A Welsh Weekend

What was originally planned as a holiday weekend away turned into a working holiday - but a really nice one! My wife, son and I, had been asked to visit my sister and her husband where they live near Carmarthen in Wales. It is a wonderfully idyllic setting, a small holding perched on a picture perfect Welsh hillside, with swooping countryside surrounding you wherever you look. My sister Sue and her husband Trevor were, as ever, perfect hosts - as were their three cute cats, Tigger, Marley and Bear.

Saturday was nice and relaxing, and we really didn't do a heck of a lot. On the Sunday, the weather was atrocious, but Trevor was keen to get stuck into some surfing so we drove down to Newgale - me, Amanda, Sue and James in the Ford Mondeo (yawn) but Trevor in his Mystery Machine camper van! How cool was that? Down at Newgale the weather seemed worse, so with Trevor rushing down onto the beach, the rest of us decamped to the nice cafe there. After a pleasant lunch we wandered to the beach to watch Trevor in action, but it was a bit too windy and grotty to watch for long. So we headed for the car and went to St David's instead, where James (and the ladies!) were entranced by the Chocolate Shop!

On Monday I was to make my first Henry appearance, this time at the Cynwyl Elfed Dining Club for OAP's. I had given a talk to them before, many years back, but this was a nice return! My sister lives in the hamlet of Esgair near the village of Cynwyl Elfed and she helps out as a volunteer at the Dining Club. I came on after the guests had enjoyed their lunch. We had a lot of good laughs, particularly when I pretended to wrestle with Eric, who I have to say looked a lot more worried than most 9-year-old's I pretend to take on during my school talks! After the end of the talk I got changed and sat and had a cup of tea and a chat with them all. It was lovely, great fun, particularly with my new girlfriend Betty - she and I are running off to the London Eye together!

Tuesday was spent during the day down at Saundersfoot near Tenby with my son blasting up and down the beach, digging sand castles, fishing with a shrimping net and plunging into the welcoming waves. It was so hot! A complete change from Sunday. We had a nice fish and chips lunch in a cafe near the main seafront car park, where wonderful staff were assailed by miserable, never-to-be-satisfied pensioners, and met all this with a smile and politeness. A big thumbs up for that establishment! I wanted to go into Tenby and check out the old post card shop to see if I could find some more Gertie Millar's to add to my collection, but we couldn't find anywhere suitable to park, so it seemed like a suitable time to head back to Esgair. Tuesday evening I appeared for Susan's Cynwyl Elfed Women's Institute as a guest speaker. We had a great time. I am due to appear at the Taunton Westival in July and used this talk as a testing ground for some slightly new material that I am likely to use then. It seemed to go down a storm. I did about half an hour and got a great ovation at the end of it. More tea and biscuits afterwards and then home to watch an appalling horror film with Sue, and so to bed!

Today we had a leisurely packing session in Wales and then headed down the M4 and back to England. Tomorrow I am off to Hugh Sexey's School in Wedmore for a return visit. Should be a blast!The picture on this blog was taken by my sister at the WI bash on Tuesday evening...

Sudeley Castle weekend

My return visit to Sudeley seemed to creep up on me almost unnoticed. After much preparation on the Friday evening, I left bright and early (well, OK, early-ish) on the Saturday. The drive up the M5 towards Cheltenham and my eventual destination of Winchcombe went very well, and was made all the more enjoyable because the south-bound M5 was one solid pile of caravans chugging down to Cornwall. And it served them right.

I arrived at Sudeley at about 10am and was greeted by Peter, one of the staff, who looked and sounded just like Ricky Tomlinson. He was a lovely fellow and a great help all day. I was given a key to the Guides' room - a place where the tour guides can normally go to rest and recuperate, and this became my luxury dressing room for the next three days. I had recently purchased a silver topped cane to make Henry hobble a bit, and to help take some pressure off my frequently sore left ankle. I stumbled out into the bright light of day and began my constant circuits of the Sudeley Castle area meeting and greeting all and sundry. The very wonderful History People were there again, this time in their Viking encampment mode. They really are a lovely and very historically accurate group and do some great work with children and adults alike. It was good to see them again. There was also another group in the top part of the gardens putting on medieval events including sword fighting, archery and jousting. Out the front of the castle was The Hungry Hog! This was Mark Douse who accords himself the title of "The South's Premiere Hog Roast Specialist" and he and his lovely wife Natalie did not disappoint! See more of them at www.thehungryhog.com !

