Friday, February 26, 2010

Coalway Junior, Coleford and Many Happy Returns!

Good King Hal about to get his robes caught in a piece of fearsome looking farm machinery. (left)

The alarm went off at 5am. Not again! It would have been very, very easy just to turn it off and slip back into the arms of sleep - I had to really make myself get up on Thursday morning. The drive up to Coleford in the Forest of Dean is nearly always a pleasurable one as you travel through some wonderful countryside once you have escaped from the M5. I have been visiting Coalway Junior for the past five years, and Thursday it was my sixth visit to this wonderful place. It is almost like returning to a family with each visit as there are so many friendly welcoming faces. You have not in your entire life heard such a loud, funny, laughter filled staff room! And the children are pretty cool too. We had a lovely day, with plenty of laughs in the morning and the children really displaying a fine level of Tudor knowledge. Some of their designs for their coats of arms were staggeringly good!
After a nice tuna baguette and salad at lunchtime it was back into the main hall for more of the same silliness. Despite frequent interruptions from children going into the canteen for music lessons on a loud piano, everything went swimmingly. The jousting tournament was again of a quite brilliantly high standard. Two fine teams went head to head in the final, and after a poor start the gents pulled themselves into a slight lead, only for them to be reigned in by a quite fabulous ladies team who stormed to victory. Wonderful stuff. This now makes the score:
GENTLEMEN 12 - 18 LADIES
The ladies are starting to pull away again now. Come on Gents!
At home I treated myself to a venison steak for dinner, which was delicious. So what was the cause of this gluttonous levity? Well, today is February 26th and is my 43rd birthday! So I am celebrating this morning with a banana and strawberry smoothie, and I am now expanding my mind by watching The Jeremy Kyle Show. I know how to enjoy myself! Dinner tomorrow night with a load of friends and family to look forward to, at the Duke of York pub in Shepton Beauchamp. Lovely!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was really super to see you again. The children are still on a high after yesterday! I had parents evening straight after school and every parent commented on how the children had come out of school enthralled by your visit~ you were a real hit (AGAIN).
Thank you for bringing History to life!!!
P.S Happy Birthday x
Mrs.Moore

Emily.H said...

I had a fantastic day. I enjoyed the jousting. I learnt a lot about Henry VIII and the Tudors.

Rhys W said...

the day was fantastic and my favourite bit of the day would be the 'Jousting' and it was fun to watch I learned so much. Thanks for coming .

C said...

Wow I loved it. It was the best day of my school life! It was good when you just appeared, I thought Henry VIII had come back to life.

Cyberkim said...

Look, I hate to quibble with a monarch, but I happen to know that you were born in 1491.

Most of us knock off the odd year or two when people ask how old we are, but claiming to be a mere 43 years old is stretching credibility a bit too far.

Even so, Happy Birthday...
You don't look a day over 500.