The day started late as I overslept and didn’t get up until
8:00am. I am usually awake by 6:30am and out of bed between 7 and 7:30am but
for some reason I just slept through until I heard Teddy barking. Poor little
guy really needed to go out and here I was sleeping away, bad Debra!
It’s a much warmer day and all the frost and all the ice had
gone and it was like the first day of spring which amazed me. We went to bed
with in a cold, crisp night with the sky filled with stars and a slightly
shaded by clouds gloomy moon and woke up to a warm, over cast yet dry morning.
Oh, the British Isles really do have every kind of weather all in one day
sometimes.
I did some computer work and got a lot done before noon when
Teddy and I headed out for our walk. The sky had cleared a bit and the sun was
visible through a few clouds in the far off distance. But right before we left
I found Ollie and Gweni snuggled adorably in the small box. They were
completely intertwined I just had to get some pictures of them. So cute I could
just scream. They do this a lot but usually as soon as I go to get my camera
they move thinking they’re going to get food. This time I caught them in time.
We walked down School Road to Blaxhall to the Ship Inn Pub
where Mondays they have a sing-a-long which I mentioned in my blog a few weeks
ago. We got there in about a half hour and when we entered there were about 8
people who, like most English, are dog lovers so Teddy got instant attention
and the nice men who we met a few weeks ago when we were there for lunch
greeted us and acknowledged Teddy. He gets a lot of attention and lots of
comments on how beautiful he is. He really is a beautiful dog.
So I ordered a hamburger and chips for lunch and we sat and
listened to the locals talk. A nice older man sitting near us started chatting
to me about and then others joined in and we got to talking about New York and
life in the UK, etc. The gentlemen was Ray and he is 85 years old and was born
and raised in Blaxhall just down the street. He pointed out his
great-grandfather’s picture on the back wall with the man’s herd of sheep
behind him and also picture of his wife who was singing in the pub many years
ago. She was home today doing I guess whatever one does in their cottage in the
country, clean, cook, feed the animals, etc.
Ray said he is the oldest living Blaxhall resident which I found hard to
believe and actually he really didn’t look 85. He reminded me of my uncle
Victor. In the pictures below he’s the one with the blue scarf. We chatted
about how he had left Blaxhall when he was young and went into the armed forces
and then met his wife in London and before they married he said he was going to
move back to Blaxhall he was done with the city and she amazingly said okay and
they’ve been here ever since and have two children, I think 6 grandchildren and
something like 9 or so great-grandchildren.
We got talking about Americans and he told me about their friends who
used to live next door to them when the Rendlesham American base was open years
ago and how their friends, who they still keep in contact with wanted them to
sell their home here and move to Texas with them when they were moving back.
But they made the mistake of telling him that the houses were made of wood and
he said no, what would happen if there was a fire. That’s a good question and
since he lives in a cottage that was built around 1752 and is still standing
proud it made sense that he’d ask. His family has also lived there for over
hundred years, why would he even think of moving. And amazingly when he told me
about their cottage named Poacher Cottage (Poacher being his family name) he described
where it was so I could imagine it being one I’d passed. But then the women
across from him had offered to buy him a beer since he bought her one last time
and he said no he was driving so he better not have another but when he got up
he ended up buying the women, Daphne, a beer anyway and one more for himself
and pointed out the window to where his house was and assured us both he could
just walk home. Daphne was slightly annoyed because she wanted to buy him one
but you could tell he was just a very sweet gentlemen and would never let her
pay. She, Daphne it turns out knew of me. If you remember back to my blog from
a few weeks ago about an elderly man I met on the bus who said he and his wife
saw my name in the St. Peter’s church log book where I had signed it, well this
is the wife. As soon as she heard I was from NYC she said oh yes, and went into
great detail everything her husband had told her about me. So sweet and I’m
sure they don’t get many New Yorkers around so it only makes sense I’d be a
topic of conversation at least a little.
Anyway, back to Ray, so he pointed out the window to where
his house was and I could see it plainly down the street and just made a little
gasp because he had mentioned he had one sheep now that he was retired and just
a small plot of land since he couldn’t garden anymore and when I saw which
house I said “Is your sheep brown and black?!” He said “yes” and I explained
how Teddy and I had seen his sheep and I had actually initially thought from its
noises before we reached the entrance to their farm that it was a cow. He
looked at me strangely as you can imagine but I went on to say how beautiful
his sheep was and what was its name? Again, another strange stare and just in
case you are tempted to ever ask someone that question know that usually sheep
do not have names. So brown/black nameless ship is his, well technically
anyway, it is really owned by his neighbor, a young lady who works in the city
and who doesn’t have time to take care of her sheep so he does it for her and
he said he considers her is. There were I think 4 others but slowly they have
been dying off of old age. I think he said brown/black sheep is like 17 years
old so she may not be here much longer either. I told him how beautiful she is
and how I got so excited to see her and took a picture. He was very kind and
said next time Teddy and I pass just knock on the door and his wife will make
tea. How sweet are they, right?
He then told me that his wife was 2 years older than him and
of course I pounced on that with “so you told me a fib you are not the oldest
person in Blaxhall.” He smiled and said “I’m the oldest born and breed person
and Blaxhall” which from his tone made it perfectly clear that that was all
that mattered and people like his wife would always be outsiders. And that
brings us to the very lovely lady who played the harmonica today. She moved her
from the London (Ray referred to her as a Londoner as he did his wife the first
time he mentioned her) about 10 years ago and she said she is very happy here.
