The Promise

24 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last month I renewed my guide promise at a Thinking Day celebration day hosted by the Trefoil guild unit I had recently joined. What is the Trefoil guild I hear you ask?

Well, before I explain I thought I would fill you in on how I came to joining this part of the guiding association. As did many a young girl in the UK I became a brownie 50 years ago at the age of 7, guide at 10 and a ranger at 14. I didn’t last long in the rangers and left to join the venture scouts, but that is a different story. As a guide I helped out at my mum’s brownie guide unit and continued as a young leader while I batted for the other side as a venture scout. It’s a well known fact that daughters of guiders usually get drawn into leading units and I was no exception. I became a unit leader at 18, completed my adult leadership qualification and became Tawny owl, mum’s second in command in the 47th Bristol brownie unit. The guide association decided to create another section for 5 to 7 year olds, Rainbows. So in 1991 I set up the first rainbow unit in my area and became the guider in charge, while continuing to help at the brownie unit. Eventually I took over the reins of Brown owl from my mum and she took over the rainbows, a smaller and more manageable group.

Unfortunately, like many groups, our units didn’t survive the covid pandemic. Due to varying reasons, once restrictions were lifted, my merry band of guiders and helpers were unable to continue support me with running the units and my mum was in her 80’s and not able to commit to attending every week. Also I had started a masters in advanced nursing and couldn’t find enough spare time. So with great sadness the units folded.

Being part of guiding is like being in the mafia, you can’t leave, you know too much. So what happens to a guider who hangs up her neckerchief? This is where the Trefoil guild comes into it, or the old biddy guiders as I used to lovingly call them when my mum first joined. Of course now I’m a member I don’t call them that anymore.

As early as 1920 ex guides formed unofficial groups to maintain contact with their old guide companies and in 1935 the “old guides” organisation was formed, so my “old Biddy” name wasn’t far off the mark! The name Trefoil guild was adopted and became a self governing and self financing body from 1952 as a group for former guiders in the UK and overseas territories.

So what does the Trefoil guild do? far from being for old biddy guiders the organisation is open for anyone over the age of 18, for women and men. The 4 main aims of the guild are find friendship, give support, get involved and get active. Groups tend to meet once a month and get involved in various activities at these meetings. Members can be called upon to support units at meetings or days out to help with activities and keeping the girls safe. Mostly it’s an organisation where members can enjoy personal and social opportunities based on guiding and scouting principles without the added stress and commitment of running units.

As I’m still working full time I haven’t been to many meetings, so far my Trefoil experiences include eating! a cream tea, a post Christmas lunch out and a ploughman’s lunch at the afore mentioned Thinking day celebration. This day on 22nd February is celebrated by the guiding sisterhood throughout the world. The guiding family renews their promise on this day and this year by renewing my promise I became an official member of my Trefoil group. Although I did actually fluff up the promise by saying that I would serve the Queen instead of the King, you can hardly blame me, it’s what I’ve been saying for nearly 50 years!

Arty Farty Days

01 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve always thought of myself as a bit creative and I’ve dabbled with all kinds of arty projects in my time. My dad went to art college in his youth and he taught me the basics of sketching and painting when I was a little girl. But something must have gone a bit awry when I started secondary school. According to my first art teacher, lovingly called Granny Grierson, my pieces of art were nearly always ruined once I was let loose with a paintbrush. In my school reports she used the term “doesn’t know when to stop” quite a few times.

Haunted by these words I have tended to avoid the slapping on of paint, with the exception of wall painting about the house. But I’m no quitter and 45 years after those school reports I decided to bite the bullet and give creative painting another go.

My first attempt at re-joining the scary world of paint and brushes was at a Brush Party event. These happen all over the UK at various venues such as pubs, restaurants and adventure parks. My sister in law, Sharon, and I found ourselves one evening just before Christmas at Puxton Park learning how to paint “Ice Ice Angus”. Armed with a blank canvas, brushes, blobs of paint, an apron and a Christmas hat, we followed step by step instructions to produce a pretty good painting to take home. I’m really quite proud of my Angus and he is now stationed on the toilet wall looking down on folk sitting on the throne.

