Walk from Great Eversden

I've discovered a fantastic walk just near Cambridge. Looking at the map, I found that there were dozens of footpaths going from Great Eversden, across fields, woods, a spinney, and up and down a few hills (that's relative here in Cambridgeshire). And no roads or houses anywhere in sight. 

Setting off up the hill to the spinney

As it happens, I'd decided to go with Anne Louise, even before we knew that it was going to be the most amazing weather. We packed a picnic and set off about 12. She had a sheepskin coat on and a wooly scarf. I'd got a t-shirt and a thin jumper. It must have been about 16C, and not a breath of wind. We set off over a stile covered with some kind of black berry, and up a little incline through a spinney. We don't really find them around much any more - thickets of bushes full of spines. This one was a narrow cut through the hill with trees on either side, just wide enough for a two wheeled cart to get through. Although it was sunny all around, in the spinney I felt a bit of a chill - good place for a highwayman to jump out at unsuspecting travellers.

our picnic spot

A twisted oak

acWe walked gently uphill, through some woods with twisted oak trees, beautiful autumn colours, large mushrooms, and mossy logs. The low winter sun filtered through the trees and glowed through the copper leaves. After about an hour we reached the edge of a hill looking down to the south west with Wimpole Hall estate and farm in the distance. We sat in the grass, and took out our picnic. Ladybirds were everywhere, even a few flies and a dragonfly. Anne Louise finally shed her sheepskin, while I sat and took pictures of her and of the view.

Back in the woods, we could hear and see dozens of small birds flitting about. I can't identify most of them, but we did see a very large bird on the branch of a tree - it flew away as we got nearer and according to the RSPB bird identifier, I think it might have been a red kite. In the hedges everywhere we went there were tons of berries of different colours - bright red rose hips, strings of red berries of different kinds.

Looking towards Cambridge

As we headed back down the hill towards Great Eversden, we had an amazing view of Cambridge over to the right of us (eastwards). Across brilliant green fields of winter wheat gulls circled around, further away we could see the large white parabolic reflectors of the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, and in the distance, the chapel of Kings College and the spire of the Catholic Church.

Tower of Great Eversden church

It was about 3pm by this time and the sun was lower. Coming into the village we passed lovely thatched houses (too big for cottages), more signs to footpaths going off to the left and right and an elderly couple on a walk. The newly restored tower of the 16thC church stood out very white against the dark ivy-clogged trees of the churchyard across a field to our right.

The church was unlocked so we had a look round: very simple furnishings, some faded flowers, the benches all pushed back to one side, a huge rather musty looking bible open on the lectern. The wooden c.1920 organ looked the most well-cared for part of the building.

 The village appeared deserted, apart from a man on a very tall ladder on his roof, which made me think of The Archers. As we came to the car, a lovely greyhound came bounding up to us and then disappeared again. Driving into Cambridge across Fen Causeway, we felt all of a sudden the contrast, with all the traffic, walkers and cyclists around.

Boxing hares on thatched roof

Rainbow Warrior III

I had a brilliant day trip to Docklands to see Greenpeace's brand new Rainbow Warrior III yesterday.

One of the unsinkable speed boats

The new campaign ship was purpose built for campaigning on the high seas - with unsinkable speedboats  which can do 40 knots (feels like 120mph a crew member explained), a helipad, and a satellite link up to stream live video to the world's media.

Rainbow Warrior III

The ground-breaking design also includes A-frame masts (90% of its power will come from renewables), which are stronger and can support a much larger sail area than conventional masts.

The A-frame masts

Over 100,000 supporters around the world contributed to the funding of the ship - many of their names are on the green 'Thank you' poster. It felt like a large proportion of them came to Docklands to admire the ship they'd contributed to. Some were sailing enthusiasts (I talked to a yacht designer), others were old enough to be my grand mother.

I got to climb into one of the old zodiacs that they used to pile into to form a human shield between the whaling boats and the whales!

Cormorants waiting

Wandering around the docks afterwards, there was a heron and some cormorants tucked away in abandoned, undeveloped corners. There's not many of those left around Canary Wharf.

A heron in East India dock

Leaving for Uni

When I went to University, my school trunk and I were dropped off by an elderly relative (Betty) at the door of the hall of residence, and I got on with settling in. But getting Ario off to Bristol has taken up most of my energies (mental more than physical) for at least the last week.

