North Downs Way

Today we began the North Downs Way by walking the second leg from Guildford to Dorking. Why start with the second leg? Well, its Sunday and the usual track repairs have stopped normal train services and the buses don’t run on Sundays – we need to do the first leg when public transport is running!
We began with the well trodden path to Newlands Corner, and having dragged Alan away from the bacon buttie kiosk, we struck out on the new path, following the easily spotted finger posts.


We crossed the A25 and found ourselves on a wide path through the trees, soon leaving the sound of traffic behind, and tuning in to the cuckoo calling in the distance. It was very pleasant walking under the leafy canopy, and we came across the occasional clearing with views across the valleys with conveniently placed benches!


We refrained from a side visit to the Silent Pools, promising ourselves a dedicated walk there one day. It looked a precipitous downhill to the pools , which means a stiff climb back again, which is OK, but we reckoned on about 15 miles for the planned walk, and weren’t keen on adding too much more!
Once again, the pathways were lined with delightful wild flowers and the ferns had come on in bounds, showing off in great fans of fronds along the way.




At lunchtime, we came up to this hill top with its panoramic view and several benches, one being free for a welcome seat. The sheepdog, which sneaked into the picture, was having great fun creeping up on the ball its owner left in the grass just as if it was herding the sheep.



Our path was quite stony and there were plenty of butterflies flittering around us. So difficult to catch with the camera until this peacock landed on the path in front of us and settled to get his photo taken.


We were gradually meeting more people and soon came to the area known as Ranmore Common and the ‘Church on the North Downs Way’ (St Barnabas’s).


It seemed as though we were almost there, but we still had a little way to go, eventually descending the path to Denbies winery for a very welcome cup of tea. The vines are just coming into leaf and flower, so we hope that the flowers get pollinated and lots of baby grapes get set to make another excellent vintage later in the year.



Refreshed, All that was left was to walk down to Deepdene Station and a train back to Gilly. And those who wonder why we didn’t climb Box Hill – well, we’ve done that many, many times!!

Bank holiday walk

A bank holiday – and a great day for a walk; so we laced up the walking shoes, adjusted the poles, packed the rucksacks and set off with a map and a vague idea of a round trip of some 16kms. We began the usual way by getting up to Pewley Down, then across to St Martha’s Church.


At this point we walked round to the front of the church and took the path that plunged over the edge and down towards Chilworth.


Suddenly we spied llamas in the field and a lone one in a paddock close by the path – a sight to behold in the Surrey countryside.


We consulted the map and made a sort of left turn, hoping to connect with the Downs Link path. Soon we began seeing the signs and this path took us across Blackheath to skirt round the path up to Chinthurst Tower.


From here we followed the track taking us across the attractive double bridge (road with footpath at a slightly dropped level) and turned left to follow the Wey South Path going north. There were lots of dandelion clocks along the path some of which had shed their down to get caught in spiders webs. There were also some high altitude snails, like the ones we had seen in Smannell.



We found ourselves following the cycle route, but we could cut right just over a bridge, which brought us along the Wey to the Parrot at Shalford. We sat by the Navigation and had butties, then enjoyed a hot cup of coffee at the Parrot. The next bit was something like guesswork as there are several paths not all of which were on the map. But we managed to get ourselves to The Seahorse, another popular hostelry, and across the road towards the Chantries.



Our intention was to come onto Pewley Downs at the bottom of the woods, but we managed to climb right up into the bluebell covered woods, which were beautiful.


There was nothing for it, but to make our way up and over the ridge, eventually meeting up with our path to St Martha’s hill, turning left to retrace the start of our walk up onto Pewley Down and home.
We did get wet a couple of times, but the weather was very pleasant if a little dull and so it wasn’t too hot. The birds were singing all the way along and there were loads of lovely wild flowers to enjoy along the way. We even heard the cuckoo.





It was very good to be out and about with no worries of traffic jams or crowds. We met a few cyclists and a few horse riders as well as walkers on the way, but not in any great profusion. Lovely!

