Autism – Page 2

Pensthorpe 2025 1: Setting the Scene

The opening post in what wiull be a series about the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve.

Yesterday saw the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe, a nature reserve near the town of Fakenham in Norfolk. This post lays out the day and introduces areas of the reserve that I will be covering in more detail, before ending with some general Pensthorpe pictures that don’t belong in any particular post. Please note for both this and subsequent posts in the series: a gallery can be opened by clicking on the first picture there in, and viewing pictures as a gallery enables them to be seen at larger size.

THE DAY IN BRIEF

Some of those coming on this trip had chosen to make their own way to Pensthorpe and meet us there, but for those who either did not wish to do this or had no option of doing so a coach had been hired. Departure from the parking area near Gaywood Library (King’s Lynn and its environs are not massively equipped with places where a coach can park up) was scheduled for 9:30AM, meaning that to ensure a prompt departure we had to get there a bit before that to take our places. As it happens other than the driver and his young son who was also along for the day I was the first to arrive and board the coach. We set off exactly at the appointed hour, and pulled into the coach parking area at Pensthorpe at approximately 10:15 (Pensthorpe when approached from King’s Lynn is a little further than Fakenham, and a road diversion forced us closer to the centre of Fakenham than would have been normal for a journey to Pensthorpe). After a group photograph using the coach as a backdrop we were ready to start the day in earnest. Equipped with brightly coloured paper wristbands by way of indicating that our admission was paid we set off. The only absolutely fixed points of the day were the trailer rides (I was booked on the second of the two we had organized, due to depart at noon) and the return journey, scheduled for 3:15PM (and we departed exactly on time, arriving back at Gaywood just after 4PM). The rest was up to us. There is a huge amount to see and to do at Pensthorpe, and the next section briefly introduces some of things I did, with photographic highlights.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

One of my favoured areas at Pensthorpe is the Waders Aviary, to which I made several visits (it is centrally located, so on the way to or from almost anywhere on the site).

Not all of the birds in the Waders Aviary are actually Waders.

Also ideally located for dipping in and out of as and when is the Discovery Centre.

The Trailer Ride is as far as I am concerned an essential part of the Pensthorpe experience:

My other great favourite, which I visited twice in the course of the day, is the Crane and Flamingo area.

These are neither crane nor flamingo, but were to be seen in between the Flamingo pool and the Crane hide.

GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHS

I end with photos from non-specific parts of Pensthorpe:

A nesting coot (moorhens also build floating nests).

The Final Day of Round One of the County Championship

A look back at the final day of the opening round of County Championship 2025 fixtures, my pictures of the WNAG third birthday cake and my regular photo gallery.

Monday was day four of the opening round of County Championship matches, and I was too taken up with following the action to write about it at the time. This post looks back at the events of that final day.

TO THE WIRE

At just before 7PM on Monday the penultimate ball of the only match still in action by then, Middlesex v Lancashire, was a dot ball, leaving Lancashire eight down, but with only ball left, and therefore the draw secured. It was the fourth draw in the opening round of fixtures, but of those draws only one could be accused of dullness. Sussex unaccountably batted on in their second innings until not long before tea on the final day by when they were over 380 ahead of Warwickshire. Sussex’s refusal to declare earlier when the fourth innings would have been meaningful condemned that game to a stalemate. The next match to end in a draw was the one I listened to for most of its duration, Essex v Surrey. There was almost half an hour left when the players shook hands, but Surrey had just moved into the lead for the first time of the match, meaning that Essex needed not just to complete the bowl out of Surrey, which was far from done in any case, but also would have had to do at least some batting, Sibley had batted well for Surrey in that third innings, and Foakes followed his first innings 92 with another half century second time round. When this match ended I turned my attention to Somerset v Worcestershire where Worcestershire were mounting a determined rearguard action, while spinners Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan tried to get through their defences. By the time I joined the coverage Matthew Waite was batting with number 11 Tom Hinley. With Waite being right handed and Hinley left handed they followed a policy of Waite facing Vaughan and Hinley facing Leach so that each batter faced a bowler who was turning the ball into them. Leach had a couple of vociferous LBW appeals against Hinley turned down. Somerset did well to get into position for one final over with the clock showing 17:59 (with spinners doing the bulk of the bowling they were a country mile ahead of the required over rate so the close of play was being settled by the clock, not the over count). Leach, wheeling down his 65th over of the innings (and precisely the 200th over of the innings in total), could find no way through and Worcestershire, nine second innings wickets gone and still in deficit, had escaped with a draw. Other than Leach, whose five wickets in this marathon second innings took his tally in first class cricket to exactly 500 and to a lesser extent Vaughan, who topped 50 overs for the innings, the other person who would have been especially disappointed that Somerset could not get that final wicket was Tom Banton whose new county record 371 was not rewarded with a win. Waite had faced over 300 balls in total, and finished unbeaten on 87, while Hinley, the Worcestershire number 11, had held out for 45 balls in support of him. By now, between the definite results and the accepted draws the only game still in action was Middlesex v Lancashire, so I listened to the closing stages of that game, and for the third time in a day witnessed the ending of drawn match which was nevertheless without a hint of dullness.

