It's not very often that we have a lot to shout about here in Derby when it comes to football, but tonight Derby won again!

Six wins out of six in November - 18 points in the bag! Let's just hope they can keep it going!

At least we will not be reading the same old story in the papers... "If only we had done better before Christmas!"

After tonight’s win Derby are now just one point away from the top of the table. Fingers crossed for the rest of the season!

Not much going on but here’s a quick catch-up!

Saturday was a day off work so Lynda and I took a quick trip into Derby - haircut for me, moved some money around different bank accounts so I can pay for the PC I had back in January (I love interest free credit!) and also purchased some new insoles for my walking boots. With a bit of luck the insoles may help with the damn blisters I get on long walks! I’m not holding my breath on that one though!

By Sunday morning, the heavy rain and strong winds of Friday and Saturday had passed so it was all go for a walk around Carsington Water. The plan was to meet Mel at 9:30AM - I arrived at just after 9:15AM and expected a long wait - time keeping IS NOT something Mel does! Much to my amazement by 9:35AM, we had started walking! Guess there’s a first time for everything.

Even after all the rain we’d had the paths around the reservoir weren’t too muddy with only the odd place or two that had us picking our way around areas of deep mud. For the first hour or so, the weather was a little dull and overcast but by around 10:45AM the sun was starting to break through. The rest of the morning was bright, and at times, even a little warm.

The new insoles in my boots seemed to work OK - a longer walk when my feet have fully recovered from the BHF walk will be the real test though, - but just under a mile from the end of the walk we did have to take a little rest, at the Miners Arms in Carsington village! A swift pint of bitter shandy and I was ready to face the last little bit of the walk!

The sailing club - before the sun or the boats came out!

Looking back towards the dam wall.

The sun starts to appear and so do the boats!

Turning into a nice day now.

An old dovecote in Carsington village.

Stone mile post in Carsington village.

Fully fit

It is just over three days since I completed the BHF walk and I am now “fully fit” again! The blisters have gone, my legs feel fine and still no trouble with my knees.

On Monday, I took the easy option and went to work in the car - thought it best not to push my luck and I left the bike at home!

Yesterday I felt happy enough with both my fitness and the weather report and it was pedal power again, it actually felt good to be back on the bike.

Today, I chickened out and used the car again as the weather forecast was not good! As it turned out, I could have gotten away with cycling as the rain had eased by the time I finished work.

Tomorrow, it all depends on what greets me as I open the curtains! The forecast is for heavy rain and very strong winds tonight plus, Lynda is off work until Monday and needs the car! Guess I’ll be on my bike then!

If this stormy weather has blown itself out by Sunday, I will be out walking again. The plan is to do a lap of Carsington Water with Mel, a walk of around seven or eight miles depending on what route we take. More on that after the weekend, if we do the walk that is!

Damage assessment!

The final damage check is…

One very sore little toe nail - last year it was two! (and I lost both of them in the end!)
Three blisters - last year it was two!
Two aching legs - same as last year
And, so far, very little trouble with my knees - last year they both crippled me for at least two days!

So, some pains added, some taken away - all in all a very good day's walking!

The day started for me at 5:45AM when the alarm went off, and then it was a breakfast of sausage, scrambled egg and spaghetti on toast. By 7:15AM, I was on my way out of the house and heading to Cromford for the start of the British Heart Foundation High Peak Trail Walk.

Once at Cromford I met up with my friend Paul who was to take part in the walk with me. Now, at this point I need to explain very briefly about why it was just the two of us! At 7:00AM, I received a text message from Mel, who should have been with us, to say that her friend had had a fall whilst sorting out her things for the walk! The end result was Mel taking her to hospital for what turned out to be torn ligaments in her shoulder! Get well soon!

The start point.

Following a quick photo shoot at the start line, we set off to cover the 17.5 mile walk at 8:05AM. Forty-five minuets later, we were passing our first time check at Black Rocks. This first, very steep, section of the walk had taken exactly the same time as last year. From Black Rocks it was uphill again for another mile and a half until we reached Middleton Top. By this time we had made up 10 minutes on last year! So far so good, even the weather was dry, bright and sunny.

After the drinks station at Middleton came the longest section of the walk, 6.5 miles to Minninglow where the “soup kitchen” would await us! It was along this part of the trail that the weather took a slight turn for the worse. A hill fog came down for around 45 minutes. It wasn’t too thick but was just enough to reduce our visibility and also cover our clothing with a film of water. By 10:15AM, the sun was out again.

A quick time check on arrival at Minninglow showed that we were now just over half an hour up on last year's time and, more importantly to me, I was having no knee trouble! Minninglow also gave us a chance to sample the free soup and bread rolls that were on offer here - very nice they were too!

Time for lunch.

On the way again and a short 2.5 mile walk to Friden, our lunch stop. By now the sun was getting quite warm and, in the more sheltered sections of the trail, the temperature felt more like mid September than mid November. I even took my treasured scarf off! Our lunch break at Friden took just under 20 minutes, another time gain on last year. Setting off again reminded me that stopping isn’t always a good idea as my legs took a few steps to get going again! Still, at least my knees were working fine which is more than they were at this point last year!

Parsley Hay was now our target a further 2.5 miles down the trail. This was the section that really started to tell on me 12 months ago and, to be honest, I was just a little worried how I would get on this year. In the end I didn’t suffer too much at all, my knees still felt OK, the blisters that I had felt starting on the balls of my feet were no worse than they had been for a mile or two and we were still overtaking one or two of the early starters. That said, we didn’t stop at Parsley Hay and chose to carry straight on for the last two miles of the walk. It was at Parsley Hay last year than I wondered if my knees would hold out until the end and the pain almost became too much.

