful weather we are currently experiencing was not going to be repeated. Daytime television is so awful. We wanted to get out, at whatever cost. Anywhere was preferable to being in the house. It seems unfair to Carol in particular, that you look forward to your summer holiday and plan things to do and then the weather turns nasty, wet and cold. Infact, too cold for the month of July. So, regardless of the weather (and when we set out mid-morning, it was cloudy and definitely threatening rain.) we decided on another visit to Whipsnade. We put together some items of food so that we didn't have to buy stuff to eat when we got there and went to Tesco's in Oldbrook to buy sandwiches and drink. We actually had a £3 Tesco Clubcard voucher which needed using before it expired. And once we'd been to buy our picnic we drove off out of Milton Keynes on the A5 south towards Dunstable and across the Downs to Whipsnade Zoo. For the first time ever we drove into the zoo, using Carol's new Z.S.L. Fellowship to not only get our entry free but also avoid paying to take the car in (all told about £75.) It was great to be able to drive around and park in the various spaces around the site. We saw a lot of the animals in action due to the fact that the weather was cooler, in particular the lions (took some great pictures of them.) as well as hippos wallowing in their pool, rhinos as well as very close-up views of cheetahs. We ate our picnic sitting on benches near the elephant enclosure.

We couldn't believe how cold it was, considering it was July. We took coats with us and I really didn't think we'd need them. I have recently bought a hooded fleece off Amazon and imagined that I'd not be wearing it until the winter months, but I was really glad I'd taken it to Whipsnade as it was really warm and cozy as we walked around the zoo.

As we were walking through the 'Africa' section of the zoo, having been to see the cheetahs (and, goodness, how close we got to them. I don't think I've ever seen them that close, or, if it comes to that, so active. We also saw a red kite flying overhead. Quite exciting to see these amazing birds as well as the zoo animals.) Carol said she saw Brendan Cole, one of the professional dancers from the B.B.C. Saturday evening show "Strictly Come Dancing." With his wife and children, although I didn't notice as there were so many other families. Apart from that, I'm not a particular fan of this show. Just over-rated, personally, and I don't go for television 'reality' shows stuffed full of 'celebrities.' Several years ago we were on holiday in and around Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall. We drove up to Gretna Green, as we had joked when we were about to get married that we could go there to get married. We were disappointed in how naff and contrived the place was, expecting there to be only one of these places where you got married, something about a blacksmith's forge or something. It turned out that there are numerous places, all making money out of the 'marriage' industry. Anyway, we didn't stay long and then drove away and went to an outlet shopping centre just outside Gretna Green, a bit like the Bicester Village outlet we visit often. As we were walking around the shopping centre, Carol said she saw someone famous sitting and having coffee outside somewhere like a Costa or Starbucks. She said it was Elton John. I wasn't sure and we didn't stand and stare, as most people would do. We could, I suppose, have gone up to him and asked for an autograph and probably a photo, a 'selfie' with him. I wasn't sure whether she had seen him or not, but when we got back to the cottage we were staying at for the week, we turned on the television and apparently Elton John was about to do a concert somewhere in or around Carlisle or a near-by town. So, it was very likely it was him we'd seen, although he had made every effort to not be recognised. Who would imagine he'd have gone to somewhere like the shopping outlet centre for coffee, as a superstar and famous person?  I think he must have been relieved that we didn't break his cover by going and speaking to him or acknowledging him because I reckon we must have been the only people to recognise him as he was dressed in such a way, with a cap on and a scarf around his neck, that without looking closely you wouldn't have known that was who it was and also it was an unlikely place for him to be. Anyway, whatever the reason, it certainly made Carol's day!

A few years ago we managed to get free tickets for a recording of the B.B.C. Television comedy show "Dead Ringers." It was quite an event, not only getting the tickets, but going to Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush in London and being a member of the audience. As we were queued up to go into the studio, who should walk past but Gary Lineker, the former footballer and sports presenter. Carol got quite excited, but to me it was just another bod off the television. I'm not that keen on football, but I suppose he would have been working there on some show such as "A Question Of Sport." 

Oxford Outing- Part 1

On Saturday we decided to have a day out and went to Oxford.  The last time we went  was almost exactly one year ago to the day, and as I have a free bus pass (one has now got to the age where one gets such things.) it seemed a good idea to leave the car behind, oblivating the necessity to not  only j driving there but also find parking space, even though there is a 'park-and-ride' scheme in operation in Oxford (we have used this on several occasions.) We got the bus from just outside the Academy in Saxon Street and arrived at Milton Keynes railway station and then had to wait before the Oxford bus came in. It arrived within about ten minutes and then we were off, going through Buckingham on the way, which we drive through on our way to Stowe Landscape Garden, one of our favourite National Trust properties. One advantage of being in a bus is that you sit up a good deal higher than you would if you were in a car, so you can see a good deal more of the countryside and in particular you see over hedges that grow alongside the roads you drive along. We went through Bicester (I went there to do induction for one of the care agencies I used to work for. A bit of a waste of time and effort if you ask me because I didn't get much work out of them as it turned out, but that's another story which I may or may not discuss in a future post.) We went past Bicester Village, the outlet shopping centre as well as Bicester Avenue, which we visited earlier in the year, which is fairly new.
We arrived in Oxford at around 10.00 and had need for the use of the toilets. Sorry to bring this up, but it seems to be a necessity of both of us. We knew that there were toilets in the bus station (where the bus came in at Oxford) but we soon discovered that there was some building work going on there and the toilets were out of operation. They had managed to put notices up telling you where the alternative toilets were and when we got there was a queue of people. On our way home on the bus we realised that there were toilets on the bus itself so that was one problem solved on the way home.
We have visited Oxford on several earlier occasions, a few times to Oxford Playhouse to see productions of Shakespeare plays produced by the all-male company, Propellor, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Twelfth Night." We saw their version of "The Taming of The Shrew" a couple of years ago when Carol was teaching at Stantonbury Campus and we managed to get tickets through the school and went on a coach trip to see that show at the famous Old Vic theatre in London, which was a real treat. The last show of theirs we saw was "Henry V" a couple of years ago when they came to the Milton Keynes Theatre. So we know Oxford fairly well. This time we wanted to visit the Oxford Natural History Museum but weren't sure exactly where it was, so we spent quite some time wandering somewhat aimlessly around the streets in an attempt to locate it. We eventually managed to find it on a map but it was quite a walk out from the city centre and then discovered that it was CLOSED due to the roof being repaired which was something of a disappointment but there was an event going on outside the museum, I believe something to do with the friends of the museum or something, where there were stalls selling food and exhibits and managed to get pizza and something to drink because by now we were hungry and thirsty and it was quite a warm day and all that walking had taken it's toll.