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2016

Our return to Llandudno was prefixed with pretty poor weather forecasts (almost to be expected these days) and we were not disappointed. We had one sunny day, another sunny afternoon, and two dull afternoons. So this year we did not go to remote and isolated places- no return trip to Abergwyngregyn this year, not even up to the top of the Great Orme.

We did spend a day in Bodnant Gardens with a relative of Cathy's, after not going there for several years. A far side of the garden has been opened up along the stream, and at last there are refreshments and toilets in the garden and you are allowed to take picnics. The tea stall at the Far End has a small range of sandwiches but the one by the saw mill only has cakes and crisps- and both close at 3.30pm (the gardens close at 5pm). As usual a vast swathe of the garden was roped off due to land slip. Flood damage by the skating pond is awaiting a solution to sudden torrential rainfall.

The ship M V Balmoral is now back running pleasure cruises along the North Wales coast from Llandudno and around Ynys Mon. These were a little long for us (the pier head is only available at high tide, so trips tended to the 7 to 9 hour length). The following week the boat was running shorter 2 to 3 hour trips just a little bit down the coast, on one tide. The pier has changed hands since our last visit and the merchants cabins are being refurbished. At the moment the sales stalls are mostly shut or operated by the pier company, and there is still work to be done. Not sure where they will obtain an income stream from the pier.

We visited a part of the Great Orme we had not yet seen- the lower wooded slopes, discovering a small fairly well hidden village, with football pitch and small golf course. We walked along the West Shore to Conwy for a drink at Annas Tearooms, seeing the repaired promenade at Deganwy, badly damaged in the 2014 January storms. The promenade shelter still awaits repair but there are plans to restore it to former glory with a pitched roof instead of the flat roof.

The White Rabbit statute, erected 1933, which had gone missing for our 2012 visit, has reappeared on Gloddaeth Street, with a new left arm and new ears. Within twelve months of his reappearance his hand had been removed- and stuck back on.

The band stand still has notices- put up this year- stating that Llandudno Town Band play there. Just as in 2014 we went- and they didn't. No notices put up cancelling the advertising posters. Llandudno Town Band is therefore now considered to be mythical and extremely unlikely to appear anywhere they are advertised. Unless you actually hear them playing, not worth bothering with- a shame.

The large stones on Llandudno beach seem to be receiving some attention with large equipment moving stones, sorting big and little stones, and reprofiling the slopes. This could be a high maintenance stone beach. There remains a very steep slope hidden when the tide is in. It looked as though the small sandy portion has imported sand. A new lifeboat house at the far end of the beach is being constructed- it will save the lifeboat having to travel a long slow way by road to the beach, then subject to damage by the new large stones by the slipway - and be more suitable if the larger boats continue to visit the pier. The pier once had its own rowing boat for rescues, but that disappeared many years ago.

WE usually buy our Christmas cards from a Llandudno charity shop but this year it was closed- we found it resited to a huge expensively refurbished store on the main shopping street. Yes they had cards in stock but were not permitted to sell them. So that charity gets no money from us ever again. Another national charity with a large shop on a secondary street did not have any of the charities own products we wished to buy- shopping bags, pinafores, pencils, pens, cards, etc etc. and also didn't get our funds. Charities (rather like many businesses) don't seem to want funds.

We took a walk over the Little Orme to Rhos, and I found that my vision causes me problems scrambling down uneven rocky slopes as I can't determine where to put my feet. George showed me where to put my feet and the scramble down was OK, but this highlights problems for future walks where there are uneven rocky scrambles downward. We visited the little church of St Trillo (with its ancient Holy Well - still in water), possibly founded 6th C but the current building is much newer. We were unable to give the local shops trade as they had closed. We took a last look at Colwyn pier, now marked for demolition. The new water sports centre did not look too bad from afar.

Unfortunately the second hand bookshop in Llandudno I so liked has been forced to move to gifts with only a small number of books left, but I was able to buy a couple of Welsh CDs. One was by Elin Fflur, whose mother (Nest Howells / Llwelyn / Jones) recorded some tracks with the 60's group Bran and also Pererin. A Welsh language track by Bran is on a jukebox in a pub in Salford and has been played there. And a CD by Gwyneth Glyn.

As usual we ate mostly at Barnacles, a remarkable fish and chip shop with a huge menu catering for all allergies and tastes. This year they had added a lovely vegan hot pot- but they have lost the Quorn Fillet dishes as their supplier no longer has Quorn. A pity, as Quorn has since 2015 been owned by a Phillipine owner and just launched a small vegan range. Quorn is apparently now eaten more by meat eaters than vegetarians. We did have one Quorn meal at Candlesticks, a small and little known but very good eatery. And another vegan meal at a new food outlet (lunchtime only) near the church, the Rabbit Hole, also well hidden and deserving of more visitors.

Cadwalladers ice creams at Llandudno have closed, Forte couldn't be bothered feeding us at all on a previous visit so they were out - but as we were visiting before the school holidays we were able to get into a massively refurbished ice cream parlour (The Looking Glass) which had some imaginative flavours, some worked, some were little more than vanilla. At short notice, after cutting back the service every few months for the past few years, Arriva finally stopped running buses down the Conway Valley. With so few trains now going to Llanwrst and Blaenau this caused local problems but a school bus operator in Llanwrst stepped in and runs a commercial bus service, now visiting some remote villages that Arriva stopped serving a couple of years ago. We travelled very little by bus this year, just returning from Conwy and Rhos. Our journey out by train almost disintegrated as a fatality on the line caused all services to be halted, with the trains left in the wrong places. Arriva this year did an excellent recovery job and our journey in the end was unaffected.

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And so back to Buxton for a week, with a poor weather forecast but only one day of torrential rain, so not too bad. Lots of walks up Grin Low and Corbar, and after several years a return to Pooles Cavern to enjoy the new LED lighting now installed, quite an improvement.

The Cross at Corbar is now the third one, having been installed in 2011, the original being in the Jubilee year of 1950. The path to the left as you look up the hill has now been surfaced and is quite safe to climb while the right hand path has had minimal work and can be slippy. Solomon's Temple at Grin Low (a folly) is the same height above sea level as Corbar Cross (approx) with Buxton in the valley between them.

We had a walk around Fernilee reservoir but our planned walk up the East bank of the River Goyt met with a closed footpath, requiring a diversion with quite a scramble and enough delay to force us to head home at the Shady Oak. We got there about 3pm, too late for the 2.40 bus and the next one at 4.05pm, however the bus arrived just as we were to head into the pub for a drink!

Our drinking was limited to a couple of drinks at Robinson's New Inn, well kept beer and an old pub. We also had an exclusive beer in the Old Hall Hotel which we were told it was from Thornbridge Brewery but the hotel website says Sharps of Cornwall!- the hotel also sell cask Doombar. This "Queen of Scots" beer was too fresh -very lively from a new cask which needed a couple of days to settle and breathe.

The local breweries no longer seem keen on cask beer with the Buxton Brewery now having only two cask beers at its tap house. Well kept cask beer from clean beer lines, on the right day, is far superior to anything in a bottle, can or keg and always will be. It is a pity that the "Campaign for Real Ale" is now pursuing a new line favouring "really strange beer" rather than real ale. Robinson's Brewery is not winning many friends by closing and abandoning many pubs, including a very visible ex-hotel right in the heart of Buxton, which it won't open, sell or repair.

We visited the Green Man Gallery in its new home, thanks to some philanthropy. Hardwick Hall was an early steel-frame building from 1896 built as an extension to the Hydro Hotel, which was sold in 1911 and is now home to the local Museum and Art Gallery- and until this year, the Magistrates Court which closed. The extension was used by the British Legion until three years ago and we are sure still has one of their billiard tables.

