Trapped!

Well, would you believe it? I drive in my little red Peugeot all over Britain for a year or so, never once treating the poor little thing to a service or a proper rest. Last week I take it into Popular Motors in Merriot for it's annual MOT and it passes with flying colours. Buoyed by this wonderful piece of money saving news, I then drive up to Essex, then Whitby and then back to Somerset with not so much as a murmur of disapproval from the car's engine. So I drive down to Wales to visit my sister and some other friends near Carmarthen. On the first evening there we drive up to Lampeter to pick a friends daughter up from University as it is her 21st birthday, and guess what? The car breaks down outside the halls of residence. The timing belt and some other parts of the alternator are in pieces. We get towed home by the AA. The local car garage near my sister's house cannot get the correct spare parts until late on the Friday and, as the garage is shut all weekend, cannot even begin to start work on repairing it until Monday. I was due in Essex on Monday, taking my wife out for a birthday treat. She has taken the news I won't be there very well and is only stabbing my voodoo doll with 2 inch pins, rather than the original 7 inch hat pins. The garage cannot guarantee that the car will be ready on Monday anyway, which could have a nasty knock on effect as I am due in Drayton near Norwich in Norfolk on Wednesday. ARGH!

So there you have it. Mike Farley, Good King Hal, News at Ten, Esgair near Cynwyl Elfed, Wales.

(P.S. And I was supposed to be going to the pub with Matthew Applegate on Sunday).

Lythe Junior, North Yorkshire

And so, it came to pass, that Good King Hal, he that is known as "Ginger Idiot in Tights", didst set forth in his mighty Peugeot 406 upon the road that is known as the A1(M) and didst travel many an hour in the direction of northwards. And the hours didst passeth and the mileometre in his car didst go round, verily unto liketh the gerbil upon the wheel in the cage (particularly one that hath been denied female companionship for about six months and then fed some sherbet - boyeth - do they go!). And it came to pass that eventually the Ginger Idiot didst reacheth the chosen land, that which is known as North Yorkshire, and didst maketh to the migthy citadel which is knoweth to all and sundry (and the British Tourist Board) as Whitby. And he didst sayeth "blimey", as he was cream crackered and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and use of the "F" word as his back was soreth, even unto something very sore indeed. And eventually he foundeth his way unto the village called Ellerby where there was an inn, of the name The Ellerby Inn, because that's the sort of names they use "oop there". And he asketh, if there be room for him at the inn. And they said, "don't be a plum, of course there is, you booketh it via the electric telephone the other night." And there was much rejoicing. AMEN.

And so on and so forth. I had fallen on my feet here, and make no mistake. I had driven to Ellerby from Essex where I had been staying - about a 300 mile trip, but with it being a Sunday, I sailed through and arrived at the Hotel at about 2pm. I was booked in and shown to my room. There must be some mistake. This is luxurious! A super king size bed, flat screen plasma TV on the wall, designer fitted en-suite bathroom with walk in cubicle shower, plus my own little balcony to sit out on, should the howling wind and rain abate. I stood in the middle of this luxurious suite in my grotty travelling rags and felt like Worzel Gummidge at the Savoy Grill. After the long drive and a fairly poor nights sleep the night before, I decided to lay down on the incredibly comfortable bed and read my book, but I wouldn't sleep because....zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh dear. I woke with a start and found that it was now 6.30pm and I hadn't eaten since a rather limp sandwich bought at a petrol station near Huntingdon many hours previously.

I wandered down into the bar of the hotel and was delighted to find it busy, but not crowded, and nice and snug looking with a crackling log fire at one end. The only hand pumped beers they had were either Courage Directors or John Smiths Magnet Ale. Well, when in Yorkshire... I ordered a pint of John Smiths and of course forgot about the sparkler they insist on putting on all beer pumps at points north of Watford. This aerates the beer, fills it full of froth and puts a creamy head on it. It also makes the beer taste like dishwater. We only ever used to put sparklers on the pumps at the pub I worked at in Essex when the beer was on the turn, to mask the flavour. Anyway, I drank my dishwater and then ordered dinner. I abandoned the idea of beer after the first pint and moved onto red wine. The first one was lovely, would Sir like another? Yes, sir would. After three more anothers, Sir was ready for the first assault on the north face of the stairs back to his bedroom.

