Thorner Beer Festival 26 april 08

Thorner is a little village south of Wetherby and closer to Leeds by about 5 miles, on the 770 bus route but off the beaten track. For us it has been known for it's two pubs one of which does the best steak sandwiches in Yorkshire and another pub called the Beehive, one of those "Gastro Pub" things, no you don't need medication after it, it is in fact a fantastic classy evening dining experience. People get dressed up, behave well, and everything. Yorkshire is littered with fine food restaurants, farms, cafe`s, pubs, etc. Neil Morrisey,(sp?) most famous for being the dark haired bloke from the Men Behaving Badly TV show and the voice of Bob the Builder, is just opening a top class pub with a something hat chef in a nearby Harrogate village, Harrogate is a big Victorian era spa town which has a large modern conference and entertainment centre as well as great restaurants and thriving businesses and is a few miles north west of Wetherby (Yes, Wetherby is the centre of all things), anyway keep a look out as there is to be a TV show of Neil's trials setting up his new business as he is also trying to brew his own real ale and therein lies the interesting bit....... Which gets me back on to telling you about the Thorner Beer Festival at which there was LOTS of real ale, lager, wheat ale, cider and more .

You might see from the sign at the start of this rambling intro that Thorner has a RAISE THE ROOF charity cause for running it's beer festival. The village hall needed a new roof and as this was the fourth annual beer festival the roof has been well and truly funded and repairs well underway, but that is no reason not to have a beer festival as there is always something else needed for a village hall isn't there? The event attracted all the Thorner locals the first year (some 350 souls plus family) but they ran out of beer before the middle of the afternoon, about 800 turned up the second year when they ran out of beer by 4:30pm, a thousand showed themselves last year when the beer lasted till 6pm and I'd reckon 1500 folk will pass through the doors this year but the supply was at a good level at 3pm when we left. At 2 pounds 50p a pint they should be able to gild the roof.

But you want to know details I suppose. The village hall is down a little back lane and is quite a substantial thing by all accounts, access is by a side lane shared by a dairy/beef cattle farm which does a neat farm shop line of eggs, potatoes and fresh lamb to order, in case you want some. The photos show you the scale of things inside the hall. Entertainment was provided by Morris Dancers, Yorkshire Sword dancers, a piano player, and Irish jig band and a curious group of old codgers going by the name of the Knaresborough (just North of Wetherby) Accordion and fiddle society....god knows what they get up to in the privacy of their meetings but they look like a bunch of rebels living life on the edge if you ask me.

As for the beers.... there was a selection of some 25 ales of which we sampled all bar 21 as we were driving. The process was, you bought a Thorner Beer Festival 2008 glass and a ticket for half a pint of any ale, this cost 5 pounds at the door then you bought coupons for any future drink you may require..... some asinine British licencing rule meant that you couldn't actually buy beer at the beer festival with money but it was quite alright to buy coupons with money at one table to exchange coupons for beer at the next table. Go figure.

To say the event was a hoot was to understate the mood. Folk dressed for the occasion in their best Yorkshire, groups erected marquees outside, and the catering was typical country fare, cornish pasties , ploughman's cheese lunches, bread and cheese, cheese by itself, and apple pie, without cheese, or with cheese as a side I suppose, there was no guidance on cheese etiquette. The greatest shame was perhaps that we didn't take any friends as we went just for a couple of hours between Gail's study requirements on the Saturday, she was getting appraised on Sunday by a big boss and she wanted to impress. Next year it will be a much better organised outing by us and we will organise a dedicated driver or hire cabs as dedicated drivers will undoubtedly have a tendency to be derelict in their duty. But I forget, it's right on the 770 bus route which stops at oor Wetherby home....problem solved.

I hope you enjoy the snaps and that they give you a slight insight into the reasons why we like Yorkshire so much.
In case you are wondering about the house works, I can report all is well, the job is finishing next week as the builders have gone broke, I escaped unscathed, and we have found new ones who are going to finish off for us. So we ended up with a great home,saved a few grand in expense and only lost a few weeks in time. All in all not a bad result.

Grail on Wharfe renovation photos

I promised some shots of the house and even though we are not quite finished I thought I'd drop some on the blog so you could see what we have got now.... This is the rear of the house showing the optimistic open wall for summer BBQs and sunny drinks. I was planning of buying a convertable sports car and updating my board-shorts collection in the light of predicted climate change........ But it's April 12 and we are basking in 7-10 degree days..... harumph to global warming I say..... Anyway, the next shot is an indication of the earthworks to terrace the back yard to allow for that BBQ area I speak of longingly. And the one below is of the kitchen/dining/family area which opens onto the desired BBQ area. For those of you interested, the floor is a bamboo solid tongue and groove floating number which is very hard wearing and has been on Gail's top wanted list for quite a while.