Right now, a beer would be good!

We covered the final 2 miles or so in half an hour, finishing at 1:25PM, a total time of 5hrs 20 minutes - 50 minutes quicker than last year. So, will I go through it all again next year? The next day or two will decide that, right now I’m too busy looking at mountain bike rides that the British Heart Foundation organise!

The rest of the walk photos are HERE!

Looking forward to tomorrow...

By this time tomorrow, I will have completed my British Heart Foundation sponsored walk. Well, I HOPE I will have! As I write I have sponsorship of almost £400, not quite the £500 that I would have liked to raise but still a fair amount I think.

I’ll be joined on the walk by my good friends Paul and Mel, that I walked with last year, and also a friend of Mel’s that has decided to join her on the walk too. We have arranged to meet at 8:00AM, half an hour before our official start time. With a bit of luck we will be able to get away a little early and avoid being part of a large starting group for the narrow first mile or so of the walk that follows the Cromford canal.

The weather forecast for Sunday has been getting better each day this week. On Wednesday, the outlook was for heavy rain and very strong winds. On Thursday, the forecast was for heavy rain clearing during the morning and still very strong winds. Last night the TV weather presenter admitted they had the forecast wrong! It now looks like it may be dry for most of the walk, depending on which internet site you look on and whether you choose Derby or Buxton as the search area!

DERBY
Mostly sunny.

Wind from the South/Southwest at 13MPH.

Temp. high 8°C / 46°F

BUXTON
Rain/Snow showers. Possible sunny spells later.

Wind from the South/Southwest at 13MPH.

Temp. high 4°C / 39°F

I think I like the Derby option myself and will be walking in those conditions! Please!

There is still time to sponsor me if you haven’t already. Either by adding your name to my sponsorship form or by going to - www.bhf.org.uk/sponsor/richardcrooks/

With luck, I will have some photos from the walk uploaded here tomorrow night.

Just a quick rundown of what has been going on these past few days…

Last Wednesday Lynda & I finished work early, rushed home, packed the car and headed off to Andover for a long weekend. We were visiting Lynda’s aunt and uncle.

On Thursday, we joined the Andover U3A Group for a walk around Upper Chute in Wiltshire. The walk took us just over 2 hours and covered a mix of open countryside, hedgerows and mixed woodland. The walk was very nice with plenty of things to look at along the way, especially the various fungi that we found! The end of the walk was even better - we had a rather nice lunch (with a pint and a whisky!) in The Cross Keys Inn, the starting point of the walk!

The Cross Keys Inn

More walk photos here!

On the Friday, we spent the morning bird watching at Langford Lakes nature reserve, again in Wiltshire. This was the first time I had visited this reserve and I was quite impressed. It’s not a huge place but, if it was local to home, would make a very good “local patch” site. In two hours, we saw 36 species including Kingfisher, Little Egret, Buzzard, Ruddy Duck and a single female Wigeon. A visit in spring could easily see the number of species doubled I would imagine.

Langford Lakes

After the morning's birding it was off to another pub for lunch again! This time is was The Rainbow on the Lake at nearby Steeple Langford. This was one of those pubs that I could have stayed in for the rest of the day! Plenty of original features mixed with a very pleasant restaurant area that overlooked the River Wylye and the surrounding countryside. The food was very good too!

Saturday and Sunday were “chill out” days before we had to, sadly, head back home on Sunday afternoon.

This week has been the usual so far… work, work and work! The weather kept me from using the bike to get to work on Monday, yesterday we FINALLY visited the gym again (must start and get back into the habit of going now!) and today I used the mountain bike for the work trip. I just about managed to get home before the rain started again!

So, that’s the past week or so! Next big thing is the British Heart Foundation walk on Sunday!

Another bike ride!

As the weather is still so good at the moment, I took the opportunity to put in a few more miles on the old mountain bike this morning. THIRTY more miles to be exact!

I was out of bed by just after 8:00am, had a light breakfast, checked the bike over and then set off. The route I had planned in my head was very similar to last weeks but with one or two extra bits added in to take the mileage up a little.

I joined the National Cycle Network Route 6 just around the corner from home and headed off towards Melbourne. At Kings Newton, I left the trail and headed into Melbourne via the road, from there I carried on to Staunton Harold Reservoir and another traffic free ride to Ticknall. There, it was another short road section until I reached the entrance to Calke Park. The ride through the park was one of the nicest sections of the ride… the sun was out, the trees full of colour as the leaves start to change and a herd of Longhorn cattle were grazing by the driveway.

Longhorn cattle in Calke Park.

From Calke Abbey I rejoined the road again and continued on to Breedon on the Hill. The church at Breedon is a place I had never been so, as I was close by, I took the opportunity to go and have a quick look. Now that I’ve been up there, I don’t have to do the climb again on my bike! There are some great views from the top but next time I think I’ll go up in the car!

Priory Church, Breedon on the Hill.

After coasting back down into Breedon, I carried on along the roads and headed for the start of the Cloud Trail, at Worthington. This marked the start of the return leg, about another 13 miles to reach Derby. As the trail follows a disused railway line, it is easy going with a firm surface all the way. Time to pick up a bit of speed and push the legs a little! My plan had been to follow the trail all the way back to home - that changed about half way back!