Morning broke - and no one was able to fix it. So I had my brekkie at the hotel and then made my way, the long three miles to the village of Lythe and the school therein. I had been booked by a lovely sounding lady called Helen Isaacs and she was just as charming in real life as she had been on the phone and via email. There was a problem in that the lights had all fused in the main hall, so I could either do my show in braille in there, or they could bring in some arc lights to illuminate the King. So arc lights it was. It was like being back on stage proper. They were a lovely group at the school - about 70 really fun very excitable children. We had a great day with lots of silly laughs and the usual marvellous demonstration of all that the children had already learnt. After a fine lunch and many laughs with all the charming teachers it was back in the arc lit hall for more Tudor nonsense. This went down a treat and we finished with a really rip roaring jousting tournament that the ladies managed to triumph in, storming to victory over the last leg. I packed and bade a tired farewell to a lovely school. It had been quite a trip to come and see them, but definitely worth it!

Back at the hotel that night I was sitting in the restaurant tackling a small plate of Whitby Scampi and ear wigging on the table next to me, full of four very pleasant older retired people enjoying a break at the hotel. They were all from Yorkshire, but obviously not this part as they were on holiday. (That makes sense...) One of the chaps was commenting on his job before retirement which had involved a lot of travel and trips to exotic places. He took great delight in all seriousness of telling his fellow guests about how he had made frequent trips to this glorious centre of hedonistic delights. It's name? Harpenden. I needed a drink after that. I sat at the bar and chatted to the hotel owners son, Mark, and one of their regular drinkers. They thought it was hilarious that I dressed up as Henry VIIIth for a living. How dare they. I hoisted my tights up and headed for bed...

I drove home today. Over five hours from door to door. YAWN. Tomorrow I drive to Wales. I must need locking up. That or a chauffeur. Any offers?

New Horizons

After a very pleasant long weekend spent with my parents in another futile effort to drink Somerset dry, it is now a case of "And Now For Something Completely Different". Well, mostly different anyway.

I have this weekend in Essex visiting all and sundry, when I will then head north, like a brave little King, proper north. Not just north of Watford, we are talking seriously north. North with a capital N. A right Royal NORTH if you will. For I am heading to Whitby. Whitby! Home of Dracula and an Abbey. Whitby! Full of steep streets and aggressive seagulls. Whitby! Where I had the finest fish and chips I have ever tasted. It was nearly 15 years ago and I haven't been back since, but I am quite looking forward to the visit, if not the journey there and back. I will be appearing on the Monday at Lythe Primary School, which makes them sound very supple. On the Sunday night and the Monday night I am staying at the Ellerby Inn Hotel in...er...Ellerby, which has been recommended to me by Helen Isaacs, the teacher who booked me for the event. It should be very exciting and a whole new chapter to the Good King Hal story.

So, off to Yorkshire I go. I better have my innoculations first and, pausing only to thrust a whippet and a ferret down my slacks, I shall adjust my flat cap and head north. Waggons roll!

Wassail!

For the third year running I attended the Barrington Court Wassail evening. Wassailing is an ancient tradition which involves blessing your apple trees for their forthcoming cider crop, and banishing any evil spirits by making a lot of noise. This was the biggest Wassail at Barrington since it was re-introduced. We had a mummers group from Langport who did their wonderful play, with everyone joining in cheering on brave St George and hissing and booing the Devil! There was also a magnificent Samba drumming band who whipped up a hell of a noise and an irresistable rhythm that had people swaying and feet tapping. We also had a Wassail specialist who sang some old carols - and then there was me! I read the Gloucestershire Carol which is another traditional Wassail poem/tune. Then we progress to the main apple tree and the blessing begins, with much offering of cider and toast, shouting and even the letting off of guns!

All the cudos for organising this event must go to my old mate Matthew Applegate who did a magnificent job and was a superb MC for the whole thing. In the deep winter darkness and with a huge bonfire to warm our hearts (and generous quantities of Barrington Court's own cider!) it was a perfect evening - until the heavens opened. It rained in quite Biblical proportions and I have to say I was soon drenched, frozen and in need of food. So I quietly sloped away from Barrington and headed back to Crewkerne and a Chinese takeaway! Lovely.

WASSAIL!