The living room assembly area

First there was assembling the kit. We relied on an 8 page list from a student website which covered the most essential items. Luckily we had vast resources of stored equipment to draw on - kitchenware, bedding, rugs, lamps, and even a washing basket, were donated by various parts of the family.

We fitted everything into the car - all except an old 18" TV which Ario had picked up in the street 10 days ago.  He also left behind a standing lamp, and a large hand woven rug. Mariam was a bit squashed in the back seat, and I had a box of cooking things in my legs, but apart from that we were fine. 

 A packed car ready for departure

 After a pancake and maple syrup breakfast, we got the bike onto the bike rack, and we were ready to go.

Leaving Marlowe Road

It was a lovely sunny day, and we got to Bristol for tea. The street is at the top of a steep hill and Ario's room has a fantastic view North east over the city and to the hills beyond. 

Harcourt Road, Bristol

Outside Harcourt Road house, Bristol

We spent the afternoon unpacking and chatting with housemate Ronan and his mother who were waiting for the second car to arrive with his dad and sister and the rest of his stuff.

We moved the furniture around, made the bed, realised we'd brought the single (not the double) duvet, and made lists of things that were needed (door hooks, door magnets, book ends). In the kitchen, several cupboards were already full of people's things.  There were 3 bottles of champagne in the fridge, at least 3 cafetieres, two toasters and an enormous assortment of knives and utensils.

 
The next day we left in the afternoon - Ario was itching to go to watch the football and get back to his friends. He was excited and looking forward to all the new experiences of university life. As we left, I gave him lots of good advice. Mariam said it was such a cool place she wanted to go to Bristol too. He wrote 'phone Mum' on his whiteboard so that he wouldn't forget. We got a big hug each and a cheerful wave.

The Honorary Degrees Ceremony with Dr Shirin Ebadi

 I was lucky to be invited to the honorary degrees ceremony on the 23rd June. Sarah got me a ticket as Dr Shirin Ebadi was being given the title of Doctor of Law and Sarah knew I'd be interested to meet her.

The Combination room before the ceremony

I got there early, and among all the people with academic gowns and ceremonial dress, I didn't at first recognise Dr Ebadi. She was surrounded by a little knot of people speaking Farsi, and she was easily the smallest person in the room but she radiated strength and determination. Later, when I got talking to her for a while, she told me that she leads a nomadic existence travelling between her children's homes in the UK and the US. Despite that she doesn't feel like a refugee because she has a purpose: to inform the people in other countries about what is happening in Iran and continue her work for women's rights.

One of the younger women with Dr Ebadi asked me about myself, and as we talked we realised that we'd spent time together in Iran. She was Evaleila Pessaran, now a lecturer in Politics at Murray Edwards college who were hosting Dr Ebadi. She was a school friend of my sister Emma, and Emma had given her my number when Evaleila had come to Tehran for a year to re-connect with her Iranian roots after leaving school. I had introduced her to some Iranian NGOs and she'd come with us to Taleghan for a weekend. She was now expecting her first baby at the same time as Emma!

We walked up to the Combination room for tea before the start of the ceremonies. After a few minutes there was a stir at the door and the Duke of Edinburgh came in and made his way slowly round the room talking to the guests and the soon-to-be honorary doctors and their friends and relatives.

The Old Schools with Triumph Brass in the gallery

The ceremony was moving in a way that I never expected. Music was an important part of it - there were members of three choirs (King's, Trinity and St John's) directed by Stephen Cleobury on the organ, a solo cellist, and a brass ensemble.
 The pageantry and speeches were surprisingly interesting and entertaining. They've had 800 years of practice after all.  Most of the talking was done by the University Orator who makes a short presentation in Latin, laying out the achievements of each of the eight honorands. These included Trevor Nunn and Colin Davis as well as the retiring Vice-Chancellor, Alison Richard. All of them had made very significant contributions in their fields and the oration captures the essence of this in under 300 words! Amazingly enough there were people who laughed at the jokes when they heard them in Latin - the rest of us laughed when we'd read the English translation.

Prince Phillip (back to us in red) at the reception

It was the last time the D of E was to lead the ceremony as he was retiring as Chancellor. At the reception afterwards on the lawn, he joked that his qualification for being Chancellor was to have not been to University at all.

