To my good friend - here's some tips for your forthcoming visit to Berlin!

Be sure to escape the bland commercialism of the old West side (you really could be in any city in the world) and see the REAL Berlin on the other side of the wall (part of it still stands). Some buildings here still show the remains of the bombs and bullet damage and it’s incredible to see (for example) huge holes in buildings not repaired conventionally with brick and concrete - but simply glazed! It adds a whole new dimension to the architecture and history!

If you see nothing else - you really must not miss the visit to the Reichstag (the original German government building) - see it in the evening if you can, as the queues to get in tend to disappear by the end of the day and the city looks wonderful from the top if it's a clear night (bring a coat - it's outside and gets quite windy)! The famous glass dome was designed by Norman Foster. Walk through the Brandenburg gate on your way to get a real idea of what it must have been like during the war.

The Turkish restaurant I mentioned is called ‘Hasir’. It's the best in the whole of Europe apparently - lots of famous people have visited. The address is on Orienburger Street (Old East side) no 4. tel 030/28 0416. Lookout for what the Rough Guide calls “the Grand Bazaar style Hawker outside the entrance”. – all will become clear! If you are on the underground take the S-bahn to Hackersher markt. There are lots of very good restaurants around this area but immediately to the West of this street is the Red light district - so you may not want to walk through this area on foot with James (!)

Although there is a restaurant at the top of the Reichstag with great views the food is below average and I think it’s overpriced. A better place for “lunch with a view” is at the top of the TV Tower (think Seattle Sky Needle meets Eiffel Tower). You will see its (fairly) ugly 1970’s architecture from virtually anywhere in Berlin and you may have to queue (again) to get into the single lift to get to the top – but it’s well worth the effort. The top very slowly continually turns 360 degrees every few minutes or so - so you don’t even have to walk round. Great place to have a simple cheap lunch (but you will need to book ahead).

The other places are a drive past the famous ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ – personally I found the actual museum a disappointment. But a museum very much worth visiting is The Jewish Museum (Lindenstrasse, 14). Full of interesting history – not just about the Holocaust.

That’s about it for now - I might think of something else later…– if anyone reading this has anything to add please feel free… !! Have a great time in what is undoubtedly my favourite city in the world – no really it is!!

Another year, another Royal show. Luckily we visited on Sunday - as tomorrow they will close early due to the 'safety concerns' for the public (so much mud you wouldn't believe)!









These are my favourites - very friendly Wensleydale sheep - Nice hair-do?

a load of bull (s)...

Are they rabbits or are they sheep??!!



How about this for a fantastic chocolate fountain? There were tonnes of strawberry kebabs to cover - only £3.50 each (!!!) Delish!

This time it's Summer -and - as I'm now officially a "proper" (i.e. full time) student (albeit not for much longer)and we are both students celebrating the end of another academic achievement - it was to be my first experience in a Youth Hostel . Now I realise what I've missed out on!!!

It's kind of a nice comfortable balance between camping and staying in a B&B - there's a great atmosphere when everyone's mucking-in to clear the tables after breakfast or drop off the sheets at the laundry in the morning. It was.. different!

We stayed at Esthwaite Hall, a listed Regency mansion on the edge of Esthwaite water (obviously) about 0.5 miles outside Hawkshead (near Ambleside).

This (above) is the view of Hawkshead Youth Hostel - surrounded by trees on the edge of Esthwaite Water....

Like all YHA places - it was in need of some investment - but was clean and well-equipped and the staff were absolutely brilliant! It was just near enough to be convenient - but far enough away to be very very quiet. To the rear of the grounds was the very well- maintained Grizedale Forest (National Trust) with loads of cycle tracks and stuff (including the Go Ape! swinging from the trees thing.. No, me neither)

I met lots of interesting people - there was the French group, a few (brave) couples with very young babies some families and the Society of Change Ringers (!) from the University of Durham! On their annual tour of the Lakes (do they know they're born)?

We went for a very long walk to Howe Tarn, just outside Hawkshead (North West). This is also very well maintained and we walked for miles (about 12 altogether) to get there, but it was well worth it for the view from the top of the fell. And then, just as we stopped to take it all in, the cloud broke and the sun shone through! Wonderful!

We ate at the Kings Arms and the Sun Inn at Hawkshead - both very good (and cheap) pub grub (The Kings Arms was better, I think and excellent service too). There were a few other good places to choose from - we wished we had more time!

Nearby we spotted a good (but bloody expensive) camp site called the Croft - just on the edge of the village - so hopefully we'll be back soon. Not least because there's Trout fly fishing at Esthwaite to keep J occupied for hours...

below is the view from the front of the Yh - looking out over the Water.


This was taken in the evening after a very hot day's walking!

Above is the very well-maintained trail around Howe Tarn, near to Hawkshead. We were glad we persevered - we nearly didn't see it! It was well worth the effort!