Halfway through my first day at Sudeley I was delighted to see the lovely little Isis and her beautiful mother Holly who had come to visit me when I had appeared at Weston-super-Mare museum and had been in touch ever since. The fact that Holly doesn't drive and had taken trains and boats and planes to get to Sudeley over about three hours was very touching, particularly as she and Isis had come primarily to see me! I had a lovely chat with them for a while before I sadly had to go off and meet and greet others! Later that evening as I came into Winchcombe on the look out for some dinner, I spied Holly and Isis getting on a bus to head back to Bristol - dedication to Good King Hal beyond the call of duty.

After I had finished at Sudeley I checked into my B&B - Blair House in Gretton Road in Winchcombe, run by the indomtiable Mr and Mrs Chilsholm! It is a wonderful place to stay, incredibly friendly and very cosy and comfortable. That evening my search for dinner was relatively low-key and ended up as fish and chips eaten from the paper in a lay by! After a cracking episode of Doctor Who in my B&B room, I drifted into a deep and welcome sleep.

Sunday was very disappointing at the Castle. It poured and poured with rain all day, dampening spirits and making the fur on my coat look very sad! There were few brave folk around, but those who did turn up were very friendly and we had some fun. The Hungry Hog man surrendered to the vile weather fairly early and made a run for home. Who could blame him as the rain came in at every conceivable point! Another dinner in the car and another early night at the lovely cosy Blair House - if anything I slept better that night than the previous one!

Bank Holiday Monday - it was grey, the wind blew and it was cold, but thankfully the rain just about held off all day. This was another fun day, lots of good people and hundreds more photos of me taken by some lovely tourists. The Hungry Hog might have had a bad day yesterday, but today was even worse. After driving 3 HOURS from Littlehampton (as he had done each and every day at the castle) he had got the hog on for spit roasting at 7am. All was going well until at about 10.30am when the entire thing burst into uncontrollable flames and ruined the entire hog. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But that was the end of the hog roast for that day. His entire work day ruined. Poor man. He didn't deserve that as his hog roast is some of the tastiest you are ever likely to try. The rest of the day passed at a steady if a not exactly Earth shattering pace. I left Sudeley Castle finally at just after 5pm and managed to arrive back at home to a kiss and cuddle from my wife and lovely little son at just after 7pm.

A nice weekend, good to see so many good old friends and familiar faces, but a bit cold and damp as well!

Oh Deary...

Very occasionally, you get to have a conversation with someone who you have regarded as something of a hero in your life. Or you get to meet someone who you have been a big fan of for many years. Usually this moment is life affirming, it confirms everything you had hoped this person was going to be. Meeting Rolf Harris while filming the BBC programme "Rolf on Art" was one such moment. He was everything I had hoped he would be, and more. Charming, self-effacing and a genuine down-to-Earth nice bloke. Fair dinkum as most Australians would say. Similarly meeting Cherie Lunghi on the same day was good for me too - for more than one reason! And then again, there are times when you meet or have contact with a hero - and everything turns to dust, disappointment and disillusionment. Last week, after some encouragment from friends, I emailed Terry Deary, author of the wonderful "Horrible History" books for children. I have for many years gone on record stating that Mr Deary was a big influence on the style and presentation I bring to my Good King Hal days - I felt I was presenting history to children in a way that he would celebrate and encourage. I wrote to him to tell him this and to ask, in a very humble and polite way, as to whether I could ever hope to be involved with promoting the Horrible History series in any way. The response I got was quick, and startlingly savage. Seldom have I received an email that I expected so much from, and yet instead all I got was a verbal kicking from Mr Deary.

I will not go into detail with what Mr Deary said - it was hurtful and unpleasant in the extreme. I responded by apologising for bothering him and mildly rebuking him for such a rude email. I got another response, far longer and far more savage, this time likening my dressing up and getting paid to present humorous Henry VIIIth days to children as to me dressing up as a variety of infamous modern day murderers and re-enacting their evil acts in front of impressionable innocent children for money. Thankfully, particularly for his rapidly expanding bank balance, Mr Deary has no qualms about selling lots of books of amusing anecdotes about Henry VIIIth and a variety of other historical despots and tyrants for school children. His similarly destructive and rabidly anti-teacher and anti-school views were equally shocking.

Suffice to say, I shall never even bother to recommend Mr Deary's works ever again - something I have done at nearly every school I have been to since I started.

