Barrington Court Christmas Walkabout 2

After the strange weather of yesterday I really wasn't quite sure what to expect at Barrington Court today. Again the forecast was not good, something along the lines of typhoons, hurricanes, gales, thunderstorms and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse getting "medieval" in the White Garden. However, it was a pleasingly bright and mild day today, a very brisk wind, but the ever threatening presence of the occasional black cloud to make you think twice about venturing out.

As it was we had a good turn out today. The official figures only showed an increase of about 40 customers today, but it seemed a lot more. We were also treated to a visit by a group of Rainbows (apparently Rainbows are those too young to be Brownies - I didn't know either) and they were great fun, Matthew Applegate and I led them in a session of colouring in and decorating their own Christmas Tree decorations!

There was one fine moment earlier in the day when I was sitting in the Study/Library annexe just off the Buttery. I heard a couple approaching chatting to each other and adopted a suitably dramatic Henry pose. The elderly man entered first, tripping up the step and staggering into the room with all the aplomb of Norman Wisdom at his slapstick best. His equally elderly wife followed in a similar manner. We began chatting and I was transfixed by both of their huge hearing aids they wore. Whilst chatting to the gentleman, he suddenly let off the most ferocious and lengthy fart that has been dealt in my presence for quite a while. Neither of them batted an eyelid as they were both deaf as a post and heard nothing it would seem. I was biting my lip desperately trying not to laugh when the wife finished me off by stating loudly:

"You certainly give this room a lot of atmosphere..." Perhaps I should have opened the window. I rapidly left the room stifling my laughter as I went.

Clevedon tomorrow and a visit to Yeo Moor Junior School.

Barrington Court Christmas Walkabout 1

A first of two days staggering around the gardens and buildings of Barrington Court near Ilminster in Somerset. The day had been forecast to be cloudy, windy and rainy, but instead I was presented with a piercingly clear day, cold and with a brisk wind, but dry.

I began wandering around, but it was quiet. There was a small collection of stalls in the old kitchens in the main house with people selling jams, wines, jewellery and some traditionally knitted scarves. After about two hours of wandering around in the bright sunshine, the weather suddenly closed in and a Bible black sky was soon followed by howling winds and driving rain. All visitors seemed to vanish into nowhere. I sat and chatted to Matthew Applegate the Visitor Services Manager and he suggested I might as well leave early. So I got changed, just as the weather cleared up and a late surge of visitors came in! Typical.

I am back at Barrington Court tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be 100% worse than today. I can't wait...

St Cecillia's, Sutton; Riverview, Gravesend, White Woman Lane, Norwich and an apology...

My long week away continued on the Tuesday morning by a very early start to drive to St Cecillia's Roman Catholic School in Sutton. This was my fourth year at this particular school so I knew what to expect from the journey. All went swimmingly until I got within about five miles of the place and then I just got swamped in wall to wall traffic. The final three miles must have taken me about 30 minutes. But it was worth it as it was a great day! Some fantastic children as usual, lovely friendly teachers and a good fun day all round. After finishing I drove down to my sister's house near Sittingbourne in Kent as the next day I was to be on parade in Gravesend. Cath and I sat and strummed guitars for the evening and had a good time.

If it's Wednesday, it must be Gravesend. Up bright and early and up the M2 to Riverview Junior. This was my third visit back to Riverview and I was looking forward to it as the previous couple of years had been great fun, and I was not to be disappointed. Another warm welcome from the lovely teachers and another group and bouncy excitable children. Fun and games all round and more cheers ringing in my ears at the end of the day. I then had to drive to Leeds Castle after finishing at the school to collect the Father Christmas outfit I am using there next week. I have been interviewed recently for an article in The Guardian newspaper and they are arranging a photo shoot of me and want to do it next Tuesday. On that day I am working back at Dunster School in Somerset, but I am due to meet the photographer there, but I needed the costume. I met up with the lovely Helen Budd at Leeds Castle and she gave me the costume. Lovely to see her again. It was back to my sister's for dinner and then up to Essex to stay with my parents.