More views of the Tarn...

Below the full view of the Youth Hostel. Wonderful building and great friendly staff. Brilliant breakfasts too!

....and it's friendly nearby cows - who must be fed-up of all the passing drunkards staggering back from the Hawkshead pubs...

Wonderful weather, glorious scenery, relaxing company - a really fantastic weekend ;)

Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, or is it Derbyshire...or is it Yorkshire?....

Not sure how they thought they might climb this one! (Full marks for effort though)

The edge of the reservoir - where you can see the fish!

View from the path opposite the visitor centre.

Lovely day!


Ria - resting for a moment (and NOT chasing ducks)!

Fancy a walk?

Oh dear - over a month has passed since my last post. And I've visited lots of places from Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh (wonderful weather, great people, superb food - shame about the location).......

to the rural village of Wedmore (Somerset) (home to an annual beer festival) - where we stayed at the absolutely dreadful George Inn. Little did we know that it was a pub from hell, with ancient, dirty rooms, smelly loud resident dogs (with accompanying flies) and hopeless (if not well-meaning) staff. The only saving grace was the cold cider which was.....green ('nuff said).

As if that wasn't enough, the Sexey's Arms (the reason for our visit) turned out not to be in the actual village of Wedmore (as the guide said) but in the next village, Blackford about 2 miles away! Luckily the rain let up for long enough for us to walk there. Unluckily, we discovered to our horror that the pub is now under new ownership: the resident French chef and landlord had left. In his place were people who didn't know what they were doing at all (e.g. when we asked for another bottle of red it was served in our ice-bucket with a "there you go" passing comment)!! and served ham egg and chips as if it was some kind of speciality!! terrible service, horrible atmosphere (we were surrounded by Native American headgear - tat) and awful food. Michelin have already been sent an appropriate email!!

However - we did manage to find an excellent food shop in Cheddar called Lillypool Cheese and Cider. They stock that marvellous Colston Bassett stilton that we discovered on our Winteringham experience, and even have a camp-site near-by if you overdo the scrumpy tasting! Excellent!

The good news is I'm published (again)!!! In the Post-16 Educator.

Now, on with the final assignment...soon it will all be over for another academic year...

A Food Journey!

The BMW was dropped off on Friday evening – he was a very nice gentleman whose appearance might have led you to mistake him for Sherlock Holmes (minus the pipe). It was a lovely car, he said, and the fuel tank was brimming full. “Shame it’s not a 120” said J – never satisfied with anything with four wheels (unless it’s Porsche, that is). Actually, it was a 1.8 Diesel Sport - not brand new (about a year old). J said this was probably its last outing from before BMW sold it off to one of its dealers. At least it was going to have a nice send-off!

So, lets get the bit about the car done first: I was a bit put-off at first with all the “gizmos”. I couldn’t even start it and felt a right idiot. Apparently you have to put the “key” (by which I mean the bit of plastic) into the hole (why is it on the LEFT side of the steering wheel?), then, holding down the clutch pedal, push in the button (again on the left). There were no prompts on the dash to help you decipher this. Not very user-friendly. Do BMW really expect people to get the handbook out just to learn how to start the car? On the plus side, it handles very nicely – especially on the many winding country lanes of Lincolnshire. And it was very quiet on the motorway (although I desperately missed my Golf’s cruise-control (I know, I’m spoilt)). It has very “long legs” – i.e. I found the engine struggled not to labour doing 40mph in 6th gear so it was easy to forget about 6th and stay in the lower gears when driving around town. It’s strange that BMW gave the 118 6 gears when it didn’t really need them. I would have liked to have driven the 120 just to experience the difference and maybe a tiptronic gearbox would have been a better option (all at extra cost of course). I found the radio controls infuriating – too many buttons that were impossible to make sense of. And actually the sound quality was a bit crap! It was the same for other dashboard buttons e.g. the air con. Intrigued by the button called “Rest” (was this the button I could press to fall asleep at the wheel?) I looked it up in the handbook: this would allow warm air to circulate even when the ignition was off, for example when waiting at a railway crossing (!) Wow, can’t wait to use that function (not)! Although, admittedly in a freezing cold Germany, I can imagine it comes in very useful. The boot space is too small to be practical, J assures me the run-flat tyres did not allow the best handling performance and the overall fuel consumption was about 45mpg (about 10mpg less than my 1.9 Golf). In conclusion then – even if I could afford one of these – I think I’d pass – on this model at least…

Anyway, to continue with the interesting bit - the actual food experience (see below for an explanation), our first destination was the Abbey Parks Farm Shop at East Heckington. After a foggy drive up to Lincolnshire, we had a welcome cuppa and met the friendly and enthusiatic owners, Ros and Nick. They bought the farm a few years ago and now have an excellent reputation for their asparagus which does particularly well on the fertile, salty, sandy earth here. Nick runs a vegetable whole-sale business which delivers to famous chefs all over the country, including Ramsey’s Ivy, Jamie Oliver’s and the more local Langar Hall (which we were to visit for lunch the next day - see below). We had a really interesting tour of the farmland and filled our boot with veggies (including asparagus of course – but not local as it is too early) and a lovely bunch of local daffs (thanks Nick). Then it was off to next venue – the Cheese Society in Lincoln for lunch.