Naturally we enjoyed lots of free Buxton Water - mildly radioactive and full of 40 minerals, it was 5000 years since it fell as rain and now gushes forth at 150 gallons per minute- mostly to be bottled as Buxton Water, now part of Nestles, who are reported to have tried to stop the free supply (and failed). They had good reason to be concerned about the renovation of The Crescent, which was delayed several years whilst an indemnity satisfactory to Nestles was sorted out- the large building was built on marshland right over the nine springs which supply the mineral water. The town swimming pool uses the mineral water (!) although it is chlorinated, and I beleive the schools and university also have a free supply. You can no longer have NHS hydrotherapy treatment, but as part of the Crescent redevelopment it may be possible to have private water therapy in the future. Nestles also seems to have failed to block the old railway line (with buildings) which Peak Rail dream of reopening between Buxton and Matlock.

We made use of the adult exercise equipment now in the park, aimed at encouraging suppleness rather than strength. The park miniature train is off the rails with no indication of its return. The Octagon is closed for repair- no obvious work in place and it looks as though the "temporary" outside marquee will be there well into next Spring. We did enjoy a brass band- our first meeting with Holymoorside (from near Chesterfield) and found a spot where the temporary childrens trampoline - placed almost next to the bandstand- was not too intrusive.

For food we relied upon a nearby Indian takeaway, varied with a couple of Thai takeaways and one Chinese restaurant, which let us down by giving priority to takeaways and kept its diners waiting and waiting- our starters took an hour to arrive. The restaurant we enjoyed two years ago which had a vegetarian menu is still in the same hands but was offering just two vegetarian dishes and stupidly insisting they never had a vegetarian menu- they were not doing very good business at all and may have reduced the menu to cut costs. Indeed most of the pubs were also very quiet- except Saturday night, very noisy.

We did spend some money locally- from a traditional Gents Outfitters both George and I bought some socks. From a traditional second hand bookshop we all bought some books- I bought a juvenile book by Eric Morecambe, plus a Hugh Lofting book and an SF hardback. From a chain store Cathy bought some T shirts.

The house we were renting had taken on BT Vision as their tv programme supplier, and of course they had no programmes from BT Vision and also no broadband, we just had the limited Freeview choice you get in Buxton so as usual we watched no television. BT Vision takes its feed from broadband via copper wire, which is strange. We did note that the installing engineer had STAPLED the comms wire in many places, instead of using proper cable clips and in several places the wire looked to be nearly severed by the staples which had no padding.

A lunchtime organ recital in Stockport by the ever popular Nigel Ogden, who gave a nice remembrance to Ronald Frost who died last year. At his last recital just two months before his death Ronald had expressed to me his concern that the long standing Tuesday lunchtime concerts should continue. After attending several of these I am sure he had no need to worry. His replacement- with whose appointment he agreed- Simon Passmore, has shown a huge growth of his skills and talents and has taken the lunchtime recitals to heart, intending to play through all Bach's organ works in a year, as well as the slightly smaller list of works by Durufle.

Farewell to David Bowie whom we had seen perform back in 1970, just behind my parents house! and just him and a guitar. No drums or electric guitars. He stayed in Stockport to watch Barclay James Harvest and possibly the top act the now little known High Tide, and he then went to sleep at Stockport Station before catching the first train to London. Found a youtube clip of the 1969 version of Space Oddity which is very like what we heard in 1970- no drums, no electric guitar- just his accoustic guitar, here assisted by a mellotron.

Web research on the many lovely tributes to David led to Cornflakes. There were lovely and quickly organised tributes by church organists; by an ad hoc choir of 500 in Canada; by Elton John. I found a lovely concert piece by Beck with huge choirs and orchestra including a gamelan, an alphorn and yodeller, and even a musical saw. And I found a harp tribute played on a harp I was unaware of- a cross strung chromatic harp (in 7+5 arrangement).

That led me to looking at harps- originally only able to play whole notes - no semitones. The cross strung harp was one solution with semitones having strings at a differing angle. They rather fell out of use. There was a medieval harp from Italy which offered the player two identical sets of whole notes, and in the middle of them a third row of semitones. This required a differing style. Frescobaldi wrote for the triple harp. The triple harp spread across Europe and reached London and Handel who wrote for it. And to the London Welsh who took it back home. Then the pedal harp was invented and the chromatic harp nearly died out.

In North Wales a young girl learned to play harp for a step-dancing gypsy and she took to the almost forgotten triple harp in a big way, teaching many others and making the Italian triple harp become a "Welsh Harp". Nancy even took her harp to America and met William H. Kellogg. She mentioned that his name had a meaning in Welsh (Ceiliog = cockerel) and so the plain Cornflake box met with CORNelius Rooster. And so we move from Bowie to Cornflakes...

It is odd that his last involvement in work- the musical Lazarus- was for a sequel to a film he had no memory of (The Man Who Fell to Earth) as at that point he was indeed on another planet. The sequel is quite savage and sad, covering the aftermaths when the alien has been held and experimented upon for some years and finally finding freedom is trying to make sense of the world and what has happened to him.

The official figure for "rough sleepers" in Manchester City Centre is a mere 46!!!! (plus 24 in tents, total 70). which even a casual glance will tell you is significantly in error. As with all official statistics you need to look at the official definition and the way in which the figure is derived. For example, must be visible from highway and must actually be asleep. That cuts out a few! Manchester has many tents all over, cardboard boxes, blankets and sleeping bags, occupied shop doorways. There seem to be very few facilities for people who find themselves thrown out of accommmodation when benefits are cut - even young teenagers. They become officially invisible, with the "labour" council leader continually minimising their difficulties and insisting the Council are doing everything "possible" such as spending money to drag them into court and prison to ensure they can't be seen... One January day having lunch in Salford (at a cafe that supports free soup for those who can't afford it) we found a small isolated tent away from anywhere- and in a couple of weeks read the news report of an isolated tent being found in Salford on fire with a dead man in it.... (two arrested for murder)

Our local council in Stockport use a catch-all statute to make it an offence in the town centre to sit or lie on the pavement within 15 metres of a shop.... so do not fall ill in Stockport. On the spot fine of 100 pounds or a criminal record and a fine of one thousand if it goes to court.

Concerts for the new year begin well with a very enjoyable recital on the Binns organ at Rochdale Town Hall, by David Houlder. Disappointed he had no CDs to sell- he seems to only record with choirs. Rochdale was badly flooded in December - we had the chance to see the many workers repairing the underground electric joints and fuses, and saw the little shopkeepers struggling to keep some business going from the damp properties. The larger town centre buildings were simply closed and no signs of them reopening anytime soon. It was a good excuse to buy a cup of black peas each and we really enjoyed those.

Another lovely little concert at Chethams with three solo pieces, one on the violin and two on the cello. Then on to St Anns Church for an evening performance of a couple of longer organ works by the very talented Elin Rees.

Cathy and I picked up a respitory infection of some sort, coughing all over the place- and had to miss out on the annual Manchester Beer Festival, in a new home this year. Definitely not a good idea for us this year. February and we see the eighth once in 100 years storm, it is extremely wet and very windy (but warm) this year. The climate is not what it used to be.

Another organ coffee morning at Stockport Plaza ruined by someone who was trying to sing- our last visit to this auditorium for some time I think. Clearly the organ mornings are no longer for listening to the organ.

A full day of music at Chethams in February was excellent - six hours of music including an hours breaks- so five hours solid music, fifteen soloists playing a variety of instruments. Many fine young musicians and a chance to enjoy again the lovely Elgar cello concerto played by Linda Heiberga (we have also enjoyed hearing Nia Williams playing the concerto there this year).