Thursday and I am up VERY early and heading up the A12 to Norwich and White Woman Lane Junior School in Sprouston. This was another return visit and it was good to be back. They were a big group and quite challenging at times, but worth it as we had a great day with lots of laughs.

Friday I was due at Nelson Primary in East Ham, but my car had other ideas, and instead decided to have a bit of a breakdown on the A12, which took so long to get put right it totally wrote off any chance I had of making it to Nelson Primary. My abject apologies to the children and teachers I let down.

This weekend I am at Barrington Court for a couple of days of walkabouts and then next week I am in Clevedon on Monday, Dunster on Tuesday and Taunton on Wednesday. Thursday morning I start back at Leeds Castle as Father Christmas.

Grange Primary School, Swindon

My very busy week began in the wee small hours of Monday morning when I woke up at about 5.15am and got ready for the morning drive to Swindon. I had not visited Grange Junior before, but I was more than happy to go to Swindon, what with it being the spirtual home ground of not only the sainted Billie Piper, lately of Doctor Who, but also of the deeply wonderful XTC, the greatest band in the history of absolutely everything. Not that I am biased of course...

It may only have been a half day today, but it was a great day none the less! What a wonderful school! Should they ever want to invite me back for a full day, I would be delighted to oblige. The teachers were friendly and kind (and they all laughed like drains at my silly bits and pieces) and the children just wonderful. It was a very big group for a half day, about 200 children, but they were sparky, funny, clever and above all else, very interested. You can't ask for more than that. The gentlemen won a fine jousting tournament at the end of the morning.

My 90 mile drive home was nice, if a little grey and wet. I stopped in at Yeovil to buy some more tights and then stopped in at Crewkerne for a few bits and pieces. I got home and had some phone calls with requests for more appearances as Henry while I am busy being Santa at Leeds Castle. I can't say no!

So, I have been to the home of XTC and it was wonderful. And what is more, one of the teachers I spoke to today used to teach one of Colin Moulding's children. Now there is a claim to fame.

Tomorrow I am up even earlier to get to Sutton for my return visit to St Cecillia's, and then it is on to my sister's in Kent to stay with her again as I am off to Gravesend on Wednesday. Speak to you soon!

The Maynard School, Exeter

A third year return for me on Friday to the lovely Maynard School for Girls in Exeter. The last time I had visited, Keagh Fry, the form teacher I work with, was very heavily pregnant - it was nice to see her back to her sylph-like best today!

It was a group of 26 ladies today and I had been requested to start and finish a little later than normal. I was more than happy to agree. The opening talk was fun and we had some laughs with the ladies, all of whom were in fabulous costumes.

At lunch I sat with Keagh and her assistant, Miss Bacon. I was frequently approached by some of the ladies in the school during lunch and asked, in a very conspiratorial kind of way "Are you Henry VIIIth?" to which I would reply "no, I'm his twin brother", which would always get a strange look from the questionner.

The afternoon was great and we had a really fabulous jousting tournament with a couple of "penalty shoot outs" - you will know what I mean if you have seen the jousts!

After finishing at the Maynard I had to drive back to Crewkerne for an appointment with Dr Mike Osborne to have my stitches removed after my operation on my head last week. After a long wait at the surgery I was done. I then treated myself and the family to a Chinese takeaway which was delicious.

After that, my day was still not over as I was over to Clapton and Wayford Village hall for another play reading evening for the Axe Valley Players.

Next week I am off to Swindon on Monday, Sutton on Tuesday, Gravesend on Wednesday, Norwich on Thursday and East Ham on Friday. Another full week!

St Paul's Junior School, Shepton Mallet

A brand new school for me today! I drove up to Shepton Mallet this morning for a visit to St Paul's C of E Junior School, less than a week after my last visit to the town to have surgery! This was a far less stressful visit than last time - in fact it was a total delight from start to finish. The school itself is a remarkable old building and winds it's way around like a sort of demented rabbit warren. I arrived just about 8am and went to front door reception and rang the bell. No reply. I tried again. Still no reply. I gave up and went back to the car. Five minutes later I tried again. Still no reply! I finally tried the door, just in case it was open anyway, but it wasn't. I was about to give up again when the door suddenly opened and I was greeted by a man with a slightly surprised expression on his face.

