Annual Kite Festival

Sunday, 5th May was a gloriously sunny day tempered by a cool wind. Out of the sun temperatures only just managed to reach about 16 degrees. This time last year we were enjoying a heatwave! Anyway, these were ideal conditions for flying kites and Ian and I arrived on Weymouth Esplanade in time to see the last couple of teams demonstrating their skills in synchronised kite flying.

The first (whose name I've forgotten, I'm afraid) flew six kites, each with four strings, in a stunningly beautiful and slow formation to some very haunting music, and somehow managed not to get tangled up despite sometimes flying just inches off the sand.

The second team - Team Flame - flying three dart-shaped kites with two strings each upped the tempo with a dramatic display in perfect time to Nina Simone's rendition of 'I'm feeling good'.

Finally, the second team joined up with another team of three with similar kites for some spontaneous flying. You can see a little clip on YouTube (my first!) here:
http://youtu.be/Q7Y2y7e-WhU

Weymouth Choral Society

Last September I joined Weymouth Choral Society. It had been about eight years since I'd sung in a choir on a regular basis and I had missed doing so. Now, on Monday evenings in term time, Ian and I have an early supper and I then drive off to rehearsals (one of the few occasions I actually have to drive anywhere these days; most destinations are reachable on foot.)

Originally, I joined the second soprano section but in January I switched to the first alto section. Haydn's lovely Nelson Mass took up the second half of the concert (held earlier this month), and I soon realised when looking at the score before rehearsals started that there was no way I was going to reach several top B flats and that the alto part, (which is quite high, as alto parts go) was more suited to my mezzo-soprano voice range. Besides, I'd sung the alto part before - albeit about 20 years ago - and know it well.

The concert also featured in the first half Mozart's oboe concerto (played on the soprano saxophone) and another instrumental piece, a couple of soprano solos, some more choir pieces by Mozart and Schubert. Though long, it all finished on a very satisfying 'high'.

The choir occasionally organises social events, too, and next is a meal out in April to a local Weymouth restaurant with several of the choir membership (plus partners, including Ian). Rehearsals resume after Easter for the summer concert which features famous songs from 20th century Hollywood films and musicals. More details to follow.

Knitting a pair of socks

When I was a little girl and asked of my Dad "what are you doing?", when it was blindingly obvious what he was doing, he used to answer – in a growly voice – "knitting a pair of socks." As far as I know, he has never picked up a knitting needle except to pass it back to my mother if she dropped one. I, on the other hand, used to be an avid knitter, designing jumpers with motifs - the first few bars of the dying swan cello solo in Swan Lake for a cellist friend springs to mind, as well as this one - the first two bars of Beethoven's 5th (yes that's me aged 20 or so in the early 80s) - and other projects back in the days before cheap foreign imports made buying jumpers cheaper than making them.

In later years I acquired two cats and soon learnt that waggling knitting needles and playful cats are not compatible and I gave up, tucking away a half-completed jumper into the back of my sewing drawer.

It has been some time since I had a cat - about ten years - and when I was sorting out my drawers after our move to Weymouth last year the bag of knitting resurfaced. No cat: no excuse. I didn't start on the jumper straight away, though, but started to knit myself a hat with some new yarn bought for the purpose. Maybe it's my age and I just feel the cold more, or it's been a particularly cold and windy winter here, but in late autumn I soon realised that I was going to have to have a hat, so why not knit one? I knitted three. Or rather, I knitted the same hat three times. I couldn't find a suitable pattern so I made it up as I went along. Near the of the first attempt I realised it was going to be too big, so I undid it all and started again. Next I found I'd started shaping the top too soon so it was too small. So I undid it again. The third (lucky) time I started from the top, increasing the number of stitches in increments to create a dome that I shaped as I went along until it was the perfect fit. I knitted an extra long brim that folds up twice so it's very snug indeed over my ears.

And I also knitted a scarf to match. Twice.

To tweet or not to tweet?