When I reached the canal path, near Weston on Trent, I left the National Cycle Network route and instead carried on towards Weston itself. This was a little trickier than the Route 6 section, with a narrow, single track, path that meant a bit more concentration was needed. One mistake could have meant a trip into the canal! Still, it all added to the fun! At Weston Lock, I left the canal and took to the country lanes again, first going through Weston and then Aston on Trent.

The canal near Weston on Trent.

All that was left then was one final, small, climb out of Aston as I headed for the outskirts of Chellaston and then the boring bit of riding back through the houses to home.

All in all another very good ride out. Having plotted my route on Google Earth when I returned home I found that I’d covered almost exactly 30 miles (Google reckons 30.08 miles!) in 2hrs 45, including stops to take photos, have a drink and eat a snack bar!

The rest of the photos are HERE!!!!!

A bit of an update!

Okay, so I’ve let this get a little bit out of date - SORRY! So, here is a quick (well, sort of quick!) run down of what’s been going on over the past three weeks or so…

Saturday October 7 - We spent the day at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest, with our friends Mark and Sheila and their three boys Adam, Charlie and Ben. It pretty well goes without saying that we had another great time! We started the day with breakfast in Chez Pierre before heading off into the swimming dome. The rest of the day was spent swimming, playing around on the water slides, being attacked by Adam, Charlie and Ben in the pool or just sat around watching the world go by, that and eating of course! In the evening we ate in Huckleberry’s the American themed restaurant.

Friday October 13 - Lynda and I went to The Flowerpot, in Derby, to see The Rattlers a local Derby based folk rock band. This was a typical Flowerpot gig! The place was just about packed out, the crowd were dancing around and cheering the band on from the very start and the place was rocking! I’ve been going to concerts/festivals of various sizes now for over 25 years and I still think that the smaller venues like this are so much better! The band is right in front of you, not little dots in the distance, the atmosphere is so much better and more often than not, there are NO chairs in the way! This is how music should be - LIVE AND PLAYED TO A CROWD! Sorry, got a little off topic there… the gig was great! Alan Woolley and the rest of the band played a cracking set that rocked from start to finish. I’m looking forward to the next Rattlers gig already.

Saturday October 14 - A change of pace after the previous night - Lynda and I went to the Derby Dance Centre to see Mark Gwynne Jones and the Psychicbread. A strange name but another great evening’s entertainment. A mix of poetry, comedy, songs, world music and, at times, a mix of everything at once! After I saw this act at the Off The Tracks Festival in September I said that I would go and see them again as soon as I could - second time around they were equally as good if not better than at Off The Tracks!

Friday October 20 - This was the start of a long weekend off work for us. After a rather later than normal start to the day Lynda and I headed off to Worcester for a couple of days. We spent the afternoon looking around the city centre and the shops before moving on to our hotel on the outskirts of the city. The early part of the evening was then spent in the Beefeater restaurant next door! An excellent meal with an equally good bottle of wine finished off the day for us.

The following morning was a very early start, as we had to be at Worcester railway station to catch a train at 6:00am! The early start was more than worth it though! We were to travel on The Cumbrian Mountain Express, a full day trip that would take us up to Preston where we would then be met by the steam loco 71000 Duke of Gloucester. This loco then hauled our train up over Shap Summit, through to Penrith and then Carlisle before travelling along the beautiful Settle to Carlisle line - in reverse of course!

71000 Duke of Gloucester

This trip was a birthday present to me from Lynda and it was the best day I could have asked for. We were served Bucks Fizz soon after the journey started, a full English breakfast, tea or coffee whenever we wanted, lunch, afternoon tea and a four course silver service dinner in the evening! This was rail travel as it should be!

It’s hard to pick out “highlights” of the day as everything was so good, but I will never forget the sight of the steam loco as it came into view at Preston. The speed at which we passed through Lancaster station - I’d guess we were travelling at around 100mph or more - with the whistle blasting from before the station came into view until we had passed out the other side was just amazing. The views from our carriage as we travelled along the Settle to Carlisle line were breathtaking and more than matched the stories I had heard about this legendary line.

One of the many great views!

Although we had been on the train for over 16 hours by the time we returned to Worcester it didn’t feel like a long day at all. The service provided by all the staff was first class, the food was excellent, the sight and sound of a steam hauled train was every big kids dream! This is most definitely something we will be doing again - maybe a different trip, maybe for more than one day!

CLICK HERE FOR TRIP PHOTOS!

Thursday October 26 - Started the day off with a bang! Rode to work on the mountain bike (it’s my preferred choice of transport for getting to work now) without any problems. As usual I rode straight into the workshop and headed for the door at the rear that leads into the parts dept. BIG MISTAKE! Wet mountain bike tyres + tiled floor + a corner = me and the bike in a big heap on the floor! I slid the best part of six feet whilst still attached to the bike pedals! Was a laugh though, and I didn’t even mark my new cycling jacket - I still know the best way to fall from a bike even after all these years!

Friday October 27 - Another live show, another change of style. This time we went to Derby Assembly Rooms to see Spirit of the Dance, the Irish dance show. This was another great evening’s entertainment - traditional Irish dance, Salsa, Flamenco, Scottish Highland Fling, Urban Street dance and even a little ballet - this show has something for everyone. We may try and get tickets for Riverdance next!

So, that just about brings things up to date I think, apart from Sunday just gone. The changing of the clocks meant I got an extra hour in bed but it was such a gorgeous day I decided to make the most of it and go for a quick ride out on the bike. A little over two hours, and thirty miles later, I returned home!