This evening we attended the performance of Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring with LIVE soundtrack played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Howard Shore's Academy award-winning score was performed live on stage by the original soundtrack orchestra and choirs, The London Voices and The London Oratory School Schola.
This was a birthday present and we have been anticipating this wonderful evening for a few months. We began with an early dinner at Carluccio's by South Ken Station, then walked up Queen's Gate to the steps leading up to the Royal Albert Hall. Many people joined us as we walked up, allowing ourselves to be impressed by the lovely building. We entered by door 11, to gain acess to the arena where we were to be sitting. This is where the promenaders usually mill about during the Proms season. Tonight there were seats, and we had a grand view of the podium with the big screen in position behind, covering the organ and its associated pipes.
The orchestra seemed pretty large and included several places for the percussion. This included a huge drum cradled on its side as well as bells, other drums and the usual percussion instruments. The choir sat behind the orchestra, just under the screen.
It took some time to get everyone seated as it was definitely a full house, but eventually the house lights dimmed and the conductor appeared. The screen flickered to life and as the opening credits rolled, the conductor brought down his baton and the performance began. It was stunning and we sat spell bound; watching the film; reading the subtitles; and watching the orchestra as the musicians created the magic with their expertise. Luckily there was an interval when we could stretch our legs, then the second half began and again we were fascinated by all the performances - trying to spot when the very large drum was used, but not wanting to miss the action on the truly big screen.
As the film drew to an end, everyone remained seated as the closing credits rolled up the screen - of course, the music continues right to the end, and then the whole of the Royal Albert Hall errupted into ecstatic applause. The audience loved the perfomance, and we said a very big thank you to the giver of this wonderful birthday present. A night to remember.

Hats, Hatchards and a High Street dinner

We thought we would go to the Darwin Exhibition at the Natural History Museum and set off for South Ken only to find that the queue to get in – just to the Museum, was down the steps, through the garden, passed the wildlife garden, out of the gate and up Queens Gate. It would probably take a couple of hours just to get to the front door. So, we decided to visit the V&A, next door, where the crowds were less dense!
Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones was our chosen exhibition, and we nearly got in for free with our Art Fund cards. It is an exhibition reflecting one by Cecil Beaton in the 1971 – in fact the V&A’s first fashion show. This exhibition is a collaboration between V&A and Stephen Jones, world famous milliner. He has been producing hat collections twice a year for twenty years as well as working with many famous fashion houses and designers. I find this quite interesting as Grannie trained as a milliner in Manchester in the 1930s at a well known milliners, Jones of Manchester.
The exhibition is wonderful, with hats in displayed in ‘shop windows’, grouped in topics such as Inspiration, Creation, The Salon and The Client. The displays included some very old hats – the oldest we saw being and apprentice’s hat from the 1550s, as well as Stephen Jones creations from this year. We saw some beautiful creations as well as some weird ones, but all were great fun and beautifully displayed. In the centre of the exhibition there is milliner’s workshop with shelves stacked with the tools of the trade, half made and finished hats. The visitor can see into this workshop through several windows, each giving a slightly different view – the wooden heads, the sewing machine, boxes of feathers, flowers and other accessories overflowing the work tables. There are hats you would wear to Ascot Ladies Day and others that graced the King’s Road in the 60s; Queen’s hats, star’s hats and hats for you and me! A really fascinating collection, and yes, I’m sorry we missed Mr Darwin, but I’m not sorry we saw this great exhibition.
To continue our ‘day out’, we made our way to Green Park tube station and walked down Piccadilly. Our aim was to browse around Hatchards Bookshop, but first we came to Fortnum and Mason and who can resist a look in the windows, and we just had to go inside.


After wandering around the food, we made our way upstairs to look at all those amazing articles one never knew you needed! But sense prevailed and nothing was bought! However, we came across a stand of Stephen Jones hats, which were duly photographed, as that was strictly banned in the V&A.


There is also a display advertising the exhibition on the staircase.


So Hatchards came next and we couldn’t resist a copy of The Return of John MacNab, having a John Buchan fan with us.
We had consumed most of the day, so we made our way to the train home and walked up the High Street from the station to enjoy a glass of wine in the bar of The Farriers before we had dinner in their bistro - Upstairs@the Farriers. It was a lovely way to end such a jolly day out.