Weymouth College was the venue one evening last week for a social media marketing event hosted by WSX Enterprise and Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce. A vast quantity of sandwiches, quiches, tortilla crisps and dips were spread out for our consumption before the programme started, though sadly half of the food was still untouched at the end of the evening.

Three sessions, covering LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter were on the agenda but not, surprisingly, to be presented one after the other to all of us together. Instead, in a move probably designed to keep us awake by moving us around every 30 minutes or so, we were split into three groups and assigned to different rooms before moving on to the next room and the next speaker.

Anyway, the upshot is that on Friday I spent quite some time updating my already existing LinkedIn and Facebook accounts and then, with some trepidation, signed up for Twitter. Here, the boundaries between personal and business life become blurred, especially for those who, like me, are self-employed. Apparently, people really are interested to know that you've been somewhere to buy something or visit someone, or that the weather is particularly miserable or lovely wherever you are. Twitter for business is not all about "this is my product/service, please buy it" but being 'out there.'

Well, I'm 'out there' now, and my address is @SteedmanGillian because, (shock, horror!) there's already someone out there tweeting as GillianSteedman.

"I didn't think it would be so cold!"

Doorway in Cerne Abbas

At the end of February we had visitors: cousins from Norway. "Why did they want to visit in February?" we asked. "Nothing's open. It will probably be pouring with rain." But come they did and it wasn't raining. But it was bitterly cold with an icy wind and occasional flurries of snow, though none settled. Fortunately, despite not expecting the cold two of them had brought cold-weather clothing whilst the other, seemingly immune to the freezing temperatures, wore just a tee-shirt and jeans throughout his stay.

One day we drove to Cerne Abbas, our cousins exclaiming along the way at the rolling hills, large (relative to those in Norway) fields and the varieties of trees. It wasn’t something I’d really thought about, but visitors to Norway exclaim at the magnificent snow-capped mountains towering over fathomless fiords where the roads bend and wind their way along the valleys and round the moutains rather than over them. And where gaining any height means long zig-zags of very low gradients. Contrast that to south Dorset where Roman-style the roads plough straight ahead, regardless of the climb or descent, or follow meandering streams, ancient drovers’ routes or parish boundaries, dog-legging back and forth. Familiar to us, but a new experience for our visitors.

The old Cerne Abbey Guesthouse

We had coffee at an inn– where the publican has found country life too quiet and is returning to Berkshire near where we moved from – before strolling through this picturesque village. Medieval wood-framed houses with carved wooden front doors line the street leading up to the remains of the Abbey (870 to 1509), and a tiny stream flows along a stone-lined gutter from St Augustine’s Well. All that remains of the Abbey are the guesthouse (now a private house), Abbey Barn and Abbot’s Porch – all privately owned – but open to visitors on the day we were there.

On to the pretty market town of Sherborne with a very brief stop on the way to photograph the ancient Cerne Abbas giant carved into the chalk hillside from the viewing point. The town is a bustling place full of thriving independent shops and a beautiful abbey, originally a cathedral built when the diocese of Winchester was split into two in AD 705 and Andhelm (later St Andhelm) became the first of 27 bishops. He chose the place of the Scire-burne – the ‘clear stream’ – as the site for his seat, or cathedra. Soon after the Norman Conquest the bishop's seat was moved to what is now Salisbury. (Read more here.)

Finally, a drive via Beaminster, Bridport and the coast road back to Weymouth in failing light. Not the best conditions for viewing scenery, especially when the passenger windows of the car are heavily tinted. Hopefully, they'll be back one day in the warmer, lighter months when the sea is as blue as the Mediterranean and in the summer evenings trees cast lingering shadows as the setting sun softly lights the hills and fields with a warm, golden glow.

Out of hibernation

According to the Sunday Times' weather forecaster, as far as meteorologists are concerned, March 1st is the start of spring. That date certainly brought with it a respite from the icy blasts and rain, rain, rain we'd been experiencing over the last few weeks, replacing them instead with temperatures reaching double figures and low-lying mists blanketing the distant hills and obscuring my view of Weymouth town and beach.

