A spectacular evening at the Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is one of the most famous venues in the world, regularly presenting some of the best known performers in a range of genres on its stage. From classical music concerts to rock and pop, from opera and ballet to circus, from community events to tennis, the Hall’s programme is  incredibly diverse.  

We spent a wonderful evening there on Sunday to see the Classical Spectacular concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Rigby. The music was outstanding and included arias from Puccini’s La Boheme and Nessun Dorma, Verdi’s La Traviata and Aida and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance as well as many other popular favourites. The evening concluded with some much-loved pieces such as Rule Britannia and Jerusalem which induced the audience into finally waving their flags with abundance. The piece d’resistance was the finale which featured the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky in all its magnificence and aided by  lasers, lights, fireworks and cannons, finished with hundreds of red, white and blue balloons cascading over the audience.  A very moving occasion and certainly makes you proud to be British. These concerts are put on at least twice a year and definitely not to missed.

My favourite book of all time..

What better book to feature on my very first Library page, than A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

It's that time of year when this old favourite comes out again. I have at least six different copies in all shapes and sizes and this one published by Dorling Kindersley in 1997, being illustrated and annotated gives so much information about life in Victorian London.

When Charles Dickens wrote his Christmas Carol in 1843 he had his 'social reformer' hat on. Few people knew London as well as Dickens. He had seen the overcrowding, the diseases and the poverty which were all widespread at that time. The themes of many of Dickens' novels were mostly aimed at making his readers understand how hard life was for the working poor, and how horrible it was for London's vast underclass of jobless, often homeless people. A Christmas Carol  was no different and he shows us a cross-section of London society from the very rich to the very poor. Dickens himself had endured a poverty stricken childhood and had worked in a filthy factory and it was these memories that haunted him for the rest of his life.

A Christmas Carol is the story of the miserly Scrooge and the apparition of three ghosts of Christmases past, present and future which were sent to make him see the error of his ways. The lessons learned by Scrooge and the moral of the story being that there is more to life than money - it's people and families that count and that we should all make the most of life and enjoy every minute.

The Preface written by Dickens in a very early edition of the book reads as follows:

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant,

CD

December 1843

Remembering with pride......

Our thoughts go out on this Remembrance weekend to all those who served their country in times of war and for those who paid the ultimate price and did not return. In my family special thoughts to a few brave men whom I did not know but 'found' them whilst tracing my family history.

Morris Bones - Flanders 1917
Horace Bones - Flanders 1916
Charles Bones - Salonika 1918
John Kimber Curtice - Flanders 1917

Great Uncle Fred Dean aged 22 who died on the beach at Salerno in 1943

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun

and in the morning. We will remember them. For your tomorrow we gave our today....

Outdoor Theatre at Shaw's Corner

In the small village of Ayot St.Lawrence one can step back in time, visiting the country retreat that was the home of the playwright George Bernard Shaw. Born in 1856 he was one of the most famous men of his time. Known to be a political activist and social reformer, he was also a prolific author and playwright. The National Trust took over the property upon his death and it was at Shaw's Corner on Saturday evening where they put on his best known comedy Pygmalion, a story of confrontations between Eliza Doolittle who wanted to "speak like a lady in a flower shop" and Henry Higgins a professor of phonetics, unable to resist a challenge.

The actors played in front of the house to an audience of 400 all enjoying their respective picnics on the lawn on what was to turn out to be a glorious summer's evening. The day had started very cloudy and it was with some trepidation that we made the journey but all was well in the end. The National Trust put these shows on annually, the next play being "In good King Charles' Golden Days" on the 22-24 July. One not to miss.

Summer Solstice

Well, today is the longest day of the year and the first day of summer, a day when people celebrate the Summer Solstice and gather around Stonehenge. It's now 9.50pm and just a hint of daylight remaining. Reminds me of childhood balmy summer evenings when our parents used to natter with the neigbours over the garden fence until all hours, when the gnats were biting and the bats were flying low and the knowledge that we had the whole summer ahead of us...

First post - Hi everyone, just a little ditty to get me going...

"Carp Diem"

Yesterday a planned trip to London to see the Trooping the Colour had to be cancelled as the heavens opened at 7am just before leaving home so we decided against it and have promised ourselves that we'll go to see the Queen's 60th Jubilee celebrations next year come what may. It would have been a double celebration as Prince Phillip recently turned 90. Good news for Brucie too - knighted for his service to the entertainment industry and about time too.