Birthday Bash

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An overnighter for Denise’s birthday, including a superb afternoon tea, an excellent dinner and, because we hadn’t eaten enough, a lovely breakfast the following morning. With a suite, complete with massive bathroom included in the package and excellent company, we all thoroughly enjoyed the break I think. Not the first and hopefully not the last visit to Wivenhoe house.

CÉZANNE – Portraits of a Life

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An undervalued hero. As we didn’t make it to the London exhibition, we decided to catch the Sunday screening of the documentary directed by Phil Grabsky, who also attended. Featuring interviews with curators and experts from the National Portrait Gallery London, MoMA New York, National Gallery of Art Washington, and Musée d’Orsay Paris, and correspondence from the artist himself, the film takes audiences beyond the exhibition …

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Roger McGough and Little Machine

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Bit late on this as we actually took a chance on Sunday with a fairly late booking. As is often the case in such circumstances, very much worth the effort as we ventured to the New Wolsey or the first time in many an age. Little Machine  began proceedings, a three-piece band who specialise in setting classic poetry to contemporary music.  Performing on their own …

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The Red House

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Spent a portion of yesterday at the Britten – Pears home at the Red House on the outskirts of Aldeburgh. Worth a visit, £5 entry gives you a yearly pass to catch any exhibitions that might be running so good value for the locals. Another ‘twenty years and finally go there’ sort of scene but more than just a tick in the box…..although the more …

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Wednesday “MEAL”

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After 20 years or so in East Anglia we decided that was long enough to give it due consideration and went along to the Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket. Never inclined to rush, it didn’t start out too well as we worked incredibly hard not to find a major tourist venue that turned out to be smack in the town centre. After the …

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North Yorkshire week

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Spent last week in the lovely North Yorkshire area and it was lovely to be reminded of the beauty of the location. We did quite a bit in  the week, all things considered. And despite the fact that I spent my childhood in South Yorkshire , this was an area of outstanding national beauty in which I had spent little time in my formative years.

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Birthday Break

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Spent the night in yet another unknown corner of the world we’ve spent the last 20 odd years calling home. Decided to have an overnighter in Clavering in Essex. Went with friends and so we split the birthdays, post mine (6th September) and prior to my mate’s. We were initially drawn by the overnight stay and promise of good grub at the home of the …

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Heart Full of Songs

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The last of the four, what I loosely describe as “gigs”, 10cc’s Graham Gouldman performed his heart full of songs in acoustic fashion at the Snape Proms last night. With accompaniment from Mike Stevens and Iain Hornal, with percussion contributions from Dave Cobby.

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The Bluesman gig (Eric Bibb at Snape)

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This year, at the third of four concerts, Eric Bibb appeared at the Proms on Friday night, accompanied by a slide guitarist,  bassist and percussion but missing piano. As is customary with Bibb, his genial in-between song patter betrayed his current less than relaxed opinions about his own homeland and beyond. We have lost count of the number of times we’ve seen Eric live, sometimes …

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Barbara Dickson – two of four!

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Well it’s Saturday night……..and another trip to Snape to see Barbara perform at the Proms. Good to hear such a strong voice in her 70th year, she understandably and justifiably focused the majority of the set around the folk recordings of recent years. A few throwbacks to the past, including a Blood Brothers number, a nice take on ‘Another Suitcase’ and a couple of Gerry …

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Clare Teal – Snape Proms 2017

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So, our first visit to our yearly Snape Proms selection yesterday, sadly tempered by the knowledge that our last visit was pre stroke but with atrial fibrillation in full swing. Clare Teal (with Hollywood Orchestra) was the first of four visits this year, and this time she was celebrating the work of Ella Fitzgerald, post stroke but still AF encumbered. The sort of musician with …

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Delayed Cambridge Visit…

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And by delayed, I mean by about 20 years, as this is the first time we’ve actually stayed in Cambridge since we came down here from the North East. It can be a bit pricey to book a decent hotel but a Secret Escapes deal got us in to the newly opened Tamburlaine and made it good value for a two night break including what …

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