When the Carole Nash Hall opened I remarked on the unusually high chairs- and after sitting in them for five hours, indeed my son suffered nerve damage to one leg- and he isn't short. Fortunately it cleared up after 48 hours. But those chairs are potentially lethal and really don't belong in a public hall at all.

As Chethams kept asking for volunteers I did decide give it a go, but after a full month (and several personal contacts and emails) I was still waiting for a needed application form, and there was still a database check that had to be started (it is a school), so I withdrew my offer.

We actually celebrated Burns Night with a MacSween haggis- more specifically a vegetarian haggis pie. First time we've done that - but no bagpipe to welcome the dish.

An interesting accordion concert in Manchester- the whole concert was very contemplative in a classical style, not something you often associate the instrument with.

After replacing Cathy's sewing machine last year, we find the new year and other failures. A Logitech webcam died after just over a year - and was replaced without any fuss by Logitech. An expensive Olympus digital recorder bought just 13 months ago died completely- Amazon gave us a full refund (the unit was no longer manufactured) and we replaced it with a Roland (with a new 3 year guarantee).

Neither the Olympus nor the Roland recorders were supplied by Amazon with any form or mention of a guarantee. Both manufacturers service their guarantees only through their retailers and expect the retailer to supply their own guarantee pack. Amazon don't. However the manufacturers guarantee still stands. If on receipt you check their website you may find that your one year guarantee becomes a three year guarantee if you register on line within 90 days.... then of course you have to work out HOW to return a purchase to Amazon on a long term guarantee as their returns section only works in 30 days of purchase. I managed it by sending an email to customer services- and finding out how to do that isn't easy either. I now have an 0800 telephone number for them. It isn't anywhere on their website. But Amazon DO honor the guarantees they tell you nothing about! and once you get past the initial brick wall they are extremely good. Just a rotten web site.

Our outdoor temperature sensor also became unreliable - but that was a lot older, and was suffering from moisture ingress. We have easily replaced that and the outdoor sensor is now in a very carefully sealed plastic box. Quite a busy time spending money. And none of it spent in local shops, who sell nothing that we have bought! Indeed I cannot think of any shop within 20 miles that sells what we have bought recently.

A pleasant organ recital at Holy Name by Martin Baker with a theme of moving from darkness to light (encouraged as the days become longer)- the final chord of Lionel Rogg's "La Cite Celeste" certainly reminded me of a sun rise- think of the film 2001 as the sun comes from behind earth to the organ chords of Also Sprach Zarathurstra. Sadly Martin had not brought any CDs with him.

A new season of Indian music in Manchester began in February. The concert list looks excellent this year (we found last years list did not inspire us to leave the house) and the opening concert was an absolute gem, with a Sarod concert by Sudeshna Bhattacharya, excellent. They only had five copies of her CD and we left with one of them. There is a lovely youtube video of Sudeshna playing sarod.

After three years Nigel Ogden returned to Woodley Methodist Church to play their electronic Eminent organ. Last time it did not sound too good but for this very full concert the organ behaved itself very well and Nigel played light pieces in his usual relaxed style- and sold every single CD that he had brought along to sell.

The following day a rare return to the cinema. As the Plaza can no longer be considered as suitable (circle not opened, volume way too loud or inaudible- never pleasant) to watch films, when added to the very few films worth going to see, our opportunities are limited. Our local cinema, The Savoy, after many years deteriorating and facing conversion to a pub, has been extensively refurbished and a digital projector installed.

Our first digital films seen at Manchester Cornerhouse were of terrible quality- I believe the digital installation there is now something of a legend in cinema circles. Then we saw some digital films at the Plaza, and they were still not very good. This year at the Savoy we saw a film where it could have been a pristine 35mm print - it was very good quality. This was the first 4k projector we had seen, which is about the quality of most 35mm film seen in cinemas before 2006. It approximates to a 9MB digital still camera. Unfortunately there was a period where 35mm film was often edited in digital 2k then transferred back to film so a decade of films are forever of low quality. Long gone and nearly forgotten is 70mm Super Panavision or the even more superior 15/70mm film seen by very few people (I am one!). Our society is now satisfied with temporary culture in low quality (not many digital films will survive 40 years let alone 100 years). Astonishing that the Imax name once associated with 15/70 was then applied to 2k digital cinemas...

The Savoy seats had oodles of leg room, the volume wasn't deafening (a frequent complaint these days and a reason many folk no longer consider a cinema visit), the refreshments were very civilised (tea, coffee, fresh real cake, even Buxton beer) and the seats very comfortable. We paid a little extra and even had loose cushions for that extra comfort! A cinema to return to often- except there are almost no PG films being made that are not full of American toilet jokes. They show two classic films a month but inevitably we have seen those several times. But one to keep an eye on. We saw the film Labyrinth, now in its 30th year. And noticed as they entered the goblin city, two milk bottles on the doorstep (how many Americans knew what those were!).

I have a book about the history of Stockport's cinemas. The Savoy is nine years older than the much publicized Plaza, and is now the oldest working cinema in Stockport. It has been showing films for longer than the Plaza (never been a bingo hall) and still shows more films than the Plaza.... The history book I have has a photo of the Savoy outside taken in 1986. The film showing then was the one we have just seen- Labyrinth. I suspect the picture quality we enjoyed was somewhat better than audiences would have seen in 1986 as the Savoy was then a second or third run cinema, showing films after the big chains had finished with them.

Amazing how the new owners have been able to quickly turn round tired cinemas and sell out seats on a regular basis. Our afternoon matinee had empty seats, but there were still quite a few people there for a thirty year old niche film. Before the cinema closed before its refit, audiences were down to less than a dozen a day. Nice to see someone get it right and have a success.

We tried to go to a lunch time Wurlitzer recital at Stockport town hall, but for the second (and last) time were ejected by the unacceptable PA system which has twice now emitted profoundly loud very high pitched noise - and as most of the people in the room cannot hear such high pitches, while they may be oppressed by the pressure and damaged by the volume, they don't identify the problem. It is not like feedback which is usually turned down very quickly. This noise goes on and on. For those who can hear the high pitch, it is beyond painful. The organist (a couple of years younger than we are) remarked on it and everyone looked blank as we quickly left the hall.

A very short flute recital in Manchester Cathedral, and outside in the streets of Manchester, a busker playing saxophone with a much too loud backing track. And an interesting cello player, And the world renowned Piccadilly Rats. The following day during a parade in Manchester (which closes its roads as often as possible) the short 74 year old rat took a tumble off a flat bed truck and unfortunately was rather badly hurt (four broken ribs and a fractured eye socket) but was back on the street performing -from a wheelchair- within a week! They were just getting over the loss of another band member too, who had been thrown out of Wetherspoons pub as being drunk (on orange juice) when he was fatally unwell and really needed an ambulance. (Manchester Evening News report).

A visit to a recently refurbished and reopened pub in Marple Bridge (very handy for the buses) and a good beer and reasonable (but costly) meal. The refurbishment is to a high standard, the beer is excellent and there is a very good pinball machine. The grounds appear massive, with some years work available if the spirit is willing.

Then one of those musical days which seem so unpopular but which we all love. Four hours of chamber music at Chethams with 35 pieces of music. By chamber I really mean small ensemble, as some pieces were indeed ancient (Rameau, Bocherini) but others quite modern with instrumentation including guitar, saxophone, harp... Some unique and interesting music played to a high standard. In the afternoon I really did enjoy the Carnival of Animals played on two (unplugged) vibraphones, two glockenspiels, and two marimbas, with a little help from a xylophone and (for the lions roar) a large set of timpani (five drums). In the evening the opportunity to uniquely hear Flor Peeters "Aria" played by a brass quintet, arranged by one of the schools pupils- watch out for George Herbert. Great music at low cost- and I don't think there were two dozen in the audience. There were two halls in use and had we wished we could have gone to listen to a similar quantity and quality of music in the second hall - but not at the same time!