I had found a cycle route called the Cloud Trail on the internet and decided to give it a try. It runs from just around the corner from us and heads down to Worthington just to the south of Breedon On The Hill. On the way to Worthington I left the cycle trail and passed through the villages of Melbourne, Wilson, Breedon On The Hill and finally Worthington itself before rejoining the Cloud Trail and returning home. All I need to do now is find a way of adding some extra miles onto the bottom end of the trail that are on either a cycle route or away from major traffic.

The Worthington end of the trail.

One of the many old railway bridges on the trail.

Speeding towards home!

BHF UPDATE!

Evening!

I now have my on-line sponsorship page up and running for the 17 mile, BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION, sponsored walk that I will be doing in November. SPONSOR ME HERE!

This will be the second time that I have taken part in this event and I have set myself the target of raising £500 this year!

On top of the money that I manage to raise, there is the opportunity for an extra 28% to be claimed back from Mr Tax Man if you are a UK taxpayer and “Gift Aid” your donation. If I hit my £500 target that could mean up to an extra £140 goes to the BHF! And it doesn’t cost you a penny extra!

The on-line page is linked directly to the BHF and the money will transfer directly to them. I will also be taking sponsors on the more traditional “sponsorship form”!

If you would like any information on this walk, or would like to join in, then either e-mail me or leave a message in the comments section at the end of this post!

Please, if at all possible, add to my sponsors. Every little helps!

Near the end of the 2005 walk.

SPONSOR ME HERE!

BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION!

For once, I have very little to say!

However, what I do have to say is very important and I will be repeating it quite a lot over the next couple of months!

I am taking part in the British Heart Foundation, High Peak Trail, Winter Challenge Walk again this year, and, once all the paperwork is sorted out, I will be after sponsors again!

I will be creating an on-line sponsorship page again, just like last year, and once it is up and running I will post the link on here.

So, that’s my news - apart from telling you that all I’ve done for the past two days is sit in front of the TV watching the Ryder Cup Golf! What an amazing two days of play!

Oh, and we now have two cordless phones - one upstairs, one downstairs! Saves me running for the phone only to have it ring off just as I get there!

That’s me done!

Just remember to keep checking back for information on the walk! Anyone care to join in?

Two day recap

Well, the weather was much better than we expected yesterday - no rain, no tornado, even a little bit of sunshine!

The trip out on the Boston Belle was great. Lynda and I managed to see a total of 52 bird species, all from the comfort of the on-board bar! This was birding as it should be! Comfortable seats, under cover, out of the sea breeze, and with a bar that was open for the whole 4½hour trip.

We set off from Boston at 12:15pm and headed down river towards The Wash. Some of the more interesting birds on this first part of the journey included Curlew Sandpiper, Redshank, Greenshank, Little Egret and the sheer number of gulls, especially Great Black-backed Gull.

After a little over an hour, we reached The Wash and headed out in search of sea birds. As it was, the lack of even a moderate breeze meant that there was very little in the way of bird movement out on the sea. We did manage to spot a couple of Arctic Skua that were chasing a tern in an effort to rob it of the fish it was carrying! Four young Gannets were also seen some distance away from the boat, as was a single Common Scoter.

As the sea watching was so quiet the boat headed up the River Welland for a while in search of waders and harriers over the salt marsh. Along here we found Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Knot and Whimbrel to add to the wader list along with numerous Marsh Harriers, two or three Little Tern and a group of eight or nine seals that were out on one of the sandbanks.

The journey back up The Haven, into Boston, was a little quiet compared with our outward journey but we did still manage to add Goldfinch, Rook and Meadow Pipit to our list. All in all, a great way to spend an afternoon - very relaxing, some good birding and even a pint of beer with my lunch!

So, onto today. After a rather late start to the day, by my standards, I set off for the short drive down the M1 to the Melton Grass Track Club, arriving just after 11:15am. By the time I arrived Gary had the car unloaded and had been through scrutineering. All I needed to do was check the car for fuel, make sure that all the wheel nuts were torqued up correctly and refit the front spoiler to the front bumper! It looked as though Gary had been a little too close to the track markers last time out!

The first race for Gary was a straightforward affair; he drew an outside line grid position and, after a flying start, was never headed on the way to his first win of the day. The second heat went pretty much the same way - a mid track start this time, another good run to the first corner and from then on the rest of the field only saw his dust!

Just one more heat before the final and a little more competition made it on track. A V6, 2.8 litre, Vauxhall that, due to a cooling problem, hadn’t made it on track in the first two races. We knew that the final heat might not now be so easy! Sure enough, when the race started the extra power of the Vauxhall - Gary only races a 4cyl, 1800 engine! - rocketed it into an early lead. By the end of the second lap, the M219 MG was back out in front! Three races, three wins!

The final was almost a re-run of the third heat - Gary was beaten off the line by the V6 power, spent a couple of laps climbing all over the back bumper of the Vauxhall before charging down the inside line and grabbing the lead with a little over a lap and a half to go. Four out of four!

The final race of the day was the East Midlands Open - a handicapped start race, open to the final winner of each class. This was always going to be a hard race but Gary made it a whole lot harder by totally missing the start! As the flag dropped, and the other cars set off, Gary was caught napping! Everyone else had made four or five car lengths on him before he even turned a wheel!