For those unfamiliar with Lincoln, it is a bit of a strange place to visit. Parts of it are architecturally amazing with lots of medieval houses and narrow cobbled streets dominated by the cathedral which sits high above the city. I suppose I’m being unfair in contrasting it to somewhere like Canterbury – its location means that economically Lincoln has a completely different atmosphere. The outskirts are very industrial. There are hundreds of charity shops and pound shops in the centre and the numbers of boarded-up shops and houses immediately brings you down to earth. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a lovely city and the high street was buzzing when we were there on a Saturday morning. We weren’t really surprised to find the Cheese Society hidden away in a side street. This is exactly the location that you find authentic, good value, contemporary eating places. We hadn’t booked a table and had to wait about half an hour – but we didn’t mind. Lots of other places in the town were empty – this was the place to be! Behind the tiny reception area was the shop and in contrast to the disadvantaged environment of the surrounding area we witnessed at least 4 people spending between £20-45 just on cheese during those few minutes. It was fascinating to watch the different tastings and the subsequent expressions! One thing that did strike us as odd – why not have a few bits of cheese for people to try while they were waiting? What a lost opportunity (or maybe they do offer something to waiting diners and we just missed it). Anyway, we sat in the little café area for a cheesy lunch. Everything is simple, cheap and functional: laminate floors; glasses from IKEA and metal framed bistro tables and chairs. It’s simply the cheese that draws people in – there is no view of the cathedral or fancy ambience here. I had a seafood and cheese on toast thingy: ‘Croque Marinara’ and J had a handmade burger (with cheese of course). All very nice. It was a shame we were driving really – there were lots of locals with bottles of wine (very reasonable prices) to go with theirs which made me kinda jealous - especially the couple who had dismissed the lunch menu in favour of (the enormous) cheeseboard for two. (Maybe this was a premonition of things to come ….)
Anyway, we had about £20 to spend at the cheese counter and after queuing-up again, we managed (as you can imagine) to spend it all- plus £1.50, (interestingly she didn’t let us off this) on a selection of local cheeses: Smoked Lincolnshire Poacher, Colston Bassett Stilton and Red Leicester etc. We spoke to the owner, who admitted that she did need bigger premises to cope with the numbers of customers – and was looking around. “It was difficult to anticipate the level of success they had enjoyed” she said.

Onwards and Northwards, next stop the Pink Pig Organic Farm towards the coast road. This place is really in the middle of nowhere (thank God for Sat Nat)! We got there about 4ish and there was only one other car in the car park. They closed at 5pm and the staff were all busy cleaning-up after what must’ve been a busy lunchtime service. Everyone was very friendly. All the usuals were on the blackboard (roasts and chillis) including lots of declarations about “all our eggs are free-range and organic” and “all our milk is local”. Through the glass doors is the deli shop with lots of meat and (more cheese) and honey and cakes and eggs and biscuits etc. etc. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the pigs as “they had gone to bed” (!) but we promised to return in the summer to see the farm trail in all its glory. The shop there is really inspiring and full of lovely things. We bought some sausages (of course) and some of their famous well-hung local beef.

Now the evening was drawing-in (it was the night the clocks went forward) and we headed-off for our final destination for the day – Winteringham Fields (see my previous entry, below).

The next morning, after (the small) breakfast, it was a clear day and we decided to drive the couple of miles to Barton to see the Humber before driving to our final food tour destination of Langar Hall in Langar, Nottinghamshire. We met some interesting people setting-out for a walk along the Viking Way (everyone is so friendly in this county), and discovered one lady whose sister coincidentally lives very near to us. After the usual “small world” comments (why does that always happen to us?) we took a drive around the area before heading out onto the main road in search of lunch.

