Report of visit to Sherwood Observatory 27 July 2026 On arrival we were warmly welcomed by the staff and volunteers. After having our tickets checked, we looked at the exhibits outside the planetarium. These included reference to a local engineer who had made some spectroscopic equipment for a certain Sir Norman Lockyer. There was a …
Derbyshire Days
The drive to Derbyshire for a family wedding reinforced my view of travelling. Driving is no longer as fun as it used to be. Larger cars, heavy traffic, roadworks, bridges being built to connect who knows where to who knows what, the speed of traffic, the difficulties of navigating in a new area all combined …
Art, angst, and some fun!
It’s relentless. And exhausting. First we had 10 months of chilly rain, then a heatwave, then a cold spell, before wave after wave of heat. Having spent Monday recovering from the weekend, I then spent Wednesday recovering from Tuesday. Sadly, I had to go to a funeral of a friend which sparked memories of times …
Strawberries and Cream
The week began with a conundrum. My shopping came to £11.33 and I handed the cashier (an unsmiling young lad) a £20 note. The change was handed to me…£12. Mmmm I asked for the receipt which he also scrutinised but evidently floored by it. I gently suggested that £9 was the change and looked at …
Heatwaves past and present
Memories of ’76 are all around this week and indeed for the coming weeks, with temperatures up in the 30s, just like that long ago summer. Although this heatwave is short, the heat of ’76 lasted for weeks, with water shortages, Saharan dust, great music – it was the year of ‘Under the Moon of …
Warming up…
The week ended on a note of excitement as I picked a presentable amount of strawberries after a garden tidy session. After a struggle for survival, quite a few of the plants have not only survived the blistering sunshine followed by Biblical deluges, but have woken up to produce fruit in the recent more …
w/e 31 May 2026
A lot of hot air The heatwave continued relentlessly, punctuated by the inevitable downpour and clap of thunder. We just about made it from our car to a friend’s garden, all thoughts of a stroll and a picnic vapourised by the heat. British homes and bodies are not designed for sudden changes to high …
w/e 24 May 2026
Old Books, Music, and a Junk Exchange Event Inspirational Iryna Ilnytska again raised the roof of the Cathedral with a selection of arias for Ukraine. Her efforts were richly rewarded, as well as enjoyed by the appreciative audience. All monies raised are sent directly to known volunteers in Ukraine who spend the money on …
w/e 10 May
This week got off to a cracking start with a well-received talk I gave about the Blue Streak, after which the artefacts and photos got people up and talking. It is a great privilege to show the wind tunnel model of the rocket. And meet someone whose father was out in Woomera at the …
w/e 26 April 2026
It was with much relief that I learned my daughter’s troubled house move had finally taken place and she was in her new home with the much-loved house bunnies. They had travelled well by all accounts. The new crescent moon shone happily down on them all. It does beg the question as to how …
Karen Hedges 