Blundell's Prep, Tiverton

Another day and another early start. Will they ever end? I had a dreadful nights sleep, but then I only have myself to blame after eating cheese just before bed. How else can I explain the dreadful nightmare I had involving being locked in a hotel surrounded by zombies? It was either that or too much watching "Dead Set" the other week.

The drive to Tiverton is a pleasant enough thing on most days, but it was a wild, squally morning with scudding black clouds and intermittent rain, so not much fun really. Added to which my new-ish sat nav decided to take me the most interminable route down some of the smallest back lanes near Tiverton to get me to Blundell's Prep School.

As ever I was warmly greeted at the school by Stef Jeffs, the teacher I deal with. She was gorgeously attired in her Tudor garb. All the children wore some fantastic costumes as well. We had a fun extended morning in the Drama Studio, with loads of jokes galore and some excellent learning. After a wonderful fish and chips lunch we were in the main hall for the afternoon session for stocks and jousting. The jousting was hilarious. Both girls and boys teams that won through to the final had been paired against such incompetent opponents in the semi finals that you had no idea how good they were till they got to the final. As it was, both teams were pretty spectacularly good and the final was won and lost on one missed quoit....by the ladies team. So the gents triumphed again. Well done lads. One of the best bits of the day was a young lady in the front row who for the vast majority of the day sat stoney faced while surrounded by hysterically laughing classmates and complaining "Is this really funny? I mean is it? What are we laughing at?" Poor child.

I got home this evening to a phone call from a TV company wanting me to appear in a documentary for the History Channel to be filmed at the end of this month. Watch this space for more.

Tomorrow is Wassail Day at Barrington Court. You have been warned again!

Two Re-visits.

It was back to school for me. After the Christmas hiatus and a few other bits and pieces it was finally back to the usual routine of school visits for me this week. On Monday I was off to Dean Close Prep School in Cheltenham for my fourth annual visit there. It was lovely to be back - a really nice pleasant school, just a shame about the weather driving up there. The sky was Bible black for the most, and you add in loads of rain and road spray and you'll find it was not a fun jaunt up the old M5. However, I was warmly welcomed as ever and the children were hilarious. We had a fun day, a fantastic lunch (during which I was besieged by young fans as I tried to eat my dinner!) which was capped off with Eton Mess! WOW! I haven't had Eton Mess in years and it was lovely! It still looks like an accident on a plate, but who cares. The jousting was a fun encounter which the gents just managed to win from a good ladies team. I drove him in slightly better conditions and in the evening went for a beer with Matthew Applegate over at the Duke of York pub in Shepton Beauchamp, primarily to discuss this weekend's forthcoming Wassail, but mostly just for a beer!

I drove up to Essex on the Tuesday and collected James from school. The evening was spent at leisure with both James and Amanda. On the Wednesday I was back at Wickford Junior which is one of my favourites in Essex! You are guaranteed great children, lovely teachers, good lunch and a laugh all round, and they didn't disappoint again! We had a fabulous day - so many laughs I can't even begin to list them all for you. The jousting was again of a really high standard with this time the ladies coming through for a very impressive win. The evening followed spent with Amanda and James, accompanied by a nice big take away pizza! Amanda and I watched "Gavin and Stacey" on DVD and so to bed.

I am back in Somerset now preparing for tomorrow when I am back for a third visit to Blundell's Preparatory School in Tiverton in Devon. And don't forget the Wassail at Barrington Court on Saturday! Don't miss it!

BBC Somerset - A New Dawn!

It had been some time since my last appearance on BBC Somerset's "Morning Jo Show" and their News Panel. Things have changed since then. The most obvious one being that Jo Phillips has left the station and taken her career off to pastures new. Her replacement could not have been better chosen! It is Emma Britton who was already at the station working as Jo's helper and doing the traffic reports and many other things. Emma is lovely and has proven herself to be a very talented broadcaster. The show set up has been altered as well - it is much more driven by audience participation. So a main topic is chosen to be discussed amongst the three members of the panel, you do still get to choose a story from one of the morning's papers to discuss as a side topic, and people are encouraged to phone, text or email in and join the show.

It gave a whole new feel to the show and was most enjoyable. My fellow panellists were Billy from Clevedon who was a kitchen fitter - great fun and a real laugh; Jayne Summers, a lovely lady from Bridgwater - a rock singer who has just got her own recording contract, and again good company and fun. We got some good feedback from the audience and people joining in, so a good morning was had by all.

