Armed Forces Day Parade - Southwick

Yesterday the men and women of Southwick Park (previously HMS Dryad, now tri-services) paraded through Southwick High Street, passing the village green where a salute was taken by the Commanding Officer of Southwick Park accompanied by our local Squire.

People of the village decorated their houses, putting up the bunting last seen on the Queen's Jubilee but which had been taken down before the great storms of June took complete hold of our little world.  Many of us stood in the street and applauded as we watched the men and women proudly marching by.  I felt a lump in my throat as I watched, thinking of the things that these brave people had already been through in their lives and of what more they had to endure during their time in the services.  It was a pleasure to see them all in their uniforms and it made me wish that there was more interaction between Southwick Park and the village.

It was great to see them all in the Golden Lion afterwards, enjoying a well-deserved glass of beer - incidentally the public house which is famous for its D-Day connections.  There was a sense for me of being a part of something very special yesterday.  It was especially heartwarming to see the various ranks all sharing the same space harmoniously with each other and with the people of this village who had turned out to wish them well and to thank them for what they sacrifice for their country.

Imagine my disappointment though when I later heard that some of the lower ranked personnel were reprimanded for drinking in the same pub as the officers!  I knew already that due to some crazy ruling by senior staff at Southwick Park, the lower ranks had been told in the past that the Golden Lion was only to be used by higher ranks and that the junior ones were only allowed to drink in the other village pub, The Red Lion, which is less suitable for relaxing in a public bar just for a drink - they are set up mainly as a very popular and successful restaurant and although welcome drinkers as well, there are limited spaces for this.  The Golden Lion is also an excellent restaurant but has two bars as well, a small comfortable lounge with sofas and a large public bar, a darts board and access to bar games.  It's noisy and cheerful - you can eat in the bar if you prefer and it's never better than when it's filled with people of all ages enjoying themselves.

I cannot imagine why so called civilised people cannot live in harmony with each other - they don't have to sit together in the pub or even acknowledge each other if they don't want to.  Not that many of the higher ranks come in regularly anyway.  It's never overfull with them.  Surely in this day of equality it is wrong to exclude certain members of the society from being able to enjoy themselves now and again in our historical village pub?  It should be a part of their education when they come to Southwick Park and I'm sure they would be proud to drink in the place where Eisenhower, Montgomery, and even Prince Philip frequented.

And please, let's have a bit more integration with villagers.  I know things have changed since then, but there was a time when all of us in the village had passes to get into HMS Dryad.  We could use some of the facilities included a swimming pool.  The navy seemed to want to get more involved in village life.

Ocknell 2006

Kept awake by night's bitter cold kiss
When dawn brought the light
And sweet sleep's bliss -
I dreamt of journeys taking me
To unknown lands
With faintly familiar companions
Who turned into monkeys
Climbing trees,
Rowing boats
Racing on the river,
Glimpses only now of urgent actions
I can't quite grasp,
Nor the reason why.

So I sit here in the forest glade
The sun flitting,
Teasing with its intermittent face -
The leaves shimmering in the breezes
Casting mottled shadows as they dance
Across the written page.

Memories of years gone by
Here in this glade
Over there - our first year,
The tree we huddled under in the rain,
The forest deserted of all people but us
We shared the time with ponies
And healing rain, and trees and birds,
Hugs and forest fairies.

Over there, our second year -
When visited by boys who cut the trees
And ruptured the harmony
Nature had created here.
Last year's memories still fairly fresh
The celebration of love for two of us.

But year's memories blend into each other
Till it's hard to tell who was here
And when
And what was done
Each year a time of healing, renewal,
Surrendering to the forest magic.
It truly is a fairy place.

Grand Tour Continued

Sunday 10th June
It was a pleasure to ride across the Pennines with no rain.  The sun even came out for a while.  We stopped beside a waterfall called "High Force" and walked down to the point where you could take photos. A truly beautiful little walk through woods alongside the river.  The waterfall was quite impressive, broiling brown foaming water falling into a black pool.

Trees grew on the side of the cliffs, covered in moss.

Broiling waters, black with peat.

Our next stop was Hadrian's Wall.  We stopped by a Roman Fort and took some photos.  Mark spent a bit of time uploading pictures to Facebook from his phone and then absent-mindedly left the phone on the wall, not to realise until we arrived at the next Bed and Breakfast about another hour's ride away.

