Topping Out

 

It’s not just nasty things that come, as Shakespeare more or less said, not as single spies but in whole battalions. Nice things do too. I had a recent example of that. First of all I was invited to join in a topping out ceremony in Salisbury Cathedral. This was in recognition of my having funded a stone in the refurbishment of the roof of the North Transept to mark the 5^th anniversary of Cherry’s passing. Her initials and dates are up there somewhere. Obviously, I wasn’t going to miss that. Then soon after came another invitation to give an after-dinner speech down at the Britannia Royal Naval College the same day, only later of course. I started my career there decades ago and have hardly been back since so I didn’t want to miss that either. As our American cousins say I ‘did the math,’ consulted Googlemaps and decided that it was just about feasible, given a following wind. Needless to say the day turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year, when if anything, one would want to slow down a bit.

The Guardian gave the Cathedral event quite a splash, nearly a whole page, in recognition of the fact that the project had finally ended after 37 years, just one short of the 38 the medieval masons had

needed to build the whole place back in the 13^th century. After the ceremony the scaffolding would be removed and for the first time in 40 years there wouldn’t be any on the cathedral anywhere, until, that is the next project began. There were about 40 of us, nearly all white-haired, nervously gathering outside at the foot of the transept crossing. We’d been warned that there would be stairs and ladders to climb and that a head for hights would be good (which I don’t have these days). As it turned out it was all very easy, and there were stalwart masons between us and any point of danger. Tremendous views of course, the Dean blessed the newly repaired stone cross and I got a mason to explain how they joined the old and new bits together. So it was fine. I scuttled off early, thereby having to miss the afternoon tea in one of the Close gardens unfortunately.

I then drove to Dartmouth. Unfortunately all my sat nav systems went down, and my phones too so I couldn’t warn Dartmouth I would probably be late. I just plugged on in the old-fashioned way relying on glances at a map and memory. For a straight no-stopping three and a half hours. I made it but in that heat arrived in something of a lather ! My room turned out to be on the top floor of the Captain’s house, as well !  Anyhow everything went well and I enjoyed myself in the evening and the following morning, pottering about in the College reminding myself of all the memories, seeing what had changed and what hadn’t. It’s a magnificent building, beautifully situated looking down on the river and Dartmouth and the warm misty morning weather was glorious. I looked up at the building from the parade ground and remembered that every Saturday morning, and some Sundays too I used to stand up there in my regalia with all my academic and naval colleagues  for ‘Divisions’ when all the cadets and sub-lieutenants are marshalled together. I wonder if they still do that ? Probably not. Once, at a leaving dinner, one of my retiring colleagues in his speech quoted St Paul. ‘Let there be no Divisions !’ It almost brought the house down. And that was 50 years ago.

On the way home, I stopped in at Cullompton services, and mysteriously all my systems kicked into life again and I could reconnect with the 21^st Century. I indulged myself by dropping in at the National Trust’s Lytes Cary Manor. Quite small but utterly delightful. Sir Walter Jenner bought the place in a pretty devastated state before the war and filled it with antiques of the period. He did a pretty good job. Inspiring.

And so back to the house, my own little world for a hectic weekend preparing it and the garden for the arrival of some American friends from Newport, first thing Monday. Two fun-packed days followed, as I took them round Old Sarum, the Cathedral, the close and Salisbury generally. We ended up in the Haunch of Venison, one of the oldest pub-restaurants in Salisbury. I couldn’t compete with the really posh places, food-wise, that they had taken me to in Newport, but I think they were duly impressed by the ‘severed hand and cards’ still on display in one little room !  The following day it was Avebury, complete with any number of stone-huggers, the circles, the amazing barn now used to display Stukely’s extraordinary prints of the place, the museum and of course the House (owned once by a cousin of Sir Walter Jenner I noticed) and garden. And so to Devizes for lunch and a quick tour of the town, ending at the famous ladder of locks. They loved it all. Took huge numbers of photos, before returning to London.

Then I got down to some academic commitments not exactly overdue, but certainly some that were getting pretty close, and back to something a bit closer to the normal routine - and of course preparing for two foreign trips. There were two delightful breaks in this pattern, the first being a weekend visit by Son No 1 and  his ladies ! This was delightful and packed with activity. Highlight has to be a return to the ‘starwell’ that we visited back in 2018.

This is an unobtrusive little spring in the middle of an anonymous field near Chippenham in the clear waters of which little star-shaped fossils can be found. Even though we had been there before it took some finding and plunging around across rutted fields and through the undergrowth. With the help of some locals who knew all about it to my surprise success was achieved and we managed to assempnle quite a collection in a remarkably short time. They’re not tiny starfish in fact but from the stem of a plaant aons ago. Quite remarkable. On top of that, Violet found a four leave clover ! We celebrated our success in a nearby hostelry in the charming very Cotswoldsy little village of Biddeston. A great success: the following day before departure we lunched in the mist and drizzle in the lee of Adam’s grave. Who could want for a nicer weekend ?

The next one was a bit special too. I’m in the ‘Friends of Friendless Churches’ and they were to hold  a service and an AGM in a quite charming little rescued Church in the middle of nowhere but near Cardigan/Aberteifi in Pembrokeshire. I thought I would attend and stay overnight in the country hotel where the mini-busses were to collect us all. It was a 3.5 hour trip again and I thought 7 hours driving in one day excessive. The whole thing was really interesting and I enjoyed every minute of it, though It won’t have done my diet any good. I was seriously impressed with the professionalism and expertise of the dedicated volunteers who actually run the organization which only has two staff as such. They made what I knew about historic churches look amateurish and shallow indeed. Very salutary. The little church was idyllic. The coracle in the porch wasn’t just for show. Four or five years ago, the church although on a hill, had a flood that reached high up enough to obliterate the bottom half of the words on the mural memorial in the picture.

It was also interesting to be in Wales and to try out these new 20 mph speed limits. They certainly give you more time to examine the villages you go through.  No doubt we shall have  get used to them since they seem likely to be coming England’s way even more before too long.  Having also done an anti- speeding course, I am very aware of these things these days !