Further autumn miscellany: part 2

On 19 November Ruth and I went to the former HMP Reading to see the exhibition Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison, run by the arts organisation Artangel. The Victorian section of the prison was designed by George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1844 as the New County Gaol. Latterly it had been a young offenders’ institution before finally closing in 2013. The future of the building appears to be in some doubt, but it’s to be fervently hoped that the Victorian building is kept – it could be a real asset to Reading as some sort of arts/cultural centre, but we shall see.

The exhibition inevitably featured Oscar Wilde prominently, but also included work by a number of other writers and artists. We didn’t bother queueing to go into Wilde’s cell, as it looked exactly the same as all the other cells, but did have a look at his collection of books, housed in the cell next door (Wilde was eventually allowed to receive approved books from outside, to supplement prisoners’ paltry book allowance). There was so much art on display I can’t remember many specifics – bits that I remember included the video by Nan Goldin of George Montague, “the oldest gay in the village”, talking about his experiences, including losing his job as a senior Commissioner in the Scouts after receiving a conviction for “gross indecency” in 1974. Montague finally married his long-term partner in 2015, aged 92. Also several paintings of a glass of water by the German artist Peter Dreher, part of the series Tag um Tag guter Tag - Dreher has painted the same empty glass thousands of times since 1974. The philosophy behind the series is apparently influenced by Zen Buddhism.

Me in a cell

Inside the prison

The exhibition also included some interesting historical material related to the 19th century prison system, including some photographs of prisoners. Interesting to learn about the Separate System, devised by the chaplain John Field and in operation in the prison in the 19th century, whereby prisoners were not allowed any contact at all with other prisoners, to the extent of having to wear hoods whenever they left their cells to avoid eye contact with other prisoners and even having to stand in chapel in individual wooden boxes so that they couldn’t be seen by any other prisoners.

The following day we took Ruth’s aunt for lunch at The Hare at Lambourn Woodlands, a pub I’ve driven past a number of times on the way to her house but never been into. Very nice. Quite posh. The pub is on the junction of the B4000 (at this point part of the Roman road Ermin Street) with Hilldrop Lane, which Mrs Spence observed used to be a back route through to Hungerford in the olden days, before the M4 cut it off.

Went down to Wales for the last weekend in November for a (slightly early) birthday tea on the Saturday for Mum’s birthday on the 30th. Dad and Dave accompanied me on my daily walk, taking in the tiny Deri Road leading from Pen-Y-Pound to the Old Hereford Road.

Mum with Nia

As Hazel was ill on the Sunday we unexpectedly had responsibility for Nia and Alys again – Mum cooked a roast chicken lunch and we took Nia for a walk in the afternoon.

Dave and Hazel’s third child Huw was born on 29 November, at 27 weeks considerably before his due date of, as I understand it, sometime in February. As at today the little lad is still in hospital but seems to be doing well.

Had our work Christmas ‘do’ on 7 December – now that we are a team of around 50 following the recent merger with the Business Performance Improvement team, the hapless organizer had experienced some difficulty booking us in anywhere, with the result that we ended up at the Jurys Inn. The Jurys has very nice rooms, having stayed there once in early 2014, but I wasn’t expecting the food offering to be up to much. Indeed it was pretty mediocre, though cheap, which does seem to be some people’s priority. As per last year, a group of all the best people went on for drinks at Missoula afterwards.

Tracy and Matt at Missoula

Paid a flying visit to Claire in Devon on 10-11 December. Not deterred by the rain on the Saturday we took the train from Newton Abbot to Dawlish Warren and walked from there back to Dawlish, via the path along the sea wall which is indeed quite exciting in windy weather. Had a wander around Dawlish, which seems quite an attractive place, and stopped at a café for a snack. Then hopped back onto a train and got off at Teignmouth, where we had a wander around and a drink in a pub – this one, I think. We returned to Newton Abbot and had dinner at the Rio Grande before going to the Union Inn to hear Audius Maximus. The band, all older chaps, seemed like good musicians but it was all a bit too loud for my taste/comfort. Claire surmised, probably correctly, that I'd have preferred the folk group that she'd seen a week or two earlier. Can't be helped. I did have a pint of Grolsch for the first time in a few years.

Sea wall at Dawlish. Train approaching in the background

Me at Dawlish

The Sunday was a much nicer day and Claire drove me on a bit of a whistlestop tour of Dartmoor, starting with a lovely shortish walk from Venford Reservoir up to a tor (whose name I've forgotten) and back. Absolutely beautiful day and lovely scenery.

Then on to Widecombe-in-the-Moor, where we stopped and went for a look around the church and National Trust shop - to Claire's disappointment the Wayside Café was closed for the winter so we moved on again, to a car park below Haytor where there was a kiosk selling teas and cake. Enjoyed a cup of tea and a quite nice gluten-free chocolate brownie. We walked a bit of the way up the hill towards Haytor, though didn't tackle the crucial rocky bit at the top. Here's one of a number of attempts to take a selfie.

Took the day off the following Friday to do a couple of bits and pieces, as well as taking the train over to Maidenhead to have lunch with Ray's mum Carol and his sisters Sharon and Caroline. We met at The Bear at the far end of the high street, a pub I and my friend Lisa were once refused entry to while out on a three-legged pub crawl many years ago. It's now a Wetherspoons. After a pleasant chat we parted company, them to Sainsburys and me for a mooch back to the station via the shops, including a couple of crafty-type shops that Caz had helpfully directed me to.

Maidenhead appears to be trying to create a posh waterside area out of the formerly unassuming York Stream, which is interesting. This site appears to have the lowdown.

The following day Gail came over with Emily in the afternoon to exchange Christmas presents - Emily continues adorable though was a bit grizzly that Saturday. In the evening Ruth and I went for a pre-Christmas Thai dinner with Ray at the ex-Suwanna, now Thai Table. I need it to offset the turkey.