And Emma - you were great!

Tomorrow I am off to Dean Close School in Cheltenham.

U3A & Southampton...

Following my appearance at St Bartholomew's Church Fete back at the end of the summer, I had been approached by several members of the local U3A group to do a talk for them at one of their monthly meetings. This occurred last Monday at the Methodist Church in South Street, Crewkerne. They advertised the show as "The Mystery from History", which was a pretty snappy title. The hall was cold, but pretty full, and I was asked to wear a throat mic for some of the more "mutton" members of the group. I started a little shakily, after all this was my first Henry talk for nearly a month, but I was soon in my stride and I have to say I got a really good response from the group. Lots of laughter, particularly at some of the stories I told about children saying things to me.

Today, Wednesday, I have been back to sunny Southampton to visit some old friends I used to work with at Skandia Life. Before Iwent to the restaurant to meet the main group, I went to Skandia House itself and saw, among others the lovely Sue Plumb, Trevor the bizarre security man, Janet Mabey, Miles Butler (he still hasn't gone metric), Vanessa Adamson, Tracie Callaway (as was) from CCS and the sainted Paul Stewart. Paul looks after a lot of the software and servers at Skandia and apparently gets an alert every time Skandia Life is mentioned somewhere. So... SKANDIA LIFE SKANDIA LIFE SKANDIA LIFE! That should blow a few fuses.

I then wandered round to Piccolo Mondo, a brilliant but tiny restaurant near Skandia House that we always used to use and met up with Ruth Le Mesurier and Sue Marsh. We three nearly always used to meet up on a Wednesday and put the world to right, but now in 2009 we find that only Sue is still working for Skandia. Ruth has more or less retired and I am making a crust leaping around like a gert big Tudor Jessie. We had a lovely meal and a good laugh and joke about life in general, but all too soon it was time for me to be on my way. Sue and Ruth both say when they Google their names, they only ever come up on this blog. Well, glad to have given them a couple more hits!

A Happy New Henry Year

2009 dawns, so a Happy New Year to all regular readers of this nonsense. 2008 was a year of quite tumultuous change in my private life, however, Henry continues as per normal. Today sees 2009 kicking off with a talk to a local branch of U3A. "Who hell they?" I hear you cry. Well a few years ago I would have said the same thing, then my dear late lamented grandfather came home one day and proudly announced he had joined U3A, or University of the Third Age to give them their full title. With a name like that I imagined he'd end up brainwashed in a ranch near Waco with National Guardsmen trying to blow his eyebrows off with automatic rifles. But it is a rather groovy group of OAP's who like to learn new things and consequently they have meetings, talks, outings etc. It's like Saga crossed with the Rough Ramblers. Well I have been approached by the Crewkerne brance of U3A and I am doing a talk for them this afternoon. Wednesday I am in Southampton making my annual, but this time belated visit, to all my old chums at dear old Skandia Life, where I used to work. Then on Friday I am back on BBC Somerset for the Morning Panel - only without the Sainted Jo Phillips! SHE HAS LEFT!! ARGH! I am still in touch with the lovely lady, and her replacement is the almost equally gifted and lovely Emma Britton, so it's not all bad - but it just won't be the same! So if you get a chance to listen in to BBC Somerset this Friday between 9 and 10am, you will hear my dulcet tones - you lucky people!
Why the picture above? It makes me laugh. It was taken during my last run in Henry's Horrid History at Leeds Castle a year or so back and I am looking at the cup and ball game in my hand with a sort of quizzical look. Anyone care to put a caption to it? Email me at good_king_hal@yahoo.co.uk a special mention in this blog for the winning entry!

All Connected...

I never thought I would hear myself say the following words, but "God Bless AOL!" I am back on line! At home, and for the first time since early November I feel I can now properly get in touch with the outside world. Gosh, what must life have been like before the internet and emails? Well, I only have to look back about 10-15 years to see it, but it is almost impossible to imagine now. Can you imagine if the Tudors had had access to emails, the internet and mobile phones? Henry VIIIth constantly checking Catherine Howard's inbox in case one of her many admirers was sending her something she shouldn't see - and I am not talking about on-line adverts for viagra and hair loss therapies. Francis Drake not bothering to circumnavigate the globe as he could see it all on Google Earth and wikipedia, and it looked "gay". Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots exchanging pleasantries via Facebook and text message. "u r not as gr8 as u fink u r" says Elizabeth. "at lst i not a hlf bald virgin - LOL ROFL" from Mary. No wonder she was beheaded. "Elizabeth is now friends with the Earl of Essex". It wouldn't last...

