Mon 28 Nov 2011 Is it really a year since I last updated this site. It seems it is looking at the date of the last entry. How times flies.
I have not been doing many challenge walks this past year, mainly because it is hard getting up so early, and then driving, to be at the start point for 8 am . I have entered for the LDWA London 100 in early June 2012. I hope I can finish it this year, as I have completed nine so far, and there is a special award for the 10th, and even a mention in Strider. The Shropshire 100 this year I stopped at 43 miles. There was much too much ascent, in total 17000 ft. The next one has just 10000, only a bit more than this years at the point I stopped.
If you have clicked the link to the online diary you will see that I spend a lot of spare time at London Theatres. I started this about four years ago, travelling by National Express, almost door to door, as the 450 service travels through Ravenshead. The cost then was about £10, but sincwe there is no longer the half fare discount, it has risen to about £18, even with the coachcard. I therefore have been using megabus, via Sheffield, and megatrain from Nottingham, Derby or Sheffield. If I am lucky I get journeys costing £1. Today the megabus website put on dates from 9 Jan to 16 Feb 2012, so I ordered 10 of those, for a total cost of £8 (some were free), but with Tesco codes doubled into megabus codes, I paid a total of £3.50 Interestingly the codes do not cover the 50 p booking fee.
I have also started ordering groceries online. Having tried Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury, I find that Tesco is best. Ordering through topcashback gives a reward of about 5 % of the cost, which more than pays for the cost of the delivery. Also, this cashback can be further increased by getting Amazon codes. So far I have received over £50 in cashback. I recommend topcashback to everyone If you join, use my link! TOPCASHBACK.

Thue 2 Dec 2010 So I wonder who bully boy was who sat next to me at the John Shuttleworth show in London on Tuesday evening. He would not remove his right arm and elbow from my ribs. He also told me I was too old for leather trousers, and that I was weird! I moved to a better seat on the front row at the interval, but I clearly must complain before the show starts if this happens again.

The two megabus drivers were brilliant on Wednesday, even though the one from London to Newcastle, M20, did arrive 2½ hours late, leaving me just 25 minutes to catch the M20 from Newcastle to Sheffield. We were about 30 mins late arriving, but I had to walk from Meadowhall to Sheffield Interchange as there were no X78 buses running, even though the road was not very snowy at all. The bus station was closed, and no effort had been made to clear the snow away. Very poor. Luckily the trains were running, and although the first was terminated at Chesterfield, I was able eventually to get to Nottingham. I got a Pronto stright away, although trentbarton was running a limited service, and stagecoach had closed down altogether. .

Mon 19 July 2010 Into Nottingham this morning to book a ticket for the Roxy Music concert on 2 Feb 11. Pay cash and there are no additional charges. Use ticketmaster and it would have been at least £6 more. But before calling at the Arena I popped into Rosemary's to buy two jars of Advanced 40 + Acidophilus tablets. Out of stock, more on Wednesday. Today is Monday and I am here now, what do you suggest I asked. That is your problem, one of the assistants said. Oh dear, not very customer friendly, as I told them in no unceratin terms.

Tue 13 July 2010 watch a great new talent from Bulwell, Nottingham. Click here to watch Bob Crapper sing his version of The Streets of London.

Wed 7 July 2010 A weekend at the caravan, in Northumberland. I spend Sat and Sun extending Hadrian's Wall Walk from Wallsend by walking through Tyneside to Whitley Bay and St Mary's Lighthouse. Videos are and here

Tue 29 June 2010 Just back from seeing La Bete at the Comedy Theatre, Panton St, London. Joanna Lumley delicious enough to eat, but the star of the production is Mark Rylance, who has such incredibly long speaches it is amazing that he can remember them. And in rhyming couplets as well, so it is much harder to adlib. When I booked it was the first performance but someone slipped in an earlier one on Saturday. It was pleasing to see the theatre full. This show is going to Broadway after its ten week run here. Will they understand it.? Did I understand it?

Fri 25 June2010 The Ravenshead Newsletter for July is published this week. The latest edition contains an item about the recent 100 mile walk from Dunkeld. You can read the article Here and scrolling down, or by clicking here and seeing the screen print taken from it.

Tue 15 June 2010 It is that time again. The exam seasoon is upon us, and I will be off to the examination meeting in a couple of days. Happy times.
I am happy to say that a couple of my videos on you tube are now on the revenue sharing database. A newer one is clicking up more than 250 views a day.

Thur 3 June 2010 I completed the 104.44 miles of the heart of Scotland 100 in a time of 45 hrs 55 mins. Videos and pictures are available Here

Fri 14 May 2010 I have not long joined facebook. Yesterday, with nothing better to do, I did a bit of research on past friends, and came acroos Bob and Norma Wade, a lovely wedding picture accompanying the entry, although details were private. Her pre married name, after her earlier divorce, was Norma Rothwell, from Bramhall, near Hazel Grove, Stockport. I sent a congratualtions message, but did not expect a reply. I notice today that now the entry is not even picked up in a search, so it has been made 100% private. Strange but true!