CAKE PICTURES

As listeners to TMS can confirm cake and cricket have something of an association. On Sunday I mentioned the cake for the West Norfolk Autism Group’s third birthday and promised pictures of it to come. Here they are…

A first glimpse of the inside of the cake.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

County Championship Day Three

A look at developments on day three of the county championship and a large photo gallery.

This post looks at developments on day three of the county championship. I missed the evening session as there was a bowling session at Strikes which served both as the West Norfolk Autism Group’s third birthday event and as our official World Autism Week event. The birthday cake was spectacular – the pictures will be in tomorrow’s post.

A COUNTY RECORD SCORE

Tom Banton of Somerset had already beaten the individual record for Somerset (342 by Justin Langer) by the close of play yesterday, and today he went on to a final score of 371, the third highest at Taunton (behind Archie MacLaren’s 424 in 1895 and Graeme Hick’s 405 not out in 1988. Other than these two only Brian Lara’s all time FC record 501 not out for Warwickshire v Durham and Sam Northeast’s 410 for Glamorgan against Lancashire are ahead of him in English FC cricket. Somerset declared when he was dismissed, their score being 670-7, a first innings lead of 516 over Worcestershire (nowhere near the record – Victoria led NSW by 886 on first innings in 1926 – 1,107 plays 221, and Railways led Dera Ismail Khan by 878 in 1964 – 910-6 declared plays 878). Worcestershire have batted better second time round, but at 280-5 they are still 236 short of avoiding the innings defeat.

TWO RESULTS

Although today is only day three of four two matches are already done – Kent beat Northamptonshire by 145 run early this morning, and Hampshire completed a five-wicket win over Hampshire this evening.

ESSEX v SURREY

Some brilliant bowling by Essex, especially Simon Harmer, had Surrey in deep trouble at 180-6, 402 in arrears. However a lower order fightback led by Ben Foakes (92), with significant contributions from Jordan Clark, Matthew Fisher and James Taylor got Surrey to 365, still 217 short of Essex’s score. Essex enforced the follow-on, as they pretty much had to, but Burns and Sibley survived the six overs that remained in the day unscathed. Surrey will resume tomorrow on 9-0 in their second innings, 208 adrift. Simon Harmer, on a surface that was offering little to any bowler toiled away to record first innings figures of 47-12-83-4, outstanding in the circumstances. Essex’s three top class seamers Porter, Cook and Snater all had respectable figures as well. Sam Cook should be an England bowler before the season is out, while Snater has played many matches for the Netherlands. Porter is unlikely to get the call up this late in his career, and the reason he has missed out for all his effectiveness over many years is that he lacks pace (even Sam Cook, probably the quickest od the trio, is not by any means an express bowler).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today is apparently Dandelion Day, which is why i chose the feature image I did. There is more about these plants here. Now for the gallery…

India Win Champions Trophy

A look back at the Champions trophy final, an account of a pizza making session, a new bird sighting and a regular photo gallery.

The final of the Champions Trophy took place yesterday in Dubai, between India and New Zealand. This post briefly looks back at what happened in that match.