Langar Hall is an unexpected place. We read about how the owner, Imogen, had taken reluctantly to being an hotelier in an attempt to maintain her aging mansion house. The house itself is striking in its Georgian style the exterior of which is brightly painted, reminiscent of Italy. It is right next to the village church and Langar itself is a very picturesque place with a pub and a few individual ancient houses, interspersed with modern ones. “Better put my jacket on” said J as we pulled into gravelled car park and saw the other (quality) cars, all with personalised number-plates and their glamorous, smartly-dressed owners. This place is obviously a well-kept secret for those in-the-know. We felt like we were entering a secret, private member-only club. But as soon as you walk into Langar Hall the atmosphere is relaxed, well-worn and homely. There are ten bedrooms at various places around the grounds and two dining rooms. There were lots of staff rushing around, all different nationalities. We were invited into the lounge area which led to the stylish new conservatory. It overlooks the beautiful, scenic land which surrounds the grand house. Like the interior, it all had a well-worn and un-maintained look about it and the resident sheep (Langar lamb on the menu) shared their field with strangely lifelike metal sculptures of ostriches and ducks. The Sommelier was reassuringly French – in fact you could tell that without him even speaking a word (if you know what I mean). Then suddenly Imogen herself appeared, rushing through the lounge rooms, grey hair flying around, carrying a warmed baby’s bottle and shouting in her upper-class accent “Where’s the baby? I’ve lost the baby”! The crazy scenes from Alice in Wonderland came to mind. The sommelier, with an air of weary frustration rolled his eyes and told her they were seated at the top table -but she smiled and immediately lost interest in her duty, using the excuse to introduce herself to the pre-dinner guests. You actually got the feeling this was a private house party and she was our host - a much-loved auntie. Dinner was wonderful, the menu is crammed with simple dishes made with local produce and the service was efficient (a little too efficient maybe?) and even the other guests were fascinating. For instance, to our left was a large young family that included the ‘lost’ baby. To our right was a table of young people: one Indian lady in full sari, one coloured guy and two other ladies; in the centre was a table of retired gentleman (blazers and ties) and beyond them three glamous, tall people dressed in jeans, furs, leathers and large sunglasses, who Imogen had great pleasure in explaining (with some pride) were famous transvestite models. You couldn’t imagine a more surreal dining room experience. But there was no uncomfortable atmosphere or whispers that you might expect at other venues like this. Imogen's eyes, within the faces of her ancestors, smiled down on the bizarre scene from the enormous, ancient oil portraits that surrounding us. This is a unique place where eccentricity (something Imogen has obviously become well-rehearsed in) is warmly welcomed, if not encouraged and this meant everyone felt very relaxed. This must be the secret to her success.

After lunch we had a stroll round the satisfyingly unkempt garden which included some (real) ducks on a semi-landscaped circular medieval 'pond' that represented a moat with a small wooden bridge. The sun was shining and this really is an unspoilt area with beautiful surrounding countryside. At the end of our East Midlands Food Tour, reluctantly we headed back home in our little BMW, with our little fridge full of goodies and lots of leaflets of places we would undoubtedly be visiting again. Langar Hall is definitely top of the list.

With many thanks to BMW's Good Food Ride guide and especially to Laura and the team at The Fish Can Sing for making all the arrangements and recommendations.

Amazingly I won a competition recently that enabled my hubby and I to stay a night at Winteringham Fields ("a restaurant with rooms") . One thing's for sure, not only would I never even have known about it - but we couldn't have justified the extravagance of this Michelin-starred venue ordinarily (except maybe a corporate hospitality visit of course) ! We were very lucky to have had this opportunity. It's a really special place.

The first thing that strikes you about Winteringham Fields is its unpretentiousness. It's on a completely different level to places like Mallory Court, near Stratford-upon-Avon - but with similar levels of food and service. Although, I guess you could say that about all of Lincolnshire (I'd not visited the county much before this) and the village of Winteringham itself is rather, well, ordinary! There's a quaint side, a picturesque village centre with a post office and a general store, two pubs (both a bit "spit and sawdust" - but very friendly), and round the corner the ubiquitous small council estate. In fact, you can't help thinking that this is one of those areas on the brink of an upturn in fortune. A rare undiscovered unsploilt seaside resort (a bit like Brixham in Devon). (It's also one of the few places left in Britain where you can buy a decent-sized detached house for less than £150k). Only a mile away is the glorious landscape of the Humber estuary - an area of "special scientific interest" which is home to many nature reserves and is dominated by the Humber bridge, which apparently held its own in the history books when it was built in 1981. The setting sun over the flat, rural countryside is quite something. The industrial areas seem invisible somehow from here. If you have time and energy there are plenty of walks including the famous 140 mile Viking Way which ends in Oakham, Rutland.

The hotel itself is a hidden-away, low 16th century building, made up of lots of different ancient and modern buildings that have made the current restaurant and lounge areas into a maze of low-ceilinged, different levelled, cosy rooms. Outside is a gravelled courtyard area where there are some extra bedrooms.
We stayed in a room that was not actually IN the hotel. It was just up the street (100 yards) in a very tastefully converted house. Luckily it wasn't raining - although apparently they send a car to pick you up if it does rain. The bathroom was huge and the bed large and comfortable. There were a few things missing from a room in this price-bracket though - for instance, in the separate kitchen area - why weren't there different sorts of teas to choose from? Where was the radio/CD and why did we have to ask for a second set of bath towels? However, overall the room was lovely and full of stylish "antiques" and personal touches (including the most amazing needlework box I have ever seen)! And of course they came to turn down our bed during the evening and left a helpful reminder about the clocks going forward an hour that night.

