St Andrew’s Church at Little Berkhamsted is, like so many village churches, a place of worship surrounded by trees. Ancient trees are often found in churchyards. I imagine they’re vestigial survivors of the original forest, before it was cleared for farming and agriculture. Or planted as replicas of the Garden of Eden. A woodland glade is a naturally consecrated place. Continue reading “Little Berkhamsted & Essendon”
Category: Sport
Momentum
Waiting on Holme Moss – TV helicopter just above the yellow van.
You could hear the crowd roaring as they climbed the valley from Holmfirth. Electric!
Momentum (p=mv) Newtonian Mechanics = One thing leads to another. Continue reading “Momentum”
Bellagio & Bicycles
Bellagio is smack dab in the middle of Lake Como, at the top of the Triangolo Lariano, the triangle formed by the lake’s two southern branches. Think of Lake Como as an upside-down letter Y and Bellagio is nestled in the crotch between its striding legs. If Lake Como is a cyclist then Bellagio is its saddle and there were lots of cyclists climbing the road up from Bellagio to Monte San Primo. Continue reading “Bellagio & Bicycles”
Tour d’Epping Forêt
The Tour de France arrives today, from Cambridge to London via Epping Forest. Christopher Corr has been watching its progress, and it looks like the cyclists have got the trees all rounded up.
TfL: Tour de France 2014 / The Grand Départ 2014 / Epping Forest
Kai, Kai & Kai Again
Last Sunday Kai successfully completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon, the third in the series of challenges she set herself to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. The previous two events were the London Bikeathon and the British 10K London Run. She raised £755 and her JustGiving page is still open if you feel inclined to add to her total. Many thanks to everyone who contributed and sent messages of support. Maybe next time she’ll try the Kaiathlon.
Kai’s Next Challenge
On Sunday Kai is running the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon through Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St James’s Park and Green Park. This will be the culmination of her running & cycling events to raise money for charity. Here she is being congratulated and comparing medals after the London Bikeathon at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Please see her page at JustGiving.
Swimming Studies
Water is elemental, it’s what we’re made of, what we can’t live within or without.
So begins this wonderful book by Leanne Shapton. I’d seen her paintings at Lutyens & Rubentein but hadn’t realised she was also a writer. This is a memoir of her days training as an Olympic swimmer and of how that obsession shaped her later life as an artist. I’m no swimmer, maybe a gentle back paddle, preferably in a river rather than a pool, but I’m buoyed up by reading Swimming Studies.
Running & Painting
Running and painting surprisingly have much in common, the main similarity being that they are both totally engrossing activities. Both are an integral part of my life where withdrawal symptoms occur if stopped for any length of time. They both allow me to lose myself in the struggle and sheer pleasure of the activity and forget any other pressing problems. Continue reading “Running & Painting”
Carrick Roads
The shrine of Ben Ainslie at the Pandora Inn, Restronguet. The waters hereabouts are where he learned to sail. The post box was painted gold to celebrate his achievement as the most successful Olympic sailor, being the first person to win medals in five different Olympic Games. Continue reading “Carrick Roads”
Kai’s Next Challenge
This is Kai running the British 10K in July this year, part of a sequence of challenges to raise money for charity. Her next is the London Bikeathon on 16th September, a 52 mile cycling tour around London. Please support her efforts by visiting her page at JustGiving.