15th August 2010

15th August 2010.

Dear All,

I think we can recommend the Brecon Beacons, not only the scenery and walking but the weather was much kinder than expected for Wales. We stopped in Ross-on-Wye for lunch on the way down and they were holding a carnival. When we arrived at Brecon they were holding their agricultural show and Jazz weekend so it was almost impossible to park.
We stayed at Defynnog near Sennybridge in a small barn conversion and managed a walk almost every day.

Our House/Barn
On Sunday we attended Kensington Baptist chapel where a smallish congregation have raised £250K to match the sum granted by the Welsh Assembly to rebuild a large stone building with serious roof problems. We had lunch at the Jazz Festival then climbed Fan Frynch which was a long valley walk with a steepish climb to the top where it was boggy and difficult going.
On Monday we visited the Mountain Centre then walked across the moor to Mynydd Illtud. After we drove down to Methyr Tydfil in the only serious rain of the week to pick up Esther.
We travelled further west on Tuesday to the Black Mountain and climbed up to Llyn y Fan Fach reservoir followed by a long wait at the Red Kite feeding station. I think the large crowd deterred them coming too close but we saw plenty flying overhead both then and throughout the week.


Llyn y Fan Fach Reservoir
Wednesday we climbed Bryn, a round topped hill east of Brecon, with excellent views of Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in the Beacons. We then explored Crickhowell a pretty small town east of Brecon then climbed the Table Top mountain with a distinctive flat top.

Table Top Mountain
We rang the changes a bit on Thursday and visited Brecon Museum then hired a canoe for 3 hours on the Brecon Canal followed by a visit to Brecon Cathedral.

Brecon Canal
Friday was the highlight climbing Corn Du and Pen y Fan which at 886m is the highest hill/mountain in southern Britain. As we did not feel too bad we went on to Ystradfellde Waterfalls where we anticipated a gentle stroll round four waterfalls. In fact it was quite a hard slog so we ended up walking 6 hours that day.

View from Pen y Fan
The journey back was not too bad – just the usual delays on the M25 as we dropped Esther in Hutton having inspected her livestock, them home by 4.15pm in time to watch the end of the cricket.
Love

Mike & Kate

1st August 2010

Dear All,

Kate and I have been helping with a Holiday Club from Monday to Wednesday this week. The theme was "Pirates" and based on Paul's letter to the Philippians. It went quite well with 23 children attending, not as many as in the past but better than recent efforts.

Holiday Club

Christ's College was our venue for the the gardens course this week. This was Darwin's college so there was a shrine to him and a newly planted garden of the plants he encountered on his voyage round South America.

Darwin's Garden

Young Darwin

Wednesday we lost only our second Chapel cricket match of the season but it was exciting with Anglian Water winning with only 3 balls to spare.

We completed the third section of the "Stour Valley Way" on Thursday frpm Stoke by Clare to Long Melford. It was a long section of 12.8 miles and I was struggling with an upset stomach - not ideal! The scenery was excellent with undulating corn fields - very Constableish, but we did not see much of the river on this section.

Stour Valley near Cavendish

On Friday I had a last minute chance to go to Trent Bridge with Ray for the Test Match. 15 wickets and only 170 runs does not sound exciting but it was good to see excellent bowling and fielding. Trent Bridge has a smart new stand and floodlights since I was there and is my favorite ground.

Trent Bridge New Stand



Trent Embankment

The garden is fairly productive at present with planty of beans, cucmbers, tomatoes, beetroot etc. and the water melons are swelling.

We hope to be off to the Brecon beacons next saturday so no bulletin next week.

love

Mike & Kate

25th July 2010

Dear All,

It has been a quieter week with much wicket repairing and garden watering. Three matches on the Green this week following the carnival so plenty of filling and rolling.
On Monday we met at Clare College where the bursar gave us an interesting talk about the management of "the Backs". The six colleges which share the area try and manage the development collectively to maintain vistas, replanting and felling.
Question: what is the most common tree species on the Backs?
Answer: Limes 30%
Clare gardens next to the river are also fairly special with colour co-ordinated planting.

