Of the previous post of course, obviously!! If you check the Latest R&B Primer News on the homepage you will see there are five new entries to the R&B Artists Section. The aim is to get it up to twenty in total, which is still far less than the R&B Booklet but is a nice round number for the stripped down Primer itself – hope you agree that this is an acceptable compromise ⚖️
Site Enhancements
Well, I say enhancements, others should really be the judge of that. Ignoring the huge wave of indifference, I have just tried to simplify access to any new material that I might add to the R&B Primer, whilst holding to the rationale that anything ported over from the old Shades of Blue should retain the original date stamp showing the time it was first created.
Local but Lovely
A special birthday for lovely Mrs. No Name but as I rather reluctantly had a hospital eye clinic appointment (all clear by the way) on the birthday morning, I decided on a very local overnight birthday celebration. Been to the award winning Seckford Hall before so we were interested to see how it was shaping up. Unusually just a standard room booking as we wanted to ensure we were in the main building; as you can hopefully see from the collage, it’s an historic hall ( built 1535ish) and the standard rooms reflect its age, with room doors stretching back over 400 years and décor to match (in a good way).
Forget the Rhythm….
Apparently, it’s all about the blues!! I should have seen it coming but I’m no clairvoyant (although it does sound a tad like a blues song I think). Following the last post, @ForeverBlues decided a blues variation of the theme would be most welcome. Now, I’m really a fan of the R&B genre because by definition and, unsurprisingly, it covers both the ‘rhythm and the blues‘! Be that as it may, I’m still partial to the more straight forward musical form and have included a number of blues performers in both the original, long gone Shades of Blue website and on the cut down version that appears on the stripped down The R&B Primer (and in the booklet, to be absolutely clear).
So….It’s Only One Then
Or, more accurately, a Starter R&B Collection that justifies itself by qualifying as a single purchase. On the basis of a recent R&B query I may have rather rashly promised an actual post on the subject, intrigued as I was by the premise. Could one single purchase really provide the depth required to meet the challenge, even if I did stretch the definition to include multi CD compilations. I have nonetheless answered the query as best I could but, to do so, I have violated one or two of the criteria I established to arrive at the decision. They are, in no particular order, timespan, availability, price and, subjectively, quality. Guess on which one(s) I almost immediately reneged!!
Whistlestop in Colchester
Down to Colchester last Tuesday for a long overdue overview with our friends from Essex. Decided on lunch at Greyfriars as we had enjoyed it at our previous lunch, which we were shocked to see was way back in February – our meet ups are getting rarer and rarer it would seem. Anyway, we got there just about on time despite the twenty minute delay on the A12 and I immediately ordered the Vesper cocktail, which is, I am told, the original James Bond martini – “Three measures of Gin one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large, thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?“. You can tell!!
The Follow-Up Vacation!
Well, I say follow-up. This was the four day break we had booked on our previous Warners trip to Thoresby Hall back in July. Studley Castle was the venue on this occasion, again with our friends and as you can hopefully glean from the pictures, it was indeed another imposing building. Images can be deceiving however, as Studley Castle was only built in the 19th Century and was more akin to a country house, albeit a large one. Perfectly pleasant and Grade II listed, but not in my opinion a patch on Thoresby Hall.
The Apex – Shock Revelation
So, what is this shocking news that has rocked the establishment on a November Thursday evening? Well, it’s not the Apex itself, which was pretty much business as usual, but the astonishing news that our overnight stay in Bury was at the Premier Inn North just off the A14 and not at our usual and much coveted Premier Inn not far from the Abbey Gardens. Let’s just say that the individual charged with the responsibility of booking the hotel was more than a little remiss and didn’t get the rate for which she was striving, having delayed for far too long. I’ve suggested counselling and even a little therapy but so far there has been no take up! Watch this space.
London (Back In The Game)
A long awaited four night weekend return foray to London, the first since the pandemic, with the delay then further compounded by the longstanding disruption to the rail network! Prompted by a ‘weekend offer’, we stayed at the 5* Kimpton Fitzroy, which was an absolutely gorgeous building, with a superb marble laden interior that would probably be prohibitively expensive to replicate today. The Yorkshireman feels duty bound to point out that our stay was only possible because of the ‘offer’ and, even then, he had to go and lie down in a darkened room after the booking had been made! Would definitely repeat it though. 🙂
Bawdsey Radar Museum
Happened to spot that this museum was open last Thursday, 17th October (well, we actually noted it on the previous day obviously, otherwise it would have been both a little academic and pointless) and so decided we should give it a go. We had been before, although unusually neither of us can recall when it was, other than to corroborate it was definitely before the museum revamp, which we had registered at the time was already in the planning stages. Also a little bit longer to get there than we remembered, but I suspect age has a more than a little to do with memory, don’t you know.
Bears in Suffolk….
Remember the relatively recent post when we visited Jimmy’s Farm, only to discover even the overflow park was virtually full? We did say we’d return after those pesky kids had returned to their schools after their long summer break. So we did, quickly establishing that it was not quite as busy but still well attended, based on the number of cars already in the car park. And I should say at the outset that although it was £20 to get in, it was indeed worth every single shekel.
Sleeping with the Cats…
It’s that time of year again, this time for two weeks, returning last Friday – another journey up the A1, this time with a little controversy thrown into the mix. On the way up, we did not overnight at Wentbridge Hotel! To avoid those pesky roadworks we veered away from the Al onto the A57, then onto the M1 to stay at a Premier Inn just off the aforementioned motorway. Superb, as instead of the predicted three and a half hours, it took us only six hours to get there – admittedly with a one hour lunch stop included. Great decision eh. Them’s the breaks!!