She was in Surry beforehand and she seems to prefer Blaxhall more. I’ve heard
from several “pensioners” as they refer to them here (people who are retired)
that it’s much, much less expensive to live in Suffolk and the weather for the most
part is much better and mild year round. Although one young man who was also so
nice said that years ago winters were really fierce and harsh but then suddenly
the weather changed and they’ve had mild winters for several years now but he
feels things are changing back. I’m sure it’s like Ireland, everyone talks
about weather a lot but no one could ever predict it accurately. But either way
everyone’s mutual opinion is at least we haven’t gotten the awful flooding that
the west of England has with mud slides and all.
Teddy and I arrived at around 1pm and by 2pm it looked like
the musicians wouldn’t be coming today which I was disappointed about but that
happens I’m sure and then right about 2pm in came a few people with accordions
including an older, very, very sweet gentlemen with a captains hat and red
shirt on. He was so adorable and according to Ray has been playing her over 40
years and has terrible arthritis in both hands (his right one was bandaged from
some kind of cut) but he still loves to play and as you’ll see in the attached
videos he’s doing great. Something about him reminded me of my grandfather and
not just the accordion, I think his whole being, although he was not nearly as
tall or thin as my grandfather was.
And although the quality of the video I took is not good, especially the sound, it does give you a good idea of the people and what the atmosphere is like and keep in mind they've been doing this for decades now and hopefully will continue for many more although noticing that most of the people are well over 60 or 70 only time will tell if the younger generations will keep it going. The owner of the pub came in, a big guy with a very pleasant and happy demeanor and he greeted everyone and actually each time a person came in it was like being in the TV show "Cheers" they would all greet the person by shouting out their name. And Ray told me once the owner headed to the kitchen that the pub, for a period of 15 years, was owned by an American who they all seemed to like from his description but the man, only in his 60's sadly passed away from throat cancer. There is still a lot of smoking in this country and especially out in the farming villages as many people would go out from time to time. It's such a great thing though that smoking is banned in all restaurants in EU countries, at least I think it is.
I just enjoyed myself so much and even Teddy had a great
time because he got half my hamburger (why I order them in this country or
Ireland, I don’t know) they’re never usually good. I just felt like meat since
the house I’m staying in is vegetarian so I feel bad bringing in even sliced
ham.
Also, a young couple came in during the sing-a-long and the
man brought a LP record with him to show Ray because it had been made by the
local Blaxhall Ship Inn pub singers in 1973 and Ray’s grandfather was one of
the singers, Cyril Poacher. I got a picture of the cover and back. Ray has a
copy of it at home he said. He’s clearly so proud of his ancestry as well he
should be and he also, along with Daphne, her husband and a non-Blaxhall born
or breed women who moved her several years ago and got them all thinking of the
history and heritage of the Blaxhall and its people and together they
researched and complied lots of historical data and pictures on the village and
with a financial grant they got from a non-profit organization published a
book. I had actually looked through it when I was at St. Peter’s church the
first time. They kindly leave one for people to peruse and what I thought was
so lovely is that since they had been given the funding to publish the book
they actually gave each of the residents of Blaxhall a complimentary copy.
So back to the album, I found details of it on it from a
listing on Ebay UK where someone was selling their copy. So below you can see
what songs are on it and who sang them, etc.
"The Larks They Sang Melodious" - Sing-Song In A
Suffolk Pub
Recorded in The Ship, Blaxhall on 16th November 1973 .
Tracks & Artists:
Side 1:
Tony Hall : Donkey Riding / Cyril Poacher
The Nutting Girl / Bob Hart
White Wings (Banks, Winter) / Rosemary Bisset
The Bold Dragoon / Bob Scarce
The Larks They Sang Melodious / Bob Horne
All For Me Grog / Geoffrey King
Green Bushes / Percy Webb
The Master's Servant / Fred List
Pigeon On The Gate, Hornpipe (melodeon tunes).
Side 2:
Steve Pallant : The Foggy Dew (melodeon tune) / Cyril
Poacher
Slap-Dab (Lee, Murray) / Vic Harrup
The Rigs Of The Time / Percy Ling
I'll Come Back My Little Sweetheart / Bob Scarce
A Boy's Best Friend Is His MOther / LInda Walker
Sweet Primroses / Tony Hall : Bungay Roger / Geoff Ling
Maggie May / Geoff LIng : Among My Souvenirs (Horatio
Nicholls).
There was also a younger man who was clearly a farmer and he
contributed here and there to the conversations we were all having and from the
look of him I would have said he was more a person who enjoyed working in the
fields and that kind of hands on work but he from time to time would mention
different artists and the Tate Gallery down in Cornwall and of the Pirates of
Penzance, which came up because he was telling me about a town down south and I
was just so surprised at how completely contrary he was to his appearance with
the muddy boots and general appearance of a man working the fields. Just
another reminder that you can’t judge a book by the cover and he and his wife
travel a bit and seem to go to places where there are lots of art galleries and
sites of literary significance as he mentioned several famous English writers
and their home towns. He was also, he admitted, when I asked if he was an
artist, a painter but he said just a little and apparently just for his own
pleasure. I just couldn’t help but ask; my curiosity up from all the references
he made to various artists of different disciplines.
So all in all a really wonderful day and Teddy and I headed
out around 3:00pm as they continued singing. Teddy was a very good boy today
and I think all that love and attention was just what he needed because he’s
fast asleep by me like he had the most exhausting day ever.
I vacuumed and mopped and cleaned up when we got home because
Teddy, even though I washed him off when we got back tracked in lots of mud and
dirt and I guess I’m to blame as well since my boots were just as soiled as his
little paws, maybe more so.