For around two or three laps he drove like a man on a mission, holding off the quickest car of the day, a twin motorbike engined class 7, before making a slight mistake coming onto the start straight. In the bat of an eye, it was all over. A half spin, a couple of seconds on the brakes and there was no chance of making up lost ground. All that was left was a few laps to go and play. That little MG sure can make the tyres smoke when Gary decides to have fun! He burnt more rubber in the last two laps than many cars do in a season! Once back in the pits his smile said it all - we lost, but that was FUN!

And I thought last week was a “strange old week”, this one has been more so!

Work has been the opposite of last week - we’ve been quiet for the most part, but have been back to causing our own problems again! My views on this have been expressed in true Richard style! I got my point across, things WILL be reviewed!

Last night I finally went back to the gym, something I’ve been promising to do for far too long. It didn’t hurt quiet as much as I’d feared but I was more than pleased to get into the outdoor pool for a swim afterwards. My main workouts this week have been my mountain bike rides to and from work. I’ve used the bike on four out of five days this week and taken increasingly longer routes each day. Wednesday’s route actually took me about a mile and a half in the opposite direction to work before I rejoined one of my more regular tracks back into town.

The weather was the big talking point yesterday - Derby was hit by a tornado! Wind speeds are said to have reached 100mph at times and the rain was so heavy for a while that we couldn’t see across the road outside work. Numerous buildings were damaged, trees were felled and cars damaged. The storm hit other parts of the Midlands and North with tornados also reported in Leeds and Harrogate. All exciting stuff - for Derby!

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow because we are on a boat trip with the Derby RSPB Group. We will be taking a trip out into the Wash aboard the Boston Belle. I’m not sure just what we will see bird wise, but I’m still looking forward to the trip, as it will be something different to the usual land based outings. If nothing else, it may prove fun to see some of the faces onboard if the sea gets a little choppy!

On Sunday, all being well, I will be helping my mate Gary with his race car again. This will be only my third meeting of the year as Gary has taken a more relaxed approach to racing this year and only raced when he wanted to, rather than racing just because there was a meeting on. It makes the meetings we do attend a lot more fun but it doesn’t get the results we had last year! I just hope the wind, and rain, we had on Thursday doesn’t return!

This, I promise will be a short update! Well, shorter than my last post! What was I drinking that night?

It’s been a strange old week, work has been very busy but everything has run smoothly - that is a first! - so no real hardship there. Once again, we didn’t make it too the gym, it’s over a month since we were there now I think, but that WILL be put right tomorrow. I’m still enjoying using my mountain bike to get to work and back on and, in fact, am starting to take longer routes to work now, so that I can be on the bike for longer.

The past weekend was a mixture of feelings, some good, some, that I’m not going into here, not so good. Overall, it wasn’t too bad in the end; we went into Derby on Saturday, I had my haircut then we did a bit of shopping - bought some mudguards for the bike, so I can ride it through the winter - and also purchased tickets for Spirit Of The Dance, at the Assembly Rooms.

We also dropped in to The Flowerpot so that I could get our tickets to see Neverland in December. I would have sorted tickets for other gigs too, only they don’t take “plastic money” there! Cash is a little lacking this month so I had to settle for just the Neverland gig. Now though, I can get the tickets I wanted because on Saturday evening I won £50 on the Irish Lottery!

Off The Tracks!

Welcome to Off The Tracks! As an integral part of the 18th Off The Tracks festival, we are proud to present… the 21st Century Silk Road!

That was the greeting on the programme sheet being handed out at the entrance to the festival this weekend! Many of the artists had been chosen because their ancestral roots could be linked back to the ancient "Silk Road", which meant a wider range of musical styles than in some previous years.

Most of my weekend centred on the main stage placed, luckily, in a huge marquee adjoining the real ale bar and open courtyard. I say luckily because the weather was not the kindest I have seen at Off The Tracks! Over Friday, Saturday and Sunday we saw rain, strong winds, rain with strong winds and finally, on Sunday afternoon, bright sunshine, with strong winds!

So, who did I see, what music did I hear…

Friday evening started with The James Warner Prophecies, a five piece rock/acoustic band from here in Derbyshire. This was the first time I’d seen this band play but I’ll be keeping an eye on their gig lists from now on! They played a good mix of tracks from gentle acoustic songs to full-blown rock numbers! A band I’d definitely like to see again.

Next up was LaXuLa (a.m.a). Not a clue where they came from! Somewhere in the UK! This was the first of the “21st Century Silk Road” bands. They played a mix of music with strong Flamenco, Moorish and Latin influences. Throw in a selection of Arabic and rock and you just about have LaXuLa (a.m.a). Not sure I’d travel to see them - only because they aren’t really my sort of music - but, if they turn up on the bill of another festival, I’d watch ’em!

Final band on Friday was Transglobal Underground. This lot kicked up a stir! Transglobal just about covers their music style! A mix of just about every sort of music you could think of, all with Dance as their main aim. The crowd were packed in solid for this band - the marquee was, quite literally, heaving at the seams! The highlight for me was the appearance of a Dhol Drum during a number of the tracks played. This is one of my favourite instruments and, coupled with a Sitar, gave this band a real Indian feel. Great band, great music, the crowd loved them, and so did I!

Saturday at OTT started, for me, at around 1:30PM, after I’d been into work in the morning. The rain had been non stop until around midday but by the time I arrived at OTT it had stopped and things were starting to dry up in the strong wind. The only downside to the wind was that it was so strong that some of the stallholders had to pack up early because their tents were being pulled from the ground!