"Can I help?" He asked. I held my hand out towards him.

"Henry the VIIIth" I announced. He looked blankly at me.

"Pardon?" Oh dear. Perhaps I was at the wrong address.

"Henry the VIIIth? Here for the Tudor day?" His face suddenly broke into a smile.

"Oh I see. Sorry, I thought you were a nutter." He was probably right!

The day itself was wonderful. Some of the loveliest, liveliest children you could ever hope to meet. The teachers and TA's were uniformly kind and pleasant, and the whole day was just wonderful.

I had lunch with some of the kids in the dining hall, which was entertaining to say the least. The afternoon session was a belter if a little rushed at the end as I ran out of time! However, the boys romped to a famous victory in the jousting.

After re-loading the car I was on my way home, pausing in Crewkerne to visit the bank, and then pop in to Bilby's a finally managed to track down Tris to see if he might be interested in taking part in the Tudor weekend at Sudeley Castle next May. He seems keen at the moment, mostly because it was where Liz Hurley got married! I think he has a little something for her.

Milverton Junior School, Somerset

It was a delightful return to Milverton Junior School near Wellington in Somerset today. It is something like 3 years since my previous visit. I kept occasionally bumping into pupils and teachers from this school during my appearances at Somerset County Museum in Taunton over the years, but here I was again!

I arrived very early this morning and it all came back to me! I remembered the layout of the school quite quickly and it was good to see some familiar faces from all those years ago! The children were just brilliant today. They laughed a lot and had a tremendous knowledge of Tudor times. The teachers were so friendly and chatty, it was like I had only been there three weeks ago, not three years!

I drove into the middle of the delightful village of Milverton for my lunch, getting some nice sandwiches from the shop in the middle. Milverton is so beautiful, a real sleeping beauty of a place.

The afternoon was brilliant, so much laughter and fun with the children and a rip roaring joust which, completely against my prediction, was won by the gentlemen! I pottered home, pausing only in Ilminster to see if I could catch up with Tris from Bilby's, but he was over at the Crewkerne branch. And so here I am at home, waiting for the England v Croatia match to kick off tonight...

The Fold School, Hove

My first visit to a school in East Sussex got off to a less than auspicious start. I had been hoping to stay in Sussex with my friends Viv and John, but had failed to get any response from them - until late on the Sunday night announcing they had just arrived back from a weekend in Suffolk. So it was me up at the crack of dawn to drive the 130+ miles to Hove and back in the day!

I was just getting over a strenuous weekend. My parents had been down to stay with us, plus on Friday I had been in hospital for an operation on my head (no, not searching for my brain) and I was still a little sore this Monday morning and with the stitches still in place!

My alarm went off at 4.30am and after a quick clean up I was on my way by 5.20am. It was plain sailing until I got as far as Portsmouth when I got stuck in traffic and crawled most of the rest of the way in horrific weather conditions. I arrived at the school at about 8.15am. I was met by Mr Bartram, fully dressed up in his Tudor finery! The Fold is a tiny school, but absolutely delightful. The children were brilliant and were dressed in some fantastic costumes. The morning seemed to shoot by and by now it was lunch time and the kitchen staff had come up trumps with a proper Tudor banquet! We ate, drank and made merry, well as merry as you can with apple juice!

The afternoon joust was another classic with the ladies strolling to a fairly comfortable win. After dishing out the winners documents and packing my car I was on my way. Luckily the journey home was OK. Fairly heavy traffic but moving most of the time. I got home just after 6pm.

I have tomorrow off, thankfully, however any ideas of a rest have been quashed by my wife announcing that we are going Christmas shopping in Yeovil. Hey ho. My next show is on Thursday in Milverton.