Dancing at Lughnasa

I always wondered what Lughnasa was, when I read that the play Dancing at Lughnasa was being performed. Was it a place in Dublin – a bar or dance hall or club, maybe? So when we decided to sample the delights of another performance in the CQS space at the Old Vic, I really had to find out.
Apparently, Lughnasa ( pronounced ‘loo nasa’ ) refers to the 1st August Celtic Harvest Festival, which is celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Bilberries are a key feature of the festival; the boys thread bilberries to make bracelets for their girls; and on the first Sunday in August, the young folk pair off for the afternoon to go bilberry collecting up the hill. There is a lot of singing and dancing, and before they come back, the girls leave their bracelets up there. Then there are sporting contests like horse-racing, weight throwing – and it is thought that the Highland Games are the modern version of the Lughnasa Festivals in Scotland. Perhaps these contests are the representation of the battles to protect the crops that are ripening from disaster.
This production is the first in the West End since Brian Friel’s play premiered in London, October 1990; and a wonderful cast has been gathered under the direction of Anna Makmin: Niamh Cusack, Michelle Fairley, Simone Kirby, Susan Lynch, Andrea Corr, Finbar Lynch, Peter McDonald and Jo Stone-Fewings.
The play is narrated by Michael, the adult, illegitimate son of Chris Mundy, the youngest of the five sisters who live just outside Ballybeg. He has returned to the empty cottage and his reminiscences of the summer of 1936 are the basis of the play. The sisters make ends meet with Kate’s wages as a teacher and the small amount that Agnes earns making gloves, with a little help from the rather slow Rose. The summer of 1936 seems to be a turning point when the sisters realise that perhaps they are too old to attend the Lughnasa Festival dance; when Kate learns that her job at the school is in jeopardy; and when Agnes finds she no longer has a market for her hand made gloves as the factory made ones are cheaper. Their brother, Jack, returns from his priest's job in Uganda adding to this mix and there are sporadic visits from Gerry, Michael’s father, who announces that he is off to fight in the Spanish War.
The story twists and turns and looking into the ‘cottage’ and its garden in the CQS space at the Old Vic, we are completely taken up with the fates of the characters. It is with sadness that we learn from Michael’s final monologue what has befallen the family, which includes the deaths of Agnes and Rose, destitute in London. This is the Old Vic at its best and after this production the theatre will be returned to its original format. Whether or not the CQS space will be a future possibility only remains to be seen.

The hibernating snails

When visiting Danebury Hill Fort we came across this strange sight - probably hibernating snails. They were very specific, clustering only on the east side of a few carefully selected trees, in nooks and crannies and firmly stuck to the branch or trunk.

We also found them, sparsley, on some yew trees, but here the birds had obviously had a good feast judging from the mounds of empty shells lying on the ground.

Danebury Hill Fort

Today we visited Danebury Iron Age hill fort with friends who live in Smannell. Danebury is estimated to be about 2500 years old, putting it in the mid Iron Age, which stretched from 700 BC to AD43, and it is thought that it was occupied for getting on for 500 years up to when the Romans arrived. Nowadays you can see the ring of outer ramparts and the entrance, and there is also a distinct high point within this ring, which would have been the focal point for ‘village’ meetings and religious ceremony.
When the fort was constructed the first part would be to dig the outer ditch; then, using this earth the ramparts were constructed. In the beginning a timber wall would be used as the front support of the rampart, which eventually rotted away. Although two gates were built originally, the people filled in the west gate and only used the east gate for access.
Danebury was occupied by a community of between three and four hundred people for over 400 years. They were farming people who grew crops; kept sheep and cattle; wove cloth from the wool; and made leather goods from the hide of their animals. These the Danebury people would trade for iron, copper, tin, salt among other commodities. The fort was built, probably, to protect the people and their livestock and grain from raiders. This was done by the whole community slinging stones at would be attackers from the ramparts.
The Danebury people are thought to have been druids, worshipping the pagan gods of the river, trees and other natural features. As such they did make sacrifices to these gods and burials found at the site are thought to be sacrificial.
Evidence has been found of 73 roundhouses and 500 rectangular buildings, not to mention thousands of deep storage pits. Only ten pits were in use at any given time, it is thought. The pits and rectangular buildings stored the most important commodity, grain; the roundhouses were dwellings. Many ‘finds’ from the archaeological excavation can be seen at the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover. The Danebury archaeological excavations, led by Professor Barry Cunliffe of Oxford University, took place from 1969 to 1988. By this time 57% of the interior had been excavated.
Today Danebury Hill Fort is a nationally important Scheduled Ancient Monument as well as being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Stockholm Day 4

