Getting heavy again
In the mid eighteenth century Wanstead Park
was the equivalent of Alton Towers with thousands coming out from London every
week to enjoy all manner of entertainments and attractions. It is still a well-established and popular
park with some lovely walks, woodlands and lakes with an abundance of wildlife.
Music in the Park is an annual local event
with some great bands and other attractions, this year including Mr
Alexander. I had a slow and leisurely
set up on the Friday and then had the park to myself overnight. The new generator is brilliant, silent and
very economical so I had all the modern conveniences of life plus a great view
and some lovely walks for the dogs and me.
The best news is that I have passed the C1+E
trailer driving test which means I can put all the extra props and equipment I
had to banish after the VOSA episode. I
am now officially licenced to drive vehicles up to 11 tons, and with the new
weight plate I am now totally legal. All
in all it was a worrying and anxious time and now the relief is
considerable. I took the test with
Chevron Training in Flint who were helpful and professional. The test itself was nerve-racking and I was
convinced I had failed it after a mistake at the very beginning. The examiner noticed the mistake but said
that as my overall drive was competent he would pass me. Hurrah hurrah!
After Wanstead it was on to Netley Marsh
Steam Rally which despite a sunny day to set up on the Friday rained solidly
all day on the Friday and again on the Sunday so I only had one day of
performing. Luckily it was very hot and
sunny all day on the Saturday and this meant it was fine for the Magic Lantern
Show on Saturday evening. This was a new
venture and the show, presented by Allan
and Rene Marriott and was attended by about twenty people. They showed many of their Victorian animated
slides. It was great to see these
precursors of animated films which were shown to fascinated audiences 150 years ago at
fairgrounds and events like the steam rally and to marvel at the advances we
have made in film production.
And then on to the Isle of Wight, my
favourite place in Britain. The
Victorian weekend was vey busy for two days and the sun shone for both. It was
nice to meet up with many of the Victorian re-enactors I meet at other events. I showed a film on the Saturday night and
decided on ‘High Society’ which surprisingly went down very well with those in
the audience who weren’t even thought of in 1956. A bit chilly for an open air film show
though.
Grymmtooms Museum (www.grymmtooms.co.uk) were there and I
haven’t seen them for years. It is a
great joy they are still going. They
present a Victorian travelling museum of strange and amazing artefacts and live
in period tents behind their exhibition.
They talk in detail about the exhibits and lead you into their
mysterious world of explorers and strange beasts whose skeletons are
shown. The stories they tell using the
exhilbits are compelling and almost believable. One has the feeling they are probably fiction, but of a very high order and they make you want to believe them.
This weekend is Shrewsbury Flower Show
again and the challenges of that very sloping but attractive site will be met
again by Mr Alexander’s ingenuity and determination.
A few people have kindly asked whether I am
OK as I have not posted a blog for a while.
Thank you for your interest and concern.
I have had some personal challenges recently but I am recovering from
those and I feel sure normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
All the best from a road near you,
Mr Alexander