Back to Sudeley Castle!

This coming weekend is your chance to come and say "hello" to Good King Hal! I am appearing on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (26th, 27th and 28th May) at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire. I shall be on parade so to speak between 10am and 5pm each day.

The picture here is of me on my last visit to Sudeley about a year ago. Sudeley was in the news recently when Liz Hurley had one of her seemingly limitless wedding receptions held there.

So if you do come along over the weekend and you have read this blog, please come and say a big "hello". It would be great to see as many of you there as you can manage. There will be lots of other re-enactors there on the days as well, so there will be something for everyone.

Roman Hill Middle School, Lowestoft

Another return visit, this time for the third year running, back to Roman Hill Middle School in Lowestoft. Last time I was up at this wonderful school, I had got up a bit late and then hit horrendous traffic on the A12 and then found to my shock that roughly 99% of Lowestoft was being dug up. Luckily this time (and with the help of TWO - count 'em, TWO - alarm clocks) I managed to wake up in plenty of time, sail up the A12 AND discover that now only about 15% of Lowestoft is being dug up. What a difference a year makes.

I was warmly welcomed by Rebecca Haste as I have been for the previous visits. She was very busy this morning but still had time for me, which was wonderful. After I had got everything set up in some of the classrooms for the morning session, I wandered up to the staff room to make myself a cup of tea. As I entered the teachers and other staff were having a big meeting. Luckily the staff room at Roman Hill is the size of an aircraft hanger, so I whispered an apology and scuttled off to the far end of the said aircraft hanger to make myself some tea. I was doing this very quietly, and with the minimum of fuss when one of the ladies in the meeting, slipped out of her chair and wandered over to me. I was assuming by the way she was approaching me that she was going to tell me which milk to use or where the sugar was. Instead I was told to be quiet and keep still as I was distracting her from her meeting. So that told me. I was gobsmacked. So I did as I was told and stood like a statue, completely motionless until their meeting was finished. I reckon I should have run in and kicked a few tables over, rattled all the cutlery in their dishwasher and then stood naked on the table singing "On The Street Where You Live" in Serbo-Croat. Now that would have REALLY distracted her properly.

The day itself was a cracker. The kids were brilliant - very sparky and interested, some of them to the point of being TOO sparky! But that is OK, I would rather have interested excitable children than ones who sit like lobotomised haddocks all day. The afternoon stocks session was simply wonderful to behold, particularly for the reaction I got from the Teaching Assistants who were virtually falling off their chairs laughing at my silliness, which again is perfectly fine with me! The jousting was a rousing affair with the gents initially winning, but because of an illegal run by one of their jousters the ladies got a second chance with a one quoit race off - which the ladies duly snatched by half a whisker!

It was a fairly late finish for me today, but totally worth it at another school that I adore. It was nice that I was invited back for next year straight away. I stopped at my parents and had dinner with them sitting in their lovely garden, then headed for Somerset at about 8pm. Here I am home safe and sound.

An interesting query from a school up in Yorkshire has just come in! New horizons, anyone?

Blog re-decorated...

I have had a quick re-vamp of my blog layout. If you are a regular, or even irregular, reader of this particular blog, then please let me know what you think. I would be grateful!

Next week I am up in Lowestoft on Tuesday for a return visit to Roman Hill School, then next weekend I am up to Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire for three days over the Bank Holiday weekend. I am looking forward to those days a lot.

Blundell's Prep School, Tiverton

Yet another return visit today. This time to Blundell's Preparatory School in Tiverton in Devon. Mind you, the last time I was here it was called St Aubyn's Preparatory School. Obviously changed their name via deed poll.

It was an absolute delight to be back here today. As usual I was very pleased to find all the children in some magnificent costumes. My welcome was just as warm and friendly as it had been last time. The morning was great fun, if a little disjointed as some morning's at private schools can be! Their subtle timing differences with state schools always throw me a bit. There was some really good coats of arms made up today and also a really good display of general Tudor knowledge.

Lunch was a sumptuous chicken curry with rice, poppadoms and mango chutney - lovely. It was nice to meet the headmaster as well, namely Nick Folland, formerly of Somerset County Cricket Club.

The afternoon there was only really time for a fun stocks session and then a grand jousting tournament that started very quietly, but then built up to a blasting crescendo. The ladies this time won with a brilliant display of teamwork and speed!