Hmm. Others are concerned about the demolition of our social services and health services. If a diabetic requiring insulin which requires refrigeration has his benefit stopped due to missing an apppointment, and has no food, no money, and his electric cut off and he then dies - it isn't even manslaughter. Pretty close to capital punishment for being poor and disabled. There have been fairly few comments about the removal from the none-rich of law and order (policing, criminal justice, civil justice) and less about the significant reduction of fire services.

Not apparently picked up on however- whilst there is a legal requirement to educate your children, it seems to have been missed that the latest government action to privatise education and hand community assets to companies results in no-one actually being responsible for providing education. If private enterprise doesn't wish a school in your area, tough. The new concept has schools with no standard curriculum, teaching what they want, with unqualified teachers, and no nutritional standards for school meals.... and we are now that much closer to withdrawal of free education. Universities have never been free (student loans at commercial rates are available) - watch for education (mandatory to age 18) being charged for from age 17 next. We now charge student nurses for their training and complain about a lack of nurses, going far overseas to recruit for positions we don't train for....

Some freehold property is subject to chief rent, sometimes involving open ended covenants requiring you to pay the chief rent owner unlimited sums. This rent ownership was being picked up by anti social people who were charging exotic amounts to house owners eg for consent from the chief rent owners to build a porch etc and charging a fortune to "sell out" the chief rent to the land owner. As a result in 1977 an Act was passed allowing freehold owners to "buy out" the chief rent at a government mediated price (a lot cheaper!). The Act is still there, but it is no longer possible to use the Act (since Oct 2015) to buy out Chief or Ground rent as a key element has been scrapped in other Government action. And nobody in Government now cares tuppence. The anti social elements (for so they really act) triumph. (Update- nearly a year after the law became void a statutory instrument was passed to correct matters! So again you can buy out your ground rent, all you need is a copy of your land registration and a copy of the creating deed).

A parliamentary system with a cruel and oppressive government (rapidly withdrawing from all valid reasons for its existance) which does not believe in and shows contempt for the democratic system, seeking to withdraw voting rights from the poor (passport or driving license to become obligatory?)- and by using secondary legistlation and seeking to declaw the second chamber, and with no sign of any opposition party... what country?

[UPDATE 2018- I wrote the above in 2016. By April 2018 after five months of newspaper headlines, this cruelty was a surprise for the now PM who had been responsible for an immigration law change. Cancer patients refused treatment as they had no passport. People legally in the UK thrown out of work, denied accomodation, even thrown into detention, with no question of it being a punishment for an offence. All because thay had no UK passport and for some strange reason could not PROVE with ORIGINAL documents that they had been in the UK every year since 1977. The Home Office (which had destroyed the only directly relevant paperwork) would not ask the tax office but insisted on original salary slips. The cruelty seemed directed at those having fairly dark skin. Theresa May initially REFUSED to speak to Caribbean diplomats on the subject but then backtracked just a tiny bit. Our government are in every way disciminatory and our laws are passed with zero consideration. sjs. April 2018.] Outstanding organ recital in the St Anns Manchester Tuesday lunchtime series- three hymn preludes by former organist Ronald Frost, possibly the first performance at St Anns of Dupre's Le Chemin de la Croix, and an excellent Passacaglia BWV582 - the organist was the new Director of Music, Simon Passmore.

Spring saw very wet and dull weather which kept us indoors, as did some building work as it began to become dryer - replacing a rotten wooden lintel with a steel angle lintel, then repainting the exterior, which required replacement of a large piece of rotten bargeboard and some rotten fascia (which looks as though it will rot again as water may still getting in somewhere, no idea where from- looks like that bit of roof needs a rebuild). This year we did not even try to go to see the bluebells due to lack of sunshine and undoubtedly the flowers would have been flattened by the rain.

May must mean brass music, and we have a weekend of brass- first a rare performance in Stockport by Stockport Schools Brass Bands, who had an evening concert at St Paul's Church, Heaton Moor. Very pleasant. The following day we were off to Buxton for the Brass Band Festival. 24 entries this year but 3 withdrawals leaving 21 bands, which meant we could listen to them all, although we missed the opening National Anthem. The lower sections were very accessible, but a new adjudicator meant we were far out in assessing the winning bands- the third placed second section band we had placed 8th, and thought that was what the band thought judging by the faces they pulled! The adjudicator on the day is the only one whose opinion counts! This year there was a second section (omitted last year) which started with a piece we detested (placed last). Lots of free Buxton water from the fountain.

Due to structural difficulties with the Octagon in Buxton, the festival was this year held in a 15m x 35m marquee, with the width allowing a mere six rows of seats along the length. The softer roof did yield some excellent accoustics for the bands playing- far better than the Octagon.

More brass the following Sunday with the opening concert at the Ring O Bells pub in Marple, with a first appearance at the venue of the Flixton Band who played very well. The old landlord was there to show the new landlord how to organise the event (and Mark will be playing there the following week). We tried the much advertised but hard to find Robinsons Wizard, which was a little acid but in reasonable form. The Cumbrian Way was perhaps just past its best.

Our decorator found a plant growing on our neighbours roof, and as it was in reach (and was responsible for a rain downpipe becoming blocked) removed it and it is now growing in our rockery- and rather a fine geranium. NOT a Pelargonium- possibly Herb Robert or just possibly Greater Herb Robert (found in Cheshire in the 2000's).

And the weather returns to constant heavy rainfall as Whit Friday and the big OUTDOOR brass band event of the year draws near. And arrives. Before the afternoon entertainment started we returned to Lily's Vegetarian restaurant in Ashton for an absolutely splendid Indian meal (Crispy Bhajiya, Dahi Wada, Rava Masala Dhosa, Paneer Burji, and Jeera Aloo, followed by a selection of Indian deserts. Scrumptious.

We arrived at the venue just before 4pm (for a 4.30 start) to find the first band waiting- no sign-in desk yet and not even the adjudicators caravan on site! It all started on time but as noted for prior years, there were many quiet periods between 4.30 and 7pm. And as in prior years the bands which won the top 3 prizes played BEFORE 7pm (2015 saw a band play at 7.30 take 3rd place but they were a well deserving exception.). No doubt the bands get tired, the adjudicator gets tired, the beer flows- but in 2015 and 2016 visiting (eg none-regular) bands were able to place in the top 3 for cash and I am sure an early arrival helped. There remains an open field for new bands to come to Dukinfield and win some cash.

There were a few adults drinking beer (after beer...) and maybe two or three others like us there for the music, and over a dozen feral children running about the bands, screaming, throwing branches and destroying the pub garden... ho hum. Then at 8pm the heavens opened, people left, the grass disappeared under water... but we stayed, under some sheltering trees.

This was NOT a year to take photos or record music - even our paper to write bands names on became very sodden. But we heard some excellent music and for the first time for some years Dukinfield had a band from overseas- the Swedish Champion Band (Windcorps) who were to play a concert on the following night at Glossop Parish Church. Their trip to Dukinfield was not in vain as they were placed 2nd. There were some new marches to listen to - a modern piece by Nigel Horne (Unity) and some older rarer pieces (Belphegor by Bespant, Star Lake by Ball, and Whitefield by Allison). Some regular bands didn't come this year but there were some bands new to us to replace them including Yorkshire Imperial and Wingates. And at last we heard Northop Band play.

On the day the Tameside venues saw a slight drop in the number of bands. The 11 venues varied from 33 to 44 bands, with Dukinfield slightly increasing to 39 bands and now in third (equal) place for the number of bands. Across Tameside there were 65 bands in all of which 41 managed to visit six or more venues.