Clare College

Clare Gardens

Chapel cricket was successful again this week beating St Neots Methodists in a close finish reaching 140 in the llast over.

Our walk started at Ashdon on Thursday and unusually our esteemed leader lost the way a few times. It was a good walk via Radwinter with a few fields of barley and rape having been harvested.

Ashdon

We finished the Alpha course last week and held a celebration meal this week with several guests and possible future attendees present.

It was Rene Sanders funeral on Friday, the chief pallbearer was Wally Ambrose who was our goal keeper when I first played for Over. He is not naturally suited for his present occupation as he is immensely cheerful and tends to wave at people he knows in the congregation.

Rene


We have a holiday club starting Monday so there has been a bit of preparation this week on the theme of "Pirates finding Treasure". Kate and I are in charge of the 7 to 11s.

Yesterday we visited Fowlmere Nature Reserve which is owned by the RSPB. Highlights were spotting Water rail and trout in a clear stream.

Fowlmere Nature Reserve

love

Mike & Kate

18th July 2010

18th July

Dear All,

We have had Henry Olonga the former Zimbabwean test cricketer here for a "Tea & Talk" this evening.He was excellent and over 70 turned up. He told his life story, signed copies of his new book, sang and answered questions.

Henry & Jim

Going backwards it was Over Carnival and Produce Show yesterday, attendance was down a bit due to the blustery weather. The chapel stand with a local quiz and game went well again. We held a BBQ for helpers afterwards and we cleaned up the Green this morning as a public service.

Chapel stand

Clean up squad

I was second in the veg again with 6 x 1st, 7 x 2nd and 7 x 3rds - it saves the bother of polishing the cup.

This morning I was interviewd by BBC Radio Cambridge about last weeks award. It went OK until the interviewer signed off by saying "congratulations on your MBE"

On Friday Kate and I had a meal in the travelling field kitchen of the Riverford box scheme that I am doing some work for at Sacrewell, Peterborough. The meal was excellent and served in a yurt. The Lord Mayor of Peterborough was in attendance demonsrating his £11,000 gold chain of office.

Yurt Restaurant

For those who know her Rene Saunders from Longstanton died Friday am. She had been in Addenbrookes for a couple of weeks.

Our Thursday walk started at Ashwell near Baldock, it was rather blustery and included a field of newly shorn alpacas which resembled cuddly toys.

The college garden visit was to Pembroke the third oldest college in Cambridge with some excellent plants.

Pembroke College

love

Mike & Kate

11th July 2010

11th July 2010.

Dear All,

Highlight of this week has been Monday’s trip to Hampden Court Flower Show where I was presented the award of “Associate of Honour” from the RHS for life time services to horticulture by Sophie, Countess of Wessex. It was baking hot and I had to wear a suit but fortunately was able to ditch it soon after the lunch. Kate and I sat on a table with The Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and his wife and Vince Cable’s wife. The show was very good especially the Home Produce garden where they had transplanted a huge area of vegetables, flowers, cereals and sunflowers and kept them alive during the hot weather.

Sophie, me and the new RHS President




Hamden Court exhibits

The garden has needed some serious watering this week to keep things alive, it reached 118°F in the greenhouse.
Our walk this week started at Dalham near Newmarket and was a circuit via Barrow and Gazeley including the remains of a castle and the grounds of an estate. After we were invited to nearby Kirtling to the home of one of our number Roger Gilmour, this turned out to be a mansion with 26 acres! He was once director of Porton Down germ warfare unit - so it was Pimm’s for the second time in a week!

Dalham cottage

Roger’s place

On Friday I thought it would be a good chance to burn a small bonfire as it was very dry, I watered the ashes to make sure they were out and we changed to go to Sutton for a BBQ to celebrate Adrian Hart’s birthday. The start of the BBQ was delayed for 45 mins and Kate looked out of the window and saw the hedge and log pile alight. It took 45 minutes and 2 hoses to put it out! It was a good job we had not left at the original time.


Fire site

I was judging Little Paxton Produce Show yesterday but the entries were a bit weedy so it was not a very long job.
Kate has joined Esther at the Albert Hall today where they are practicing and singing “Gloria” by Karl Jenkins. It is the first time it has been performed and in Latin so I hope it goes well.

love

Mike & Kate

4th July 2010

4th July 2010.

