John Owen Smith’s log for 2022

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Who would have expected: a new war in Europe, a Platinum Jubilee. a new King and three Prime Ministers, all in one year! ... and Covid-19 is still around. This year will be best forgotten by many. Let's hope for better in '23.

14th December 2022

Just back from a week at our 'December House' – this year in Mottistone Manor Farmhouse on the Isle of Wight. We'd been there twice before and liked it, and we were lucky with the weather this time – cold but sunny. Here are some pictures – others may come later.

5th December 2022 Following the death of Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac last week, there were several retrospectives shown on TV, and two people asked me how I'd managed to get my name on the credit list of one of the BBC programmes (see right). I hadn't known about this, even though it was first shown in 2019. The answer is that I supplied the researchers with one photo of the house where Fleetwood Mac had lived in Headley in the early 1970s – and that photo wasn't even mine! People around here still remember their time in the village with affection, and in particular the birthday party for one of their children given at the local church hall, after which the place had a 'weird smell' about it.

28th November 2022

Went to hear Brian Cox and Robin Ince at the Royal Albert Hall last week in their annual Christmas show – it was excellent.
Before that we went to see Battersea Power Station which has just been opened as a shoppng centre. The architecture is impressive, but the retail therapy on offer wasn't quite our bag.

21st November 2022

I'm spending some time on my GWR (Great Website Reorganisation) project. Unlike paperwork, a website won't necessarily survive the author's demise unless someone takes it over and carries on paying the bills. We must be the first generation to experience this problem, and I'll bet there are websites up and down the country that will expire before long for that reason. Nobody I've talked to seems to be thinking about it. My plan is to move my local history info to a platform which is funded by an organisation rather than an individual – in my case The Headley Society – but that's only half the story. It also needs to be reconfigured to a format that other people can maintain. So I'm also learning about 'Content Management' and, bit by bit, transforming my data across to that more modern type of system. It's not a trivial exercise, and I'm not expecting to complete it in less than a year – but the longest journey starts with a single step, and I've started chipping away at it!

7th November 2022

We both had another Covid jab this week, which on top of a 'flu jab the other week brings us up to date with shielding against bugs this season. Let's hope they work.

31st October 2022

Another drama safely completed – we performed two more episodes from The Vicar of Dibley, and now we're straight into panto auditions. Turns out I'm to be an Elvis-style 'King of the Swingers', and Dil has already found me a white jacket to wear. Whether I can manage the snake hips and slicked black hair is another matter entirely!

17th October 2022

Went to the book launch of Etienne Robo's Rough Stone & Chisel at St Joan of Arc RC church in Farnham yesterday. This is a book that I typeset for their archive team some months ago, but they waited to get a couple of bishops (one Anglican) along to endorse it before launching. It was such a successful event that they ran out of copies to sell.

3rd October 2022

Today was the big birthday anniversary. I've been given two surprise events by friends and family over the last few days – much appreciated – thank you very much! I've put some pics below of where I got to, and who with, over my four days away.

8th September 2022

The Queen has passed away at the good old age of 97: and now it's "Long Live King Charles III!" I remember the day her father died in 1952 – I was at school and noticed the church flag flying at half-mast, and had to ask why. Flora Thompson remembers when Queen Victoria died in 1901 and writes about it in Heatherley making an interesting comparison with feelings today.

5th September 2022

We've been 'refurbishing' our downstairs loo, and today I installed a new light fitting. Obviously I turned power off for this, and when I turned it on again Dil said that our burglar alarm had started sounding. This is an alarm that we don't use, a legacy from the previous owner, but since I'd been working just 2ft away from the control box, we assumed I had 'done' something to start it off, in my amateur electrician's way. We tried turning off power, but still it went on wittering outside. We searched the loft for a control box as YouTube suggested, but none to be found. Finally, in desperation, we phoned Nick to come and see if he could find a way to kill the thing. He arrived, and immediately spotted what we had not – it wasn't our alarm at all, but next door's! We hadn't even considered that, because it had started when we'd switched power back on in our house – but there, coincidences do happen.

26th August 2022

We've been for a week on the Llangollen Canal on the good ship "The Piggy Wig". The weather was generally fine. VERY slow progress against the current through the narrow sections (thought we must have something round the prop going over Chirk aqueduct, but not so). Had a strange experience coming through Whitehouse Tunnel when it seemed someone was shining a powerful searchlight in at the other end, blinding boaters coming out – but turned out it was the sun reflecting off the windscreen of a small boat moored upstream. It was windy going over Pontcysyllte aqueduct, and again very slow, which was rather scary. The final few miles into Llangollen itself was single-file and also slow going – we hoped we wouldn't meet anyone coming the other way – luckily we didn't.

15th August 2022

Flora's Peverel went well – see pictures. Since then we've been resting!
Went up the The Barbican in London to see Anything Goes – the show was great, but we didn't think much of the Barbican as a building, or of the signage arond it – too easy to get lost and the seats were uncomfortable.

11th July 2022

The national news is that Boris Johnson has quit as Prime Minister, but seems reluctant to leave office. The local news is that we're heading for performing our touring show Flora's Peverel at the end of the week in a heat wave.

27th June 2022

It's the start of a new diary! We're still on paper diaries, the 18-month variety which begins on this week each year – OK, so we're dinosaurs! – so each year at this time we have to remember to transfer all the future appointments from the old to the new diary. A time to reflect on times past and times to come – really quite cathartic.
Yesterday I encountered the word Anacrusis: "a syllable or note which precedes what is considered the first foot of a poetic line in poetry or the first beat in music." There – I've been using it all my life without ever knowing it had a name!

