West Pennard

My son James after asking me for an ice cream at Cilgerran Castle. Treat 'em mean, folks...

Easter holidays had been fun. I had been up to Essex for a few days with Amanda and James, taking James to see "Gnomeo and Juliet" which he loved! Next he and I headed down to Wales for a few days with my parents at Newcastle Emlyn. Again, we had a fine time including another cinema trip to see "Rio" and also to a place called Clerkenhill Adventure Farm where you can take part in Frisbee golf, amongst other things, and the beautiful Cilgerran Castle as you can see above. Finally it was time for me to head back to Somerset and face the stark reality of dressing up as a Tudor despot for a living... And if you can find a more contradictory end to a sentence I will pay you!

West Pennard was my first port of call after Easter. I love West Pennard - it is a fantastic school and it is always good to see Alex Wheat, the class teacher I deal with, and the slightly insane but wonderfully friendly Ian Gouge. My drive over wasn't very good - everything that could possibly slow me down did! Tractors, lorries, caravans - you name it, I copped it. By the time I got to the school the children were already arriving and the small parking area for staff cars was packed. I had nowhere else to go other than park in one of the two disabled parking bays. I left a note on the dashboard to the effect that there was nowhere else for me to put the car and I couldn't eat it, so therefore here I was parked and if anyone objected and wanted me to move I would be happy to.

The day went quite well - it was a bit difficult as the group this day, this was their first of the Tudor curriculum, so some of my jokes and asides did fly over their heads and splat on the walls behind them. The morning finished with a funny question and answer session in the classroom. Lunch was an oddity called a Beany Blast, or something and was a pie made with baked beans and cheese, and was surprisingly delicious. The afternoon session was typically rumbustious and we had great fun dragging Ian Gouge out of his year 6 class and putting him in the stocks! The jousting ended with a win for the Gentlemen - at last! This now makes the ongoing score:

GENTLEMEN 21 - 26 LADIES

Wonderful stuff.

Now, unless you have been living under a rock you might just have noticed that there is a Royal Wedding going on this Friday. Therefore to help celebrate this tomorrow I am off to Preston Junior School in Yeovil for a morning appearance at their school to help the children celebrate the day. Should be fun. All this fuss over one Royal Wedding - I had SIX! Beat that! (Oh, and six Mother in Laws...)