Despite the terrible weather (the wettest we have been out to Dukinfield in!) we had some great inexpensive entertainment.

Meanwhile over at the other area (Saddleworth) one venue had 80 bands, some of them waiting to play for over an hour.

Meanwhile at the afternoon Marple concerts- Another brass band which has not been there before. Unfortunately with a newish and rather bullying MD with a "thing" about audience participation which left a sour taste in my mouth. Another band that I won't be getting out of bed to go and see- definitely not paying to see. I don't do audience participation. Interesting beer today- a rarity in England, Robinson's Cwrw'r Ddraig Aur, brewed for their Welsh pubs, and quite drinkable. Our second glass was perhaps near the end of the barrel but OK.

However when we went back a week later, a lovely sunny day, our journey was utterly in vain as we could not get into the pub or the pub garden due to the crowds. This year with the new landlord, the more profitable meal service is continuing when the bands play and the tables are fully occupied by people not too interested in brass music but more in eating. That's where the pub makes its money- so in future the pub won't be selling us beer and the brass bands won't be receiving our donations. Two bad weeks in a run is not what I call fun. We went to our local pub for a quiet and tasty range of beers.

Halfway through the year and so many good people are no longer with us- some getting almost no mention in the press. Farewell to Tomita and David Bowie and Keith Emerson. George Martin, Sylvia Anderson, Peter Maxwell-Davies. Paul Daniels, Carla Lane, Dave Swarbrick. Alan Young, Bert Kwouk.

Why don't people read newspapers? The press have always made stories up, but the reduction / cessation of any checking or research is leading to very silly stories. One major player this year referred to "Salford produced xyz" when I knew xyz had moved from Salford over two decades ago. A minutes research by me showed that xyz ceased production over a decade ago and the name is now licensed to a US/Canadian company, with UK manufacture actually in Derbyshire (and profits going overseas, as now seems to be the norm).

A new side door and a new cellar window leaves a good neat installation and thanks to poor (none existant) publicity some new problems. I thought an installation certificate would be good (last time we had a window put in we got two, one from the installer and also paid for one from the council, who indicated we needn't have bothered them) and the builder this time agreed and the installer agreed I'd have one- the installer was a member of a suitable scheme. But when he came to apply for the scheme certificate found that he had paid a large amount of membership money for very little as there were additional bureaucratic steps to be taken. So we potentially had an unlawfully installed window. Fortunately such problems are fairly common and there are steps available, often by paying a sum of money to the local council. At worst (!) the window would need to be replaced again but in only ten months the required paperwork arrived.

After 57 years I have identified a book I read in 1959 and found part two of the story. It was a juvenile science fiction book by William F Temple. It impressed me so much that I painted an illustrative picture at school- and my teacher was sufficiaently impressed to drag me from the classroom to the headmaster- who was in the middle of teaching another class, to show him what an astonishing picture I had painted....!!!! And since then I have been trying to discover the books title or author! Finally found it in a charity shop.

Lovely Indian concert on mrdingam, bansuri and violin (played Indian fashion, vertically)- very pleasant. Cathy got some lovely pictures of the Flying Scotsman as it travelled through Stockport from York Railway Museum to Crewe Heritage Centre, travelling by rail, not on a low loader road vehicle.

A lovely meal at Lily's in Ashton and then some nice beer at the Spring Gardens in Marple Bridge. So what if it rains all day all week.... hello, loud beats heard indoors, windows closed- oh yes another of those quiet outdoor evening soirees at Manchester Old Trafford Cricket ground (as it used to be called in the old days) where the local authority insist the sound levels are fine... too loud at 5 miles away (straight line distance)- reports that it was heard TEN miles away! Another quiet concert at the venue next week. And the council and the law are fine with this. No peace. The old cricket ground now carries the proud sponsors name- Emirates. The concert crowd were standing all over the former pitch (which is supposed to have a cricket match there next week too...).

Congratulations to whoever thought of holding a national Somme event in Heaton Park, not recovered from a majorly loud weekend "music festival" (many thanks to the Council) only three weeks ago with 140,000 people burying the grass in thick liquid mud. A real memorial recreation of the front line.

After last years visit to an Egyptian Coptic church, this year - after the increased racist attacks following the vote to leave the EU - we spent an evening at a communal Ramadan iftar at our local Muslim Community Centre. They run our nearest food bank and also offer free computer lessons. There was a short presentation on Islam, and then the iftar meal. It was a little odd eating whilst the menfolk prayed in the same room (the womenfolk had their own prayer room). We were presented with some booklets on Islam and I took away a recent translation (with commentary) of the Qu'ran. In some countries a Christian could get into trouble for giving a bible to a Muslim, or a leaflet explaining Christianity but in the UK we don't create such problems. Our local Islamic community is towards the liberal end and many "muslims" do not fast in Ramadan - any more than "Christians" fast in Lent. Everyone is different and there is no such thing as a "standard" Christian or Muslim. The vast majority are not extremist but good folks trying to get on with their lives.

Although we are over 55, for the record we voted "remain" in the referendum as while we hated the disdain of the "remain" campaigners, the lies of the "leave" campaigners seemed rather worse. The end result was a public protest at Westminster centric politics with a Leave which some did not expect and for which there seemed little planning. Both main political parties immediately found themselves rudderless and leaderless, at entirely the wrong time, with no plans for the future - confirming the public's opinion of the two parties. Somehow we will have to carry on and see what the world and the unrepresentative politicians can wangle.

An unusual beer festival at the Peoples History Museum which had a special display on the inter-party Labour party disputes which are regular from the first days. When the Conservatives lose an election they head to the right and carry on. When Labour lose an election they squabble, reinvent themselves and lurch to the right... it was interesting to see the 1951 resignation letter from Bevan (who was unhappy at the NHS charging for necessary services) and the letter a few years later withdrawing the whip from him (eg not recognising him as a Labour MP).

The beer festival was a small do with almost all the beer from Greater Manchester. We enjoyed some good food at the onsite Left Bank Cafe and then started with our tasting of eight beers (between us, served in 1/3 pints). One beer was so awful I threw it out, supposedly a bitter but more like a strange porter - I should have known better, it came from a local pub where I previously had a beer replaced, and I later walked out leaving a beer untouched. The pub is regularly full but obviously their tastes differ a lot from mine (note to self- avoid any drink that has been close to Watts Brewery, Stockport).

Apart from that weirdness, the beers were of good quality and especially enjoyed were Hophurst IPA, Seven Brothers Session (much better than a session!), and Cloudwater Pale.

Summer Saturday in week two of the school holidays- and Arriva trains are running hardly any services with many trains cancelled or curtailed due to having "no staff", and no trains at all to Aberystwyth or Pwllheli (including Barmouth, Harlech, Porthmadoc, Criccieth...) all day (yet another signals failure, we know about those on this infamous line!) and no replacement buses, no assistance. No information at stations- all unstaffed- passengers were expected to use their smartphones (no signal!) to see the Arriva website. People wanting to go home after their holiday ended or to arrive to start a holiday were stranded. If you have a holiday booked and have to travel by train, tough. I don't think we shall be heading back to mid Wales again ever.

As the years take their toll, people are returning to their memories of the 70's and the Internet is helping connect recollections. I have found a web report of a concert I attended in 1970- apparently Rick Wakeman played. I recall the concert but alas not Rick. A computer programmer I contacted in 1983 has been in touch to tell me what he has been doing the past thirty years. And a long lost relative of my wife's has been in touch after discovering us by investigating a painting on his wall....

I find some excellent radio programs from California, thanks to a sound engineer who has been living for many years in London, John Whiting, who recorded Dylan Thomas reading his poetry, back in 1953. John has made his personal archives available and there are some real gems.

