Author: Thomas

I have just spent a very enjoyable three days based in the historic capital of Mercia, Repton. My mother is doing a terms teaching at the school where C B Fry enjoyed his education and Roald Dahl endured his.

On the first of my two full days there I travelled to the surprisingly scenic town of Burton on Trent. The approach by bus, whichever route you come in by from the direction of Derby prepares one to be unimpressed, which makes the town more appealing once you get there. There is a surprisingly well kept and attractive pedestrianised precinct, some parkland by the river and a gem of an establishment connected to the latter called The Park (Old Peculier at £2.05 a pint being one of its virtues).

On day two I visited Derby, and found it to be a very attractive town as well, doing a good job of displaying its historic bits to best effect. The day was marred slightly by the fact that I got on the wrong bus out of Derby and could not get back on the right bus until Burton. This meant that I was only just back in time for supper before heading out for our one evening engagement, a concert in the school’s music centre given by the Carducci String Quartet. This was quite simply magnificent, starting with a classic from Haydn, taking in a piece by Shostakovich written when he was doing his own thing and ending with one of Dvorak’s American compositions.

When I got back home yesterday afternoon I was seriously overheated from the journey and really not good for much. The return journey took longer than the outward one had, as a a ten-minute delay at Willington (nearest train station to Repton) meant arriving at Peterborough half an hour later than intended, and the bus back from Peterborough to Lynn was then delayed as well. I could have done the whole journey by train but that would have added a change at Ely to an already multi-stage process.

Two photos this time – one of my share of a potato harvest from my aunt’s allotment, the other a standard “View from the rooftop”.

What a few days we have had in world of sport! A US Open final in which tennis was taken to new heights, especially by the amazing Novak Djokovic, who is heading for the best season in modern tennism having last only two matches so far (as opposed to the previous record for a full season of three by John McEnroe).

England (with the last match underway at 2:00PM today) have already settled the one-day series v India. While for the second year in succession the County Championship went down to the last session of the last day of the season, ending with Lancashire’s first outright championship since 1934 as they beat Somerset and already relegated Hampshire baulked Warwickshire, largely through South African stonewaller Neil McKenzie.

This week also saw the first ever day-night championship match in this country. While I am all in favour of new ideas being given a fair trial I have to say that this country is the least suited of all major cricket playing countries to day-night cricket because of the extended twilight period we get. I am fortunate enough to have watched day-night stuff at the Adelaide Oval where one barely notices the transition from natural light to floodlights because there is little twilight and because they have superb floodlights.

Today’s “View from the Rooftop” is of an apartment block called the Granaries. When looking at flats I viewed one in there. All I will say about the inside of that building is never mind cats, one would be hardpressed to swing a mouse in one of those flats. However the external view is quite decent:

England could settle the one-day series v Indis today to complete a superb summer. Meanwhile in at the US Open, although it was business as usual in the seniors with Murray losing a classic semi-final, three of the four semi-fiinalists in the boys singles were Brits.

I have discovered that the wilko’s whizzer bought as part of my house move does a wonderful job of preparing ginger paste.

The county championship is going down to the wire in both divisions. In division one Warwickshire have a 3 point lead (with a possible 24 points to be obtained in the final game) over Lancashire who won their match against Hampshire with three minutes to spare. In the second division there is a three way tussle between Surrey, Northants and Gloucs for the second promotion slot behind Middlesex. The highlight of yesterday’s play was the  bowling of Simon Kerrigan in the Lancashire victory over Hamsphire (9-51, while the much more experienced spinner Gary Keedy had to settle for one at the other end).

I conclude this post with another view from the rooftop, something I intend to become a regular feature of this blog, the centrepiece this time a ridiculously grand looking Almshouse complex (no, I do not have the sun at my command, I am merely adept at choosing when to take my pictures:

It has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened in that period. My broadband connection is at long last up and running, two weeks later than planned. Twice engineers who had been booked to connect me failed to show, and finally at the third time of asking I was assigned to someone who is actually based in King’s Lynn, who did the job very swiftly.

The new place is working out very well, although the move itself was exhausting. Since my last post England have been offically confirmed as world test cricket number one after two extraordinarily dominant displays to complete a 4-0 whitewash of the previous incumbents India.

THE WEEKEND has been and gone and was enjoyed by all. The russian meal at Rasputin’s was excellent, as was the barbecue that evening. Even Sunday lunch (“leftovers”) was quite impressive. Most of the quadruple size loaf of bread I baked for the occasion went, although the remainder was sufficient to provide my bread for most of the following week.

One advantage of being two floors up is that one has wonderful views as the photo with which I conclude this post indicates (the building in the centre of the shot is grade 1 listed). Now that my broadband is connected there will be no more hiatuses between posts like the last one.

On Thursday I got hold of some extraordinarily cheap furniture – a pair of sturdy dining chairs for £1, and a display unit for £16.