Knightwood Primary, Chandlers Ford

Back to one of my favourite schools this morning - Knightwood Primary School, in Chandler's Ford on the edge of Southampton. Driving down towards Southampton brought back many memories of working at Skandia Life in the City there. Thankfully most of the memories are good ones. I can't believe I used to make that journey every day though - 70+ miles in each direction, five days a week, though sometimes more if I was working weekends. I am so glad that I don't work there now.

The drive down was lovely to begin with. After encountering some thick fog around Crewkerne, the morning dawned piercingly cold and bright as I drove along the A303. I listened to the Big Country track "Winter Sky" which was the perfect soundtrack to this crystal clear icey morning sun rise.

It was nice to be back at Knightwood. The teachers were as ever wonderfully welcoming and friendly, the children were nearly all interested and enthusiastic, and all dressed in wonderful costumes. The afternoon jousting session was another fine advertisment for how team work prevails. The gentlemen just edging to victory in a tense climax.

Tomorrow I have a day off as I am off to hospital for a little operation. However, Monday I am back on duty again, this time down in Hove in Sussex for the first time.

Oakleigh House School, Swansea

This was a first for me! My first school in Wales! I had made appearances in the Principality before, but at WI groups and the like, never before with a school.

I had driven to Carmarthen the night before to stay with my lovely sister at her small holding in Esgair to the north of the town. To thank her for her hospitality I took her out to dinner. We went to a lovely little Chinese restaurant in the middle of Carmarthen and it was delicious!

The following morning my sister got up as early as I did and even made me breakfast - you can't ask for better service than that! The drive to Swansea was remarkably easy, especially after doom-ladened warnings from my sister and her husband about how heavy the traffic can be at that time of the morning. The school was very small and tucked away in the genteel western side of Swansea. The teachers were lovely and very friendly. The children were very excitable and challenging, but they made the day all the more fun with their sparky natures.

After a filling lunch we all headed back to the hall for the afternoon's activities. The jousting was incredibly loud and the gentlemen won for once, but only just! I packed up my stuff and was on my way. Despite a bit of a hold up on the southbound M5 I was soon home with my lovely family.

Today has been mostly a day of leisure, but tomorrow I am off to Chandler's Ford near Southampton for a third visit to Knightwood School. I am really looking forward to it!

Robert Kett Junior, Wymondham & Pendragon Primary, Papworth Everard

My long week away on the road finally came to an end. My penultimate date was at Robert Kett Junior in Wymondham near Norwich. This was my fourth year back at the same school and I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. I was not to be disappointed! As usual they had me doing a slightly alternative version of my day, but with a crowd of nearly 160 children it was probably wise!

It went really well, with lots of laughs from the children and various jokes about knees (I guess you have to be there to appreciate just how funny knees in Norfolk can be!). The costumes of the children and the teachers were, again a sight to behold. Marvellous stuff! The ladies won the jousting by a whisker and I was soon on my way home. Sadly, I endured an awful journey back stuck behind a stubborn tractor driver who seemed hell bent on garnering the largest tail back behind a slow moving agricultural vehicle in history. He would NOT pull into a lay by or let anyone by. If I'd had a gun I'd have shot his tyres out!

Friday morning had me driving up the M11 to Cambridgeshire and the village of Papworth Everard and Pendragon Junior School. After a surprising "welcome" from the head teacher I was soon with my regular teachers for the day and they were lovely! The children were a spectacularly good group - but by now, my previous three weeks of almost non-stop Henry work was catching up with me. I felt like I fluffed my lines and kept getting my historical bits muddled up. However, the teachers were very kind and polite and said everything was fine.

The final joust was a belter with the ladies JUST claiming victory over a very good boys team. I drove back to my parent's house, had dinner and then changed my mind about driving back to Somerset that evening. I was just too tired. So I had an early night, got up early and drove home this morning. I got back just after 9am.

We went into Yeovil today and after some shopping and banking work, we went to Palmers for some fine fish and chips for lunch. I am a little more awake now!

Next week I am in Swansea and Chandler's Ford!

Great Abington, Gorlstone & Wickford - in that order.

Another exhausting week of Henry Tudor lunacy. It kicked off on Sunday when I had to drive to Essex for my base at my parent's house in Mountnessing. I will have to make the most of this as they are threatening to move down to Wales. Who will I stay with then in Essex???