Well after the success of the Brush party there was no stopping me and I was keen to use my new found talents again. My next chance to shine was at a creative printmaking workshop at Flourish Glenavon farm that lies between Bristol and Bath. In a designated part of the farm shop, 4 members of the BMT drinking club gathered to help fellow member George participate in her birthday present. We were trusted with very sharp scalpels to cut out stencils and after creating various hues from the blobs of primary colours, we rolled this way and that until we were happy with the end result on the paper. It took a great deal of resolve to know when to stop adding another layer of paint or another decorative stencil, but with those words from my old school report ringing in my ears I resisted the urge and stepped away from the roller. I was so pleased with the end result that I kicked a David Hockney print out of it’s frame to give my print it’s new home.

I highly recommend both of these activities, they are a really good way to learn new skills to produce a something very decent to take home. The best part is spending time with friends and family in a shared creative experience.

https://www.slowsunday.co.uk/collections/workshops https://brushparty.co.uk/

Veni vidi vici

28 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

My final three arena visits were solo trips. I travelled to the land of my grandfather for the two amphitheatres located in Wales. The Romans moved into this fabulous part of the UK around 48 ACE, but it wasn’t called Wales then, just a part of Britannia Major. My first port of call was Carmarthen in the South West of the country, known in Roman times as Movidurium, it’s possibly the arena that’s furthest west from Rome. Only half of the original structure is visible nowadays, but built in the 2nd century ACE it was an elliptical shape with the capacity for 4500 – 5000 spectators.

After a little wander around I made my way back east towards Newport to visit a little town called Caerleon, this was the home of the 2nd Augustan legion and 5000 soldiers were based there. The site named Isca Augusta had a very impressive amphitheatre, built around 90 ACE and big enough for 6000 spectators. I have to say up to that point it was the best preserved arena I had visited, there were lots of steps, tunnels and archways to explore, it’s the most complete amphitheatre in the UK. After a good look around I wandered down to the remains of the legionnaires barracks. There is a museum and remains of the Roman baths, unfortunately I left it too late to visit so I will definitely return for a proper look.

For the very last amphitheatre on my list I headed back to London where I based myself for my visit to St Albans. When I first planned my quest I wasn’t going to go there as the arena isn’t strictly an amphitheatre, as it has a stage at one end. But it is the only one of it’s kind in the UK so it’s very worthy of a visit. Just a 20 minute train journey from London the Roman town of Verulamium lies in the centre of beautiful St Albans. The arena was built around 140 ACE and it now lies in the Gorhambury Estate, so it was the only site I needed to pay to see, but it was worth the very small fee. It’s position is alongside the famous Watling Street that ran from Londinium to Deva Victrix, ( London to Chester), and it had a capacity of 7000 spectators. After a wander around I also checked out the hypocaust with a beautiful mosaic and a mooch around the museum with a group of very unruly school children and their harassed teachers.

So that is my UK Roman amphitheatre quest finished and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how reading a random post can generate a planned trek around my country to discover the history but also incorporate it into mini breaks with friends and family.

Stay tuned to discover what my next quest will be …

Still in the footsteps of gladiators

25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

I visited the next three amphitheatres on my hit list while enjoying mini breaks with family and friends.

On the way to the fabulous Dorset resort of Weymouth, a place full of many happy memories for me and my family, is Dorchester. A delightful town with lots to see and do, it’s roots date back to Roman times when it was known as Durnovaria. In the south of the town lie the Maumbury rings, a Neolithic henge. Around 60 ACE the Romans modified the rings to create an arena, the biggest in the UK, by digging out and flattening the inside and flooring it with chalk and sand. The banks were increased to the height they are as seen today. As my mum and my friend Deb waited in the car I had a bit of a mooch around the amphitheatre before we continued onto Weymouth for a few days in the sun.