We were a bit surprised not to be offered Or'deurves when we sat in the dark-red, incense-smelling, velvety lounge area for pre-dinner drinks. They were at extra cost (but fortunately not for us)! which wasn't very welcoming. But they were very nice and included caviar. For dinner, we were on a table close to an old range which doubled-up as a place for the waiters to keep things warm on. It was very ambient. Simple. No music. This is where you appreciate the quiet, subtle unpretentious service that only a quality place like this can produce. The tables are not too close and the marble floor adds to a sense of style.

Dinner was to be the "surprise" menu - which was a total of about 6 very relaxed courses (I lost count) (over 4 hours) including roast Gressingham duck and a risotto and veal creation that was very nice. The salmon dish was a bit bland though. There were 2 desserts - both a flavour sensation! One served on dry ice! The service throughout was very friendly - not really what you normally get with a Michelin-starred restaurant. Each smiling staff member made an effort to ask what we thought of each dish etc. the 'cheese man' in particular was an experience - he knew literally everything about the cheese and how it was produced and where it came from etc. The sommelier was English (!!!) yes the first one I have met. He, too, was very very knowledgeable and very friendly. We met the chef - Robert Thompson. Amazing that he's only 24. He was the student of the previous chef who was here (who had 2 stars) who retired. I'm sure he will have a fantastic future ahead of him. What amazed me was we spoke to him (after a tour of the kitchen) at about midnight after he'd finished service - and he looked as fresh-faced and bushy-tailed as he could have done at 7pm! Not a single sign of a stressful evening's work at all! And after about 50 covers of 6 courses each.

As you can imagine, we didn't have anything much for breakfast (although the selection was very good). But the pastries and fruit were all fresh and a good selection of teas were on offer! The cheese man was there to wave us off - they are closed on Sundays and Mondays so I expect the staff were eager to get their weekend. Overall, highly recommended. We could have easily spent over £500 for one night’s DBB - e.g. £25 for a single glass of champers is a bit steep. Bring the credit card - but enjoy the experience! There's not many places in the UK where you can get this level of service with such excellent food, in such humble, idyllic surroundings.

Oh dear, and now its March and not one single thing to say about February. It's such a dull and depressing month anyway.

We did visit some good eating-places though:

we went back to Bibendum (again) . And sorry, I don't agree with some other people

I think its the most relaxed, light and airy lunching-place in the whole of London. My personal favourite. ..

We also visited The Square in Mayfair. Very nice. Very French. Nice fishy menu. Nice ambience and lovely people. Apparently, you can't normally get in there for a Saturday evening unless you book months and months in advance. Fortunately, one of our party knew the chef, so we benefitted from special treatment...

Whilst in London we saw the Cirque Du Soleil again. For those not in the know, this is the best human-only circus in the world. Now with lots of international sections and each performance with a different theme. The choreography just takes your breath away. It's just so original and entertaining...

Highly recommended.

My teaching placement is drawing to a close and assignments and stuff all completed. Counting-down now until the end of term.

Time to plan a Summer holiday methinks....

For the benefit of my students who are studying diet/health-related issues for their assignment - here is the 'copy and pasted' summary of the points raised in the recent seminar I attended, with links to the full presentations at the end if required....

Obesity: understanding the role of the social & physical environment
ESRC Seminar Series, UCL, 17/01/07
Introduction

• Are we promoting ‘Obesogenic’ behaviours or environment?


• Physical/economic/socio-cultural/political


• Research on obesity issues has focused on access to food (e.g. in school & workplaces) and advertising. These papers focus on other aspects such as peer group behaviours or social/cultural networks.
  
  Self-identity(ies) & body image


• Extended boundaries of ‘normality’: GPs dismiss – use non-confrontational language e.g. “puppy fat” etc. Words ‘diet’ and ‘child’ together perceived as not morally right. (Public awareness & fear of anorexia?) Contrast with fact that obesity is subjected to moral judgement and perceived as a type of ‘social deviance’.


• Government Policy focus: on educating parents (empowerment) - But research suggests that “children are in charge”.


• Parents’ dilemma: stigma “their fault” so support child – provide more treats! Sweets still seen as ‘reward’ (and withdrawal of sweets as ‘punishment’) and parents: “don’t want to deny child” foods low in nutritional value often available to all family members - “something good that’s not bad”


• Parents often ‘not bothered’ about child’s obesity – viewed as part of ‘family identity’ (“in the genes’)


• Questionnaire - Difficulties with young adults and exercise – i.e. sport/in the park/cycling. (But what does “active” mean)?


