New Town, Taunton

Sue Applegate using "The Force" on Good King Hal, in The Library at Barrington Court, with the lead piping.

Isn't it dark on January mornings? It's hardly worth opening your eyes to be honest. It was an early start for me, made slightly more unpleasant for me as I sat up the night before to watch the final denouement of the Ashes series. As a long term sufferer from the disease known as England Cricket Fan, I have endured the previous 20+ years of utter dominance by the Australian cricket team. They have wheeled out players of the calibre and quality of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Steve Waugh, Craig McDermott etc., while we had Devon Malcolm, Ian Salisbury and Graeme Hick. God help us. So to not only go and beat Australia in their own back yard, but to do it so dominantly and in such an emphatic manner was wonderful. We had already retained the Ashes but had to be sure of not losing the final test to actually win the series outright. The dawning of the final day in Sydney it was obvious we were going to win, with only three Australian wickets to be taken for this famous victory. Knowing what was coming I decided to celebrate by putting some champagne in the fridge for that final moment. First, as they do, the Aussies decided to make a fight of it, then it started raining - surely we won't be denied our moment by inclement weather in Australia of all places? But then the sun came out, and whilst sitting in cold dark England, at about 1am in the morning, Chris Tremlett clean bowled Mike Beer off an inside edge, and England had won the final test and the series 3-1. I popped the champagne, had a glass full and then headed for bed as I knew I had to be up early to get to North Town School in Taunton.

North Town is such a fantastic school, it really is. The children are a delight, friendly bright and intelligent with just enough charming cheek to keep a smile on your face for the majority of the day. It was great to see my old friend Viv Farrow there again today, and she was on fine form. Lots of laughs and jokes aplenty. The group was of about 60 children from year 4. They had only really started their Tudor topic on the previous day, but still showed some really good knowledge at this early stage. We had lots of real belly laughs in the morning session with this lively good natured group. Lunch was particularly nice as it was partaken in the pub over the road from the school called, rather appropriately, The King's Head. I sat with a group of the teachers with a big basket of chips and chicken breast, and had a lovely time! It seemed a shame to have to go back to the school to be honest. The temptation just to purchase a large bottle of red wine and settle in at the pub for the day was incredibly strong. But back we went anyway.

The afternoon was another great one and culminated in a fantastic jousting tournament that the gents team led from start to almost finish, but they were pipped at the post by a resolute ladies team which now makes our year long score:

GENTLEMEN 9 - 10 LADIES

The ladies go into the lead in our on going score for the first time this year. Great stuff! On finishing the show I was packing everything away and took my visitor's pass back to the office when I bumped into Polly, the gorgeous delightful lady from County Donegal who I have come across at this school before. She looked as fabulous as ever and we had a little chat before I was back in the car and on my way. The rest of the teachers obviously read this blog a lot and have noted my comments about Polly before as nearly all of them kept saying "have you seen Polly yet this year?", and then grinning before virtually nudging me in the ribs and winking. How dare they! It's an innocent chaste relationship. She is innocent and I can't chase her. Perfect really.

I have another return visit on Monday, going back to Coalway Junior School in Coleford in Gloucestershire. This will be my sixth visit to this school - six! That's almost as many runs that Ricky "Thicky" Ponting got in the Ashes series. Splendid.

North Town School, Taunton

Good King Hal about to give a Tudor Short Back and Sides to a TA at North Town School last year.

The show today very nearly didn't happen. I went back to Essex for the half term and spent a fine week being trashed at Mario Kart on the Wii by my seven year old son. I got back to Somerset late on the Saturday night. On Sunday I went through my mail and emails, but I had a nagging thought at the back of my mind. The date of the 22nd February sounded familiar. I checked through my emails, but nothing showed itself up, so I searched them by putting on the date in the search engine. Up came a load of emails from Viv Farrow a teacher at North Town School - 22nd Feb had been mooched as a possible date for me to visit the school, but I didn't think it had been confirmed. Now I wasn't sure what to do. Were they expecting me or not? This was late on the Sunday afternoon now - not a chance of getting hold of anyone at the school and no home number with which to contact Viv! Finally I took a look at the North Town School website, where I finally found a calendar of what was on, and there I was confirmed for February 22nd!

I was up bright and early and off to Taunton. The traffic wasn't too bad and I was soon down the back small lane that led to the car park at the school. I had chosen to park my car in a spot where there was a puddle roughly the size and depth of the Pacific Ocean and so consequently I frequently had to splash in and out of it when getting the props in and out of the school hall. As of last time the school was magnificent. It was so nice to finally get to meet Viv Farrow after she was off sick last year. Also, the lovely Kirsty was feeling much better than she did last time around and was even kind enough to nip out and purchase some lunch for me. What a nice lady!

The kids were fun too! Full of laughter and good questions, plus they showed some remarkably good Tudor knowledge. At lunchtime I saw the nice Irish lady from County Donegal seen being beheaded above from last year's show. She was as delightful as ever and even told me how to pronounce the name Gweedore properly - very useful if I ever bump into Clannad or Enya.

The afternoon was fun and loud and culminated in a fantastic jousting tournament which was won by a very able Ladies team. This now makes the score:

GENTLEMEN 11 - 16 LADIES

Back home this evening, then off tomorrow for another return visit this time to the wonderful Blundell's Prep in Tiverton in Devon. Should be a fun one!

North Town School, Taunton

Up with the lark and down with the lurghi. Well, a grotty snotty cold anyway. Just what I needed on a visit to a new school today. It has been a while since I visited a brand new school in Taunton and here I was up and on my way to North Town School, a place I had never visited before. And I nearly didn't visit it today either - I couldn't find a way in! I found the school very easily, but it's main entrance according to it's address and my sat nav was a tiny gate in a fence with not a prayer of getting a car in. There must be a rear entrance I thought. There was. It was a tiny wee gate in a fence as well. Just as I was contemplating tunnelling in, I saw someone drive into a car park on the site - so there must be a way in somewhere. I found one other small road I hadn't tried and went up there. It got narrower and narrower, and just when I was having doubts I would ever get out again, there it was! The legendary rear entrance of North Town School - God be praised! I was greeted by the caretaker at first (not an "ooh-arr!" in sight - see Wiveliscombe!) who was great. He pointed to where I had parked.

"That your car?" He asked. I told him it was. "That's the Head's parking spot. She gets the right hump if you park there. She'll probably behead you..." So that told me! I hastily moved the car. Viv, the lady I was due to see at North Town was off sick, so I was introduced to Mary, a supply teacher looking after her class. She was lovely, but then so were all the staff. Kirsty, the other class teacher in Year 4, was also poorly, but was in. However she did have to nip off to the Doctors during the morning, poor thing. There was also a particularly delightful Irish lady from Donegal as one of the class room assistants - she was gorgeous! Unfortunately I chopped her head off in the Anne Boleyn section of my talk, but she was looking much better in the afternoon. My lunch was a bit of a curate's egg - good in places. A very nice stew to begin, but a large chocolate cookie for afters that tasted like it was made out of reconditioned asbestos.

The children were great, particularly my mate Harvey who laughed so much he nearly wet himself in the afternoon session! The jousting was deafening and won by a very fine ladies team. The teachers and the class room assistants all came up to me at the end and said their faces were hurting from laughing so much. It was lovely that they had enjoyed it so much! Thank you, North Town - a truly outstanding school!

Tomorrow is my birthday! So to celebrate I am going out for a drink with Matthew Applegate this evening. Lovely!