The Merry Green Month of May

Over the hills and far away!

Highlight of our month was a trip to Alstonefield, a lovely village tucked away down country lanes on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border. On a warm early summer evening the roadsides were thronged with cow parsley and the pungent smell of wild garlic wafted through the car windows as we negotiated the steep approaches down to the village. Enough of the poetry - so why we were way off the beaten track? Alstonefield has a marvellous restored village hall which some enterprising locals have established as a prime concert venue for slightly off beat singers and other performers.

Just his picture (I don't do links!)

We had spotted that Jon Allen was on the bill here a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed the show. A good two hours playing most of his varied repertoire. Here Jon was in front of an enthusiastic audience of just 100 - in a few weeks he'll be supporting Dionne Warwick on a major European tour with thousands out there cheering him on. Here you are - it's cliche time - check him out on YouTube!

Let's go (me in yellow buff!)

Parkrun for the week was at Clifton Playing Fields in Nottingham. Not the most salubrious part of town as the organiser was the first to admit but we were greeted by a friendly bunch of volunteers who sent us round two and a half laps of some nice flat fields. I love these smaller events - this is another cross country style course which most runners tend to avoid (think MUD! 43 finished here today but at Beeston, less than two miles away they had 339 park runners) After the recent warm weather the mud had dried out leaving us a very pleasant off road jog. No Skip today so Vicky was able to concentrate on her running style. . The cafe was a simple help-yourself convivial affair - tea bags, an urn of hot water, biscuits and an honesty box for your £1. What fun!