Back in 1982 I started my connection with home computing and with the TI99/4a Home Computer. This led to my receiving a European TI user group award in 2000 and being added to an international TI99/4a Hall of Fame. My ancient console is still working (but requires an analog television set for its display) and this year I bought it a present- a new games module. Or more specifically a module with an SD card slot. Now I can have 250 modules on two SD cards and greatly reduce the wear and tear on the module slot in the console.

We no longer have any welfare services, health and policing are now worse than the 1700s. How many seriously ill people are left waiting hours for an ambulance or left waiting in an ambulance outside hositals or waiting in A&E for hours to see someone? Our local "walk in" centre is closed, our doctor has NO service outside normal surgery hours and the NHS 111 telephone number is unanswered (the police 101 telephone service is also not answered and reporting crime or supplying information is impossible). Our local pharmacies are closed. There is zero health support.

We found what was most likely stolen goods in our garden and tried for some hours to report it, no chance. Local police stations are closed, community police pick up the phone and hang up, Crimestoppers don't want to know, the 101 police number is not answered and the bank telephone system (bank cards involved) refuses to let you talk to anyone (one of those confusing cyclical menu systems).

I conclude that we pay taxes for nothing - no health service, no police service, decaying education system, almost no public transport, people on insecure poorly paid jobs being refused state aid on a whim and starving to death or killing themselves... worse than third world, and our wealthy politicians are utterly blind to the problems the ordinary people face. Unlike other countries, the English don't pose any danger to their government, which can continue to do what it does best- give money to the rich.

After an unplanned absence from the lunchtime recitals at St Anns we return for a pleasant recital by Michael Haynes which started a hectic period of music, with Tintwistle Brass Band returning to Woodley Methodist Church, and another organ recital at Rochdale where we heard once more the Little Toccata by Bach.

Heritage weekend offered very few choices this year but we found some new venues to visit. One was the little museum dedicated to the Suffragette movement- which started in Manchester, in the former house of the Pankhursts, saved from demolition to make a car park a few years back and now open a few hours one day a week. The building also offers specialist services so is in daily use.

On our visit to Rochdale we called in to the CoE Parish Church of St Chad, where the nave pews have alas gone and some notable carvings seem to have disappeared, but most of the heritage remains including a sideboard given to the first Lord Byron by Charles 1st. We approached up the ancient highway, 122 steps, repaired in 1660. One of the wall memorials was known to contain an untruth regarding someones presence at Agincourt, and the "ancient" brass memorials were quite fictional from the 19th Century. Outside the church a possibly Saxon stone wall (no authority to the claim- built of stone slabs) has been restored- church history can only be traced back reliably to 1194. The church has the 13thC font at which Gracie Fields was baptised.

We also visited the Greater Manchester fire museum, located at the back of the old Rochdale fire station (built 1933, closed 2014). The old building was a listed building and no longer suitable for operational use. Also open a few hours one day a week, relying on the goodwill of the fire service (the building is up for sale) and retired firemen who have saved much old material and look after it. As with so many other collections, the absence of younger people interested in anything a few years old and the declining numbers of pensioners from the fire service mean this and similar museums have a very tenuous existance.

Then across the road to the Roman Catholic parish church of St John, (consecrated 1930), based upon Santa Sophia in Istanbul. This church suffers a threat to its continued existence as the See closes more churches due to declining congregations and a serious lack of priests. The church has a magnificent great mosaic (by Eric Newton) and a massive concrete dome (diameter 68 feet). The mosaic is becoming in need of serious preservation work due to damp and inexpert prior repairs- it certainly deserves it. Possibly a missionary order could take it on. The Brexit vote and following racist violence has led to windows in the church being broken- the associated church school takes many minority pupils.

Then another rather different recital by a recorder quartet with quite a collection of recorders. The baroque and renaissance pieces were fine, but the young players really liked their newish square section recorders from Paetzold by Kunath, first demonstrated by this group just 9 months ago. I do not know if they were designed for percussive play but the players really liked to use them that way, which I can't say I appreciated at all. The holes are closed with unfelted sprung hardwood slats which sound very like someone walking in clogs on a parquet floor, clack clack clack clack.... another maker, Dolmetsch makes square section recorders with valves advertised as "allmost noiseless".
They also played a very modern piece of sound (music it wasn't) whereby they played a lot of recorders and bits of recorders by blowing into every possible hole, hitting them, and making weird vocalisations. I doubt very much if such "compositions" will still be played in five years let alone a hundred years. Not my cup of tea. The group are in residence at a new London museum housed at the address Handel used to live- and some years later, also Jimi Hendrix. So they played music by Handel and Hendrix. They seemed to believe that Hendrix was a heavy percussionist but his guitar work was more of a smooth vocal effect, far from percussive. Yes, the Handel was OK but the Hendrix was tortured.

VERY heavy rain resulted in our road flooding from garden wall to garden wall- so many have now concreted their front gardeNs, AND not provided any drainage- we still have the two grids on our drive but our neighbours have removed theirs / concreted them over. And what a thunderstorm we had, very loud. Usual car at Crossley Road under the railway bridge needed a fire engine rescue... One road in Stockport centre was still flooded twelve hours later but it was all surface water, the river levels hardly rose. We had about 30mm of rain in an hour.

Discovered that severe thunderstorms prevent our radio clocks receiving the low frequency radio signal - one clock checks every six hours, and if the radio signal is lost it then waits another six hours but at least they all continue to run UNLESS you change the battery (yes, you guessed right).

September seems to be a good month for music, with again two musical events in one day- a morning flamenco guitar recital by Galena Vale- bought more of her CDs. She now plays exclusively flamenco pieces, the classical works of prior years have gone. Due to the work on the cathedral organ the seats were turned round- and we noticed an entirely inappropriate French word inserted in a stained glass window, where an English word should have been - obviously made in France! The French word was fairly new, fairly rare- the French for "twinned". Then a quick dash for a very rare (the first!) organ recital at St Thomas, Heaton Chapel by several organists. No program and no idea who the organists were, but one was the organist at Salford Cathedral. Most pleasant.

Then (still September, very hectic after months of drought) an organ coffee morning at the Plaza, a bit different to the usual, with three guest organists from the Lake District, the organ sounded well and their playing excellent, not bad as they had not seen the Compton organ before, and it has a rather none-standard layout.

And another brass band in church concert, requiring a return to St Thomas, Heaton Chapel for our local Championship brass band, Fairey. Bought some more CDs. Two pieces by the conductor, Tom Davren. I that Alaw was Welsh- yes it was. His second piece said "Cardiff" to me and when I checked his bio found that was where he studied and met brass. Again very good music and far too rarely heard.

I have come to the conclusion that no-one now makes reliable portable CD players, too many with famous brand names have simply failed in only a month or so, I need to now rely upon mp3 players- which means when I buy a CD I must use my computer to generate MP3s in order to listen to them! The quality of retail DVDs is also dropping sharply and I have wasted money on several that were simply not playable from new, all from one distributor (mostly one label for us but they handle several), and all the same fault- silver oxidation due to poor edge sealing. Many won't play at all, others fail within days of unsealing the box. The use of dvd cases with a very hard disk release cause the disk to bend, breaking the lamination.

Time for more work on the house- an extra water stop tap, as the centuries old one, soldered into lead pipe, had become seriously stiff, and replace the basin taps in the bathroom and kitchen (and replace the kitchen waste pipe.). Initially all the joints oozed, but oxidation and calcification closed the tiny cracks fairly quickly apart from three kitchen joints which needed a revisit to tighten. Apparently new houses now have no metal water piping, no lead and no copper. The cold tap in the bathroom had been out of use for many years, so it was a job that really needed doing. We now have pensioner friendly "quarter turn" lever taps. All the new taps also have individual stop valves to isolate them. I had to tighten the screw holding the waste exit in place and remortar the exit of the kitchen waste pipe. Jobs to do next year are painting an inch of so of waste pipe newly exposed and slackening the tension on the wall fixing by using a spacer.