20 RUNS SHORT

New Zealand won the toss and batted first. They started well, with Rachin Ravindra looking in prime form but then lost three wickets in quick succession including Kane Williamson cheaply. I was out for most of the rest of the New Zealand innings after the derailment, arriving back from my morning commitment with the Indian reply under way. New Zealand had finished with a score of 251, respectable, but even on a Dubai surface that is not easy to score quickly on probably 20 runs less than they had needed to make it a really competitive game. Rohit Sharma gave the Indian innings a blazing start, putting them well ahead of the rate. The New Zealand spinners, Santner, Michael Bracewell (at least the fourth of his family after John, Brendan and Doug to play for New Zealand), Phillips and Ravindra all acquitted themselves nobly, Bracewell’s figures in particular being outstanding. The problem was, with Matt Henry out injured the pace element of the attack, O’Rourke, Nathan Smith and the giant Jamieson looked below par, and none distinguished themselves, all proving relatively easy to play on a surface that offered zero encouragement to pacers. Jamieson for all his legendary high release point does not have all that much pace anyway, not even always hitting 80mph. The run chase was tantalizing – every time India seemed away and clear a wicket fell, to just open up the hint of a possibility for New Zealand. In the end the cool head of KL Rahul, assisted in muscular fashion by Hardik Pandya, who fell just before the end, proved decisive. It was another veteran, Ravindra Jadeja who got to hit the winning runs, a four off the final ball of the 49th over, bowled by O’Rourke. India had four wickets in hand, although the fact that Shami was scheduled to come in next suggests that last three of those wickets weren’t worth very much. Rachin Ravindra with 263 runs and 3 wickets across the tournament was Player of the Series, while Rohit Sharma’s 76 (83) won him Player of the Match. Had New Zealand won Michael Bracewell, with 53 not out off 40 balls and 10-1-28-2 would have been Player of the Match for sure. Scorecard here.

PIZZA MAKING

Yesterday morning was an autistic adults Pizza Making event at Pizza Express in King’s Lynn town centre. I was one of the participants…

One starts with a lump of dough and some flour…

GOOSANDER PAIR IN KING’S LYNN

I have a new bird sighting to report. This morning, between the Nar Outfall and the path through Hardings Pits I spotted what a combination of my bird book and mastodon (where I posted a photograph with my identification and got a positive response). Here is a screenshot of the mastodon exchange…

Here are all my photos of the pair of Goosanders (and a reminder – to view a photo at larger size just click on it(…

PHOTOGRAPHS

To end this post here is the rest of my photo gallery…

England Win In Six Nations

A brief account of England’s last gasp win over France in the Six Nations rugby, a mention of the West Norfolk Autism Group including photos of our office spacr, and a large photo gallery.

There have been two Six Nations rugby matches today. In the first Wales’ recent miseries continued as Italy beat them, meaning that this Welsh side are now holders of an unwanted record – no other Welsh side has ever lost 14 consecutive matches as this one now has. The second game, which ended just a few minutes ago saw England facing France.

The Latest of Late Winners

Having been beaten by Ireland last time out England needed to win this match, while France had hammered Wales in their first game of the tournament. France were not at their best at any stage of this match, but heading towards the end of the match it looked like they had done enough. There were 79 minutes gone (Rugby Union matches are supposed to last 80 minutes), with France ahead by 25 points to 19 when Elliot Daly received an excellent pass from Fin Smith and scored close to the posts. Smith then added the conversion to make it England 26 France 25. There were some nervy moments even then in the very closing stages, but England held on and secured the win. England have lately been struggling to close out games, but this time it was their opponents who suffered the late reverse.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before I get to the main gallery, Friday was the AGM of the West Norfolk Autism Group, and our office space in West Lynn is now fully functional…

These first three shots show the little sensory room in one corner of the space.

Now for my regular gallery…

A BBL Double Header

Brief accounts of todays BBL matches and two photo galleries.

Greetings from a chilly King’s Lynn (officially the outside temperature is just into positive figures right now, which is a rarity this last week). This morning there were two Big Bash League games. The early game saw Perth Scorchers in action against Sydney Sixers and the later game saw Adelaide Strikers face Brisbane Heat.