As it was our last day, we had to pack and check out before we went off to sightsee again. The hotel would keep the luggage until we needed to go to the airport. Our first stop was the bookshop that sells Swedish books in all languages. Not that we wanted any particular book, but it was interesting to see all sorts of books in all sorts of languages! We also found a lovely ‘bench project’ tray, which we had to buy for Mel and some lovely Dala horse-shaped chocolates as thank you presents and gifts for the girls. Across the road is the entrance to the Treasury, but we first needed to deposit our bags in the ticket office. We were still among the first visitors to see the Crown Jewels, and we had a very good view of them before the first tour group arrived. They are very beautiful, and one of my favourites is the anointing horn of (I think) Erik XIV from 1604. It is so beautifully worked, and only 10 – 15cms high. There are some very intricately embellished swords as well as elegant crowns made for princesses. The state crown, sword and orb are also there and date from the 17th century. But the crowds were building, so we left, collected our stuff and walked across to Skeppsholmen. When we walked there the first day, we walked down the historic boat quay, so today we walked passed Admiralty House and af Chapman, the youth hostel on a full-rigged freighter from 1888. Then we wound our way up to the outdoor display ‘Paradise’ by Jean Tinguelys and Niki de Saint Phalles, which was made for the Montreal World Expo in 1972. We popped our heads into the Moderna Museet, which looked very interesting, but we really wanted to walk to Kastelholmen, the little island at the bottom of Skeppsholmen. We crossed the old bridge, noting that the Royal Skating Club was under renovation. Then we strolled up the hill and looked up at the castle. Apparently every morning (since 1640) a sailor hoists the Swedish flag up its flagpole. We reached the shore at the end of the island where there is a boatbuilding school, teaching the skills needed to build, and renovate, old wooden boats. We climbed up to the castle and made a circuit round it, then dropped back down the road again, and made our way off this island, Skeppsholmen and on to Gamla Stan again. We just kept going and crossed to Sodermalm at Slussen and walked up to the pretty street Fjallgatan, down Stigbergsgatan to see the old block maker’s cottage, then back to the hotel where we had a late lunch in Café Rival. It was time to collect the bags and head off towards the airport making final use of our travel cards and our return tickets on the flybussarna.
We have had a great time in Stockholm, and we should come back when it’s a bit warmer to see lots more of this lovely city.

Stockholm Day 3

Today we set out on a walk about on Sodermalm. The guide book took us up to the cliff top walk with a view across the Riddarfjarden to Kungsholmen, Riddarholmen and the City. It was still very snowy along the footpath, Monteliusvagen, but there was some grit down to reduce the slipperiness. We took many pics across the water, then turned inland again to walk down one very old cobbled street, Bastugatan. Above us we saw Mariaberget –with an impressive towered building, which can be seen from almost everywhere in Stockholm, apparently.
We found our way to a footbridge running parallel with the railway across the water, and soon found ourselves in Gamla Stan. We planned to watch the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace before visiting the Palace, itself. When we got up there we saw that people were already gathering behind the barriers. The soldiers on guard had wonderful white woolly hats on, which were definitely necessary as there was a chill wind blowing. I don’t know how long each stint outside on duty is, but we hoped not too long. The soldiers make frequent marches up and down to keep their feet from freezing. The new guard began gathering in the colonnade, and one officer came out and announced that the ceremony would take place at 12.15. In the meantime, he gave us a run down on the guards who guard the palaces and in particular who was on duty today – in Swedish and English. Then as the quarter hour struck, the soldiers began running out from the colonnade on orders from their captain. The Swedish flag was marched round to the front and a small changeover ceremony took place. All these soldiers had their helmets on – no woolly hats. We guessed they got those delivered to them after the ceremony. It was soon over, then everyone went to buy tickets to visit the palace, so we decided to get ourselves a cup of coffee and go in when it was a bit quieter.
Our coffee place was called Chokladkoppen and was at the bottom of one of two lovely tall almost Dutch-style buildings in Stortorget. We had delicious coffee and cake, and perused the art on the walls! We couldn’t linger as the Palace closes again at three, so we bought our tickets and entered. The first part was the State Apartments, then the Guest Apartments and eventually we found our way to the Tre Kronor Museum. This latter part is deep down in the foundation of the palace and is housed in the oldest part – some of the 12th century defensive wall and the 16th and 17th century brick vaults. The palace from that time suffered devastation when a fire burned most of it to the ground in 1697. The Tre Kronor Museum is devoted to the history of the palace and shows many artefacts that have been excavated from the palace foundations. We ran out of time before we got to the Treasury, but the very helpful people at the entrance pointed out that our tickets were valid for a month, so we could come back tomorrow. Good idea!
As the sun was still shining we now walked across to Riddarholmen to see Birger Jarl’s statue in his square. Here is the Riddarholmskyrkan with its cast iron filigree tower. Here all of Sweden’s rulers from the 17th century and onwards are buried in vaults. (Except Queen Kristina, 1689 buried in Rome and GustavVI Adolf, 1973, buried at Haga in the north of the city). Now we made our way to the Tbana station and got back to the hotel for a welcome sit down before dinner. The boys on reception said they would find us another good restaurant for dinner – not too far away.
Dinner is to be at Pontus by the Sea. Funnily enough, we almost saw it today on our walk. It is on the promenade of Gamla Stan facing towards Skeppsholmen. It is owned by one of Stockholm’s top chefs, Pontus Frithiof. He has his main restaurant ‘In the Greenhouse’ in the city somewhere.
We took the Tbana to Gamla Stan, then walked across the island to the restaurant. Then it began snowing! As we sat at our table, it really started to come down – we wondered about getting back again! Not many people in the restaurant tonight – so different from last night. The menu looks very good – the wine list is amazing with some wines costing around a thousand quid! We had:
Beef Carpaccio with cep cream, rocket and parmesan, and Jerusalem artichoke crème with seared duck liver and preserved apple; Swedish beef with tomatoes in a balsamic dressing, chips and sauce Béarnaise, and Steamed fillet of char with with tomato and lemon vinagrette, brandade and dried tomatoes. Alan found a Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir to accompany the food. All very delicious and we soon forgot the swirling snow outside.