Life has been mad for the previous few weeks - tearing up and down the A303 and M3 between Somerset and Kent, betwixt shows at Dillington House and Leeds Castle. Then a few days yo-yo-ing between Kent and Essex visiting friends and relatives. I was nearly killed on the M20 in Kent one evening going to visit my friends Anne and Ben Lyle at Shoreham - I was happily pootling up the fast lane of the M20 at about 80mph in the dark, to be confronted by some dimwit driving the wrong way down the M20 in the fast lane. How I missed him, I do not know, but suffice to say I was shocked and was nearly biting the buttons off my car seat with my bottom.

I have been blessed with some lovely pressies at Christmas - DVD's of two of my all time favourite films "Rear Window" and "The History of Mr Polly". Sheer delight with both of those. Also some books about the history of London's East End, Alfred the Great and the final book (so far) in Malcolm Pryce's hilarious Aberystwyth series.

Anyway, if I don't get to say it again, Happy New Year to anyone who regularly reads this blog. But dammit, I am in such a good mood I'll even wish to people who don't read this blog. But how will they know...? Answers on a post card.

A Merry Christmas!

Well hello, loyal blog readers.  You might just have noticed my distinct lack of updates on this blog of late.  This is something to do with me not adding anything to the blog.  A feeble but, lets face it, water tight excuse.  The reasons for this are many fold but the most obvious one being that I have not had internet access at the new flat since I moved in, then since early December I have been mostly away in Kent doing my Father Christmas thing down at Leeds Castle again.  It's been great fun to be with everyone at the Castle again, especially the lovely Darlene and Helen, but it is also good to see the wonderful Jean, Judy, Carole and others who help out as my "Elves".

I've also been doing a few Henry VIIIth appearances at some schools, and also at Leeds Castle (again!) plus an appearance at Dillington House (as seen in the picture here) for their annual Christmas House Party which was tremendous fun.  

Working as Father Christmas is mentally, if not physically exhausting.  Being nice for all that time!!  It's just not me! The children are just delightful, so many sweet kids, one or two who scream at the first site of Father Christmas and just look terrified of the whole experience, and of course the occasional embarrassed, mortified looking teenager dragged into the grotto by an over enthusiastic parent!  The biggest down side of this work is to sit and constantly listen to the same CD of jolly Christmas music over and over again, seven days a week.  The added point that drives you insane is that the CD player is attached to about 15 different speakers throughout the grotto which splits the stereo sound up into different "areas". Therefore in the central grotto where I sit, the music has been split right down to just a backing track of keyboards, drums, backing vocals and the effects that had been layered on the lead vocals.  This would normally be OK with most music CD's, but we are playing Disney songs in the grotto this year, and few sounds can be more disturbing than to hear a music track of keyboards, drums, backing vocals and the lead effects vocals of Donald Duck, which makes him sound like a normal singer who's had to endure a trachaeotomy.  Scary.  No wonder the kids cry!  All joking aside, it has been a delight as ever to work at Leeds Castle and I shall be there until Christmas Eve.  Maybe see you there!

Merry Christmas, folks... 

Nelson Primary, East Ham

Last year, at about this time, I attempted to visit Nelson Primary School in East Ham. I encountered appalling traffic and eventually my car decided to die on me and I never got there. It was a mortifying experience. After letting them down so badly you could imagine Nelson Primary never contacting me ever again, but give them their due they are nothing if not persistent. They booked me again. Determined not to get way laid by appalling traffic and even more appalling cars I vowed to leave as early as possible to give me the best chance of getting there in one piece.

I was driving to East Ham from Basildon (well, someone has to) and even though my sat nav said "only 25 minutes" I gave myself nearly two hours to get there. I am mighty glad I did. The A13 was DREADFUL. Two car crashes along the way, closed lanes and snaking traffic all led up to the actual journey taking me an hour and a quarter rather than the 25 minutes expected. As I was so early I popped into a local cafe near Nelson Primary for a bacon and sausage roll and a cup of tea. Very nice it was too.