Not long before the trip to London to celebrate the 60th birthdays of my friends Bev and Debbie, I read about the underground amphitheatre that was discovered in the Guildhall Yard in 1988 during an archaeological dig to prepare for the new Art Gallery building project. Initially when built in 70 ACE it was a simple wooden structure for the entertainment of the citizens of Londinium, but was upgraded to a more impressive stone arena with the capacity for 6000 people. Unusually it was built within the city walls, remains of the walls can still be visited around the area. We had a wander around the site in the morning before we went in our 1970’s finery to the Mamma Mia party at the O2.

Chester is quite a long way from Bristol for a day out to check out an amphitheatre, but it’s a hop, skip and a jump from Liverpool and that’s where I was staying with my friends Deb and Selena for a couple of days. We had the most amazing time doing all things Beatles, Cilla and Liver birds. On the way home with stopped off at Chester, known as Deva Victrix in Roman times, to cross another arena off my list. It was one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain with a capacity of 8000 – 12000, but only two fifths are now visible to view. It’s still an impressive sight and also there are the lovely Roman gardens to stroll around and admire the beautiful mosaics.

Next stop Movidurium, Isca Augusta and Verularnium … aka Carmarthen, Caerleon and St Albans.

In the footsteps of gladiators

23 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

As I have already alluded to with many posts in this blog, I am an classical history nut. I love nothing better than wandering ancient ruins and learning about the history. I was having a bit of a mooch around a well known search engine and discovered that there are 10 Roman amphitheatres in the UK according to Heritage Daily.com. Armed with my list, I did my research and made plans to visit each arena, last week I completed my quest.

But before I write about the sites I visited I thought I’d just say a few words about the amphitheatres I didn’t travel to. I live in Bristol in the Southwest so I needed to weigh up if the journey was going to be worth it, to that end I checked out the photos taken and posted by previous visitors.

In Chichester, it’s roman name Noriomagus Reginartum, there is nothing but a field with a gentle bank that outlines where the arena once stood.

Near Margate in Richborough, known in Roman Britain as Rutlipiae or Portus Ritupis, is also essentially a field but this time with a hollow marking the spot where the amphitheatre once was.

Much as I love a good day out, I figured it was a long way to travel to see a field when I had no other reason to visit, so I was content to look at the photos and read a bit more about them online.

My quest began by happenstance well before it was a conscious decision to do so. In January 2018 while on a family get together at my cousin Amelia’s house in Reading, we went on a bracing walk after Sunday lunch and had a wander around the amphitheatre at Silchester. It was built around 60 to 85 ACE when the town was called Callera Atrebatum and was one of the earliest arenas built in Roman Britain. It stood just outside the city walls of a large Roman town with the usual street grid format over 40 hectares. Although I have always been interested in ancient history I never really fully appreciated this look around which is reflected in the rubbish photos I took!

The next theatre that I visited by chance was at Cirencester. My mum and I had been on a lovely day out to Bourton on the Water and on the drive home I didn’t realise that I would be driving past the site. The arena was on my hit list but I hadn’t planned on checking it out on that day. I saw the sign for it and took my chance to cross another arena off the list. Built in the early 2nd century ACE it was one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain. The city was known as Cornium and had a population of over 10000 inhabitants. The remains are massive earthworks but you can clearly see the size of the arena and imagine how it would have looked in it’s former glory.

Next stop Dorchester, London and Chester aka Durnovaria, Londinium and Deva Victrix….

Down memory lane

13 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

While volunteering at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games I decided to stay outside the city at Stourbridge, partly because I knew it would be very busy in Birmingham, but mostly because I love the Black country. My paternal grandparents and my dad came from this beautiful part of the world, we visited every year staying in Halesowen.

It’s not all work when volunteering in the games and there are a few days off. My first outing on an afternoon off was a hike around the Clent hills, as a child I spent a lot of time bombing around the country lanes in granddad’s mini clubman and running around the hills and woods for hours until it got dark.