SIXERS v SCORCHERS

The Perth Scorchers won the toss and put Sydney Sixers in. At first this move looked like working well – at the end of their four over opening Power Play the Sixers were 19-1. However, the Sixers would compensate for their slow start with a vengeance. By the end of the 10th over Sixers had recovered to 80-2. The Sydney innings was ignited by their Power Surge, which they took for overs 13 and 14 of the innings. They belted those two overs for 35 in total without losing a wicket. They topped 150 off the last ball of the 16th over. Even then Scorchers might have had a chance in the chase, but the last four overs were absolute carnage – 70 runs in total came off them. Sixers thus ended up with 220 to defend. The chief architect of their huge total was Steve Smith, who had been dropped early in his innings, scoring 121 off 64 balls. Moises Henriques scored 46 off 28 balls, and Ben Dwarshuis gave the total a final push into the stratosphere with 23 not out off seven balls at the end. The worst sufferer among the Scorchers bowlers was Andrew Tye, 4-0-62-0.

Scorchers were never in the hunt, and even a seventh wicket stand of 76 between Ashton Turner and Matthew Spoors only reduced the margin of defeat. In the end there were only 16 runs in it. Sean Abbott took 4-43.

PHOTO GALLERY ONE

I am splitting today’s gallery because it is very large…

STRIKERS v HEAT

Heat won the toss, and just as Scorchers had earlier on they opted to bowl first. In their case there was never even a moment of doubt as to just how appallingly that decision had backfired – by the end of their four over opening Power Play the Strikers were 62-0. The field dropping back did not massively slow them,, the opening stand reaching 121 in 8.5 overs before Chris Lynn fell for 47 off 20 balls. Matthew Short continued to blaze away, ultimately scoring 109 off 54 balls. Alex Ross contributed 44 not out off 19 balls, and D’Arcy Short 16* off 10 balls. Strikers had 251-5 from their 20 overs, the second highest total in the history of the BBL. Heat, batting second, under floodlights and with their opponents bowling and fielding in less hot conditions then they themselves had endured earlier fared well in normal terms, but such was the magnitude of the challenge that they never looked remotely capable of surmounting it. A collapse from 146-3 to 158-9 merely underlined the hopelessness of the position in which they had put themselves. The last pair raised that score by 37, though the target had long since become a distant dream, and midway through the 19th over the asking rate went beyond six per ball. D’Arcy Short had 4-15 from three overs of left arm wrist spin and also held two catches in the field, but it was the other Short, Matthew, who was named Player of the Match for his ton and some clever captaincy. Strikers had won by 56 runs, and moved off the bottom of the table. Heat are now in serious trouble, hitting poor form at the wrong time, and probably about to be deprived of Colin Munro due to injury – he batted well down the order today for that reason, while Strikers, for all that are firmly in the last chance saloon even after this win look better placed to grab a qualifying spot, as they are finding form at the right time of the season. It seems to me, following from afar, that too many BBL skippers who win the toss put their opponents in without thought, and today the policy resulted in two losses, both in games that realistically speaking were settled by the end of the first 20 overs.

PHOTO GALLERY TWO

This picture was taken from west of the Great Ouse – yesterday morning was a West Norfolk Autism Group committee meeting in our office space which is just west of the river.

This was my first picture of yesterday’s second walk.

These last six pictures starting with this one are from today.

Day Four at the MCG

A look back at fay four at the MCG and a large picture gallery.

This post looks back at the events of day four of the test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A DAY OF UPS AND DOWNS

At one point after a great spell of bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, in the course of which he became a member of a club of one – bowlers with 200+ test wickets at under 20 a piece (among those whose careers have ended only Syd Barnes with 189 scalps at 16.43 each even has over 150 at under 20) – Australia were 91-6, 196 runs ahead. By the end of the day they were 228-9, 333 runs to the good. That margin is significant – the biggest ever successful fourth innings chase at this ground was 332-7 by England in the 1928-9 Ashes, Herbert Sutcliffe chiselling out 135, his second Ashes settling innings in two and a half years, following his 161 at the Oval in 1926 which left England with an effectively unassailable lead going into the fourth innings. However, in giving themselves this many to defend but not as yet declaring (an overnight declaration is possible), Australia may well have deprived themselves of sufficient time to dismiss India in the fourth innings – and Australia are more in need of a win than India, who as holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy need only to draw the series to retain it. Bumrah’s burst notwithstanding it has to be classed as Australia’s day, but it has a dog-in-the-manger feel to it with Australia not in a position to take that attitude.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Today there was a WNAG pizza making session at Pizza Express. This was my product in its finished state.

