It is turning out to be a warm and dry summer here. We have already experienced three heatwaves. A heatwave seems to be defined as being when temperatures hit 30 degrees. Many sunny afternoons were spent watching Wimbledon tennis. Playing on the Centre Court in such high temperatures must have been pretty gruelling. Several stoppages had to be made to attend to members of the audience who had fainted in the heat.
Lunch with Pam and Alex
We met my airline colleagues, and now good friends of Dennis too, Pam and Alex for a very convivial lunch at the Harrow pub in Warlingham. We had lunch there once before and again the food and service were very good, accompanied by much hilarity and laughter. Alex is to take us on an Alex’s Special Tour of East London next month. We look forward to this with great interest and excitement.
Sussex Steam Rally
This took place in a lovely country setting in Parham Park, Storrington, an old country estate. On one of the really hot days and in wide open fields with no shelter from the blazing sun. Dennis was in his element. Small steam engines, large steam engines, army vehicles (lots of Land Rovers), classic cars and lorries and all sorts of market stalls and I got sunburned!
Once a contender for British Military service. The Champ, an impressive vehicle with Rolls Royce engine.
Sussex Super Grass Track Racing
Taking place in Shipley, about 12ks away from us, this was very much a family event. My brother-in-law, Dave was a well known and successful rider. Sadly he passed away a little while ago. His family continue to be very active in the sport and organised this particular day’s racing. My sister, Caroline being given a multitude of tasks from supervising the toilets, to collecting money on the gate. Niece, Clare, being very much in charge of the organisation, being the secretary for the meeting. This, as well as the lap scoring. Clare’s husband, Rick was working in the starting team, as well as being very actively involved in the construction of the safety fences.
The day didn’t get off to a good start with an accident in the first race. There was considerable trepidation among the organisers and regular supporters, as last year there had tragically been a fatality. The rest of the days racing passed without further incidents. A few riders came off their bikes, but all recovered without any problems.
Caroline later told us the injured guy in the first race was an 82 year old. This pleased Dennis to think this age group was still allowed to race. Clare had to get special insurance cover to allow him to race, not without difficulty. He broke his pelvis. Caroline quipped he must be getting used to it as this was the third time.
Open Air Opera
Something quite different, last night we went to see an open air opera, La Boheme . Performed in another lovely setting, in the grounds of a large country house at Borde Hill. The weather forecast had been grim. As often happens, a period of hot weather can come to an end with a thunderstorm. The forecast was for thunder and heavy rain, although the timing obviously wasn’t specific. To make sure we would not get soaked, we set off with two very large umbrellas and macs. This scared the rain away and it was an enjoyable evening.
At 05.00 this morning the rain started. It was supposed to be torrential with a month’s rain falling in a matter of hours and a flood warning was issued. It turned out to be nothing like this. It rained on an off quite steadily for a short period, but by mid morning had stopped with a sunny afternoon following. Farmers and gardeners will be disappointed. Farmers are bemoaning the driest spring and summer they have ever known and are already feeding dairy cows winter feed, as there is no grass. In some parts of the country, including here, there are hosepipe bans, so gardeners can only water using a watering can.
Birthday Trip and NZ return date
The mystery destination has been revealed. Tomorrow we jet off to Rome. A full report will follow in the next blog. We have also booked our flights back to NZ. Leaving here on 4th September, stopping in San Francisco with my son James and family for a few days, we arrive in NZ on 10th September.
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