• 16-24 age group = lowest intake of fruit of veg.

See: Curtis, P. Fisher, P. (In Press) Bringing it all home: families with children with obesity University of Sheffield

Focus on prevention

• Germany, UK, Australia and the US - highest Obesity rates and still rising.


• Long-term effectiveness of obesity treatment very low -Prevention has slightly better outcomes, (e.g. school kids undertaking PE classes).


• Cultural differences in exercise – e.g. UK few student bike to college, in The Netherlands most do!


• Motivation/ability/opportunity: Objective vs subjective - seeing an opportunity for exercise.
  
  See Brug, J. (2007) What is the evidence for an Obesogenic food environment? Am J Prev Med
  
  Further info and downloads of presentations available at
  www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/obesity

I've got five minutes to stick some of these photos on here from Christmastime. So here goes...

Working backwards from our last day - this was (at last) a view of Bamburgh Castle not obscured by rain and wind and hail. Such a sleepy little village, but I can never understand why they don't open the Castle at this time of year. There are so many walkers about - some desperate to get inside ANYWHERE INSIDE out of the rain and wind. At at £6.50 a throw they could make a fortune in the short space of time over the New Year holidays. Oh well, third time lucky I guess - although all the guidebooks say don't bother anyway as the views outside are far better than anything within....much better to stay inside by the fire in the bar of the friendly Victoria Hotel...

Do you know this convict? I think he must've got washed-up on the shores of Holy Island, Northumberland. Unusually for us we managed to time it just right. It's always a laugh to read about the stupid tourists who insist on driving across to the island when the causeway is obviously UNDERWATER! Duh! I think just because they are in 4x4s they think they are immortal. As you can see, pub weather - I think its was the Crown and Anchor and the Ship Inn. Not to be confused with the much much nicer Old Ship Hotel in nearby Seahouses. Best crab sandwiches you ever tasted (I know, I always say that). No, but honestly, where else can you find a seafood chowder served with roast potatoes and new potatoes and veggies for about £3.50? Eh? Shame their rooms are closed-up for the winter - does all of Northumberland go into hibernation? I think they should take a tip from our Cumbrian friends and make the most of the colder months. Alston was positively heaving with people in search somewhere warm to relax in over the Xmas break. Luckily for them there are LOADS of pubs in Alston. Of course I'm obliged to say the Crown was the best - because many thanks to Vicki for lending us her two dogs to take on long walks across the fells. Actually, sorry Vicki - I though the Sultan was the most friendly pub (and warmest). But the classiest place to be (mmmmm...'Alston' and 'class' in the same sentence?) would have to be the Alston House Hotel. Very tastefully done - just a shame there were no customers to go with it (!!!)

Back on Holy Island - of course in case you miss the tide and get chucked out of the Ship there, you can always spend the night in one of these upturned boats! Nice view and that fresh sea breeze is just what you need to chase the cob webs away... one thing that is strange about Holy Island - why do they charge you to get into the Abbey - which is just a ruin - when you can get to within 5ft of it without paying, and have a much better view of it from the shore anyway??? Very strange

Anyway, here's my favourite picture (below). This was one of the walks which went up to Issac's Tea trail in Alston (Buzzing community spirit in Alston.) Not far away is an artists gallery place which also sells tea and biscuits. Almost Cornwallish - only without the sea obviously! It's so high up in Alston it has its own climate - which was lucky as I think the rest of the country was just rain, rain and more rain. The drive across the moors is spectacular scenery. It didn't actually snow until the 27th Dec. As you can see it was very, very cold! But very bright and fresh. Perfect walking weather (if you kept off the ice) ! Even my hair froze!

Having made a new year's resolution to keep this updated a bit more regularly - seems I've not made a good start by getting to the 18th January already with nothing posted!
Got some photos and other stuff to go on here later though. back soon

Thanks to G - I'm now in the know about the conspiracy theory surrounding 9/11. I never knew about it!

He recommeds you watch these (links below). The challenge is, can you watch them and then say it WASN'T an inside job?

Loose change - made by younger film-makers, hence the contemporary soundtrack. Maybe start with this one? =>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501&q=911

The Great Conspiracy - REAL journalism, from area journalist, from Canada, in considerable detail =>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6529813972926262623&q

September 11th revisited - >http://www.911revisited.com/video.html

But even if it WAS a conspiracy - who, how and more importantly WHY!???!!

Save the British Waterways
It's quick and easy - sign this petition to stop the government cuts in funding -
Just do it!

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveOurWaterways

Last weekend we escaped for a few days to a seaside village in West Wales called Llangrannog. A colleague of Justin's owns a cosy holiday cottage there, which actually sleeps 8 (!) So as you can imagine we had a choice of bedrooms. Thankfully, we didn't have the one overlooking the graveyard next door (not that I'm superstitious or anything you understand - but being used to the conflagration at night-time of Coventry and Birmingham from home, this type of rural landscape brings a whole new meaning to the word "dark")!