John Tue11 May 2010Phew, that was a close thing. The Labour Party trying to hang on to power when they lost the popular vote and the number of seats. Go Gordo Go,. He messed up the finaces, leaving the huge deficit for the next government to sort out. Deficit reduction should have started months ago, but because of the election things have stalled. They were not running the country in its best interests, but only were concerned for their own political future.

Sun 9 May 2010 I hope David can get agreement with Nic. It is a pity that Gordo is still in power, but I realise that constitutionally he has no option to stay in this state of limbo until the coalition discussions are resolved. I would like to see two matters sorted out. There should be equally sized constituencies. Sherwood is 71000 while Nottm N is about 55000. This is unfair. Also, the W Lothian situation is another problem. Why should Scottish MPs vote on matters relating purely to England?

Sat 8 May 2010 We won. Mark Spencer was elected as the MP for Sherwood. Here is the historic declaration

Fri 7 May 2010 What an incredible 38 hours. Up yesterday at 6.30 am, telling in Ravenshead from 7 am, then on to Blidworth, the afternoon at Hucknall, and back to Ravenshead from 9 pm to 10 pm. Finally to the count at Ollerton for the SHERWOOD constituency, where, after a recount, the result was declared at 5.35 am today. Back home for a quick breakfast, then off to school to assist with the supervision of an AS practical exam. I am off to bed now at about 8.30 pm, having had no sleep for 38 hours.

Wed 5 May 2010 Gedling Council called to say that I should destroy the second voting paper. Voting Conservative tomorrow is the only way to get rid of Gordo.

Tue 4 May 2010 There appears to be a problem with the postal votes in SHERWOOD. Last week I received the ballot paper, completed it and returned as requested. However, tonight I find a hand written and delivered envelope on the doormat containing another ballot paper. I wonder: does that mean the first paper is void, or should I complete this and be accused of fraud by trying to vote twice. As SHERWOOD is a target seat for Conservative, if the result is close, and no method has been established for seeing if voters have voted twice, then I would suggest that any result here is void and the election rerun properly at a later time. I know of two others who have received a second paper, and I guess there will be many more.

Fri 30 April 2010 With the general election just 6 days away, I think it an appropriate time to show my support for the Conservative candidate for Sherwood, Mark Spencer. Some weeks ago he told me he had made a video. Click Here.I believe now that we will win the seat back from Labour. It helps in that Paddy Tipping, our excellent MP,is retiring, and the young lady, 29 who is standing, does not appear to have the experience and expertise that Mark has. I will be telling at the local polling station on Thursday, from 7 am to 8 am, and from 9 pm to 10 pm, after which I will drive to the count at Ollerton.

Sun 7 Mar 2020 Click here for the long awaited video of my new bespoke leather leggings, made to measure by the Ultimate Leather Company, Hither Green, at a cost of around �400. I hade three pairs of leggings made, two with rear zip for a smooth front, and one with a short front zip, as well as two shirts, one slim fitting, the other a fuller fit that should be used with the clip on red leather tie.

Tue 2 Mar 2010 On the way home from the Theatre Royal after seeing Present Laughter, I heard a gentle wolf whistle at Victoria Coach Station. The youth went on and on laughing at my leggings, and so I took a photograph of him before the bus left. Sat 27 Feb 2010 How time flies. Here we are, nearly into March, and this is my first entry of the year. I do hope you pronounce it twenty-ten! So what have I been doing? Marking exam papers, walking and visiting theatres. I saw the first night of Forever Young, and it was so entertaining I saw it a secong time a few days later. I also saw the first performance of Love Never Dies, complete with the technical hitch after ten minutes. At least the director got a good round of applause when he appeared to explain what had happened. Today I did my first Challenge Walk of the year, a very muddy 26 mile Belvoir Challenge, which I completed in a time of 7 hr 23 mins. My next walk is probably going to be The Charnwood Marathon. I also saw the final UK performance of Pitman Painters, the best play I have ever seen. I now have all the actors signatures, as well as one of the sketches that Ian Kelly does so brilliantly on stage. That now needs a proper frame to display it. I am seeing Lee Hall on Friday in Newcastle, at the Live Theatre. I must take the script of Pitman, and try to get him to sign it.

Mon 28 Dec 2009 The walk today for NRSB started at Middleton by Youlgreave. It visited a very icy Lathkill Dale, as the pictures HERE show.

Mon 24 Aug 2009 Megatrain has got itself in a twist. Yesterday the megatrain booking website showed all dates to early January 2010, instead of advancing just one day at a time as is its usual meathod. So I booked three trains down to London in the autumn at �1 each, a total of �3.50. Today I find that all those days have disappeared, so it is no longer possible to book after mid October at the moment. It looks as if a mistake was made and that it was thought that megatrain bookings were the same as those for megabus. Also, the January 2010 dates have been removed. However, I have my reservation numbers, so my bookings are safe.