The first act I saw on Saturday was Mark Gwyn-Jones & Psychicbread. Another local act new to me, and this time the main part of the performance was poetry, and I sat and watched, enthralled! Not exactly what I had in mind for OTT but I’ll be at the next local performance they do! Top entertainment!

Next up came Cassava, another of the “21st Century Silk Road” bands. This was the first band that I have to say I didn’t really take to. Very good at what they did - it just wasn’t for me. They played a mix of Drum & Bass, Hip Hop, Dance style music that was never going to win me over. I watched around half of their set before going in search of food and a beer! A good bunch of musicians from Guyana, Jordan, India, Jamaica and even the UK, but not my scene.

Wholesome Fish, not what I found to eat but the next band on the main stage. A Nottingham based band that played, well, their own style of music. If you have to put each and every band into a style bracket then I guess Cajun would be OK here. Very upbeat at times, very in your face at others, sometimes just gentle harmonies. A very good festival band that got the crowd on their side and may well have gone down even better if they had been given a later time slot. Seven people having a great time on stage and passing on that good vibe to the crowd.

After a break of around an hour to reset the stage, check the sound system over and generally get the whole place ready for the evening session, it was time for Neverland. If this band hadn’t been on the programme at this autumn's Off The Tracks I’m not sure that I would have been there! They were the band that made up my mind to buy a ticket. Neverland are another Derby based band, that have only been back together for around two years after taking a break in the mid/late ’90s.

Just a couple of tracks into the set and the crowd were getting into their stride - the dancing, if you can call it dancing when I start bouncing around, was starting to take over at the front of the stage! This was going to be a great hour or so, and that’s just how it turned out. Some of my favourite tracks, by any band, were played: FIRECRADLE, NEVER LEARNED TO SPEAK, KEBAB NO MORE, DOOM GARDEN JELLY FISH BLUES and THINK I’M GONNA BUY A CAR! In total, we were treated to 17 tracks in a set that was non-stop energy.

As the band left the stage at the end of their set it was clear that the crowd wanted more. A brief appearance by the MC, to stir up the crowd even more, and back came Neverland for one more track. Then came a bit of a surprise for me - Mick Doyle, Mandolin player with the band, pointed down at me and shouted into his mic "Rich! I got a message from America today! Nolika* says "Hello and that we’ve got to play Stars And The Blues for you!"" What a finish to what, I think, was the best band, and set of tracks, all weekend!

*Nolika is a friend, in the USA, that I have converted to Neverland, via the Albannach web site!

After all the bouncing around and excitement of Neverland I was in need of a break so, beer in hand, I watched some of the next band, Jah Wobble & The English Roots Band, from the edge of the marquee where the cool breeze and clear night sky bought me back down to earth. There’s not much I can tell you about this band because after only two or three tracks I gave up on them and went for a walk around the rest of the site. Too much in the way of bass, too little in the way of anything else for me!

The rest of the evening I spent either in one of the small bar areas watching groups of musicians sat chilling out and jamming together, listening to a small drum circle that got together on the edge of the campsite or at the Chill Out Stage were some of the smaller groups and acoustic sets were played.

So, onto Sunday and what is always a relaxing afternoon of more gentle entertainment. First up came Sumaya, a London based Flamenco group and one of the “21st Century Silk Road” bands. After some of the bands that had played over the past couple of days these were very different. Sumaya were three dancers, one guitar player and two percussionists. Not what I would go and see if they played on their own but they fitted into the rest of the festival OK.

The second band on Sunday afternoon was The Matzos, a five piece from Brighton and the final “21st Century Silk Road” band, playing a mix of Eastern European, Latin, Arabic and Celtic music. Their energetic style of playing soon had some of the crowd up on their feet and dancing, with many more standing clapping along with the music. Me, I just enjoyed sitting back in my chair with a bottle of Newcastle Brown and watching the day roll by!

All too soon, it was time for the final act of the weekend, Rory McLeod. I’d never seen Rory before but had heard of him and was looking forward to his show. He didn’t disappoint. He is quite simply a one-man band, playing guitar, harmonica, the spoons and also providing a drum beat via tap shoes! On top of the music, he also had some great jokes to tell, stories from his past and also one or two, welcomed, political opinions to share. A great entertainer and a great way to end the weekend.

Off The Tracks 2007 - I think I’ll be there!

Another week passes by with very little to report. Well, not too much anyway!

Last weekend was, of course, the last Bank Holiday weekend before Christmas and, as I was off work on the Saturday, Lynda and I took the opportunity to visit her Aunt and Uncle in Hampshire. We travelled down straight after work on the Thursday evening and stayed until early afternoon on Monday.

On the Friday we all took a trip into London - quite an outing for a 40 year old “country boy” I can tell you! This was only the second time I’d ever stepped foot in the capital, the first being a good few years ago when Lynda and I had to catch a coach from London to take us to the Le Mans 24hr race in France! On that occasion, I saw little or nothing of the sights.

After Friday's trip… I want to go back! The main part of the day was a look behind the scenes at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. I thought this would be just a guided tour of the theatre that explained some of its history and how the place ran. It turned out to be a mini play in itself with our guides being some of the old characters from the theatres past.

The whole day was one new treat after another for me but other highlights included a trip on the London Eye, which I would recommend, seeing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament for the first time, St. Paul’s cathedral, the fountains at Somerset House, walking over the Millennium Bridge, Covent Garden and the walk along the Embankment with all of its street entertainers.

The London Eye.

