While I was enjoying my train journey to Reading, Liesel was having her own little adventure. On the way to Martha and Williama’s school Summer Fair (Fayre?), she got a puncture. Well, not Liesel herself, it was one of the car’s tyres. Less than two months ago, we bought a set of four brand new tyres, and here we are already with a puncture. It was sorted quickly by the nice young men at Halfords.
It was a momentous day down under too. Helen Scissorhands gave Keiran his first haircut.
And afterwards, he still has more hair than I have.
After arriving in Reading, I took a bus to my Airbnb where Rosie welcomed me and as soon as I had privacy in my room, I had a lie down. Plans to do some sight-seeing in this town bit the dust, but later on, I did go for a bus ride and a wander while I sought somewhere nice to eat. In the end, I settled for nachos. Nothing special, but just what I needed at the time.
Whereas Northenden has 101 vape shops, Reading seems to specialise in mobile phone accessory outlets, several next to each other in one alleyway.
No, I wasn’t staying at this old hotel, dating from 1506 apparently. I was in fact in the basement of a Buddhist retreat which I was grateful for, it was much cooler here than outside. Reading has a Business Improvement District and I was impressed by this four-tier floral display in the town centre.
You learn something new every day. The idea for Paddington Bear came from Reading, and the Reading citizens are very ptoud of that.
After a good night’s sleep, I did wander the streets a bit more, despite the heat. I try not to be full-on British and complain that it’s too hot when we’ve been waiting so long for some warmth, but I did find myself heading for shade whenever possible.
Reading does have a heart, and as I walked by the River Kennet, I found it.
From the explanatory plaque: The Reading Amnesty Art Project incorporates reclaimed weapons from knife amnesty bins, to form part of a sculpture for our local community.
Working with young people around ideas of reflection, peace, hope, togetherness and safety – Stuart Melrose has created ‘The Armoured Heart’ a symbol ol respect and love.
When knife crime happens, it affects everyone – real people and real lives. Every person matters. We need to respect each other and ourselves, and ensure that Reading is a safe place to live
Make a positive choice to not carry a knife or use violence.
Support each other and we can make Reading a safer place for everyone.
Many people were enjoying the sunshine in Forbury Gardens as I walked through on my pilgrimage to Reading Abbey. On this site, I encountered only a couple of other visitors, which I thought strange. The Abbey was founded in 1121 by the first King Henry and it has a fascinating history.
Here are some ruins with a very modern building, The Blade, in the background. Construction of this modern office block began in 2007, so it’s just 886 years younger than the Abbey.
I’m always on the lookout for songs for my radio show, so I was delighted to come across this one:
Sadly, there was nobody else around to hear my recitation. Their loss.
I sat on a park bench where I met and chatted with a retired Scottish guy who spends half his time in Romania. Following his recommendation, I have watched some videos on YouTube made by @BlackBeltBarrister, plenty of food for thought there.
While enjoying my late breakfast slash early lunch, I wasn’t expecting to see a Zebra go by. A Zebra is, of course, a Zero-Emission Bus for the Reading Area. But all the buses here seem to be colour-coded. The buses I used most often were Yellow 26 and Jet Black 1. While enjoying coffee and a muffin in BB’s, I watched someone taking pictures of all the buses going by. Other colours include Azure, Sky Blue 15a, Lime, Purple 17 and more. I saw one with Global Warming stripes as its livery. And the replacement buses all seem to be grey.
Something else I thought was a very good, modern idea was, on buses terminating at the railway station, there was a display showing the next few train departure times and their platform numbers.
One job I don’t particularly fancy is that of Environmental Enforcement Officer, pounding the streets of Reading. I can’t believe the amount of equipment they carry around.
The reason for my visit to Reading this weekend was to attend Jesstival. Jessica Lee Morgan has just turned 50 years of age (she’s not coy about this fact) and she was celebrating by performing at The Purple Turtle with various guest musicians.
I was pleased to meet Sue, another big music fan, who shares my birthday. It was hot outside but we agreed that the air conditioning inside was unnecessarily turned up to 11. Still, the music was good. Jess performed several 20-minute long sets with her partner Chris and other fellow musicians that she’s worked with at various points in the past.