Dear All,


It has been a fairly busy week. On Monday morning some of us went to Eden, Cambridge to hear an American, Wayne Gruden talk about “Christianity and Politics”. In the afternoon the college visit was to Selwyn where they spend more time planting annual borders than any previous college we encountered.

Selwyn Gardens

In the evening we joined some of the U3A walkers for a meal at the Golden Ball at Boxworth where we had recently dined with the cousins.
On Tuesday I was surprisingly in charge of the NIAB Salads open day at Shippea Hill (I thought I was just helping but my colleague opted for a training course). In the evening the chapel cricket team were performing on Parkers Piece but I did not get there in time to play.

Salads in Fen flat fields

On Wednesday I patched the wicket and tidied the garden before attending our old NIAB director John MacLeod’s funeral in Over church. There was a huge turnout as he was very personable and kept involvement with several organisations including RHS after retirement. There were 5 eulogies at the service. Afterwards I was picked up by Rob Haward to drive down to Devon via Norton (one of their bases) to help his company Riverford Organics with some consultancy on vegetable varieties. They are the largest box scheme in the country with a turnover of £35m. They operate from 5 sites including Sacrewell near Peterborough with HQ at Buckfastleigh near Newton Abbot. Growing vegetables in Devon with steep fields and narrow lanes is a challenge, so is growing 40 different vegetable crops and maintaining continuity and diversity throughout the season. Highlight was eating in their Field Kitchen where they show off the quality of their produce. They currently have a similar operation touring the country feeding people in a yurt.


Rhubarb in not so flat Devon

The journey back on Friday afternoon was painful as there seemed to be an accident or traffic jam every 50 miles.
Yesterday I was speaking at a farm walk in Willingham where a Christian farmer opens his operation for inspection every year with a guest speaker, farm tour, rare breed inspection and BBQ. I was due to speak in a barn using Powerpoint and Kate had collected the chapel laptop as we were leading the Family Service today. When I arrived I had picked up the wrong laptop! - but fortunately it was close enough to zip home and swap.

Farm walk in Willingham

Kate’s cough is much better but has not completely disappeared.
Love

Mike & Kate

27th June 2010

27th June 2010.

Dear All,


For those not present at the “Senior Cousins Reunion” photos are attached. It was an enjoyable event even though cold and damp. It was great to see everyone especially Gwen after 50 years and meet Rob for the first time.

Assorted Cousins 2010
Kate and I attended a seed companies 25th Anniversary near Evesham yesterday. Enza Zaden are an English offshoot of a Dutch salad company. They put 50 or so up in local hotels and laid on a dinner for 120 in a marquee. Our hotel was very old dating back to the 1600s and very attractive but last night was exceptionally warm. We made a day of it and visited Kenilworth Castle on the way which was very interesting.
On the way back this morning we called in at Hidcote Manor gardens which are excellent, very mature having been bequeathed to the nation by an American Gardener 80 years ago.

Kenilworth Castle

New Formal gardens

Hidcote Manor Gardens

Our Hotel

Dave Garlick was here tonight to take the evening service. He came early enough to suffer through England’s World Cup exit and we were joined by John Law for tea afterwards. John has just enjoyed a 60th birthday trip to Alaska and took over 20,000 photos!
Otherwise the college trip was to Kings this week and they included a tour of the chapel, the head gardener wears a special uniform with a brown bowler hat and a college tie.

Kings college Masters garden

The walk on Thursday was the second part of the “Stour Valley Way” from Great Bradley to Stoke by Clare. It was an “classic” walk with water, grass and trees but very hot.
We went to a U3A BBQ at Dry Drayton on Wednesday evening run by my old “Solar System” lecturer. He is a keen BBQer with gigantic woks to cook vegetables and steak cut from a whole joint of beef. It was held in a fantastic old vicarage setting complete with croquet lawn and wood.
Friday we had a “Walk About Supper” in the village so we have eaten quite well this week!.

Love

Mike & Kate