Nelson Primary? What a school! Fantastic old Victorian building, massive and intimidating looking but packed to the rafters with wonderful sparky children in some fabulous home made Tudor outfits. The teachers were as ever hugely welcoming and fun to be with, especially the hugely wonderful, but petitely packaged Jo Dalton who was as charming, fun and professional as ever. The day seemed to shoot past in a flash, with lots of laughs and fun and ended early with another rip roaring joust which the ladies justifiably won with a quite brilliant display of controlled skill and speed. We then went for a Tudor banquet after that, complete with tankards of apple juice, apple pies, baked apples and probably even more apples. Wonderful stuff!

This weekend, I am at Barrington Court again for the Mistletoe Festival and then next week I am back off down to Dunster on Monday to see Nicola and co, and then off to the Maynard in Exeter to see Keagh and co. After that Leeds Castle and the spectre of Father Christmas rears his head again...

Website Updated!

WOW! Take a look at the website folks! www.goodkinghal.co.uk has been thoroughly "made over" by the very brilliant and talented Liz Bennett from St Albans. I hope you enjoy the new look and the fun games you can now play on line. Your views on the new look would be very gratefully accepted.

Yesterday I was at Broadhembury School in the quaint Devon village of Broadhembury. We had a great day, and the ladies triumphed in the jousting. I have not a clue what the current score is. I will work on that once I get back on line with the internet at my new flat. Thursday I am up at Nelson Primary in East Ham, a place I singularly failed to get to last year due to a broken down car. Fingers crossed for this year!

No New Posts - Sorry!

Hello folks. Many apologies for the long delay in any new posts on this blog. I have a very good excuse though! I have moved house, which was a bigger job than anyone could ever even begin to imagine. I have somehow managed to combine moving house with doing Henry shows as well, which is frankly some sort of insanity on my behalf and not something I would recommend for a long and restfull life.

Another good reason for not posting too many new blogs on here is because my new flat (which is LOVELY by the way) does not have any internet connection at the moment which makes getting on the internet a bit difficult. My TV also does not work at the new place, so entertainment is a bit thin on the ground at present. I am wading my way through my whole DVD collection at an alarming rate. I have opened the fridge door and watched the light come on and off. You name it, I have tried to entertain myself!

School visits have been as Henry to old friends like Ashcott near Glastonbury, St James' in Bridgwater, St Paul's in Shepton Mallet and this week up in White Woman Lane Junior in Norwich. I will do full and proper write ups on all of these when I can. I also did a World War II day as Sergeant Stanley James at Ditcheat School near Shepton Mallet. It went pretty well, but will again give full details when I can.

Anyway, my new phone number is 01460 271623 so should any schools feel the urge to contact me, carry on!

Bedford School & Holy Trinity, Yeovil plus No Move...

OK, I'll admit it. I haven't moved. All that bravado in the previous Blog entry about going to Stoke-sub-Hamdon - forget it! Everything went a bit "Pete Tong" on the Friday night when the incredibly stupid woman I was trying to rent the flat through did her best to drive me to a screaming apoplectic rage. She got very close. However, the upshot was, because of her ham fisted incompetence I was left without a house to move into and the real threat of being homeless looming over me. To add to all this fun, I was now back working as Henry VIIIth again, my week off having run out and the moving house problems unresolved.

My first Henry day back was up at Bedford School in, yes you guessed it, Bedford. This day was a bit different as it had been booked for me by Portals to the Past rather than through my usual channels. So I had no clear contact details and not a clue on who I was supposed to meet there. Added to which the journey up was horrendous with a huge hold up on the M3 and terrible traffic on the M25 and the A421. Just as I was getting close to Bedford my mobile rang and I assumed it would be the school saying where the hell are you, as I was pretty late. It was in fact BBC Two Counties Radio wanting to do a live interview with me about being Henry VIIIth and the fact I was appearing at a school in Bedford. I got that out the way and FINALLY arrived at the school, approximately 45 minutes late. But the day went well, it was a fantastic school, brilliant facilities and very friendly teachers, even though they kept chopping and changing as the day went on so I was never quite sure who was with what group! As it was an all boy's school, the joust cannot be taken into consideration for the whole year score. I finished that and began the long slog home, which thankfully wasn't half as terrible as the journey up.