The picture above is a nice one from when I took part in BBC TV's "Rolf on Art" show when it came "live" from Trafalgar Square back in September 2005. Don't believe what you read from various other Henry's on line - there was more than one Henry at the show. I should know, I was one of three.

Medstead Primary, Hampshire

It was a nasty shock for me first thing this morning... I had set my alarm to go off at 5.30am for the long drive to Hampshire and my visit to Medstead Primary School. My sat nav had indicated it would take me about two hours to get there and I like to be at a school as soon after 8am as I can possibly manage. Therefore my shock was complete when my wife woke me at nearly 6.30am and asked me what time I was getting up. 6.30? ARGH! I wanted to be out of the house by 6.15am! Somehow I managed to get showered, shaved and everything else in about 10 minutes flat and was on my way! I shot through the traffic and managed to arrive at the school at about 8.30am. It was lovely to see Helen Poore again - she had booked me about two years ago at a school in Long Sutton in Hampshire, and now she was working at Medstead she decided to inflict me on these children.

We had a superb day. We began in one of the classrooms with everyone in together. After an extended break for a morning assembly the morning continued apace. The children were bright and sparky and showed the usual high knowledge of all things Tudor related. We had a couple of young deaf lads in and I shared the stage with their signer, whilst I also wore a booster mic for one of them who had a cochlear implant.

After a fine lunch of Toad NOT in the hole (the sausages and the batter pudding were served seperately!) it was back in the hall for hanging drawing and quartering, a belt round with the stocks, and then a rip roaring joust which, getting back to the usual routine, the ladies won! The final stages of the joust were enhanced by some of the parents for the group turning up. I was therefore photographed more times than I care to mention!

Tomorrow, I am off to Tiverton in Devon for a return visit to what used to be called St Aubyns, but is now known as Blundell's Preparatory School.

West Pennard - the second!

There are some Henry days I look back on and think "to be honest, it could have gone better" and then there are days like today. It was damn near perfect! A fabulous school, which I was returning to in it's delightful surroundings over looking the Somerset levels and Glastonbury Tor! It was going to be nice back with one of my all time favourite teachers to work with, Mr Ian Gouge. Ian is just one of life's really nice people. I know Michael Palin sometimes gets hacked off with constantly being referred to as Mr Nice, but if he ever gets fed up with the title, Ian can take it off him with ease! First thing in the morning Ian told me how good his class were this year, and he was not wrong. I cannot remember the last time I went through a whole Henry day without having to have at least a quiet word in someone's ear about their behaviour. The children were fantastic - they laughed uproariously at all the jokes, had a splendid level of general Tudor knowledge and were polite, friendly and easy to talk to. It just made my life so simple! As it was only a class of about 27 I rested the whole "carousel" of activities and just sat in on them one by one, starting with the Tudor quiz on the boards. After break the children got stuck into designing their own coat of arms, and as usual we had some fabulous designs with the usual very high Doctor Who content!

After a nice fish and chips lunch, it was into the main hall for the final fling! The stocks were a riot of laughs and lots of fun. The jousting was a fine contest, the much faster but less disciplined boys team just losing out to a good ladies team. I was trapped in the school playground for a while - my car being blocked in by a school bus, but as soon as that was gone I was on my way.

I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Ian Gouge and Year 5 at the school for making a genuinely pleasurable day so memorable!

A nice weekend at leisure coming up, probably spent getting wet judging by the weather forecast! Monday I am down to Hampshire for another Henry bash...

Done it. It's in. It will never leave again...

The sofa is in. How we did it, I don't really know. It has been outside all day in the pouring rain under a temporary lash up to stop too much water spilling on to it. Our friend Ian Thomas from Kingstone came over in his van to help out. He was so confident that the sofa would be in our house within a few minutes that he actually left the engine running on his van. Fool!

This move took two heart-attacks, three hernias, four tantrums, a load of scraped paint, a broken door bell, a scuffed painting by my father and a partridge in a pear tree.

How the Polar Bear looks in the picture is how I feel right now. But the sofa is in. It is soaked, so I am now going to have to sit here gently wafting warm air over it from my wife's hair dryer, but it is in. And believe me, if we ever move - it stays here!

Tomorrow - for a rest I am off to West Pennard School near Glastonbury, for a return visit to Ian Gouge and his lovely year 5 class. I can't wait!

Back on the road again.

After an extended break over Easter it was back to normal again yesterday. I was back at Little Parndon School in Harlow in Essex for the third year running. But I am getting ahead of myself, there is a lot more to tell in this story!