The early mornings and evenings are noisier now with the sounds of blackbirds, robins and sparrows announcing their presence, calling for mates and guarding their territories. In the distance, flocks of gulls cry out as they follow the fishing boats in the harbour.

There are bulbs flowering all over the place and every twig has a bud on it, straining with suppressed energy and waiting for the right moment burst open.

Around the town, cafés, restaurants and B&Bs that have been wrapped up for the winter are emerging from under their covers and flexing their muscles in anticipating of the coming season.

So what will the legacy of the 2012 Olympics be this year and beyond? Weymouth beach has recently been voted the seventh best in the country with two other Dorset beaches in the top ten (see here) so the prospects are hopeful. The local businesses are supporting the Weymouth BID (Business Improvement District) initiative to turn Weymouth around into the vibrant centre that it should be.

Weymouth Pavilion, host to pantos, concerts, exhibitions and events in the past is closing temporarily as the local council can no longer afford to run it, but a bid by the local community to lease and run it has been approved, though not finalised yet, by the council. (See here).

In the middle of February, a gloriously sunny weekend coinciding with half term brought families, donkeys and surfers out onto Weymouth beach, in spite of - or because of - the biting easterly wind. Around the town, characters dressed in 17th century costume re-enacted several aspects of the civil war.

But we mustn't be tempted into thinking that spring has arrived just yet. The forecast for next week is for near-zero temperatures again. We won't be packing away the hats and scarves just yet.

The Vikings have landed... again

A few weeks ago, late one Sunday morning, we became aware of a strange ringing, clanging sound from not too far away. Intrigued, we walked up to Bincleaves Green to find... Vikings! Well, pretend ones, anyway. They are, I think, from Vikings Online and were no doubt practising for one of their many events that they hold around the country.

We've seen and/or heard them a few times since and they were there again today. That's one way to keep warm on a chilly day.

Portland House - an Art Deco delight

Back in October (2012) our neighbour told us that a nearby house and gardens was open to the public. Portland House – just five minutes' walk from our house, but in another world entirely – is owned by the National Trust and is let out as a holiday cottage, so chances to visit this unusual property are rare.

It wasn't publicised as an event on the Trust's website as the last time they did this they were overwhelmed by visitors and this time it was just advertised locally on posters.

We have walked past the grounds of the house along a former part of the South West Coast Path (the path has been diverted near here as a little further along the cliff had collapsed, taking the old path with it) not realising what the property was and wondered who would be lucky enough to live there with such a lovely view over Portland harbour.

Click on picture for link to BBC article

The house was built in 1935 by the architect Lord Gerald Wellesley, who later became the 7th Duke of Wellington. It was damaged by bombing in World War II and then donated to the Trust in the 1970s. It was renovated by the Trust in 2011.

Portland House sits within large gardens laid out by Hillier's Nurseries including a rock garden, large lawned area and sloping grounds down towards the sea. The foreshore below is within the Portland Harbour Shore Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), now included within the Jurassic Coast.

The villa is furnished in Art Deco style and contains some beautiful original features and period furniture.The clock above and the furniture to the left can be found in the sitting room.

It has two broad terraces, one above the other, and most rooms in the house have large French windows opening onto them. At each end of the front, wrapping around each corner of the building, are arcaded loggias, perfect for shade on hot summer days.

It makes excellent use of the natural slope maximising exposure to the fine south-facing views.

The house sleeps twelve and each of the bedrooms is furnished with the most stylish 1930s furniture. At just over £3,000 for a week in the high season it might seem a lot for a holiday cottage but, as it sleeps twelve, with seven bedrooms, that's only £35 per person per day.

From the Twentieth Century Society: "It is an excellent and very complete example of the Hollywood Spanish style in Britain. There are very few remaining examples of this style in Britain, certainly none with such a wealth of original fixtures and fittings. 