This is the picture from the cottage window during a nice sunny day! (I'll leave your imagination to do the rest)!

We were there over Remembrance Sunday and 'did our duty' by attending the local service at a nearby village (there wasn't one at the church next-door). This took rather longer to sit through that we had anticipated (luckily it wasn't that cold) as every prayer and reading had to be spoken in English and then repeated in Welsh! But the church was packed and it was a worthwhile experience! We treated ourselved afterwards to lunch at the famous "Harbourmaster" at Aberaeron.

This was also a kind of duty as everyone who knows us well, knows that whenever we are out and about, we have to consult our trusty Michelin eating out in pubs guide, to find the nearest 'nice place'. Another place ticked-off the list....
The Harbourmaster reminded me a bit of John Burton Race's place in Dartmouth - the New Angel - but not so pretentious (not difficult in a place like Aberaeron, I guess).

Or maybe Dunkerley's in Deal, Kent.

Set on its own, over-looking the wide harbour estuary (above) it was very atmospheric at this quiet time of year. There's an interesting bridge across the river too. The dark blue exterior really makes it stand-out - but not in a bad way: there are lots of seaside blues and greys around. Not far away was a little fisherman's hut selling crabs and fresh fish. Next door was a strange crafty-type shop full of (over-priced) welsh woolly things and pottery (with a friendly resident cat). The restaurant itself was as you would expect - bare wooden tables and floor boards surrounded by modern boaty/seaside pictures on plain walls. The service was excellent and they were very busy. Couldn't fault the food (wonderful fishcakes)! It was very relaxed atmosphere and even the owner and his wife sat down to eat lunch in the bar area when the rush had died-down. Very, very nice. They have rooms here too (although a bit pricey) and Aberaeron town itself is quite nice and not too touristy with lots of pubs and gift shops (and a cheese-making place near-by).

Going back to Llangrannog, there are two pubs: the Pentre Arms (pronounced "Pentry") with a fantastic view of the harbour (when it's not obscured by sand-bags that is)!! and the Ship Inn. We thought the Ship had the best atmosphere and best food (good, cheap old-fashioned pub-grub)! The nearest best pub was another Ship Inn at Tresaith. A welcome sight at the end of an exhausting (5)? mile walk up and down the (dangerous) cliff path from Llangrannog.

This is the view of the pub from the sea. Inside there was a cosy fire and comfy leather sofas with newspapers. The only thing that spoilt it was the fact that they obviously make alot of money serving the local static caravan park (high-up on the cliff) with pizzas and chips ('get-your-numbered-wooden-spoon-when-you-place-your-order-at-the-bar'-kinda-place). But its quite a big place so you can escape to the other side of the pub.

On the way back we met an old woman (who quite honestly would have been quite scarey to meet in the dark - if you know what I mean - whiskers , pointy nose and all) who was emptying her fire's ashes into the stream outside her house (as she had probably done all her life). She told us she used to live in the Pentre Arms pub and how the sea comes right into the pub on stormy nights and no-one can get out (what a shame)!! She was complaining about all the sand that had blown up the street in the wind - and we had thought it was left over from the sea-water. Imagine living in that old victorian house and have nothing to do but empty your stove's ashpan into the stream and sweep away the sand......

Here's another nice pub - but more local to us: The George at Great Oxendon
Where the fish cakes are to die for....

The other day we went to a pub called the Dundas Arms (I know - strange name)And having looked at the web site thought that it looked a very promising lunch. It was an invitation from Justin's father and he doesn't often get it wrong.
However - as soon as we got through the door we suspected it may be a disappointment. It's one of those places where you can't reserve a table (I can never understand why landlords do that) - so you just have to turn-up early and hope for the best. As it was, when we got there not long after midday - we had the place to ourselves! We sat in the corner by an noisy and drafty expelair thingy and I looked at the menu (blackboard only) and thought - this isn't inspiring or cheap!(it has to be one or the other really)..but the staff were very smiley!
Anyway, we ordered at the bar and gradually the place seemed to fill up - mainly locals as this is quite an isolated spot.
I had the sole, Justin had the steak (of course) and C&C both had lancashire hot pot - which was probably the best choice. Home-cooked (or out of the freezer) food. Not bad - but nothing special. Everything was covered unnecessarily in melted butter (felt like we were in France)!
After the apple crumbles etc (which came in their own little ceramic pots), we went for a stroll along the banks of the Kennet - which is where the canal and the river meet. It was the last day of the nice weather but (as always) we didn't venture far - just to the bridge and back.
We stopped in Hungerford on the way back. Lovely town (if you can try to disassociate it with it's tragic past) kind of reminiscent of Tenderden in Kent - with its wide high street, Victorian architecture and little antique and book shops.There is also an unusual African furniture shop - made out of old railway sleepers (not the shop - the furniture). Very nice - but very, very expensive. Undoubtedly unethical (she says with standing on her soap-box). But Hungerford's claim to fame is that it's using the best in technology to obtain its parking fees. Haven't got the cash to go into the ticket machine in the car park? Well, just text the word "parking" to a number printed on the ticket machine and the number of hours you want, and Hey Presto! as if by magic - a ticket is printed out for you and your phone charged the appropriate fee. Amazing! (I know, you're probably gonna tell me that this happens all over the country now - but this was the first time I'd seen it anywhere)...