Next to this area is the new Kitchen which boasts a range cooker with a wok burner and six other burners of various sizes, two gas ovens,a grill and a drawer that doesn't hold the cast iron griddle or the baking tray the range cooker came with, English attention to design detail at it's zenith. It does have a glass lid which adds to the benchspace when closed and acts as a splashback when open. The range hood sucks harder than a .... nnnno, I can't write that,.... it has four speeds of which we will only ever need two. We bought both these items through web searches at ridiculously cheap prices and are delighted with them both. The bench top is a laminate but looks like polished concrete, all very mod. Cupboards are high gloss and include a magic corner cupboard which folds like an origame masterpiece and provides sliding shelves that come out into the room. There are two spice racks either side of the stove and the sink is a black granite composite, one and a half bowl thing. Dishwasher is built in and the laundry is in a large cupboard next to the fridge.
If you decide to come and stay with us you will enter front door into the hallway of which there are two photos here one comming in and one looking back, and you will stay in the guest bedroom which now has sole and exclusive use of the main bathroom, as we have a new and working ensuite in the master bedroom. The guest bedroom is at the front of the house with views over the beautiful River Wharfe to the playing fields and sheep paddocks beyond. It is also sunny, south facing and a bit closer to the road but double glazing takes care of any noise and the jags, mercs, porches and bentlys thin away after about 7.30 pm.

Of course when you do stay with us we also have the "Front Room" which is solely reserved for reading in front of the fire, or napping in the bright sunlight, a peaceful haven away from the rush and bustle that is Yorkshire countryside.


I hope these few snaps satisfy your curiosity and do tempt you to visit if you are out this way, due to Gail's iregular but flexible working schedule we would appreciate a couple of months notice to 1. ensure we are not double booked and 2. that Gail can arrange to have some time rostered off her work.
I don't know when the next post to the blog will be as I am not expecting any great news or change for a month or two but rest assured we will update major events and email you to let you know we have done so.
All our best for now,
Greg and Gail
("Life is either a daring adventure.....or nothing" Helen Keller.)whoever she is....... ;-)

Paris - March 23 to 30

Aaahhhhh! Paris.......... It is a place of constant delight or it is just another crowded city. The answer depends which one of us you ask I suppose. Both of us are mad keen to return though. The food is wonderful, (we speak as people who have been living on English fare for a year).....The locals are friendly despite rumours to the contrary.... The buildings, museums, galleries, shops, parks, cafe's, restaurants, streets, trains and traffic,,,,all spectaular. Our complete lack of French was no hinderence and we negotiated every event without hassel. Accommodation not so elegant but the experience in totality is devine. Our journey started in a Yorkshire snow drift as we headed off to the airport, fears of grounded planes and delayed arrival were a niggling discomfort as we settled down for the night in a hotel nearby the airport where we were parking our car for the week. We awoke to hear quiet skies and views of snow on the ground. (the photo -> was taken later when most of the fall was melted). We were not concerned too much as our flight was in the afternoon and as it turned out all was well with Air France having not been affected although many flights had been turned away in the morning due to snow.The flight was uneventful and very quick, only about an hour or so.... we really have no excuse not to get over to Europe more often,,,, our arrival in Charles deGaul airport was smooth, bags collected after a short train trip to the baggage carousels and then a minicab (40euro) trip to out hotel in the Latin quarter of Paris. (For those of you who know about these things, on the corner of Bvde. Saint Germain and Saint Michelle, in the 5th Ar.) It was called Hotel Cluny Square and was above some shops, up a flight of stairs with reception on the first floor and a lift serving the 5 upper floors. We were granted the internet-booked-discount-special room. A bit too small for our liking, Greg could not stand up in it, nor get to his side of the bed without walking over the bed itself....the photo here makes it look huge. We did ask for a change on the Easter Monday and were given a comparatively palatial replacement for the remaining 6 days. In the picture above, our first room was one of those windows in the roof, the upgrade room was on the fifth level, our room was the three windows to the left, nice outlook over the old medicinal gardens across the road. The Hotel location was grand, only a short stroll to the Seine and surrounded by cafe's and restaurants and fashion shops, and other shops, and more shops, and even more shops.... the photo shows the view from our window and the sharp eyed Francophiles amongst you will pick the towers of Notre Dame just sticking up above the roof lines. That night we asked the bloke on the reception desk at the hotel, in our best Australian, if he could recommend a good place to eat nearby. He directed us to a place which was far too busy but managed to seat us in a little table almost in the warmth where we enjoyed a delightful meal and wines to return home to bed, full and content. After a sleep in and a breakfast of baguettes, coffee, croissants, cheese, yogurt and a little chocolate laid on by our quaint hotel in the even quainter lobby, we set off to stroll to the Notre Dame thing as we knew our friends Mathew and Loretta who were arriving that night probably wouldn't want to go there again. The day was a charm. We decided against the queue and walked the street stalls which were selling old photos, art, tack, junk and tourist rubbish and we spent some hours wandering the streets behind the church where there are lots of garden / nursery shops selling a wide range of everything garden and green. The public drinking water fountain was a bit OTT we thought.