The Upcoming WBBL Final

A look ahead to the final of WBBL10 and a large photo gallery.

We now know who the contending teams will be in the final of the Women’s Big Bash League 2024, which takes place early tomorrow morning UK time. This post looks at those two sides and their routes to the final.

MELBOURNE RENEGADES

This is a story of remarkable turnaround in the space of a single year. Last year the Renegades were something of a joke franchise, whereas this year they have taken the most direct route to the final – they won the league stage outright, thereby not only qualifying directly for the final but getting to play that match at home, which since it is the final means at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG, or for locals ‘The G’ for short). Renegades have never previously made a final, and were wooden spoonists last year (an unwanted distinction that stays in Melbourne, with Melbourne Stars this years wooden spoonists). Renegades have a history of being overly conservative, and one huge reason that no longer applies is the presence of Deandra Dottin, who had not played a professional match in over a year when the Renegades signed her but has been excellent this tournament. Dottin is one of two West Indies aces in the Renegades line up, along with opening batter cum off spinner Hayley Matthews. Wicket keeper Nicole Faltum has also been a crucial cog, scoring important runs as well as doing her main job.

BRISBANE HEAT

Brisbane Heat brushed Sydney Thunder aside as dismissively as an Aussie in summer brushes flies aside, winning the Challenger match by nine wickets with 4.4 overs to spare. This was Heat’s sixth successive match win. They had finished second in the league stage which meant they were at home for the Challenger match. Heat look be peaking at precisely the right time, and as part of that opening batter/ keeper Georgia Redmayne produced her best batting form of the tournament in the Challenger match. A minor concern is an injury to Indian star Jemimah Rodrigues who who had to retire hurt with a left wrist injury, sustained initially in the field and aggravated while batting in that chase. The biggest stories of Heat’s tournament which could see them become the first ever three-time champions of this competition have been two youngsters. Heat lost the services of a pacer and of leg spinning all rounder Amelia Kerr. A like for like replacement for Kerr does not exist, and in the event Heat filled both gaps by promoting youngsters to first team status. Lucy Hamilton, a left arm pacer, and Grace Parsons, a leg spinner have both bowled superbly this tournament, while veteran Indian seamer Shikha Pandey has also been notably economical. Hamilton, an 18 year old from the sugar town of Bundaberg, has taken 11 wickets at 16.54, with an ER of 6.50, and her best figures are a barely credible 5-8 from a full four overs. Parsons, 21 years old, has taken 10 wickets at 21.80, with an ER of 6.81 and a best of 3-10. 35 year old Pandey, the third bowler I mentioned, has taken 12 wickets at 22.00 with an ER of 6.76 and a best of 2-14. Her experience and consistency has helped to ease the path for the two youngsters. Heat have the form, Renegades have the status as winners of the league stage, and there is a third factor – the weather forecast for Melbourne is not good, though there is a reserve day available for the final.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have not posted since Wednesday, with Thursday being a work day and yesterday being the day of the WNAG committee Christmas meal, so even though the weather has not always been good for photography in the period concerned I have a decent sized gallery…

Possibly the thinnest crescent moon I have ever seen.

Invincibles Boss London Derby

A look back at the early game in The Hundred today and a two part photo gallery – some of my regular stuff and a lot of owl pictures, taken at a Norfolk Owls session yesterday.

The early game in the Hundred today was between Oval Invincibles and London Spirit, at The Oval. This post looks back at that match.