They performed plenty of Jess’s own songs, plus a few Bowie tracks, and a few others from the old Those Were The Days shows. The tongue-twisting When did it all Begin was well-received by all.
Simon Adams played drums on a few songs. Jess played sax and kazoo but sadly not at the same time.
Frank Zappa wasn’t there today, but having his image outside the Accessible Toilet was quite funny, I thought.
Crispin ‘The Pump’ Taylor, a member of The Blow Monkeys, played the drums beginning with a fantastic cover of Son of a Preacher Man. Other covers included Dock of the Bay, Big Yellow Taxi, Lady Stardust, You’re so Vain, and of course, Those Were the Days.
I’m sorry I didn’t get all the names, but I think we saw and heard Laurie Wright on bass, Pete Doyle, Jules Hay and Peter Byrne from Coda Led Zeppelin. Someone White was visiting from Brisbane and I think I heard the name Mick Anchor. Nor did I get around to getting a copy of the set list.
I was surprised that there was no food available at this pub, not even crisps, so, during one of the breaks I visited Subway, next door but one, and bought a dozen cookies which I was happy to share.
Under Pressure, Locomotive Breath, Play that Funky Music White Boy, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, Pink Floyd’s Money, Video Killed the Radio Star, Twentieth Century Boy and possibly my favourite song of the day, Sandy Denny’s Where Does the Time Go?
The gig finished about 9.30, with two of Jess’s own songs that we all sang along to, The Less Said The Better and This is My Love Song, ending very nearly six hours of entertainment. I caught a bus back to my accommodation but I don’t know why I bothered, it was only two stops!
Thanks to Jessica for the invitation and for the entertainment. I’m sorry that your parents weren’t there but I’m sure they celebrated your half-century in their own way!
I said farewell to Rosie before checking out after another good, comfortable night’s sleep. Although I did hear some Buddhist chanting fairly early. From the bus on the return journey to the station I spotted Muffin Break. I had breakfast here and a coffee. The coffee was so good, I had a second cup along with a muffin. It passed the time until my train turned up.
I saw this train at the station and thought that’s what trains are supposed to look like. It’s very nearly the same shade of green that the old Southern Region trains were, the ones that took us into London as children for many enjoyable days out in the capital.
It was good to be back home.
And good to pick the children up from school on a very hot day. The post-school snack, for all of us, was an ice cream in the park. Both Martha and William were pleased that the zipwire had been fixed.
I accidentally left my phone at home on the day we went to watch Martha’s cricket team play a match. She batted well and bowled a wicket, so we were very pleased that she was announced Player of the Match.
The weather this week was challenging. Very hot. So, one afternoon, Liesel, Leslie and I went to the movies. We enjoyed The Tuner although it was slightly more violent than anticipated. Again, too many adverts and trails though.
And the following evening, Liesel and I attended one of the few performances of The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor at Aviva Studios. It’s always good of course to hear Sinéad’s voice, whether singing or speaking, but the troupe of ten dancers made the show.
If I said they spent a lot of time dancing on park benches and moving them around the stage, you’d probably think, that sounds a bit daft. But no, it was a fascinating show, full of energy, skill and stamina.
While we were being entertained here, Martha was on the world stage. The Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup is taking place, and tonight at Old Trafford, Scotland played Sri Lanka. Martha was proud to be a mascot joining the Scottish team as they played and sang their national anthem, Flower of Scotland.
There’s a ceremony at the start of each match where they bring on the national flags, huge flags, and Liam volunteered to help carry the Sri Lanka one onto the field.
Of course, it was only fair that Martha lift the trophy, supported by her cousin.
It was well worth visiting Quarry Bank Mill for a quick walk. Mainly though, we went for the scones since Liesel and her Mom will be leaving very soon for America. Purple/pink flowers seem to be the flavour of the day.
There were plenty of bees and a couple of butterflies. But the insect we got closest to was a moth, back in our apartment block. Because it’s hot, we leave the windows open. And because the motion-senitive lights don’t work and stay on all night, loads of bugs fly in.
It was beginning to cool down, no more 30° days for a short while. Quite pleasant in fact, especially with a light breeze. We heard some thunder rumbling in the distance but didn’t see any lightning. Certainly nothing like the 93,000 lightning strikes they’d experienced in Oban a few nights ago.
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