Anyway, the Monday morning dawned bright and early and I was off to Cambridgeshire for a visit to Great Abington Junior School. Now my sat nav, known and loved as "Doris" was having tremendous difficulty in finding Great Abington. It was only when I got to the village I could see why. Although the village is listed on maps and signposts as either Great or Little Abington, it is only one village called simply Abington, which is how Doris was seeing it. Never mind. It was a very cute little school with some fine children. The group I had was only 20 strong, and all little year 3's, but they came up trumps and we had a fine day!

The next morning I was up at the same time for a jaunt up to Stradbroke School in Gorlstone near Great Yarmouth for a return visit to this school for the first time in two years. It was nice to be back there. A really friendly school, tremendous children, gorgeous Cottage Pie lunch and a terrific jousting tournament. You really can't ask for much more than that! That evening my parents and I went over to our friends Ros and Mike Bloomfield in Great Dunmow for a wonderful evening of takeaway curry and fine drinks. Lovely evening!

Today I have been back to Wickford Junior School in Essex for a return visit, almost one year to the day since my previous trip. I love Wickford Junior! The children are always really sparky and funny, the teachers are all either nice friendly chaps or gorgeous mad women! We had laughs aplenty and a good time did seem to be had by all. The jousting was one of the closest finishes I have seen in many a year, with the ladies snatching victory by mere millimetres from the gents. Great stuff!

Tonight I am taking my Mother out to dinner at a new Italian restaurant in the village of Stock near Billericay (where I used to live!). Tomorrow, I am back for my fourth visit to the Robert Kett Junior School at Wymondham, near Norwich in Norfolk. It should be fun. It usually is!

Compton Dundon School

It was a first day at a new school for me today. I was up to Compton Dundon near Somerton for an early start at the cute little school up there. If you remember I had appeared at Compton Dundon Village Hall as part of the Royal Progress Tour back in August.

It was a cold and foggy start to the morning, but this soon gave way to dazzling sunshine and beautiful views in this delightful part of rural Somerset. I arrived at the school at the same time as the Head Teacher, Mrs Thomas, who let me in. It was only 20 children today across a range of years 3, 4 and 5, but they were a wonderfully well behaved group and had some truly great Tudor knowledge.

I was very honoured this day that I was one of the very first people to "Christen" the new Staff Room at this school as it had just been finished!

At lunch time I drove up to Glastonbury to get some petrol and some lunch, before heading back for a wild and fun afternoon. The jousting was particularly memorable as a big group of parents and the whole of the reception class came in to watch as well. True to form, the ladies stormed to a great win and took the applause of the assembled parents and children.

OK, I now have Saturday at leisure before hacking off again on Sunday across to the east of the country for a week of appearances in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex. The things I do for my country!

Parkfield Junior, Taunton

It was back to the wonderful Parkfield Junior School in Taunton today - home of the indomitable Mr Sides, the Head Teacher. This was my third visit to the school in three years, and it is always just such a pleasure to go there. As usual I was Royally treated, lots of friendly banter with some terrific teachers, and had some great fun with the children who had dressed up in some quite wonderful Tudor costumes for the day.

Mr Sides met me first thing and as usual was a fine and entertaining host. I set up in the main hall and the children came through to meet me just after 9am. The morning went really well - the children's general knowledge of Tudor times was superb. The teachers had done a wonderful job.

Lunchtime, I was treated to a sandwich. Now this may not sound much, but these very wonderful people at Parkfield not only walked down to Tesco's to get my sarnie, they also steadfastly refused to let me pay for it. Who could ask for better treatment than that?

The afternoon shot past very quickly, and the jousting was of a particularly high standard with the gents just managing to steal victory in the grand final against the ladies champs. After packing away Mr Sides immediately invited me back again next year and I was more than happy to accept.

I drove home pausing in Ilminster to visit the bank and also to treat myself to a slice of tiffin from Sara's Dairy in Silver Street. If you are ever in Ilminster - do yourself a favour, go and see the lovely ladies in Sara's Dairy and try a bit of their tiffin. Your taste buds will love you forever.