Pontus has a great website with a gallery of pictures taken when the restaurant is buzzing with summer visitors.

Stockholm - Day 2

We managed to get to breakfast just after nine and we were on our way to the Tbana by ten. We decided to take a walk through the city suggested in the guide book and exited the underground to Sergels torg, a two tier square with a pedestrian area below and a traffic roundabout above. The traffic circulates around an amazing crystal tower fountain which apparently sparkles in the floodlights at night. We left the square via the pedestrian street Sergelgatan and followed the walking tour all the way to the Odenplan before turning back towards the centre. We came through the market at Hotorget, looked for the elusive Greta Garbo exhibition in PUB, then passed the concert hall with its interesting sculpture of Orpheus. Just round the corner we had a view of the Kungstornen, which reminded us of the non simmetrical Moskva Hotel in Moscow. But who said they should match!
There were many interesting Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings on our route; including August Strindberg's last dwelling place in Stockholm, being in a building known as the Bla Tower, a fine shade of ochre with gold highlighting. We called in at the National Library - a Functionalist building, designed by Gunnar Apslund. There are many treasures inside, but we only saw the interesting water fountain with its intriguing tap in the shape of a person. Lots of these buildings are in varying shades of yellow, orange and rose coloured paint. The church, Johannes Kyrka, is a nineteenth century neo-gothic building sharing its ‘garden’ with a late seventeenth century wooden bell tower. Eventually we were back at the Sergels torg and Alan had the idea of finding the Ostermalmshallen for lunch. This is a wonderful food hall where one can buy all sorts of meat, fish and veg to take home, but also there are eating places serving full meals as well as sandwiches. We stopped by a small cafe for open sandwiches - Alan had laks with dressing and I had prawns with mayo. Yummy. Then we strolled through Gallerian and on to Ahlens City to see the shops. We also stopped by the Orrefors shop and found a candle holder for the kitchen. In Ahlens City we found the Moomin range from Arabia and couldn't resist a turquoise mug with Snufkin and the lilac Hemulen mug!
As we were close by the T-Centralen, we took the underground to Gamla Stan to suss out a couple of restaurants for dinner, but nothing inspired us, so we trudged over the bridge at Slussen and walked back to the hotel for a rest. The lads in reception recommended a local place for dinner - Bistro Sud, and booked us in for dinner at 19.30.
Bistro Sud is a tiny place absolutely crammed with folk. This is because of its delicious food. We crowded round a tiny table and immediately were helped by local diners to understand the menu on the blackboard - with their recommendations. We chose the following:
Tuna sashimi with artichoke puree; crab soup with king crab leg.
Fiskqueneller m vitvinsas, rakar and kokt potatis (quenelles of white fish in a white wine sauce, shrimps and boiled potatoes)
plommafylld grissida, kamben,choucroute, art.och potatispure (pork stuffed with plums, choucroute and artichoke puree)
The Montes Pinot Noir was delicious with this wonderful food!
One of our neighbours was very chatty - a man dining with his son who was off to US the following morning. We had a great time chatting to them. But the rigours of the day took over and we had to leave before falling asleep in the dessert! A cup of tea and bed awaited at Rival.