Tue 4 Aug 2009 I have now transferred all the archive pages onto this site., but have not set up the links to other pages. The items are out of date anyway, and of little interest now.
I am making good use of my National Express bus pass, valid for one year to next April. Last week I used it on four trips to London. The 11.30 pm 465 service, with its drivers Derek, Gary and Richard, is a great boon to the theatre goer in London. I note also that many of the services are now almost full, so National Express must be making good profits at present. I hope it manages to sort itself out, and not get taken over because of the problems it is having on the East Coast Main Line.
I attended the memorial service to Stanley Middleton, the well known Nottingham authur, yesterday. He died last week aged 89, just a few days short of his 90th birthday. He taught me English Literature, the texts being Henry V, Mr Polly and Pygmalian. I was clearly not one of his star pupils in Sc5B, since I ended up with grade 7, when 5 (out of 9) was required for a pass. I never could recall and quote large chunks of text from the books, which seemed to be the way in the 50s to impress the examiners. Since his first book 'A Short Answer' published as part of the New Author series by Hutchinson, he has written 44 novels, most of which I have read. they are based in Nottingham, and concern the everyday lives of ordinary people, usually having something to do with education. There is still one more to be published, and another one not quite completed. I wonder if someone else who is familiar with his unique style, can complete it for publication.

Tue 26 May 2009. I completed the Wessex 100 in a time of 42 hrs. It started at 10 am Sat, and I finished at 4 am yesterday. This year the 100 mile LDWA walk started at Alton, Hampshire. The flint tracks are so hard that my feet suffered. It was thanks to the first aider that I was able to continue at 73 miles. I was ready to stop at 80 miles, but support from various people enabled me to continue. It was only 2.6 miles to the next check, and on that stretch my feet had recovered somewhat. But I must add my thanks to the following: Avril for her chat at 80 miles, Sam, who proably suffered more than myself, and his father, both of whom walked with me to the 83 miles ckeck, then Steve, who stayed with me for the remaining 17 miles. I must also mention the fish and chip shop at Portsmouth, so I hope you are reading this. The food went down very well on the three nights. Now for next years event, the 'Heart of Scotland 100' around the Pitlockry and Aberfeldy area. I just need that one plus one more to say I have completed 10 events.

Tue 5 May 2009. I receieved my Natopnal Express free pass last wee, and made the first use of it on Saturday. Although it is possible to turn up and get on the coach if there is room, I much prefer booking the actual service I require, so that I am sure of a seat.I have saved about �50 already with bookings for the nhext six weeks. It also means it is much more financially viable to join scot-trek on a couple of Munro Sundays in July and August. The day fee is �23, but travel would more than double that. I used to travel megabus from London to Glasgow, but for the cheap �1 fare I haqd to book many weeks in advance, which can be risky if the trek does not take place. In the case of National Express, there are coaches that arrive at Buchanan St, Glasgow at 5.30 am, and depart at 11 pm, which fits in exactly with the timings from kelvin Hall on the Munro days. I did not attempt any last year, so three new ones would make my total 60. Still 224 to go!
I was in school this mornin, having volunteered to do a couple of hours invigilation for a Yr 9 mock English reading examination. As the half fare single on the pronto bus is cheaper and more relaxing than driving, I left home at 7.05 to catch the 7.25. Around that time one arrived, followed immediately by another. The first turned out to be the 7.10 running 15 minutes late. The Pronto service is shared between Stagecoach and TrentBarton. However, what I did disciver is that the latter company has cheaper fares for the same journeys. Last week i paid �1.35 half fare to daybrook Square from newstzead Abbey Gates, on Stagecoach. Today TrentBarton charged �1.30 for the same journey. So on Thursday I must leave earlier and catch the 7.10 am. After 9.30 the fare difference is irrelevant, since I have my national bus pass. I wonder when TrentBarton fares will fall into line with Stagecoach. Maybe the latter is dearer to help to pay for the seven new pronto buses launched on the route from Nottinghanm to Chesterfield on 29 March. I took a round trip on the first one, Stagecoach 22777, but the suspension is about as hard as my honda civic R ! Or maybe it is the unrepaired roads around here.

Wed 29 April 2009 The Honda Civic R JG04 FUN had its two year service today, at Stratstone Honda, Mansfield, even though it has now done just 13000 miles. The cost was �303.
The reason the mileage is so low is that I am able to travel to many places on public transprt, even to my Northumberland caravan, which, using megabus from Sheffield to Newcastle costs as little as �2.50 return. However, today I received a free National Express pass, valid for one year, which should save a considerable amount.
I read yesterday that yahoo is closing down its geocities free website operation, no doubt hoping that users will take up the paid option provided. so I am in the process of moving my blog pages here, starting with the index page and the newest archive page. More to follow, so please do not be surprised if links do not work at present.