After such a busy day on Friday the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with family. Luckily, the weather was most unlike a Bank Holiday and was actually sunny and rather hot for most of the time! This meant that we could sit out in the garden either reading, catching up on news or just generally chatting.

The only problem with a great weekend away like that is that all too soon it was time to face the holiday traffic and head for home. Apart from the usual heavy traffic on the A34 we made good time on the way back with the 150 mile trip taking just under 2½ hours - I think the weather must have made people delay their journeys until later in the day.

So, this week. Nothing to report at all! Work has been, well, work. I’ve managed to use the mountain bike twice to get there this week, the bad weather stopped me today and tomorrow I’ll need to be back home as soon as possible so it will be the car again!

The reason for the rush tomorrow evening? It’s the start of the Off The Tracks music festival near Castle Donington! I’ve been looking forward to this for some while now and the forecast of rain on and off for the weekend certainly isn’t going to dampen my enthusiasm for it!

Click for London photos!

Still very little going on here - apart from it being my birthday earlier in the week. The big 40! Must say though that it doesn’t feel any different to any other birthday, which must mean that either I’ve felt like a 40 year old for sometime now or, that I’m still not acting my age! I will leave that for you to work out!

Although I was at work for my birthday, it was a relatively easy day; work was very quiet, possibly the quietest day this year, with no problems at all. The only thing that I did have to deal with was the constant joking from work mates about my age and also the A4 posters that had been placed all around the building telling me, and everyone else, that I was in fact 50! I still bought everyone Muffins and Danish Pastries though!

The best bit of getting old is that I will be able to take a train ride I’ve wanted to do for years, the Settle and Carlisle railway, one of Europe’s greatest railway journeys. Lynda has treated me, and herself, to tickets on The Cumbrian Mountain Express on 21 October.

We will leave Worcester early on the Saturday morning for a diesel hauled journey up the West Coast main line to Hellifield. There, the diesel will be replaced by 71000 The Duke of Gloucester, the last steam express passenger loco built for British Railways. From there we will continue on through Settle, over the Ribblehead Viaduct, Kirkby Stephen and Appleby to the city of Carlisle.

After a break in Carlisle, our steam hauled journey will continue onto the famous Shap Summit before heading to Preston via the Lune Valley, Oxenholme and Lancaster. The return from Preston will again be diesel hauled, behind a Class 47, Brush Sulzer Type 4 locomotive. The whole day will be in the comfort of “Premier Dining” class - a table for two with window seats, full English breakfast, lunch and then a four course, silver service, dinner!

A couple of photos of 71000 - taken from 71000 Trust web site.

Time to catch up...

First of all, where is the summer going? I can't believe its August already! I had so much planned for this year but so much has already been missed!

So far, I've only been to two Autograss meetings, at one we didn't get the car to run and at the other, we managed OK results but nothing stunning. The gigs have been few and far between so far, something that I will be looking at putting right over the next week or so, and my bird watching has ground to a halt again. It always becomes "too much trouble" once the hot weather arrives but this year has been worse than most!

So, what have we been up to? Well, we went up to Scotland for the Callander Highland Games just over a week ago and had a great time. The only let down was that in the end we didn't get to see either of the two bands we went to see. Due to a rather large mess up on the organiser's behalf Clann an Drumma and Albannach did not play.

Apart from the lack of music, the games were very good - we'll be going to more that is for sure! Best event in our opinion has to be the "56lb for Height" throw. Quite how they manage to throw that thing so high is beyond me! The best throw, on both days, was 17 and a half feet.

Tossing the Caber was good to see live, there is a lot more skill involved with this than I had thought. Whenever I've seen this on TV, it looked like a case of pure strength and a bit of luck, that is far from it! To get a perfect, 12 o'clock, throw is very hard indeed and wasn't managed too often over the weekend. When it did happen, the crowd certainly got behind the competitor throwing at the time.

The town of Callander was very nice; it is a place that I will certainly be visiting again soon. The Bridgend House Hotel, where we stayed, is also to be recommended - just be aware that they have live music at the weekends and it can go on until late! The Scottish breakfast MUST be tried! I did, every morning! The whisky is pretty good too - each night!

There's not much other news really. I'm still using the mountain bike to get to work, and still enjoying it. I did have a slight problem last week when one of my tyres decided to "blow out" whilst the bike was parked up at work. I think that there must have been a flaw in the inner tube. The problem was soon solved - a quick stop off at a cycle shop on the way home, in the car, to pick up two new inner tubes and all was as good as new. Hopefully I'll not be caught out again as the new tubes are filled with a self-sealing fluid that will take care of any small punctures, we will see!

OK, just found an extra bit of news... even after deleting a load of old photos from here, I still can't post any new pics into the blog! So, some pictures from the Scotland trip are on Shutterfly!


Click here for Scotland photos!

Yes, I know, I've not been posting anything here! The simple fact is that I've had nothing worth writing about! Apart from work, the gym, working in the garden and sitting around soaking up some sun there has been nothing going on!

If you think that by posting this that I suddenly have lots of news then I'm afraid you are wrong! Well, okay, I do have a little bit of stuff to say.

I finally got around to getting onto broadband over the weekend, and what a difference that has made to my web surfing! No more waiting for pages to open, files to down load and music that keeps stopping whilst the next section is buffered!

On Saturday I got my mountain bike into action and used it to go to work on, something I've been threatening to do all year. By using the back roads and cycle tracks, I was there in only 10 minuets - though I did hammer myself all the way! Today, I again gave up the ease of the car and again took the bike - nine minuets this time!

