Until The Night
With the virus, this year's family gathering was another scaled-down affair. We held it here in Gosport, and from outside Gosport only Sam, her friend Gill, and Trev the Shed and Glenys travelled down. The others met on Friday morning to visit some local gardens while I was at work. The visitors from further afield joined Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Ron, Jacqui, my mother and me at Cynthia's on Friday night for chippy supper where we discussed plans for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday morning, joined by Aunt Jean, Uncle Graham, Gayle, Paul and Gill's granddaughter Jaz, we all drove down to Brockenhurst. We started with coffee at The Pig Hotel then walked into the town centre for lunch. After we spotted a few pubs all close to each other, Aunt Jean decided she liked the look of The Snakecatcher so we went there. They had a huge open air garden with tables and an outside bar. We had to split into groups to all fit on tables so I sat with Sam, Gill and Jaz. I went for an excellent chicken burger with sweet potato fries, though seeing Sam and Gill enjoy their Hasselbaink jacket potatoes with Bolognese topping made me wish I'd tried one of those. There were Ringwood ales on tap, but, alas, I was recovering from a gout attack so settled for Diet Pepsi.
We all went for a general mooch round the shops for the afternoon, got New Forest ice creams and made our way back to the Pig for the cars. At about 4pm Jaz was going back to Southampton where she lives; I was going to see Blood Brothers at the Mayflower that evening so I joined Jaz in getting a lift there with Sam and Gill. We dropped Jaz, then Sam drove on to the city centre to look for a place where they could drop me close to the theatre and get a cup of coffee. We reached a car park with a TGI Friday's and a McDonald's. Alas, they chose McDonald's. We chatted over drinks then made our way outside and said our goodbyes.
I had a couple of hours to spare before the show so drifted over to the Costa opposite the station for a couple of coffees. The city centre was a flood of fans walking to St Mary's for Southampton v West Ham.
Blood Brothers was superb. Lyn Paul of the New Seekers, in her farewell tour after playing the part for 20 years, was fantastic as Mrs Johnstone. Paula Tappenden as Mrs Lyons, Alexander Patmore as Mickey, Joel Benedict as Eddie and Danielle Corlass as Linda were all also brilliant. The musical numbers were excellently staged and performed, the orchestra were amazing. The play's tragic climax moved the audience to feel the full emotional horror. Lyn's performance of the haunting finale Tell Me It's Not True was magnificent, especially when the company came in to join her on the last verse and the orchestra raised to a crescendo.
That song was especially emotional for me. It sums up perfectly my feelings on that terrible night in November 1991 when my friendship with the Ladies of E3 went down the Kermit. With the 30th anniversary of that incident drawing near, Lyn's rendition was poignant and perfect.
After work today, over to the Isle of Wight by hovercraft to meet up with Sam, Gill, Cynthia and Ron who'd been there since morning. We wandered round the Union Street shops; I found a few classic first day covers from my childhood in a shop selling old stamps, cigarette cards and other collectors' items. We went on to the Peter Pan amusement park for pirate-themed crazy golf, then stopped at the Pavilion for a drink before the hovercraft back.
Saturday morning, joined by Aunt Jean, Uncle Graham, Gayle, Paul and Gill's granddaughter Jaz, we all drove down to Brockenhurst. We started with coffee at The Pig Hotel then walked into the town centre for lunch. After we spotted a few pubs all close to each other, Aunt Jean decided she liked the look of The Snakecatcher so we went there. They had a huge open air garden with tables and an outside bar. We had to split into groups to all fit on tables so I sat with Sam, Gill and Jaz. I went for an excellent chicken burger with sweet potato fries, though seeing Sam and Gill enjoy their Hasselbaink jacket potatoes with Bolognese topping made me wish I'd tried one of those. There were Ringwood ales on tap, but, alas, I was recovering from a gout attack so settled for Diet Pepsi.
We all went for a general mooch round the shops for the afternoon, got New Forest ice creams and made our way back to the Pig for the cars. At about 4pm Jaz was going back to Southampton where she lives; I was going to see Blood Brothers at the Mayflower that evening so I joined Jaz in getting a lift there with Sam and Gill. We dropped Jaz, then Sam drove on to the city centre to look for a place where they could drop me close to the theatre and get a cup of coffee. We reached a car park with a TGI Friday's and a McDonald's. Alas, they chose McDonald's. We chatted over drinks then made our way outside and said our goodbyes.
I had a couple of hours to spare before the show so drifted over to the Costa opposite the station for a couple of coffees. The city centre was a flood of fans walking to St Mary's for Southampton v West Ham.
Blood Brothers was superb. Lyn Paul of the New Seekers, in her farewell tour after playing the part for 20 years, was fantastic as Mrs Johnstone. Paula Tappenden as Mrs Lyons, Alexander Patmore as Mickey, Joel Benedict as Eddie and Danielle Corlass as Linda were all also brilliant. The musical numbers were excellently staged and performed, the orchestra were amazing. The play's tragic climax moved the audience to feel the full emotional horror. Lyn's performance of the haunting finale Tell Me It's Not True was magnificent, especially when the company came in to join her on the last verse and the orchestra raised to a crescendo.
That song was especially emotional for me. It sums up perfectly my feelings on that terrible night in November 1991 when my friendship with the Ladies of E3 went down the Kermit. With the 30th anniversary of that incident drawing near, Lyn's rendition was poignant and perfect.
After work today, over to the Isle of Wight by hovercraft to meet up with Sam, Gill, Cynthia and Ron who'd been there since morning. We wandered round the Union Street shops; I found a few classic first day covers from my childhood in a shop selling old stamps, cigarette cards and other collectors' items. We went on to the Peter Pan amusement park for pirate-themed crazy golf, then stopped at the Pavilion for a drink before the hovercraft back.