Some useful web sites about reflective teaching/learning below:

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/pbl/pblreflect.htm
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/reflect/index.cfm
http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/reflection/you.html

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/experience.htm

This was an interesting article from the BPS recently:


Reading novels linked with increased empathy
----------------------------------------

"'Oh! it is only a novel!' or, in short, only some work in which the
most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its
varieties, the liveliest effusion of wit and humour are to be conveyed
to the world in the best chosen language." From Northanger Abbey (1818)
by Jane Austen.

The more fiction a person reads, the more empathy they have and the
better they perform on tests of social understanding and awareness. By
contrast, reading more non-fiction, fact-based books shows the opposite
association. That’s according to Raymond Mar and colleagues who say
their finding could have implications for educating children and adults
about understanding others.

Finding out how much people read is always difficult because it’s
socially desirable for people to report that they read a lot. Mar and
colleagues avoided this by asking 94 participants to identify the names
of fiction and non-fiction authors embedded in a long list of names that
also included non-authors. Prior research has shown this test correlates
well with how much people actually read. Among the authors listed were
Matt Ridley, Naomi Wolf (non-fiction), Toni Morrison and PD James
(fiction).

The more authors of fiction that a participant recognised, the higher
they tended to score on measures of social awareness and tests of
empathy – for example being able to recognise a person’s emotions from a
picture showing their eyes only, or being able to take another person’s
perspective. Recognising more non-fiction authors showed the opposite
association.

The researchers surmised that reading fiction could improve people’s
social awareness via at least two routes – by exposing them to concrete
social knowledge concerning the way people behave, and by allowing them
to practise inferring people’s intentions and monitoring people’s
relationships. Non-fiction readers, by contrast, “fail to simulate such
experiences, and may accrue a social deficit in social skills as a
result of removing themselves from the actual social world”.

However, a weakness of the study is that the direction of causation has
not been established – it might simply be that more empathic people
prefer reading novels.
___________________________________

Mar, R.A., Oatley, K., Hirsh, J., dela Paz, J. & Peterson, J.B. (2006).
Bookworms versus nerds: exposure to fiction versus non-fiction,
divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of
fictional social worlds. Journal of Research in Personality, 40,
694-712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.08.002

Author weblink: http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/~raymond/

Event: Institute of Ideas

I've been to one of these before - excellent events to attend:

copied from a newletter:

I thought you might like to hear about this year's Battle of Ideas major weekend festival of debates taking place in London, 28-29th October 2006. Never before has a 'battle of
ideas' been so necessary as 'culture wars' ignite close to home and
arguments rage over international policy. Over 50 debates will be
taking place over the weekend, featuring over 150 speakers debating
'hot' topics such as: 'Clash of Civilisations or Cultural Crisis?;
'Reassessing Liberty'; 'Empire of regulations or a Lawless World'; Is
the rise of religion a problem?; Surveillance society: protection from
ourselves?; and The Battle for History: national narrative versus
personal memories. We have also added a debate on the 'veils
controversy' and academic freedom. These are all contentious issues.
However, as the festival's 'slogan' is: 'Free speech allowed!' we look
forward to a wide-ranging exchange of views.



Other keynote debates include: 'Happiness vs. Affluence', 'Human
Enhancement: creating superhumans or dicing with death', 'Artistic
Autonomy', and themed strands of debates on Innovation, Law, Media and
Nature & environment. The new publication What is Science Education
For?', widely previewed in the media, will also be launched at the
festival. There are provocation lectures on national and cultural
identity (Who are in the 21st century?), anti-social behaviour ('nuff
respect? Questioning the 'respect' agenda) and contemporary anxieties
about economic prosperity (Money is not the root of all evil). There
are also a wide array of sessions relating to Health, Education,
Literature, Science, Technology, Design, Philosophy, Sport and much
more...


The event is held at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London
SW7 2EU and is organised by the Institute of Ideas in conjunction with
The Times, Research Councils UK and Pfizer, and many other partners and
sponsors.


To get a feel for the issues in advance of the festival, a wide
selection of Recommended Readingis now available on the website.

Quote for the day: "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want" (Stamford 2005)