Not sure how long this will last or how many times a week I'll use the bike but right now, it's feeling good. As the journey is so quick, I may even start and check out one or two longer routes. Apart from the hassle of carting my work cloths around it is actually quicker and easier using the bike. This evening Lynda passed me in Pride Park as she left work in the car - I was still home first due to the shorter route of the cycle paths!

So, that's my news. Nothing going on you see! That is apart from next weekend! We're off to Scotland for four days!

We're going to the Callander Highland Games to see Albannach and Clann An Drumma play, and of course the Highland Games themselves! It's been over six months now since we last saw Albannach play and I am really looking forward to this trip! You can be sure that by the time we get back I'll have plenty to post and plenty of photos to load onto Shutterfly!

The balloon flight!

Motorbikes? Fast cars? Racing? Forget that lot! I want a hot air balloon! Saturday night’s balloon ride was amazing!

Lynda phoned Dave Ling at Balloon Adventure Flights at just before 5:00PM and was told the weather was fine and that the flight was on - great news! We then sat down to watch the second half of the England football game but, to be honest, I don’t think either of us was too bothered who won, we had just been told we were going flying!

We arrived at our take off point, The Hurt Arms public house at Ambergate, at around 7:00PM and were met with the sight of another balloon being readied for flying, great we would have another balloon to watch on our flight! Our Ladybird balloon arrived shortly afterwards and once we’d been checked in by one of the balloon staff we started to help unpack the equipment. Whilst we helped with the balloon that we would fly in a further two more arrived on site. We’d not be short of something to look at that was for sure!

The setting up of the basket, balloon and burners was a lot quicker than I had expected and within about 20 minuets, the Ladybird was almost ready for take off. The basket looked quite big at first glance but by the time everyone was inside, 12 plus the pilot, it wasn’t exactly spacious. Everyone climbed into the basket whilst it still lay on its side and waited for the balloon to pull us upright as the hot air finished inflating it. As soon as this happened, it was just another couple of blasts from the burners and we were off!

The first thing that struck me as we became airborne was the speed that the balloon moved at, not upwards but sideways! We did manage to clear the trees at the side of the field though, just! From then on it was just the most gentle and smooth form of transport that I think I have ever been on. The only thing that broke the peace and tranquillity was the occasional roar from the gas burners.

For me, the wind could not have taken us in a much better direction. At first we followed the River Derwent towards Cromford before gaining height and a slight change in wind direction. This change was enough to take us away from the river valley and over towards Wirksworth, Middleton Top and Longcliffe. This route was almost retracing the walk I did at the end of last year for The British Heart Foundation!

We were also able to pick out many other places that we knew, some quite a long way off in the distance, others almost directly below us. Lynda spotted a pair of Buzzard way way below us at one point; a Swift flying around level with the balloon whilst we were at around 2000ft and we also spotted the power stations at Ratcliffe and Willington. Dave, the pilot, showed us Crich Stand just off to the right of the balloon at one point and also the city of Nottingham way off in the distance behind us.

Carsington Water was visible for much of the flight and, from our position high above the Derbyshire countryside, we could see some of the many stone quarries that are usually hidden from view when at ground level.

Our flight lasted for around 55 minutes, covered something like 11 miles and reached a height of 3000ft. That just left the landing! As we approached the small village of Pikehall, Dave the pilot told us that he was starting to look for somewhere to put down. Now, to me this wasn’t the sort of area that I would choose - small fields, lots of stone walls, some rather hilly ground and the odd small group of trees thrown in!

A little over half a mile later we were on the ground! Our pilot had spotted a field close to a farm, right next to the farm drive and, to my way of thinking, performed an almost perfect landing! Okay, we did finish up with the basket on its side but I’m told that around 80% of balloon flights end that way. Even the falling over of the basket was fun - we were dragged along for a short distance once we touched the ground and then, when we stopped, the basket steadied itself at an angle of about 45° for a second or two before gently tipping over. All that remained then was to help get all the equipment packed away again, and loaded onto the trailer, before celebrating with a glass of Champagne!

Click here for balloon flight photos!

Balloon Day!

So far, so good! It’s Saturday morning and the weather is great - nice and sunny, not too hot (yet!) and little or no wind - so, fingers crossed WE’RE HAVING A HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT THIS EVENING!!!

Lynda has to phone the people that fly the balloon late this afternoon for a final OK as regards the weather, so all we can do now is hope the wind doesn’t increase too much or that the heat doesn’t trigger any thunder storms.

Tomorrow I’m off racing again - I say again because we did actually get the car to a meeting last Sunday, but never raced! Long story cut short…. Gary drove the car around at home on Saturday with no problems. On Sunday, the car again ran without fault whilst being loaded onto the transporter, and also ran fine whilst being unloaded at the track and being moved into the pit area. When we tried to go through scrutineering, the car ran for about 200yrds and cut out!

Try as we might, the damn thing would not fire up again! So, after around and hour of changing things, altering others, messing with the electronic control systems and even trying to bump start the motor, by towing the car behind a Land Rover, we gave up! The car was winched onto the transporter again and we came home to watch the football.

Apart from taking the cylinder head off the motor, to check that a valve hadn’t been bent or something, Gary has done very little during the week to the car, but when he rebuilt it and tried starting the engine… it fired up and ran OK! We still don’t really have a clue what was wrong last week. All we can do now is hope the “problem” doesn’t reappear.