The Hay Festival

On Friday we drive to Wales for a weekend at the Hay Book Festival. We have been treated to a cottage by Son and Daughter. Daughter comes with us in our car, while the not terribly well-kept surprise is that Son and his wife are joining us there. Well-kept or not, it’s great to see them. 

On the first night we go for a drink in nearby Presteigne village at The Radnorshire Arms Hotel in their beer garden. Then we pick up a Chinese from The Cabin which throws us as they only take cash which means a hasty trip to find a cash machine. 

Naturally we need to fit in a Parkrun on Saturday which we do at Groe aka Bluith Wells which is about thirty minutes away. L, the Lad and I run it while the three youngsters walk it. After a local breakfast we go to the Hay Festival. Son manages to not only get there before us but also manages to leave before we get there as well. We see some friends of ours there and then L and Daughter head off to see Philippa Gregory. 

The Lad and I walk around the town and along the river taking in two coffee stops. Then a third when we meet up again with L and Daughter. I have pint at Kliverts Inn while they do the shops. Then it’s L and I at a Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey talk on conspiracy theories while Daughter looks after the Lad. We also dine out at the festival. 

I am back on dog duties on Sunday as L And Daughter have two book talks. They go see David Lindo and then Elif Shafak. The Lad and I have a leisurely late breakfast at the Blue Boar café bar followed by another river walk, in the opposite direction this time. We stop for coffee at the Treehouse and a pint at the Swan. 

Interesting there is a second festival on in Hay at the same time called ‘HowTheLightGetsIn’. All one word apparently. It’s the world's largest philosophy and music festival. I quote ‘a weekend of mind-expanding ideas with political icons, revolutionary philosophers, and era-defying physicists as bold thinkers explore reality, society, and the human mind.’ But they don’t allow dogs, which is not very revolutionary, so the Lad and I skip it. 

We then meet the girls back at the Blue Boar where we meet up with our friends again before eating back at the cottage. 

We head home early on the Monday as Daughter is at work. So, I am back in plenty of time to visit my Dad and take him out to the New Inn for a beer. Then back home for a very unconventional Friday Night on a Monday with a rare takeaway from the Savera.

(Monday 26^th May) 

Diverted Again

It’s a normal Monday with L in the gym, the weekly shop at Sainsbury’s and then my cycling at the velodrome followed by a trip to see my Dad. L does a 4k run early on Tuesday and a swim. 

I am out with my friend from school on Wednesday. We meet in the Furnace for a change and the Furnace has a beer festival on. Result. Then we eat at the Silk Mill where everything that doesn’t come without chips is off. So their famous ‘Pie 3’ and chips it is.

But back to Tuesday when I was in Birmingham in the evening to see Pixies. 

It’s a surprisingly easy drive there but coming back is a nightmare. The multi storey car park next to the Academy only has one exit gate and that’s where most people have parked. So, I queue for an hour to get to the exit and then as you get to the barrier you discover that your payment is now not enough to cover your ‘extended’ stay. An attendant has to let you out. This is clearly standard practice as the attendants are stood there doing exactly that.  

Then the Aston Expressway is closed so I am diverted. Then the M6/M42 junction is closed so I am diverted again. 

(Tuesday 20^th May) 

Pixies

So this is my sixth Pixies gig. I saw them five times first time around up until 1991 but then they split up in 1993. I've seen them only once since they reformed in 2003, that was at Leeds Festival in 2005. 30 years ago... Where does the time go? but to be fair they never come to Nottingham any more like they did in their heyday, so here I am at the Academy in Birmingham. Not one of my favourite places but it's going to be great to get reacquainted with Black Francis and co.

First though are local lads Big Special who say they met just around the corner at Matthew Boulton College. They seemed to consist of just a drummer and a man with his thumbs up. Turns out he’s the singer but doesn't have an instrument. Yet there is a secret guitar playing somewhere and some keyboards as well... Yes, we have another karaoke merchant.  

That aside... they are nice lads who are clearly delighted to be supporting the band they described as the best in the world and they do make quite a good 'manufactured' sound. I particularly liked the secret saxophone on what they described as their new song. 

Pixies take the stage without a word and ease into the instrumental ‘Cecilia Ann’ perhaps a sign that they are simply going to let the music speak for itself because there is no banter, no theatrics and no attempt to involve the crowd in a singalong just a tightly wound set of one relentless classic song after another. 

Song two is one of those classics ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ but obviously without Kim Deal. Emma Richardson, of Band of Skulls fame, takes on the vocal and the bass guitar that is so fundamental to their sound. She nails both. 

'Wave Of Mutilation' and 'Planet Of Sound' hurtle along in the Monkey's wake. Then we are treated to material from albums I am less familiar with along with tracks from their new and tenth album, ‘The Night the Zombies Came’. This pattern of old and new continues seamlessly throughout a generous 28 song set.

Of course, the ravages of time meant I wasn’t expecting Black Francis to yelp like a lunatic as much as he used to but even at 60 he still howls his way through the magnificent 'Caribou' and commands the stage throughout. Although he does have to keep reaching for his reading glasses to read the set list. Which is great really. So he's not a God after all, he's just like the rest of us. 

Then there's Joey Santiago, whose guitar used to shred my eardrums for days after one of their gigs. Then again... I might struggle with my hearing at that work meeting tomorrow. The ears are also not helped by the volume of David Lovering’s precision drumming.

Other highlights... a brutal 'Gouge Away’, the wonderful ‘Hey’, the brilliant 'Here Comes Your Man', an amazing ‘Where Is My Mind?’ and then there’s ‘Debaser’, still snarling and shredding ears after all these years.