This put a damper on what had been a lovely day so far.

We explored Moffat - a farmer's market in the town hall, tasted smoked chicken and smoked stilton cheese and browsed the stalls, feeling a little guilty at trying things out as we had no room to carry anything more on the bike.  We lunched in the Star Hotel.  Everyone so friendly - and Scottish!  We'd passed across the border during the ride and had a very emotional moment when we crossed into Scotland.

The day cheered up even more when Tom phoned from Southwick to say that Mark's phone had been found and the lovely people who found it were going to post it to our home.

We wandered out again in the evening to The Black Bull for dinner, then on to The Stag for a drink.  A drunk at the bar with a Jack Russell amused us for a while and the barmaid seemed a little p.........d off with him especially after the dog did a whoopsie in the corridor.  We staggered back to our room quite early and were amazed at how light it is in the North.  At past ten o'clock and still light outside.

True love

I feel the clear water
Flow over my head
Lying here bathing
In the sweet words you said.

I drink in my dreams of you
Hold a moment in my hand
Watching forever thoughts
Of how we've wandered through this land.

When you glance up
And smile at me
That look in your eye
Tells me more than a million
Of lifetimes gone by.

Book Signing

Hot news this week - my first book signing for Caught in the Web is arranged for Wednesday 4th July at Southwick Village Post Office Tea Rooms.  I'll be there between 10.00am and 12.00 noon, so if you are about, pop in and see me and have a coffee.
The book is selling fast in the shop, by the way, so I have to order another load ready for next week.  This is taking up a lot of my time - perhaps you've noticed how I've been neglecting my writing but I intend to get more disciplined and make sure I have time each day to write at least a few hundred words.  Only time will tell whether I'm successful.

Morecombe

Sitting on the sullen Morecombe sea-front
Pondering on the loss of lives
On that beautiful horizon
Pale blue hills gaze silently back.
We watch the tide
Slide away
Revealing the sand banks
That human greed
Cruelly took away
The misery of their hope
That dark night.
Then, turning away
We explore the derelict halls
Of the Winter Gardens
And wonder at its beauty
Long ago neglected
Now - piece by little piece
Being brought back to life
By human perseverance.
We place a coin in the begging bowl
Smile at the monument of Eric
Make our way back
Past seaside shops
Now selling wheelchairs
For the ancient visitors -
One-time mill workers
And miners
Who keep their annual pilgrimage there.

2012 Grand Tour

8th and 9th June
Whatever made me think that it was a good idea to travel by motorbike to Scotland in June?  Thinking I'd chosen the best month for a warm, dry holiday.
On the 8th June we travelled from Southwick to Langdale Lakes in Lincoln in winds of over 60 miles per hour.  Wondering whether we would ever get there in one piece, we eventually did and had a lovely evening with Karen and Tony and set off early the next day for Barnard Castle.  During this journey the wind was less fierce but instead we rode through tremendous rainstorms with thunder and lightning.  The roads went from dry to three inches of bouncing water, then back to dry again.  It was like riding into a dark hole at times with the clouds reaching the earth.
We stopped off after crossing the Humber Bridge at Beverley and had a beer in the White Horse pub, an old fashioned pub with old fashioned prices - know locally as Nellies.  This is a must if you like good beer and quaint places.

Langdale Lodge - Lincoln

Lily Hill Farm

Eventually we arrived at our first B and B which was Lily Hill Farm and were welcomed by another Karen with freshly made scones and a lovely comfortable room.  It was on a par with Karen and Tony's B & B at Langdale Lakes, set in the  countryside - a working farm with views of sheep and horses from the windows.  The nearest pub was about 1.5 miles away - luckily it had stopped raining by the time we were ready to eat so we walked to the pub - The Morritt Hall Hotel - an interesting place with connections with Dickens.  Nearby is a place called Dotheboys Hall - Dickens visited this place and featured it in Nicholas Nickleby apparantly.  The George and New Inn in the novel was modelled on The Morritt Arms and it was here that Squeers and Nicholas alighted for Dotheboys Hall where Nicholas taught.  The bar is decorated with paintings from Dickens novels.  Whilst we were eating, in the next bar was a wedding reception with a very loud "pub singer"  and as the door between the bars kept swinging open all the men in the bar took turns trying to shut it - the spirit of Dunkirk!