Another reason for going to Essex was to pick up a sofa that my parents were donating to us in replacement for our old squashy green sofa which has been well and truly cat and toddler splatted. So on Tuesday 8th I picked up a big transit van from my friends at Popular Motors in Merriott. My lovely wife dropped me over there to pick it up, but she then drove off with the front door keys! I desperately phoned her from the office at Popular Motors and also from a call box later, but she had gone to do a clinic (she is a health visitor) over at Chard and was likely to be unobtainable for a couple of hours. I sat in the van on our front drive and then had a little snooze. After about two hours there was still no sign of my wife. Eventually I realised I had to do something fairly drastic, so I managed to break in through a downstairs window. If you know me then you will be more than aware that I am not exactly ideal cat burglar build, so this was quite a painful and embarrassing action and not one I wish to repeat for a while! Anyway, much later I was on my way back to Essex. I arrived at about 8.30pm and settled in for the evening with a glass of wine and some peanuts and life looked a lot more rosey!

I travelled up to Little Parndon and was delighted to see some familiar faces straight away! This is a lovely school, the teachers are wonderful, friendly and charming and more than happy to help in any way they can. It was a group of about 60+ children and they were great! Very sparky and full of laughs. The afternoon joust was not exactly a classic, as the boys team was so much better than anyone else they simply steam-rollered any opposition.

Back at my parents I now had the joy of trying to get the new sofa into the van. My parents (who were away) suggested I ask one of the neighbours for some help in loading the sofa as it was large and awkward rather than heavy. I knocked on both neighbours doors and got no response! I tried phoning some old friends in Essex, namely Sara Turner and Mick Stephenson, both erstwhile members of The Hoop Cricket Club, but both of them were already well ensconced in a couple of pubs and beyond helping me. In the end I somehow managed to manhandle the unwieldly sofa into the back of the van.

The drive home was long, wet and dark. I was very grateful to be home. In the morning my wife and I took our old sofa outside to make some room for the new one. We then got the new one out of the van - and it won't fit through the door! Amanda had to go to work so I am left here at home with a new sofa in the garden (the old one has gone to the great sofa heaven in the sky - aka the local recycling dump) and no way to get it in the house. HELP!

TO BE CONTINUED............

An Evening Function

It was all back to Essex again for the weekend. I had been booked to appear as Henry at a Ladies Festival Evening for the Epping Forest Masonic Lodge at Furze Hill in Margaretting. It was quite nerve wracking as I was doing the job for some friends of mine. Working just for people who have booked you just because of what you do is hard enough, but when it is friends who have booked you, you know you will have to go the extra mile. I hope they were happy!

It was a lovely, but very warm evening, but my wife looked beautiful in her new dress and with her new hair style and it was a pleasure to dance the night away with her!

We stayed on in Essex until the Monday, enjoying our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 29th April on the way. A lovely time!

I have just picked up some new bookings from new schools in Taunton and Christchurch, and the Somerset County Museum want me to do an "Evening with Henry VIIIth" in July. I shall post more details as and when they become more solid.

Don't Get Too Excited...

Now I have no wish to cause the nation's pulse rate to rocket through the roof, but I have heard today from a very nice lady called Pam that my tender-stem broccoli, won during my triumphant four days on the BBC Radio 2 programme Steve Wright in the Afternoon's Big Quiz, will be arriving next Monday! Or possibly Tuesday! Huzzah! Now this really is the big time! We have already received the cast iron wok to cook it all in. That was a bit of a shock when it arrived - it was huge. It is going to be like trying to cook in Jodrell Bank. Maybe a case of wok and awe? Oh, never mind. Anyway, next week we shall be getting stuck into our tender stem broccoli - and I can't wait! Who says general knowledge doesn't pay? Or is it crime? Who cares.

Back to Essex this weekend for a Masonic evening as Henry. Should be fun.

Undefeated Champnio!

"And so, it came to pass that the right Royal Tudor monarch came to his fourth day as reigning champnio (sic) on Steve Wright in the Afternoon's Big Quiz. And verily, he didst triumph again and did gain more prizes of the tons-of-classic-soul-artistes-CD's variety. And he didst worry if he might cop a question the next day about "Coronation Street" or quantam physics of which he knew-eth precisely nowt, and wouldst lose all his worldly prizes. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and he didst chicken out and leggeth it with all his prizes and who couldst blameth him?"