The finale comes via a particularly unhinged ‘Tame’ before Richardson’s take on the hypnotic 'Into the White' ends the night. There is no encore and instead the band then come together centre stage to show their appreciation to us as we show our appreciation to them. 

I was a little sceptical of how good they would be after all these years but I needn't have worried because while it was different they were still once again immensely special. 

Spaghetti Junction

I’m still ill on Monday so I cancel cycling and even leave the Sainsbury’s shop until Tuesday. I do manage to walk the Lad and do a day’s work but I’m again in bed early when L goes up. I’m only slightly better on Tuesday but I do at least manage to stay up until my usual time. By Wednesday I’m just about back to eating normally and I manage to take the Lad to dog training. 

L has Wollaton book club on Wednesday and also fits in a swim at Spring Lakes with Daughter then on Thursday after her usual day with her Mum in the UK’s award winning worst city she’s at a book event to see Laura Bates at Nottingham Waterstones with all her book pals. 

 

Sheffield’s Leadmill finally announces its closure after the management lost their final appeal against eviction by their landlords. The venue which opened in 1980 has been in dispute with its landlord since ownership changed in 2017. They have to quit the building within three months and will now host a series of farewell events. All its future gigs will transfer to other venues in Sheffield while the venue itself will be relaunched by the new owners. 

On Friday L and her family are at Markeaton Crematorium scattering both her Dad’s and her Brother’s ashes. 

Daughter meanwhile is now dog sitting for a friend for a week so we have the house to ourselves but I have to turn down L’s offer of a Friday night because I’m too ill to manage it. I have a few medicinal beers instead. 

I do manage to Parkrun on Saturday which we do at Long Eaton where sadly the Rugby club café is no longer open so we go to the café Spring Lakes instead for coffee and a breakfast roll. While there I get a call from the Fire Brigade who have been round to my Dad’s to do a safety check. They have condemned his plug collection which does look like it’s been styled on spaghetti junction. I get him a new ten plug extension lead to replace what he had before. 

L is over in Mickleover in the afternoon and when she heads back I meet her off the Red Arrow which is stopping at the back of QMC due to the roadworks on the island. From there we divert to the Johnson’s Arms for a few drinks which this time manages to stay open. 

We get home in time to catch the end of Eurovision where the general public again give the UK zero points. After a decent jury vote we were 10th but the public dump us down to 19th. Even more bizarrely second placed Switzerland are also given zero points by the public while Israel who were nowhere in 15th get all the public votes and end up 2nd but Austria win. 

On Sunday we are at Colwick again for the swim and walk where we fail to get any coffee or breakfast from Wired on Wheels due to their massive queues. We ponder doing Sunday lunch somewhere but, in the end, we go home for toast and then we do the gym together. It’s L’s first gym session of the week as she’s spent most of the week swimming. 

(Sunday 18^th May) 

Stay In With A Book

Monday is the May Day Bank Holiday so after a lie in and a later than usual dog walk we attempt to get into the café on Wollaton Park but as expected it is too busy, so we head home for breakfast. Then I see my Dad and take him to the New Inn for a late afternoon beer. 

L is back in the gym on Tuesday where she says she’s going to spur on her recovery from injury by starting Couch to 5k on the treadmill. That might help her physical recovery but what about the mental downside? In fact, she takes the training outside on Wednesday and does a short run with Daughter. 

At dog training, the Lad’s weaves are excellent. It’s not often I say that. In fact, I never say that. 

Thursday is L’s birthday which she isn’t happy about spending in Derby which incidentally has just been named by Which magazine as the worst place for a short break in the UK to the surprise of no one. 

I offer to take her out in the evening even though I think she’d much rather stay in with a book but she succumbs and we go to the Horse & Jockey at Stapleford for the first time in ages. We go on the bus with the Lad who takes it all in his stride as he’s becoming a bus expert. 

They have a two for one offer on pizzas, which really isn’t L’s thing for her birthday or for any time really but we give them a go although the Lad and I have most of it. Then we get the bus timings wrong, miss the bus we wanted and ended up walking for 20 minutes or so until the next bus catches us up. Perhaps we should have both stayed in with a book. 

On Saturday we Parkrun at Shipley and then have an excellent breakfast in their cafe which is under new management and now dog friendly. In the afternoon I cut my Dad’s grass and then take him for a beer in the Harrington at Thulston while L is over in Mickleover. In the evening, we go to Mem Saab for a curry with L’s friends. 

I have a dodgy stomach the next day. Either it was the curry or I’ve picked up a bug from somewhere. We go to Colwick for the swim but I don’t feel great so when L opts for a not unusual early bedtime at 9pm I shock her by joining her. I think she's worried I'm faking it and have an ulterior motive but she's safe.

(Sunday 11^th May) 

Ageing Wreck

A typical sort of week with L in the gym every single day apart from Sunday with me joining her to cramp her style on Thursday evening. She even has one day in work but just the one day and is out with her Mum, but definitely not in M&S for lunch, on Thursday. 

On Friday my new computer for home arrives. It’s a massive improvement on the ageing wreck it replaced. 

On Saturday we do Wollaton parkrun and L tail walks. Then I’m at the final match of the season against Stoke. My Dad and I are up on a raised platform for wheelchairs in the corner of the ground. He is well impressed with the view. I am less so. 

Both team are among the five sides slugging it out for the last relegation place. A draw is likely to be enough for both sides so naturally a draw it is. 0-0 of course. Luton go down. I celebrate later with Black Cherry Porter in the Plough. 

Sunday is swimming at Colwick where Daughter joins L in water while the Lad and I go for a stroll. 

(Sunday 4^th May)