Once Matt and Ret arrived we set off to see as much as we could over the few days. I could wax lyrical about the car show rooms on the Champs Elysee, the views from the top of the Arc de Triumph, the fashion shopping, the beautiful people seen in and watched from cafe's, the miles we walked and the hours we waited in the blistering cold winds that rip round and through the Eiffel tower.
The glacial tempest that buffets the Eiffel queues on the ground, the artic gusts on its first level where you change lifts to get to the top and of course the pinicle of all achingly freezing blizzards at the top. It would be nice in summer but the queues are even longer (it took us an hour and a half of waiting to get to the top.... worth it though.... I could then go on to detail our experience in the erotic musee near the Moulon Rouge where us blokes were dragged in by the girls keen on some Paris titilation.... It was more of an exhaustive exhibit of sculptural and pictorial porn to be fair, but a good counterpoint for the senses, following as it did our journey to the nearby catholic Sacre Cur church thing from whence the views over Paris are amazing.... sorry no photos of the musee erotica, you'll have to go to Paris yourself see that. The view from Sacre Cur is background to the shot of Gail me and Pricille and the red 2CV a bit further down. We could regale you with stories of that 2CV day tour of the "old Paris" where our drivers got lost and we fell about laughing quite a lot...........But rather than do any of that I'll just load up some photos in random order and you can get a feel of the time we had.
This shot is an indication of the weather we enjoyed. Gail is wrapped against the cold and wind, standing before the fountain of Saint Michelle square which is one of those surprising things you find at the end of your street. It is surrounded by cafe's and restaurants and book shops, and book shops, , , there are a lot of book shops in Paris. Some of the interesting things we discovered about Paris was the rental pushbike system, something which Gail showed no interest in, but I figured the bikes plug into meters which also charge up the lights and record the bike's location. I guessed you swipe a card, select a suitable bike (some have been hit by cars and have buckled wheels...) hop on and pedal to another part of town where you plug it back into another rack and get charged for time and distance, a pittance as far as I could figure it but the darn sign was all in Frenche...go figure). The Rodin Musee was a delight I learned about the process of making a bronze sculpture, learned Rodin rarely carved any of the works and that his interpretation of the masters is truly inspired.... nice house too. We went to The Cafe Deux Magots which is not as the moniker might indicate but a great place to visit and eat, the name being more feminine in French than an unsophisticated Australian may immediately think. Famous people I have never heard of have used it as their Paris haunt, as have some folk like Picasso and Hemingway who I have heard of , but neither of whom were there when we went..... we were probably too late. The waiters were fantastic, all slick hair, bow ties and long white aprons. It was a bit of theatre, we went there in the middle of our 2CV tour. At different times on our walks around the city we often settled for a coffee, the picture here shows us in the gardens next to the Louvre where there are sculptures, fountains, police on horseback, outrageous prices for coffee and creme broulee and long chats with good friends.... Gail and I also came across an American jazz band busking on a closed bridge which would have been good to listen to for longer but every passing copper stopped them playing to check their permit.... sort of spoilt the rhythm. One day we taught ourselves how to use the rail system , by trial and error. There was a RER and metro stop at the door of the Hotel. It was said we could have walked to our destination that day given the number of wrong directions I took to get to the right platform.... By the end of it we are old hands and managed to get out of the city centre to the markets which go on for miles and miles of streets and city blocks. The vendors sell everything from fashion, new and knockoffs, to antiques, electrical, junk, coffee, art, hardware, I could go on... we did..... The four of us spent a huge morning there, again a great experience.....The 2CV tour also took us to some other church thing (Saint Sulpice) that was a scene in the da Vinci Code fiction and I vaguely recall it mentioned among the blood and fire...... or was that in Angels and Demons..... Dan Brown stories are all the same,,,, Anyway the place was interesting in it's own right as they are doing restoration works and you can see the masons at work and the challenges they face, all in French... still I got the gist of it. Actually we found French no problem at all and we managed to spend the whole week not learning one phrase as every attempt to use some bastardised half remembered sentence in French was immediately replied to in flawless english.... We were tarred with the presumption of being British though, and folk warmed up a lot when told we were aussies. I may have mentioned we did a lot of dining out and other than one rather disappointing meal of mussels (we decided the touristy places near our hotel were best avoided after that one) we did otherwise enjoy the meals and places and wines we were presented with and generally had a delightful week. We will be heading back to Paris to see the galleries and musees we missed this time. We consider the week with Matt and Ret to be a familiarisation trip and mainly a long overdue catch up with mates..
Sorry this update has taken a while....we returned home at the end of March to find our builder had done nothing in our absence and was in financial trouble.... I have been trying to dig the project out of that glitch and to be fair the builder is trying to provide us with the labour and trades to fix the problem.... We have no doubt we will finish the job , it's just not as soon as we would like.... At least we know the next one we tackle will be easier than this one..... couldn't be any worse, and we have learned lessons about the UK system as well as now having a fine gathering of good tradies we can call on. The next blog will be of the finished rooms as all the visible work is now complete and just some plumbing and electrical and tidy up is needed.
Let us know if you want more photos or any other detail about Paris....We are experts now.
All our love.
Greg and Gail.