On another day off I thought I’d try and find the big sandy area in the middle of Kinver woods, we went there a lot when I was little with a picnic and granddad’s calor gas stove to brew tea on. I decided to walk the two hour trail hoping that I would come across the sandy bit as I couldn’t actually remember exactly where it was. I didn’t find it but what I did discover was Kinver edge and the rock houses. These amazing little houses are dug out of the red sandstone and the earliest settlement dates back to 1777. In the 1861 census, eleven families were registered as living there. Managed now by the National Trust, it’s a fascinating step back in time with a lovely tea room for a pit stop with cake.

I stopped off at Kinver on the way back from Iron Bridge, this is a place I’d never been to and was keen to visit after reading about it. The world’s first cast iron bridge was built in 1779 over the river Severn in Shropshire. This amazing structure spans the Ironbridge gorge and looks spectacular from every angle especially from the riverside café with the most lovely tea cosies.

I never tire of the West Midlands, not just because the claim it has my heart with childhood family memories, but also because there are so many fabulous places to discover and learn about in beautiful countryside.

All for a good cause

08 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Following the success of my previous medical volunteering adventures at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the London World Athletics Championships, I decided to give it another go. I was very fortunate to have been selected as a first responder team leader for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

My base for the games was Birmingham University campus as spectator medical cover for squash, not my first choice for sport but we also covered the hockey at times and were able to see the England women’s team win gold. But for me that’s not what it’s all about, as usual I worked with an amazing team and made lots of new friends.

What was great this time, being only 2 hours from home I had visits from two best friends. Jane got a ticket for the gymnastics, I met her after my shift and we had a bit of food together and a catch up before she got her train back to Bristol. And after holidaying up in the north, George stopped off at Birmingham with her family to check out Ozzy the bull and all the other festivities. I met up with them before one of my shifts for a wander around and a bit of people watching. It was lovely to see them and share my commonwealth experience with them.

This time I also managed to get tickets to watch the gymnastics on two days, the ladies all around finals and day two of the apparatus finals. I’m a massive fan of gymnastics and this is the first time I’d actually watched it live. The atmosphere was amazing and the gymnasts were fantastic, it was definitely money very well spent.

I can’t recommend this type of volunteering enough. It’s a fabulous way to make friends, experience international sporting events for free and you get to keep all the kit!

I went to London and I saw ……

30 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

I love my trips to London and there are several posts on this blog to support this. My last two visits to the Big Smoke involved two music legends and my two sons.

Back in August I met son number one, Scott, at Paddington station and we made our way to Sotheby’s to see the exhibition of Freddie Mercury’s possessions “A world of his own”. Fans and buyers could visit to view the items for a couple of weeks before the auctions arranged and managed by Mary Austin, Freddie’s lifelong friend whom he described as his common law wife and was his closest confidant. During that time there were 140,000 visitors from all around the world and the auctions raised £40 million, a large proportion of that amount was donated to charity.

Freddie collected a lot of fabulous stuff in his short life and 14061 lots were lovingly arranged over three floors and each room had vases full of beautiful lilies to fill the air with the most amazing fragrance. Everything was in temptingly close touching distance and while no-one was looking I managed a little pinch on the bottom of the sleeve of a jacket Freddie wore on a visit to Japan. When I mentioned it to Scott, he shot me a look that said “if we get chucked out of here because of you, I’m going to kill you”! It reminded me of the time myself and both my lads went to Destination Star Trek and I was trying to get a sneaky photo of William Shatner instead of paying the extortionate fee to do so. I was told a couple of times to stop and move along, which I ignored and my youngest son, Jake, felt the need to drag me away hissing “you’re gonna get us chucked out”.

So with that in mind I decided to try and behave myself on my next trip to London with Jake to see the Elvis Exhibition. It was a wonderful collection of memorabilia from Graceland, lots of amazing personal items belonging to Elvis, stage outfits, documents, vehicles, instruments and his every day clothes in all their 1970’s glory. This time there was no chance of touching anything as it was all safely protected behind glass.

It was a relatively small exhibition so before we headed home we made our way to St. John’s wood and after a yummy lunch at the Drunch café we wandered to the Abbey road studio. We really didn’t have time to do the studio tour, so we visited the shop and tried to get a “walking across the zebra” photo without pissing off too many motorists!