I had a very good time at Norwich Pride 2011 on Saturday, helping to run a stall, and taking part in the procession. The only downside was that I missed Stuart Broad’s hat trick.

England today completed a grand recovery from 124-8 on day 1, winning by a mere trifle of 319 runs! Broad kept England in it on 1st innings with 64 runs and six wickets, and added a blazing 44 in the second inninsg in a very different situation, messrs Bell, Pietersen, Prior and Bresnan having already pretty much done for India. It was very obvious from very early in the Indian second innings that the only question was when the victory would be completed. It was fitting that Stuart Broad, after such a marvellous all-round match performance took the final wicket. In my blog at the end of the first test I said that I reckoned that England would be world number one’s at test cricket by the end of the summer. Now, having witnessed this I say: ENGLAND WILL OFFICIALLY  BE WORLD NUMBER ONE AT TEST CRICKET BY THE END OF THE SUMMER. Stuart Broad has been confirmed as Man of the Match – any other decision, with all due respect to Ian Bell, would have been an outrage. Given his performance in the first match he must also be hot favourite for Player of the Series. This match showcased the current England side’s greatest asset – the ability to get through difficult situations. Twice in this match England were staring down both barrels (the second when India were 260-4, already 39 runs ahead on first innings)  and twice they extricated themselves, whereas once they were in command they never looked like letting the advantage slip. The Inidan skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has jujst received the a magnum of champagne, his reversal of the Ian Bell run out being confirmed as the winner of TMS’s Brian Johnston Champagne Moment.

Yesterday England completed a thumping victory over India to go 1-0 up in the four match series. The margin was 196 runs, there were still 30 possible overs to go when the last wicket fell and England had lost only 14 wickets in their two innings. Kevin Pietersen will be enjoying plenty of champagne having got the man of the match award for his 1st innings 202 not out and the Brian Johnston champagne moment for the series of bounndaries that completed said double hundred. I have no quarrel with either decision although Broad who made significant contributions to three of the four innings and Prior who played two fine innings and kept wicket superbly would both have been worthy winners of the man of the match award. Having witnessed via my digital radio the extent of England’s domination of this match I am now certain that by the end of this series England will be officially the best test match side in the world.

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough council’s planning committe held a public meeting today to discuss Norfolk County Council and Cory Wheelabrator’s plans to inflict an incinerator on us. They decided unanimously to oppose the granting of planning permission for this and to ask to relevant minister to call it in and take the decision out of the County Council’s hands (since they clearly cannot be trusted). Cory Wheelabrator sent one person to speak to suggest that that the dangers were being exaggerated, but no one from Norfolk County Council could be bothered to show up. It was a very good meeting, and hopefully another nail in the coffin of this daft project.

Spent yesterday evenin g having a wonderful time at a double bill concert in St Margarets Church as part of the King’s Lynn Festival. The early concert (7:00-8:30) featured four works for strings by Antonio Vivaldi magnificently played by a superb ensemble. Listening to this music made me feel sorry for those unfortunates whose only experience of Vivaldi is the butchered version of the Four Seasons played down the phone when someone sticks you on hold. The second concert featured a choice selection of Keyboard works by Johann Sebastian Bach, played with quite incredible virtuosity by Carole Cerasi on a Harpsichord. This emphasised the sheer folly of having Bach keyboard works played on a piano – it really should be a harpsichord or an organ.

To all the many people who have indicated liking my posts (12 WordPress messages, all positive, in my inbox) a big thankyou – it is appreciated.

As of yesterday evening it is confirmed that I will be moving to 117E High Street, King’s Lynn, PE30 1DD. This was so much the best of the properties I have looked at that after a second viewing yesterday the decision was made. I will be moving there during the week beginning 15th August. The picture below shows approach to the flat from the top of the final flight.

Yesterday evening the King’s Lynn Festival featured a talk on Pompeii and Herculaneum by Professor Wallace-Hadrill, a world renowned expert in the field. The talk was extremely interesting, and all but one of the questions from the floor were sensible.

During the day I was viewing properties for rent in King’s Lynn. This came about because it has become obvious that Genesis Housing is not a suitable option. I had come up with a list of six properties which warranted further investigation, four of which my mother had arranged for us to see yesterday, while we are waiting on the other two. In addition to the four I had noted Abbotts thought that they had another worth viewing. The first property, a third floor flat in The Granaries was far too small. The second, a flat overlooking the High Street, was the best we saw all day, not only being spacious and well-organised but also possessing outside space – a real bonus. The extra property, 9 Priory Lane came next, and was so badly afflicted with damp as to entirely cancel out it’s advantages. The other two properties, viewed later in the afternoon, were in an area that had some very obvious problems. The first of these, on North Everard Street was absolutely hopeless. The place in Valingers Road was better but still not great. Only the property overlooking the High Street is worth following up on. I include a couple of photos taken from the outside space belonging to this property: