On bonfire night, Mum and I headed back down to Guildford to see a cracker of a show at the Yvonne Arnuad Theatre. The cast of E.M. Forster's A Room With A View was led by Felicity Kendall. The story is set around the start of the 20th century as Kendall's character chaperones a young lady in Venice, where they meet a father a son. Later, back in England, the young lady and son meet again.... This was a fantastic production.

Mum and I drove down to Guildford to see the lesser known Noel Coward play This Happy Breed. Mum loves the film that was made in 1944 while I knew nothing about the story. It was presented by the Pitlochry Theatre Company, and was a fantastic production. The play follows the fortunes of a working class family who move into their new home in Clapham in 1919 after the father has returned from WWI. Over the course on three Acts lasting nearly 3 hours, the play cove...

Today was my annual pilgrimage to Alton Towers. This year I was accompanied by my long-term collaborator and his two teenage children - their first trip here. We drove up separately as I was heading back to Mum's at the end of the day. I arrived first and had time to go on Oblivion, which features vertical drop, and Rita, which accellerates from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds, before the other arrived. We met up at the Runaway Mine Train and then made for Nemesis, whic...

After a comfortable night in the B&B, most of our clothes had dried and we headed west along the coast to Pevensey Castle. Substantial remains of the old walls of the Roman fort surround the remains of a Norman Castle. This is also the location where William of Normandy / William The Conqueror / William I landed with his ultimately successful invasion fort. We both enjoyed the interesting free audio tour as we explored the castle. The it was time to head h...

Today my GS and I headed down to Battle for the 950th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Hastings. At the celebrations, The GS particularly enjoyed having a go at the archery - which was one in the eye for Harold! He also enjoyed a boar burger while I tucked into a venison burger. After the celebrations, we made for one of my all time favourite castles where as a child my love for castles and history was cemented. That castle was Bodiam, a square castle ...