I am so lucky to have shared interests with my lads, it makes my days out to London really special.

Going it alone ..part 2

24 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Fuelled by the success of my roman adventure I decided to go it alone again, this time to a city I’ve been wanting to visit for a very long time. For someone who loves ancient history as much as I do, there is only one place to go to get my fix, Athens.

I couldn’t think of a better place to go on my own, I would have the time to go wherever I want and spend as long as I needed. I am that person who reads every bit of information at every site, so I can spend hours in one place learning as much as possible. When travelling with others who aren’t quite as fanatical about history I’m always conscious of staying in one place for far too long. I can also go for ages without eating or even needing a wee and I can walk for hours, so I guess it can be a bit frustrating for my companions at times and equally so for me when it’s necessary to stop more often then I’d like to. So the best solution is a solo trip.

Athens is a very walkable city, with interesting sites galore. I got started right away after buying a week’s supply of tomatoes, cucumber and feta and despite a very early flight I felt compelled to march up the Philopappos Hill as it was a short walk from my apartment. I read that the summit afforded an amazing view the acropolis and the rest of the city. It most certainly did and it was well worth the effort.

The most recognisable place in Athens is the Acropolis, so the next day I couldn’t wait to get there. Imagine my joy to discover that I could buy a ticket not only to this magnificent site, but also included in the price entrance to the Roman and Ancient agora, Hadrian’s library, Kerameikos, Aristotle’s school and Olympieion.

So for the next few days I worked my way around the city making the most of this ticket. But also visiting many other amazing places such as the temples of Zeus and Hephaestus and Herod Atticus Odeon,

Not content with scaling one large hill I decided to tackle Mount Lycabettus, but after a morning of walking many steps and a stop off at the glorious marble Panathenaic stadium, the thought of climbing up the winding path of the 908 feet high hill was a little too much for my screaming muscles and throbbing feet. So I thought I’d make use of the funicular to get to the summit and enjoy the stunning views and beautiful sunset with a chilled glass of wine.

On day 3 treated myself to an organised trip out of the city and found myself in a small minibus with 12 strangers and a very informative guide heading down the coast to the Cape of Sounion to visit the Temple of Poseidon. After a pit stop at the Vouliagmeni lake, where it’s said the water has healing powers and can relieve ailments such as arthritis, we ended up at the peninsula with the breath-taking temple standing tall over looking the beautiful turquoise sea. We had plenty of time to look around the site and surrounding area before getting in position to get the best photos of the sunset behind the temple. This excursion is not to be missed and I highly recommend it if you love capturing beautiful sunsets in stunning places.

On my last day I made use of the hop on hop off bus ticket that was included in the price of the trip to the Temple of Poseidon. I hopped on after paying a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier and watching the guards doing their thing with style. I managed to cross a few more sites off using my multi-site ticket and checked out the church of Agios Elftherios and Athens Cathedral right next door, before the rain set in and the pavements that were slippery when dry became treacherous when wet. Anyone who knows me, knows about my tendency to fall and break limbs, so I decided to go back to my apartment for my own safety. I hoped that the rain would go off so I could get back out as there were a few more places I wanted to see, but it was set in for the rest of the day.

Then the miracle happened, in the form of an email from Easyjet, my flight had been delayed by 2 days. Unfortunately there was someone booked to replace me in my apartment so I needed to find another temporary home for the next night, but that was swiftly done on a well known booking site. The next morning, after dumping my bag at my new lodgings, I was off again to make the most of my extra time.

I couldn’t resist another visit to the Acropolis before exploring the other side of Philopappus Hill, where I found the tomb Socrates was incarcerated in before his trial in 399 BCE and the hill of the Pynx where the great orators Aristotle, Demosthenes, Pericles and Themistocles addresses assemblies in the 5th century BCE. After a meander down the hill and a nose around some beautiful churches I had a well earned late lunch on the Yiasemi staircase, lined with brightly decorated cafes where if you can’t find a table you just pull up a cushion and sit on the stairs.

