Celebration champagne
Nicolas Feuillatte: Grande Réserve, Brut
Celebration champagne for my birthday treat in Terry’s garden in Preston Park, Brighton. Nicolas Feuillatte have several reserves, this one “Grande Réserve Brut”, we bought in France and is labelled only in French. It’s a particularly fizzy assemblage of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir as well as the classic champagne varietal Meunier. We found it poured with a pale colour; it tasted refined, mild with flavours of vanilla, maybe melon and just a hint of the sharpness of star-fruit. A pleasant and long after-taste.
Wasdale Head - Lake District National Park
Photos exploring the textures of landscape and buildings around Wasdale Head in the Western Lake District. Wasdale Head (85 m.) is overlooked by some of the highest peaks: Kirk Fell (802 m.), Great Gable (899 m.) and Scafell Pike (977 m.).
Updating my KEF 107 loudspeakers
I’ve been enjoying my KEF Reference Series 107 loudspeakers since I bought them new in 1986, originally they lived in Hammersmith but are now in Keswick. All three drive units have excellent clarity and lack of distortions or “sonic footprint” due to a highly-innovative cabinet design using units which were already esteemed in conventional enclosures. The brochure claimed a frequency response of 20 Hz - 20 kHz to the tight tolerance of ±2 dB. KEF intended the 107 speakers to be used with an electronic equaliser (“Kube”) but it has been problematic to include this in a modern system or replace it with a digital equivalent. The choice has been to put up with the limitations of the Eighties equaliser or to have cleaner, clearer sound but with inaccurate tonal balance, limited by conventional tone controls.
Amusing myself on the Grands Cols
Mt. Blanc (4808 m.) from the Col de la Madeleine (1993 m.)
Provence heat
Once again... riding the Grands Cols of the French Alps on my CBR600RR. Lots of sportsbike fun: challenging stacks of hairpin bends, big sweeping transalpine routes and little roads across the alpages. Concentrating on the high tarmac while surrounded by glaciers and snowy-topped mountains. Enjoying the Alpine tradition of hospitality and fine food. A great ride but the heat, traffic and unpredictable weather are all getting worse year on year. When the fun stops, it’s time to do something else.
Tour of the Chaîne de la Sainte-Baume
Checkout ride: the full heat of the Provence summer is daunting and it’s been a while since I last gave it a go. So an afternoon on my CBR600RR doing a tour of the Sainte-Baume Massif not far from Marseille. Great fun to ride my RR in fine weather and on clear dry roads but too hot to ride fast - temperatures in the mid-thirties.
Eynsford to Shoreham - Darent Valley, Kent
Ford of the River Darent at Eynsford, Kent
Eynsford Castle, founded soon after the Norman Conquest. Abandoned 1312.
Plenty of water in the River Darent at the ford at Eynsford. We hiked up to the valley ridge for the views and the cool of the woods rather than the main Darent Valley trail, which stays closer to the river. Fine views of the Kent farmland and woodlands in full summer glory, then a lunch in the shade at the pub by the Darent at Shoreham.
Garden growth spurt
Horrific growth spurt in my London patio garden since I last trimmed in early May. Great the green spread of the Wisteria and the Mediterranean red of the Oleander flowers but control is a problem. Another round with the shears and cutters. Top priority is keeping clear air around the gas boiler chimney. Tree fern has done well too.
Bike ride to the Swiss Alps - July/Aug 1983
Embarking at Newhaven and first night at Compiègne
Hydration stop in the Jura
Seeing Mont Blanc fully-white rising above the cliffs, then the immense glaciers and the view along the Valais from the Forclaz made a huge impression on me. It wasn’t my first time in the Alps but it was my first on a motorbike that I’d ridden from London.
My Yam FJ750 was a year old and I set off with new tyres; it was riding great but these were my first attempts at mountain roads and it was a steep learning curve. Although there were frontiers with border police, they didn’t bother with bikers but the currency and language changed.
Smell the flowers while you can... UK AIDS Memorial Quilt at Tate Modern
Colourful and poignant memorial to the tragedy of the HIV/Aids pandemic, which took so many people in the Eighties and Nineties, many of them my closest friends and fondest playmates. I liked the panel with the motto “For those we dare not name” which encapsulates the ethic of gay promiscuity before HIV/Aids. Most of my friends requested that mourners wear white or colourful clothes for their funerals. Several times I played out one last time a deceased’s favourite HiNRG music and gay anthems like “I am what I am”. The diversity of styles and the colours of the Quilt community art project reflect that mentality of life lived to the max then snatched by disease.
More photos: Smell the flowers while you can... UK AIDS Memorial Quilt at Tate Modern
Temperate Cloud Forest - Lake District National Park
Rhododendron flowers and Skiddaw Little Man summit (865 m.) in the cloud
Gardening in Keswick in temperate cloud forest weather: there’s been 68 mm of rain in my garden in the first ten days of June, great for horticulture but not enough to replenish the lakes and a disappointment for visitors.
Greta Gorge & Brundholme Woods - Lake District National park
Gorge of the River Greta
Brundholme Woods
Short ride along the railway path to Threlkeld and back to Keswick through Brundholme Woods. Plenty of flow in the Greta from recent rain but the lakes are still well down on their usual levels for June. Special treat was sighting an Osprey, although it was being harried by crows.
More photos: Greta Gorge & Brundholme Woods - Lake District National park
Rukka rain gear ride
Out to Penrith on the old roads for a pre-MoT check on my Ninja Z250SL. Not wonderful riding weather but my Rukka PVC rain gear from the Nineties copes fine, plus the big TCX moto-X boots. Unfortunately the cracked headlight is a problem but better to know now so a replacement (£££ = eek) can be obtained.
Seatallan (692 m.) and Middle Fell (582 m.) - Lake District National Park
View over Wast Water to Scafell (910 m.) and Scafell Pike (978 m.), on the right, also Gable (899 m.)
Greendale Gill - Tongue Gills
Up on the fells and away from the crowds. Seatallan (692 m.) summit gives a fine view of the coastal apron of Cumbria, reminding me of the coastal apron typical of mid-ocean volcanic islands; also a fine view down to Blengdale. The path is unmarked but there are fell runners’ routes and precipitous turf staircases.
Middle Fell (582 m.) isn’t as high but has one of the stunning panoramas of the Lake District. There’s an unbroken view over Wast Water to Scafell (910 m.) and Scafell Pike (978 m.), on the right, also Gable (899 m.) and hazy views of Skiddaw (931 m.) and Blencathra (868 m.) in the distance. Great spring sunlight and visibility though the outline of the Isle of Man was only very indistinct though the mist.
Thanks to Samuel for another great choice of route
More photos: Seatallan (692 m.) and Middle Fell (582 m.) - Lake District National Park