Portland House is a particularly valuable part of inter-war architectural history as a fine example of the eclectic fantasy architecture of the period. It brilliantly reflects popular imagery of the day: a combination of the glamour of the cinema with the exoticism of the sunshine holiday."

It reminded me of a setting in one of Agatha Christie's novels and I could just imagine sitting on the terrace in the late afternoon/early evening summer sun sipping champagne cocktails before dinner, but without the murders, of course!

New Year's Day walk

The beach near Lodmoor looking towards Bowleaze

New Year's Day just isn't New Year's Day without a good walk to clear the fug from New Year's Eve.

So, after lunch we wrapped up and hopped in the car down to the car park at Lodmoor Country Park.

The weather, as you can see, was stunning; what a lovely day to start the year.

There were dozens of people strolling along the sea wall - or riding on their shiny new bicycles and scooters - and a few, like us, on the beach. This is actually an artificial beach created with shingle dredged up from the seabed near the Isle of Wight and constantly being scraped back to keep it in place. The wall behind with the walkway on top helps keep the beach in place and protects the road and houses beyond from being showered with shingle thrown up by the waves.

After a stop for a coffee at the very busy beachside Café Oasis in Overcombe we thought we'd walk back through the country park. Big mistake! Being a wetland area with several small lakes and having had loads of rain recently, the ground is, of course, absolutely sodden. We just managed to squelch along the path until we were able to escape and cross back over the road onto the sea wall again.

Weymouth, 4pm on New Year's Day 2013

By 4pm the sun was setting and it was getting decidedly chilly. Not too chilly, however, for two horses and their riders we could see in the distance to go for a swim! We weren't close enough to get a picture and by the time we got near they had emerged from the water and were on their way home.

Time for us to turn back, too, and wend our way home.

Happy New Year!

It's 2013 and the sun is shining, hurrah! From my window I can see lots of people out for their New Year's Day walk on Weymouth's seafront.

New Year's Eve in Weymouth is not like any other I've known. For a start, it has the biggest public fancy dress party in the UK with an estimated 20,000 people dressing up and partying around the harbour and seafront. Our neighbours, were dressed up as tigers, complete with stripey faces and whiskers attached!

Being newbies and somewhat cautious, we opted for the special New Year's Eve dinner at the excellent Mallams Restaurant on the harbourside which had a 'speakeasy' theme for the evening, including a quiz (we didn't win).

We had a lovely cocktail on arrival, made with - if I remember correctly - champagne, gin, lemonade and a brandy topper; very nice, then a small selection of canapés. Next were some stuffed mushrooms and then our chosen main course of duck breast (nicely pink) with a subtle Chinese-flavoured sauce, rice and mange tout. To follow, Ian had a trio of desserts (no wonder he's looking so happy!) and I had a delicious selection of cheese and biscuits.

As we dined we could see a variety of people walking past the restaurant variously costumed as Roman soldiers, pirates, a line of 'prisoners' in orange overalls chained together, the tin man, dinosaurs, cowboys, a group of Worzel Gummidge lookalikes, various animals, fairies, ghouls and much more.

Sadly, my camera was playing up and refused to flash, even with the correct setting, so this is the only picture I managed to get of passing revellers.

Just before midnight we went outside onto the harbour and counted down the last five seconds with everyone else. Fortunately for everyone, the incessant rain and rain we'd been having in December had finally stopped earlier in the evening and the New Year started dry and not too cold. Let's hope it stays that way for a while, at least.

At around 12.30am (way past our bedtime!) we made our excuses and left to walk home. Hope Square was filled with people - mostly young - obviously intending to continue celebrating for a good while yet.

So, what will 2013 bring us? 2012 is certainly a hard act to follow, what with the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Paralympics and moving house. We will be getting on with improvements and updates to our house and hopefully will find some time for a decent holiday this year.

Wishing you every blessing for 2013.