Today I have been at the Holy Trinity School in Yeovil, and a fabulous place it was too! Lovely modern building, very friendly teachers and some hilariously excitable children all up for a fine day's Tudor fun with Henry VIIIth. And we had a great day. For lunch I had to nip into Morrison's for a sandwich, and I discovered it was one heaving mass of humanity, Lord knows why. But I was soon back in the staff room being gawped at by children through the window into the play ground, none of them sure if I really was Henry VIIIth in civvies. The joust in the afternoon was of a particularly high standard, but the ladies came storming through to collect yet another win this season. So that now makes the score:

GENTLEMEN 7 - 9 LADIES

Wicked stuff! I am off for a World War II day at Ditcheat School near Taunton on Friday.

As for my new home? I am hopefully moving into 8 Dairy Court in Crewkerne on Saturday. I won't guarantee it as we know what happened last time! Thankfully a different and far more competent letting agency are involved this time.

All Change

In the next few days watch out for some changes. I for one am moving house! It will be goodbye Clapton after nearly five years and off to Stoke-sub-Hamdon, but perhaps more importantly it will be a whole new look to the Good King Hal website. Since it's inception in 2004 it has been run by my old co-worker from Debenhams, Steve French, and a fine job he has been doing. But it will now be run by the very lovely Liz Bennett in St Albans, and to give you a taster of this woman's skills, I hope you enjoy the mocked up Tudor Royal Painting of yours truly that she has put together for the website front page.

So keep checking back on www.goodkinghal.co.uk and pretty soon you'll see some major changes!

So, thank you Steve French, you are a wonderful chap. Hello Liz! Take it away!

South Somerset National Trust Pub Quiz 2008

For the third year running I hosted the annual South Somerset National Trust Pub Quiz at the Royal Oak Pub in Barrington. With teams from Barrington Court, Montacute House, Lytes Carey and all points in this vicinity it was obviously going to be a hard fought contest.

My arrival at about 7.30pm was greeted with ironic cheers by a packed function room. It turned out that though Matthew Applegate had told me to arrive for an 8pm start, he had told everyone else 7pm! No wonder they were somewhat miffed with their long wait. There were six teams who ranged in knowledge and ability from pretty good to plain embarrassing. One team of drunken youngsters didn't exactly cover themselve with glory and if they ever did get a question right, they tended to shout the answer out before they wrote it down, rather giving the game away to the opposition. Mind you, I managed to shout out an answer when I was supposed to be giving a question at one point, much to my huge shame.

The winning team only just scraped home by half a point at the end in a tense finish. But it genuinely seemed like everyone had a nice time and I was warmly thanked for my hard work in putting the whole quiz together and doing the question master routine. Well, it was a pleasure and I would be delighted to do it again. A horrible note to finish with - we had a huge pile of sausages on platters and piles of chips to dig into during the half time interval. It was all very nice until I bit into one of my sausages - and it promptly burst in my face, covering me with warm fat. I must have looked a bit like John Hurt in the Alien movie with the face hugger on him. So THAT'S what happens when you don't prick a sausage before you cook it. Perhaps it was where Ridley Scott got his inspiration from for the original film. One unpricked hot sausage and Sigourney Weaver has a career sorted out. Life hangs by such slender threads.

Blean - Balliol Lower - Tolleshunt D'Arcy

Another week of rushing around on a Royal Progress of mammoth proportions - and that's just me! I set off on Sunday the 19th October and drove to my sister's house in Kent. The eternal updating of her house continues apace, but with the added fun of dodgy electrics now. You can be quite happily sitting watching TV and sipping a glass of wine and then suddenly - FOOM! Out go the lights. Re-set everything, sit for another hour or so, and then FOOM! Darkness again. Not much fun for her and Julian her husband. I was in the Garden of England again for a visit to Blean School again down near Canterbury. This was my fifth visit to this school and as ever it was great fun. They are a wonderful bunch of people down there, very welcoming and the children are fabulous. We began with the morning in classrooms, but moved on to the main hall for the afternoon session. Another good day was had by all and the Jousting finished the day off a treat with a very good Gents side triumphing and therefore bringing the ever changing score for the year to:

GENTLEMEN 6 - 7 LADIES

Everything back in the melting pot!