Tomorrow I am up at Compton Dundon school. My first visit to this school and my first trip back to that village since my appearance there during the Royal Progress in August (see this Blog passim). I shall tell you all about it tomorrow.

Henry's Horrid History, Leeds Castle + Blean and Monkwick

I had been invited back to Leeds Castle for another series of Henry VIIIth talks as I had last done back in February 2006. The whole half term would see me in The Maiden's Tower at the Castle doing four shows a day. Adverts had been put out on Invicta Radio in Kent and in all the local papers, so hopefully we would have a good turn out. Boy, did we have a good turn out. The wonderful Darlene Cavill and the lovely Helen Budd were again my main hosts from Special Events at the Castle. They were budgeting for approximately 1,000 visitors per day to the Castle during my residency - what we were getting was more like 3,500 per day! The room I was stationed in for my talks would hold approximately 200 people for each show and was absolutely packed to the rafters everytime. We had some great groups in, lots of laughs. Occasionally people would come in and bring in children that were too young to appreciate the show, but the majority of the time the audiences were very good indeed. During one of the early talks, I was explaining about my Kornholt musical instrument, about how it sounded and it's history, when a little boy aged about 6 in the front row shouted out "JUST PLAY IT!"

Also working at the Castle for the week was all the other lovely helpers from the past, including the wonderful Jean and Carole, and some new faces like Shenina. I was treated Royally by everyone and had my lunch bought for me every day - how cool is that? 28 talks in 7 days would test even the most robust of larynxes, but I had been laid low with a cold and chest infection before I even started, so by the end of the week Henry VIIIth was sounding more like Barry of the White.

I was staying with my sister and her husband near Sittingbourne again, and once more they were just wonderful. Kind, patient and very hospitable. Bless 'em.

After finishing at the Castle I was still not finished in Kent. Monday saw me down at Blean near Canterbury for my 4th visit to this school in 4 years. As ever I was not disappointed with a great turn out, some wonderful costumes and some lovely sparky kids. The afternoon jousting was good and the gentlemen romped to a comfortable win. The evening I drove up to Essex to stay with my parents as on the Tuesday I was in Colchester for a return visit to Monkwick Junior School.

I slightly overslept on the Tuesday morning, but still managed to arrive on time. This was another good day at one of my favourite schools. By now, having done 9 fulls days solid without a break being Henry I was getting tired, but the school kept me alert and alive and we had a great day that concluded with another brilliant joust where the ladies snatched victory in a final quoit race off after the original final ended in a dead heat.

After dinner with my parents it was back down to Somerset for the first time in over 10 days for a late night reunion with my lovely wife, Amanda. This morning my lovely James woke me at 6.30am with a big kiss and cuddle and telling me "Daddy, I've really missed you." It doesn't get much better than that.

Tomorrow I am back at Parkfield Junior in Taunton for another return visit to a favourite school of mine! I am looking forward to seeing Mr Sides again!

Spike

One of my dear little puss cats - Spike (pictured here in a very typical pose) was very sadly run over and killed this evening right outside our house. The "person" or "people" who did this, didn't even bother to stop. Luckily for us a very nice couple who were following on DID stop and picked him up. It would appear he died instantly.

He was a sweet lovely affectionate little chap, not even a year old yet, and I shall miss him tremendously.

Spike. Rest In Peace.

BBC Somerset Sound - news panel

I was invited back on to the BBC Somerset Sound morning show news panel this morning. I was sharing the panel with Jamie, a nice young chap and fund raiser for the Secret World animal sanctuary, and a lady called Val from the Exmoor Pony Rescue centre - both very nice people.

It was all a bit different at the BBC today - they were having a Job Swap Day - so whereas Emma Britton is normally working behind the scenes doing the travel, looking after the guests etc., today she was presenting the show. The normal presenter, Jo Phillips was doing Emma's normal job - and she did pretty well.