Thanks to an evening flight the next day I was able to visit the presidential palace, the Byzantine museum and gardens, and the beautiful national botanic gardens. A visit to Aristotle’s school completed all of the sites on my acropolis ticket.

I’m so happy I decided to visit Athens for this fabulous trip and although I went on my own I was never far from familiar people. On my second day, in the chapel of Agios Giorgios on the top of Mount Lycabettus I met a couple wondering if they still held weddings there, I happened to know the answer to that question as I had read about it the previous day, so we had a bit of a chat. The following day they were also on the trip to the Temple of Poseidon, then the next day, while I was sat on the hop on hop off bus in a bit of a traffic jam, I saw them walking along the street so we had a catch up while the bus waited to move off.

Athens is the most amazing place to visit on a solo trip as I felt very safe at all times and there is so much to see and do that even if you stayed for a couple of months you wouldn’t see it all. So I will definitely return and maybe even bring a friend!

Going it alone – part one

12 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

Much as I love travelling with family and friends, I really wanted to do some solo trips and thought that Europe was a good place to start.

For my first solo adventure I decided to go to Rome as I had visited many times before and knew my way around pretty well. That said I did make a conscious effort to visit places that I hadn’t seen before on previous trips, including the aqueduct park, the catacombs, Tiber Island, Trajan’s market and Circus Maximus. I went on a lovely boat trip and met the very cute resident coypu named Caterina. But also visited old favourites; the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castel D’Angelo and St. Peter’s Square.

On all my previous visits to Rome I have gotten out of the city, I’ve been to Pompeii and Ostia Antica twice. Anyone who knows me or has read this blog will know what a history nut I am. So I hopped on the train to Naples to catch the little circumvesuviana train to Sorrento with a little pit stop at Ercolana to visit the ancient city of Herculaneum. I’ve wanted to see this site for many years and it didn’t disappoint. Just a little walk from the station down the main street of the small town is the most compact and perfectly formed roman city. The streets, houses, shops and port are so amazingly well preserved, partly to do with it’s position in relation to Mount Vesuvius, so it faired a little better than it’s neighbour Pompeii. I loved wandering around and looking at the fabulous murals on the walls, the colours still quite vibrant even after all these years.

Onwards on the most scenic train journey for another couple of hours I made my way to beautiful Sorrento, another place on my hit list for quite some time. Due to my stop off at Herculaneum I only had a couple of hours at this lovely coastal resort, but long enough to enjoy a bit of a walk around and some gnocchi and a glass wine while watching the glorious sunset.

Originally I had only planned to go to Herculaneum and back to Naples for a look around, but when I got off the train from Rome and walked to the station to get the next train it smelt so strongly of urine that I decided to go further down south to Sorrento. I’m sure it was a one off and Naples is a lovely place to visit, I just didn’t fancy it that day!

A short time before my holiday I had already been informed by Easy jet that my flight was delayed and I had an extra day in Rome, luckily my Air BnB hosts were able to put me up for one more night. What I didn’t know though was my cousin Amelia and her family, Ged and Sophia, were also going to be arriving in Rome on my last but one day. I found out when I posted online while sat on the tarmac at Bristol Airport, Amelia saw it and messaged me. So after a morning of mooching around the site of Nero’s Golden Palace and the Roman Forum, I met them at their hotel on the Via Nationale. After sharing a pizza and trying to catch up on a lot of family gossip, we made our way to have a look at the mighty Coliseum. We enjoyed a lovely evening together reminiscing about the last time we met up in Rome, another totally unplanned event when we both decided to come to Italy as a birthday treat quite a few years ago, my birthday is the day before Amelia’s. She was staying outside of Rome that time with my Uncle and Aunty and we all met at the Spanish steps.

The next day I managed to fit in the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps and one last coffee with Amelia and co before making my way to the airport for my flight home. We decided that Rome was some kind of special place for us and I believe that is true, I really feel comfortable there and felt safe all the time, even when I was returning to my apartment late at night.

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