Reception on the Senate House lawn

Cooking rubbish

It was the recycling open day at the AmeyCespa recycling plant just outside Cambridge, so I went along to have a look. I've always wanted to see what happens to our rubbish  and this is the plant that pocesses it.

From the road all you can see is a large green hangar. And no sign of any rubbish as you drive in and park in a large (clean) field. But as soon as you get near the hangar, a thick, clinging, undefinably unpleasant smell hangs all over.

Inside the main rubbish decomposition hall

Inside the huge hangar was a vast flat mass of rubbish the size of a football field, with high speed conveyor belts bringing more rubbish to one end. I could see the occasional recognizable object, and even some flashing lights from a toy zip past the viewing gallery.

The smell came from the decomposing rubbish - it is kept wet with sprays and heated up so that it rots faster. Behind the thick glass windows of the viewing gallery the smell is mildly unpleasant, but to go into the main hall you have to wear breathing apparatus to filter the fumes. It takes about 4-6 weeks for the rubbish to get from one end to the other of this huge contraption, and by the time it gets to the other end, it's reduced by about 2/3 and is ready to go to landfill.

There were some very strange objects on display that had been fished out of the garbage before getting stuck in the machinery including a large fire extinguishers and a huge anchor.

The landfill site

John Powley presenting prizes for Ready Steady Cook

There was a display of archaeological finds from the site which showed that around the time of the Romans, the place had been used as a settlement with - appropriately - a large rubbish pit.

The bus tour of the site took about 40 minutes (it's huge) and included views of mountains of crisp packets (un-recyclable at the moment), a deodorizing area (to protect local houses), and miles of tangled video tape which seems to get everywhere.



Finally,  I had time to look around the marquees, at all the community groups and council recycling displays. There were recycled wood projects,  and recycled paint (for community groups to use), and tips for reducing food waste. At one end a cooking stand was set up. Before I knew it, I was co-opted into a Ready, Steady Cook competition. The other lady made risotto and omelet, while I made leek and potato soup and ratatouille with rice. We each said that the others' dishes were delicious, but the judge, Leader of Cambridgeshire Council, Councillor John Powley, decided that my leek and potato soup was the winner. My prize was a goodie bag of gadgets, and a nice apron. The food was eaten by the Council staff who'd organised the competition. The official photographer took lots of pictures and I went home promising myself that next time I visit a rubbish plant, I'll be sure to have a shower in the morning and wear smarter clothes.

Spring

This has been an amazing spring. We've had virtually no rain for 2 months -  in March there was 3mm of rain at the Botanic garden - 1/10th of the average March rainfall since 1848. That hasn't stopped the trees from budding, blooming and shooting- it's been a delight everyday. Can it be so much more beautiful than last year? It feels that way.

Apple tree on Adams Road, 9th April

 

Unknown tree on Grange road, April 9th

Pine tree on the allotment, shortly before we cut off the lower branches, 30th April.

 Winter jasmine flowering in the churchyard of Little St Mary's 20th March.

Now there is so much pollen in the air and so little rain, that the cars parked in the streets all look completly dusty with yellow pollen - normal in a big city, where it would be dust, but it looks very strange here.

April 29th 2011 and 1993

It was the Royal Wedding, and we had a street party. It was also Ario's 18th birthday. The Wedding was fun to watch, the street party a good show of neighbourly solidarity, but the birthday was the highlight.

18 years ago we were living in Dalston (Hackney), and when the contractions started my friend Kim came in her car to pick Youssef and I up and drive us to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Ario was born at 4pm-ish, in a labour room seemingly crowded with people, including my sister Anne Louise, 2 or 3 midwives, a pediatrician, a doctor and a few others - all there to watch (and possibly help with) Ario's arrival feet first. Because he was breech and he was being born 'naturally', the doctor suggested that I should give birth standing up, to give gravity a chance to help out. 'Standing up' is a loose term for being supported on either side by Anne Louise and a midwife like an boxer coming out of the ring after a knock out. My legs had little to do with it.

 Anyway, 18 years on, Mariam and I watched Ario unwrap his presents with one eye on the royal wedding and another eye on the tomato tart in the oven for the street party.

Who would have thought such an ugly little thing would turn into a lovely tall, polite, handsome, gifted, and quiet spoken young man? I wish Youssef could see him now.

Then we went out to the street party, armed with the piping hot tomato tart.