October musically quite hectic. Two consecutive days of brass band music in Rochdale, 43 brass bands over about fifteen hours and total cost just ten pounds! Rochdale Town Hall accoustics are far from ideal for brass bands, but the standard of playing was very good.

A few days later an attractive recital of Spanish guitar music (classical and flamenco) at St Anns. We were attracted to this music after having the good fortune to attend a concert by the rightly celebrated maestro Segovia back in 1970. Then one of those unusual organ recitals at St Pauls with several organists and a variety of mostly Baroque music. One young organist had come from the other side of the Pennines. A planned visit to the Holy Name for an organ recital had to be cancelled as the main road was closed and there were no buses (a common occurrence in Manchester where there is significant development work all over the place).

A sad visit to attend the funeral of an Uncle and to meet cousins not seen since the last family funeral. Although it cost a few pounds more, it was faster to travel an extra six miles by train and instead of going directly to Chester, divert and change at Crewe- still faster after allowing time for the interchange. We had time to look in at Wrexham Parish Church, a lovely old church, where the organist gave us a tour of the organ, a very pleasant sounding (unrecorded!) three manual semi-tracker organ. They have lunch time recitals there. My cousin knew the local traffic and the fiction of the return bus timetable. Our bus journey out taking 20 minutes was looking to take 90 minutes return due to rush hour and so many roads being closed (not just Manchester then!) and he gave us a lift to the station going a long way around the unmoving traffic.

A joint concert at the "other" St Thomas Church, in Stockport - in Chester diocese, although ministered to from Beverley. This was a brass band event by Stockport Schools Brass Band (senior) and the Poynton (Vernon) Brass Band, now back in the Championship section. The SSBB played very well indeed. Vernon played professionally but the music choice included a piece that didn't seem to go anywhere. Some good "massed band" pieces but the final music of the evening, a joint band piece, was rather muddy and muddled- getting enough rehearsal time for such an assemblage of musicians isn't going to happen, and the choice of music can make a big difference.

I got used to buying single source chocolate bars at Ashton Market and then they became too costly for the stall holder to sell- not enough people were prepared to pay the cost. Then I discovered chocolate from Grenada, sold for just one season at Waitrose. Then came Hotel Chocolat - but recently we have had two years of rather old and disappointing bars and I discover they no longer retail single estate and single cote bars (online only). Having moved in to a number of former Thorntons retail units, HC are now concentrating on higher demand desssert chocolates with fancy flavourings and with bits stuck in them. They were selling their single cote chocolate for about a third or a half what it was worth, and as a result we now cannot buy it at any price.

Ho hum. However there is not enough quality chocolate to keep a large chain of chocolate shops in business (the single cote beans are roasted in 35kg lots) and HC seem to have decided on quantity retail over quality. 95% of world chocolate is fairly bland and is used in varying blends for mass production chocolate.

Unusually some good quality "single source" (one country) chocolate seems to be appearing from the likes of Aldi and Waitrose, at fairly low prices - four or more times the cost of their cheapest bars but much cheaper than single estate chocolate. This is almost certainly a blend with a higher than usual level of aromatic chocolate.

Some quality Italian chocolate (blended) can sometimes be found (Vanini). There is premier single source (from one country) chocolate available from about GBP 8 per 100gm, and I can get single estate chocolate bars for about GBP 15 per 100gm - you can see why these are rare in normal retail outlets. Rococo are still in London and Chester if I want some Grenada bars.

My first quality chocolate post-HC was an Amedei "Blanco de Criolla" sold at about GBP 20 for a 100gm bar! There are other quality bars up to about GBP 30 per 100gm bar. Names to watch for are Amedei, Bonnat and Valrhona. I have had no luck in finding anyone selling the elusive El Rey chocolate which I once bought in Ashton - it is a very rare chocolate. I have really enjoyed raw (unroasted) "pitch dark" chocolate from the Raw Chocolate Company- but be very careful, they have two bars which look very alike, one is sweetened with xylitol (ugh) the other with coconut palm "sugar", typically only GBP 4 for a 100gm bar but full of flavour.

As an alternative to the traditional "fruit and nut" chocolate of raisins (now replaced by sultanas) and hazel nuts, we tried an interesting chocolate bar with lemon peel and pink peppercorns. If you have a nut allergy watch out for that last one in an ingredtients list- it ISN'T peppercorns! The name "pink peppercorn" is applied to a nut that is slightly peppery- but it will affect anyone with a nut allergy, as it is related to the cashew nut.

Near to our favourite pub a new establishment, which we see as a biscuit baker but they stock much more! The Iranian baker made some splendid biscuits of all sorts which were quite magic fresh from the oven and a stop here on the way to the pub had become a regular thing. After a month spent fitting out the store it was open for three weeks before Christmas and does not seem to be likely to open again. Quite a short period! Iranian Christians continue to celebrate the original Christmas date of 20th/21st December which was incorrectly amended in the Western Christian church by a Roman emperor in the 3rd/4th Century (incorrect calculation of leap years). Traditionally the foreign visitors to Mary came from Iran and most of our Christmas (and indeed Christian) traditions can be sourced to Iran.

Returning to Ashton Market- our supplier of raw milk from Crewe had stopped going, but we have found another farmer (raw milk can only be sold direct by a licenced farmer) from Malpas, who also makes very tasty Cheshire cheese the traditional way including a partially raw cheese. As required the bottles carry the warning "may contain organisms harmful to health" (the risks are campylobacter,tb, brucelosis and botulism! It is vital that the udders and machinery are kept completely clean). The milk we buy is very fresh- did you know that most milk is "homogenised" to stop the cream separating and floating to the top - but in truly fresh raw milk the cream does not separate out for some days- the cream on top is a sign of age. And a few days later I see a half page full colour ad by a major dairy - not known for selling natural milk- selling their milk "closer to its natural state with the cream on top" showing a lack of knowledge that really fresh milk does not have the cream on top. And not mentioning that their milk is not only quite old but has been broken down into its parts, filtered, some bits used elsewhere, and then sort of put back together with some extra bits added - with some important bits damaged or missing. Quite distant from natural but I did like that word "closer" which admits their milk is not natural!

We tried to attend an organ recital in Manchester by Jonathan Scott but found that the usually unreserved concert had been made reserved seats only (the organist had not been warned either), and they had sold out (NOTE- not all seats were filled, they were restricting seating to the stalls. POSSIBLY they may have opened a part of the balcony just before the concert start time, but I don't accept their behaviour), so we bought a couple of CDs and went home. It is the last time we shall try to attend the Bridgewater Hall, we have had difficulties there since they opened, their attitude is badly arrogant. They have sold us reserved seats and then tried to stop us sitting in them, forbidden us from eating sandwiches in the foyer for an all day event, and this year it was reported that they had stopped staff wearing rememberance day poppies. They charge extra fees over and above the concert cost for anything except tickets bought with cash from the venue. I do not accept that it costs two pounds to post (or hold) a small piece of paper. We missed hearing Tom's newest work but look forward to hearing Jonathan in Rochdale in a couple of weeks.

We continue to enjoy the really tasty and reliable beer from Fool Hardy Ales, brewed in the basement of the Hope pub and matured in casks for about two weeks.

Our local area is changing slowly, as we have lost the Irish shops and our local source of soda bread and Guinness cake- we now have a local Caribbean takeaway with lovely goat stew, patties and dumplings. And a very specialist Roumanian shop, thronged with people and products from that country.