THE SPIRIT INNINGS

The Invincibles won the toss and elected to field first. Spirit started atrociously, and when Charlie Dean gifted her wicket to left arm spinner Sophia Smale the score was 47-7 and it looked like we were going to be in for a very short game. However Eva Gray lived up to her team’s moniker, playing a very spirited innings of 28 off 22 balls, providing excellent support to Indian all rounder Deepti Sharma. Gray was eighth out with the score at 103. Sarah Glenn scored 2*, but her main role was to support Deepti Sharma which she did excellently, and the end of their innings Spirit had 120-8 to defend, with Sharma having scored 46* (30).

THE INVINCIBLES CHASE

Invincibles started slowly, with Chamari Atthapaththu continuing to struggle for form, scoring 11 off 19 balls, and number three Alice Capsey also scored at less than a run a ball, managing 13 off 14. However Invincibles’ skipper Winfield-Hill was going well, and she now found an excellent partner in Marizanne Kapp. This pair were still together when Invincibles completed victory with nine balls to spare. Winfield-Hill had 61* (40), a performance that would win her the Player of the Match award, while Kapp with 30* (18) had also batted superbly. Invincibles are second in the table, behind Welsh Fire on net run rate. A by-product of this result was that Manchester Originals, currently in action against Northern Superchargers, were officially eliminated even before their match started.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today my gallery comes in two parts, first of all some of my regular pictures…

The second part of today’s gallery comes from yesterday early afternoon when there was a Norfolk Owls session for autistic people at the Scout Hut on Beulah Street. There were a number of different species of owl, ranging from very small (similar in weight to the mice that are its foodstuff) to gigantic (an eagle owl with a wing span of 6’4″). We were given plenty of information about owls, including the excellence of their sight and hearing. At the end of the session we got to handle two of the owls, one very small one and the eagle owl.

Different Format, Same Result

Yesterday, following on from the ODI series that in which England Women comfortably won all three matches the T20I series between the England and New Zealand women’s teams got underway.

THE ENGLAND INNINGS

England found themselves batting first. They were given a strong start by Danni Wyatt and Maia Bouchier, the former being preferred in T20Is to Tammy Beaumont, who was in the commentary box instead. Bouchier’s dismissal brought Natalie Sciver-Brunt to the crease, and she immediately put the Kiwis to the sword, making even Wyatt look somewhat pedestrian by comparison. Wyatt entered the record books when she brought up her 17th T20I 50, moving ahead of Sarah Taylor to the top of the England list of makers of such scores. Sciver-Brunt was already into the 40s by then, but she finally fell just short of 50. The left handed Freya Kemp maintained the momentum. Wyatt’s innings ended for 76. England finished with 197-3 from their 20 overs.

THE NEW ZEALAND RESPONSE

New Zealand started fairly well, although they were always behind the required rate. As had been a regular theme of the ODI series it was the spinners (of whom England had no fewer than four for this match, with a series in Bangladesh coming up in the futures) who applied a chokehold from which the Kiwis could not escape. At 63-1 New Zealand seemed to be faring respectably, especially given that the only one to go, Georgia Plimmer, had been run out, her third such dismissal in four innings. Once the second wicket fell however the floodgates opened, with leg spinner Sarah Glenn claiming three scalps in a single over, and Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone picking up a wicket the score soon read 67-6. Jess Kerr, sister of leg spinning all rounder Amelia Kerr, batted in a manner that should have caused some of the more senior Kiwi batters no little embarrassment, making 38 to give the Kiwis a hint of respectability. Near the end the fourth front line England spinner, Linsey Smith, picked up a wicket. New Zealand finished with 138-9, beaten by 59 runs, which in a T20 is an absolute pummelling. Scorecard here.

PIZZA MAKING

Today there was a Pizza making session for autistic adults at the King’s Lynn branch of Pizza Express. Great fun was had by all, and my Pizza was certainly good.

The base in the tray in which the pizza would be cooked.

The above show stages in the preparation of the pizza, and below is the final outcome…

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off, in two parts, from yesterday and today…

Part 2…

	London Underground t… on Project Piccadilly
	Thomas on All Time XIs – Detective…
	Anna on All Time XIs – Detective…
	amsutcliffebtinterne… on All Time XIs – Detective…
	All Time XIs –… on The Museum Detectives