I had driven up to my parents' house in Essex on the Monday evening, and was then up at the crack of dawn for a slog round the M25 and up the M1 to Bedford and a visit to Balliol Lower School in Kempston. I was only previously here back in May, but it was a delight to be back. Such a wonderful school. Great big hall to work in, excitable fun children and two of the most delightful teachers you could ever want to meet. I took great delight in pretending to flirt outrageously with Miss Harrison, one of the teachers, much to the laughter and fun of the children. "You fancy her!" They'd screech and I'd pretend to be annoyed and embarrassed. Wonderful stuff! And Miss Harrison was a good sport for playing along! The jousting was close and exciting, going right down to the wire before the Gents pipped the ladies at the post. This makes the score very interesting and now has us at:

GENTLEMEN 7 - 7 LADIES

Who could have imagined that a few days ago?

Wednesday I was over at Tolleshunt D'Arcy near Maldon for a first vist to St Nicholas' School there. I had been recommended by their acting Head who had seen me work before during previous visits to Little Parndon School in Harlow. Another good school, much fun with a little class of year 2/3's and a challenging day for me. They were running interviews for the new head position this day, so the place was swamped with Governors as well as young Tudors. However it was good luck to be here on this day as the lunch was a sumptuous buffet in the staff room. I should come back on days like this more often! The final jousting session took place in the hall and normal service, if it can be called that, was resumed with the ladies running out clear winners against a gents team who went completely off message during their second leg. Their rider went hell for leather after any quoit near him, and stands and quoits and any chance they had of winning went flying in all directions round the hall. So we now have our scores back to:

GENTLEMEN 7 - 8 LADIES

Where will it all end?

What next for me? The National Trust pub quiz to host on Friday night at Barrington, and then moving house next week. So not much of a rest!

Parkfield Junior, Taunton

There is just something about Parkfield School in Taunton that I absolutely love! I am not sure if it is the kids, who are absolutely wonderful every year, or whether it is the brilliantly friendly and helpful staff for whom nothing is too much trouble, or could it possibly be the indomitable head teacher, the truly awesome Mr Wynford Sides. It all adds up to a brilliant school and a pleasure to visit every time.

I arrived smack on 8am this morning after scraping off the first of the frosts of this winter from my car. The drive in to Taunton wasn't as bad as it sometimes is and I was soon sitting in the staff room of the school with the aforesaid Mr Sides sipping a very welcome cup of tea.

Well, can I just say we had a brilliant day, so full of laughs and fun and with such a wonderful bunch of children. It is days like this that make it all worthwhile. It reminded me of some of the best days I have had, like a good day at Leeds Castle or some of the fun times I have had down at West Pennard School with Ian Gouge.

I had lunch bought for me from Tesco's by some lovely teaching assistants and we were soon back in the hall for the afternoon session. It just flew past with so many big belly laughs that I was sure we would over run. The jousting was equally exciting and the ladies seemed a good bet to walk away with yet another win, but somehow the gents managed to snatch a vital victory which leaves the score now standing thus:

GENTLEMEN 5 - 7 LADIES

That makes it look a little less embarrassing for the chaps. I have a weekend at virtual leisure coming up followed by a trip to Kent this Monday for my 5th annual visit to Blean Junior near Canterbury.

Friends School, Saffron Walden

I have been visiting Friends School in Saffron Walden in Essex since 2005, so it was really nice to be back there again today. For once the actual entry to the site was fraught with much new security in evidence. But I was soon back to the old "Scout Hut" hall as we call it.

It was a tiny group today, under 20 children, but what they lacked for a group size they more than made up for in enthusiasm and noise! Some of their coat of arms designs were the best I had seen in ages and they even managed some maximum scores on the Tudor Quiz!

Lunch at Friends School was, as ever, delicious, and we were soon back in the Scout Hut for the final stages of the day. The jousting seemed destined to be a good one, and I was not disappointed. Despite there being only six of them in the entire class, it was the ladies who came through and triumphed at the end. This makes the score in the ongoing tournament very interesting indeed. It now stands at:

GENTLEMEN 4 - 7 LADIES

What can I say? Come on lads! Try harder! I drove back to Somerset this evening. I have Thursday off, enjoying myself and then it is off to one of my favourite schools in Somerset on Friday - Parkfield in Taunton.