An interesting concert in Manchester Cathedral by a saxophone quartet (advertised as a quintet with two trombones two saxophones and a trumpet, but close) - no CDs on sale. Saw the new Cathedral organ nearly ready to play, high above the door to the choir, with pipework on both sides- facing the nave in silver and facing the choir in gold, with the tracker operated console to the side. It looks good but we have to find out what it sounds like. The largest built by the builder (usually a bad sign- we shall find out...).

This Christmas a nearby Christian church will be open on Christmas Day - nothing unusual in that perhaps, but they will be serving a free hot Christmas lunch to those who would be otherwise without. An unusual modern application of "feed the hungry" although a local Methodist church offers free breakfast, and a local Baptist church operates a popular food bank. Sikh temples offer a midday meal (Langar), and our local Moslem mosque also operates a food bank- Islam still retains the practical offering of food to the poor. So many Christian churches have had problems with this, often limited to a single harvest festival (if that).

December and George has time off and we can have a family meal out together - so one day to an Indian vegetarian restaurant in Ashton (Lily's) and discover another Indian vegetarian place nearby, to try later - tried and whilst they have lovely food there for Cathy and I, with a Gujarat emphasis, half the menu is not available until 4.30 (no indication of this on the menu or website). They use a lot of ghee. This seems to be in sufficient quantity to trigger George's lactose intolerance and on our next visit we will have to ask for the vegan option. It wasn't on the menu but we enjoyed the methi thepla (aka dhebra). Ahh- We can't ask for the vegan option- next time we called they had gone. Bye! Some businesses seem to last for very little time and are clearly lacking in sufficient capital to build up trade.

Always good food at Lily's, and then nip next door to the Indian vegetarian supermarket for some quite rare Indian meals in boxes and tins. We have regularly enjoyed Chai Masala (spiced tea) but have now added to our repertoire Chai Cardamom and Chai Saffron. Our next meal was at a Manchester vegetarian restaurant (On the 8th Day) where we had a fully vegan meal and then up to the associated supermarket for lots of good things, washing powder and liquid, super chocolate, some beer. George bought some vege sweets including one patented sweet that had taken 20 years to perfect! - a fully vegan marshmallow sweet. Not the false vege marshmallow seen in teacakes which is more of a gooey cream.

We were optimistic regarding a new Indian street food establishment in the heart of Manchester but a very brief visit told us this was not a place for us. No menu, a sign (in an empty establishment) telling you to "wait here to be served" (No! This means their service and attitude to customers is unacceptable)- but why wait for a table (all empty!) when you have no idea what they sell or at what price? Total absence of prices and menus tells me this is just another Manchester imitation street food place- very very expensive and with food quite unlike what it is supposed to be. However we now have a lovely salad bar (Chop'd) with excellent vegetarian choices opened in central Manchester - costly but very healthy.

A new vegan shop in central Stockport is promising, but can't be bothered putting a sign up to say when they are opening (from external websites, even a few hours before they open!). I suspect a short life for this one. Retailers haven't the first idea how to sell things these days. This is why so many shops close and stay empty.

[Update- on our second visit there were lots of bare shelves, on our third visit the shop was a nail bar. A short opening, funds wasted, and unused enthusiasm.]

We very nearly booked a Christmas meal at a pub in Romiley, fortunately we didn't as apparently with no warning, they seem to have changed hands at the start of December (after some scathing reviews on Tripadvisor). No idea what happens to people who turn up for a booked meal, or if there were no meals, to any deposits. It is very opaque. The pub seems to be one of those Pub Co venues which seem to have a revolving door with tenants changing every few months or so- and we thought it was a free house. There is a current advert for it on a major league pubco website (a company with rather a poor reputation). There is a clear record of change of management in April 2016 but when we went in November and asked we were told there had been no change which in simple terms was a lie. We did then notice a lack of diners. As usual the pub world is very murky and no-one ever finds out what is going on.

After a long long gap we again have a local Christmas concert by our local Championship brass band, Fairey, who came 2nd in the October 2016 National Championship of Great Britain. We always went to their Christmas concerts at Stockport town hall but then the Council decided to chase off all local use by charging an arm and a leg- eg whatever big money weddings would pay. Hopefully the band now have a new venue for Christmas- just a short walk from their rehearsal rooms, and even closer to us- at St Thomas, Heaton Norris (now called Heaton Chapel). Very enjoyable and just like Christmas of old! Sleigh Ride, Troika, Christmas Fantasy and others including a festive version of "Grandfathers Clock" by George Doughty- now a brass band staple, written for Marcus Cutts who was principal euphonium player with Fairey for 20 years.

The band played a piece written for the November 2016 remembrance Sunday event in Beaminster by Jeffrey Fraser, now retired in Dorset age 87. As far as I can tell this was his first piece for brass band- he has been playing the organ since very young and wrote a piece for the London millenium service. Fairey's latest recruit was also present- second trombone was played by a pupil from Manchester's Chethams school of music.

News that in June 2017 Fairey intend to return to St Thomas to play a joint concert with a Norwegian champion band (elite band) and Fairey hope to play there every December. Look forward to that!

A lovely Christmas organ recital at Rochdale Town Hall by Jonathan Scott, ably assisted in the encore by brother Tom on sleigh bells (and elf costume) for Sleigh Ride (Anderson). Tom provided the crack of the whip by jumping flat footed on the wooden stage- getting the timing right for that was the clever bit. Jonathan likes to introduce his pieces and tell you things about them or their composers. The Swan Lake we know today was not written until after Tchaikovsky died. The original 20 years earlier was not a great success, having a rather dour storyline. So the story was rewritten and some new music was added - Jonathan played the music from a new (1895) Finale scene at the end which Tchaikovsky never knew anything about as it was written by Drigo! The two suite versions appeared later and are anonymous.

Note to self- don't think about eating in Rochdale, take butties always. Healthy eating out is remarkably difficult. Big junks of not quite meat and perhaps a gram of onion isn't healthy.

Our choices for eating out are very restricted- a pie and peas in Stockport (or lightly battered fish and peas), an Indian in Ashton, a small cafe in Salford we can't get to anymore (bus withdrawn), a hard to get to vegetarian cafe in Manchester or a Manchester salad bar. There are quite a few Chinese eating places in Manchester but vegetables don't seem to score very highly in Chinese cooking. We have found a few offering green leaves. Manchester also offers Mexican food rich in salad. Otherwise everyone is eating huge amounts of looks like meat and huge amounts of salt, pizza, burgers, hotdogs. Vegetables really don't appear!

Christmas fun continued with the Fairey Band again playing at The Hope pub, very crowded and noisy but a brass band can cope with that. Their new second trombone could not play with them- too young! It is hard to imagine the Shaw family in such a crowded pub, let alone standing up to sing (ahem) as a trio, with a live Championshp brass band accompaniment. Couldn't happen. (12 days of Christmas). Hmm. They also played Sleigh Ride!

Then on to The Spring Gardens pub in Marple Bridge for another Christmas musical event by Fairey, playing a third style of Christmas music, this time more of the Salvation Army Brass Band carol tunes that were once played on the streets by a roving group of musicians, but not for many years. Complete with song sheets! Thanks to Sam for the mince pie.

In the final days of Manchester Christmas market we picked up a couple of "battery powered candles" very cheap, with a mild flickering effect, and a really lovely picture of a Winter robin. And genuine Italian pannetone at half price (less than Waitrose pannetone).

Christmas day we spent all on our own, an even quieter Sunday than usual as we couldn't even walk down to the pub for a drink (they were open noon to 3pm only). As we find modern wines far too high in alcohol for our taste we were very happy to find a Muskato which is a low alcohol "partially fermented grape must" (5.5% abv), very pleasant. Also we had our usual Christmas Dutch wasabi cheese.

And the New Year quickly approaches.