13th June 2022

We spent a couple of days on the coast in Rottingdean and Brighton – a nice break, and good weather, and met up with Helen and Dave. Here are some reflections:–

6th June 2022

It's over! We survived the 4-day Platinum Jubilee Holiday, though the last two days have been a bit frantic. Spent Saturday setting up an exhibition from our village archives in the Village Hall , and yesterday from 8am setting up marquees on the Green for the Big Picnic in the afternoon, and also clearing up the exhibition in the evening. Last night I slept the deep sleep of the just!

30th May 2022

Since I last wrote:– Eurovision has happened (Ukraine won as expected, but UK came second which wasn't expected); we've run our Murder Mystery twice (in which I was the man murdered, but I'm OK now!); we've driven up to Stoke on Trent and back for Dil's elder brother's funeral; I've cast our next play which I'm directing (Flora's Peverel) and started rehearsals; helped in the publication of three new local books; we've been to the New Forest see a new play (Lark on the Wing) about Flora Thompson's life; and we've held a garden party for Headley Theatre Club members, this being the Club's 70th anniversary year as well as the Queen's. Sorry I'm late in reporting, but we've been a bit busy!

9th May 2022 I saw a photo of myself on the front page of the local paper last week, and I didn't recognise myself – I looked so old! So, Dil took pictures of me dressed up in the pink and ready to go out yesterday, and thankfully I think I look a whole lot better. The meeting yesterday was with work colleagues who (apart from the host) I hadn't seen since I left in 1988 – you do the maths! – and we all looked quite chipper. A lovely occasion. We mustn't wait so long next time.

2nd May 2022 We had a few days away with friends at Mansfield Woodhouse last week, and while there visited Laxton (last village in England to still do strip farming) and Hardwick Hall ("more glass than wall": see pic) – both interesting places in their different ways. Back home, it was time for the annual Bluebell Walk – and we timed it right this year (see pic of bluebells along Cradle Lane).

25th April 2022

I had my fourth Covid jab during the week – had no ill effects and, while I'm glad of that, it does make you hope that it's doing some good in there.

I've also finished typesetting two books for a local Catholic church (St Joan of Arc, Farnham) which tell of its history and that of Catholics in the area generally over the years. All new to me, and a look into a world that I knew little of. Typesetting local history can be quite an education.

18th April 2022

Nice weather over the Easter weekend for once. But not quite warm enough to tempt us into shorts!

11th April 2022 Did the annual clearing of the garden ponds today – on my knees groping under the surface to bring up whatever had fallen into them over the past 12 months. Never a nice job. But what is nice are the several Snakeshead Fritillaries (see pic) which have come up in our tin bath by the front door – I think we planted them a year or two ago, but this is the first time we've seen them in abundance. Lovely, but strange plants.

1st April 2022

Just spent four days in a Warner Leisure establishment. No joke. It felt rather like being in St Peter's waiting room expecting the pearly gates to open at any time and let us all in. Not really for us!
But we did get to listen to the Barron Knights on stage – still going strong after all these years (well, some of them at least) and we'd have been rolling in the aisles if it weren't for all the Zimmer frames.

21st March 2022

We only had to read in 3 parts for the second weekend of Sleeping Beauty – an improvement on last week. So, we made it to the end, and now we can relax. It's been a bit of a nightmare this year. As I told the cast at the afterr-show party, if this had been my first attempt at directing a panto, it would also have been my last! (See photos of the show)

14th March 2022

We made it! We had to read in 4 parts, but we finally put Sleeping Beauty on this weekend and the audiences loved it.
All we have to do now is hope that the cast stay fit and well for next weekend's shows.

7th March 2022

Well, we've managed to get as far as the first Dress Rehearsal of the pantomime with me having to read in for just two cast members (down with the dreaded lurgy). Let's cross our fingers and hope that all will be well for the performances, which start coming this Friday.

21st February 2022

We survived both storms Dudley and Eunice with no damage here at home. There were several trees down on local roads disrupting traffic for a while, and some friends lost power for a while, but no major problems.

14th February 2022

It's Valentine's Day – of course it is! – and our clever cats remembered to send each of us a card!!

7th February 2022

Led the monthly local walk yesterday, to Conford and back – crocuses and catkins out in abundance. The old red telephone box there has been refurbished and now contains a small library of books. The weather was windy but dry, and we ended up in the Holly Bush for a drink and a snack.

24th January 2022

Different people are finding their way out of the pandemic in different ways. I've started giving talks again, and most groups assemble and mingle without wearing masks – but at a session last week everyone, including the speakers, wore masks and chairs were spread out 2 metres apart. I'm sure this will be a fertile source of psychological research in years to come.

17th January 2022

On the day that we would have opened our pantomime had we not postponed it, I gave a Zoom talk on the 'History of Headley Theatre Club 2012-2021'. This was the third in the series and brought us up to date.

10th January 2022

So, having said we'd postpone the panto fearing that the cast wouldn't be able to attend rehearsals, they all (or nearly all) turned up at a meeting last week which I'd organised to 'keep us all together' until rehearsal restarted — and it turned into a very productive rehearsal! An example of Murphy's Law in reverse.

3rd January 2022

This time last year I said: "The start of another year – hopefully better than the last!" But it really wasn't, so let's hope the wish comes true this year. We are mightily fed up with this bug! We have postponed the panto until March hoping that things will have improved by then. We could have tried keeping it running this month, but the problem is that if any member of the cast tested positive for Covid (or even thought they might have it) during the rehearsal run we'd have very few people attending rehearsals. Only time will tell if it all works out OK. Meanwhile, we had over 20 people attend the New Year's Party which we organised this weekend in the Village Hall – and so far no reports of any bug-spreadings from that. The pic on the right shows light maintenance in the midst of revelry!

Continued …

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