I chose a couple of stories from the paper to discuss, one about the Premiership Footballers who had pledged some of their huge salaries to underpaid nursing staff in a high profile charity movement - but who haven't paid up yet; the other about a road rage Moscow style, where a driver got so fed up with people crossing the road slowly that he shot two of them!

I also plugged Barrington Court and all their good work, and soon I was on my way. It was a fun morning and hopefully I can do it again soon.

Abbotswood Primary, Yate & Ruishton Junior, Ruishton

This week was a bit more local than the previous few weeks, but only just. Monday morning saw me up at the crack of dawn and heading up the dear old A37 to the town of Yate in South Gloucestershire, just to the north of Bristol.

I hadn't been to Yate before and was not sure what to expect, but I needn't have worried. The school was lovely and the teachers and staff charming in the extreme, especially Jo Burton, my main contact. The group of Year 3 children were lively and very knowledgable about all things of a Tudor aspect. We had a fun morning with lots of laughs, and then after a really nice lunch from the kitchens, we raced through the afternoon. The final jousting session was a really good one with the girls winning, again after a "penalty shoot out", and claiming the coveted certificates. A lot of the staff were in beautiful Tudor costumes, many of which had been made by Jo Burton's other half - an upholsterer by trade! Should he decide to go into Tudor dress making, he could make a killing!

That evening I ventured over to the Dinnington Docks to see Matthew Applegate from Barrington Court. We discussed future events for us both. In fact, I should give him a ring now! I am sure I will...

Today found me at Ruishton School near Taunton for a return visit, almost to the day from my previous trip there. I was greeted by the Year 4-5 teacher Tim, a lovely bloke who I remembered from last time. This time was a group of about 33 children who were just so well behaved. They sat and listened brilliantly, laughed at all the right bits and then took part in a magnificent jousting tournament which the boys just managed to sneak a win on! Ruishton is a lovely school with such friendly children, teachers and TA's, and the head teacher is a really good sport, and didn't cry too much when I put him in the stocks.

St Anne Line RC Junior School, Basildon

This school day, in Basildon, had been promised for some time. My lovely sister-in-law Maria works at this school as a TA and her youngest daughter, Lucy is a pupil in year 5 - the group I was visiting today! Maria has been pushing for me to visit this school for sometime, and on Friday 5th October it happened!

I arrived bright and early and got set up. It was a far bigger group than at Saffron Walden the day before - more like about 70-80 pupils. They were very loud and very excitable, and sometimes keeping them onside was quite an effort. But they were worth it and made the day very exciting and fun.

All the teachers, and especially the TA's (hello Maria!) were very friendly and welcoming. The afternoon session was climaxed with a rousing jousting tournament that went to the wire. The gents appeared to have won, but they had broken the rules on one of the change overs, so we had to go for the jousting equivalent of the penalty shoot out - one quoit on one target and just one chance to lance it. It was very close but the ladies JUST managed to sneak in and win. A good race.

After dinner at my parents, I hit the road at just after 8pm and was home in Somerset by 11pm. Next week sees me visiting Yate in Gloucestershire on Monday and Ruishton near Taunton and Tuesday. I am then back at the BBC on Wednesday for another news panel appearance on Somerset Sound.

Friends Junior School, Saffron Walden

A return visit today. I was back at the lovely Friends Junior School in Saffron Walden for my third visit in only two years! It was so nice to see everyone again. I stayed at my parent's house in Mountnessing again the night before and drove up to the school via the A414, Harlow and the M11.

As usual I was doing the day in the old "Scout Hut" out the back of the school, but the wind wasn't howling like a banshee this time around (see previous blog entries about my visits to Friends School), and we were instead treated to a delightfully warm day with dappled sunshine giving every impression that we were in the middle of June/July, rather than early October.

The morning session was fun, with a slightly quieter group than normal, but they more than made up for the lack of noise after lunch, none more so than during the jousting session, which was a belter! For the first time in a while, the ladies stormed to an historic victory, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

I am now back at my parents, preparing for tomorrow's trip to the St Anne Line RC School in Basildon. My sister-in-law Maria is a TA there, so that should be fun! Read all about it tomorrow.