Yes, in that rather florid way, I can confirm that I have retired, Rocky Marciano-like, undefeated as Champnio on the "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" "Big Quiz". It has been a really fun four days, and I know I got a big score today but I felt I was living on borrowed time and so yes, I took the cowards way out, and cut and run. I hope you have all had a good listen to me, if you missed it you can go to the Steve Wright page on the BBC Radio 2 website and click listen again!

So, I had now better go back to being a normal monarch again now!

The Royal Progress Continues...

My third day arrives for my appearances on the BBC Radio 2 Show, Steve Wright in the Afternoon. I was still the reigning champnio (sic) on their "The Big Quiz". Today my opponent on line was a very nice sounding chap from Edinburgh who drove a cab for a living and had once had J K Rowling in the back of his taxi!

My questions came thick and fast, and luckily for once I wasn't too thick and quite fast at answering. I managed to rack up a score of 11. The other chap did quite well and managed to get to 7, but basically to cut a long story short I had won again! Champnio AGAIN! My prize today was four tickets to the "Countryside Rocks" concert featuring among others Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and various other super annuated superstars. I must pack my green wellies.

So I am back tomorrow for more - will the King's reign continue for another day, giving me a grand total of four days and nearly halfway through the entire reign of Lady Jane Grey when she became Queen.

BBC Radio 2 - 88 to 91 FM. The Big Quiz is on at about 3.45pm each weekday. Wish me luck again.

The Wheels Haven't Come Off - Yet!

The most amazing thing happened today... I won on "The Big Quiz" again! For those who didn't read yesterday's entry I am currently the reigning "Champnio" (sic) on BBC Radio 2's Steve Wright in the Afternoon Show's general knowledge quiz. Today I got 12 questions right while my opponent only managed to get 6. My prize for this effort was a cracker! A Scooby Doo Classic DVD, a DVD player, and almost more excitingly for my son, a big hamper of "retro" sweets for us to munch as we sit and watch the Scooby Doo DVD together! Groovy! When asked if I wanted to come back tomorrow, I thought about it for about half a second and said "yes". So please wish me luck and listen in to BBC Radio 2 again tomorrow. By the way, please no more jokes about my year's supply of broccoli that I won yesterday, otherwise I shall invite you to dinner and force feed you broccoli.

And the winner is...

So, I have now been on Steve Wright in the Afternoon, and the "Big Quiz". Last week's champnio (sic) came on first, a very nice lady, but sadly for me she sounded like a genius and rattled through her questions very quickly. I have to say I feared the worst. And then it was my turn. I answered as many as I could and finally got one wrong after the "one wrong and you're out" sound and felt I hadn't quite done enough. After another lengthy wait the results were announced... I had won - by one point. What a relief! I couldn't believe it. I won all the prizes this fine lady had accumulated last week and I have to say I felt a bit guilty. Then Steve Wright's assistant, the glamorous Tim Smith, told me what my personal prize was - namely a years supply of Broccoli! Much guffawing from my wife and the people in the studio. However she was a bit more impressed when it was announced I had won a top of the range cast iron wok to cook it all in! Finally they asked me if I would like to come back tomorrow. I said yes! So please tune in again tomorrow to BBC Radio 2, 88 to 91FM, at about a quarter to four and cheer on your favourite Tudor monarch for another attempt to win more prizes from Steve Wright...

Wish Me Luck...

Hello Henry fans! Wish me luck... This coming Monday afternoon I will be appearing on the BBC Radio 2 show "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" taking part in their "The Big Quiz" section. It will be on about a quarter to four in the afternoon and it is my chance to show off my general knowledge, or possibly lack of it!

I might even get a chance to plug this website! Tune in between 88 and 91FM to BBC Radio 2 on Monday 16th April next week.

Barrington Court - Part III

Today is my Father's 70th birthday, but today was also my final appearance of the weekend at Barrington Court. The previous two days had been bathed in beautiful bright warming sunlight, but today dawned a little over cast with the occasional break in the clouds. Yesterday's "Carry on Henry" was replaced with a slightly quieter day today. There was still plenty of people about, but not the rush of Sunday.

It was an extra pleasure for me today as Amanda and James were coming over to see me in action as the King. The only problem with this is that occasionally I would be embroiled in talking to someone as Henry, when James would suddenly appear between us and shout "Hello Daddy! I love you!" and would then run off. Quite difficult to keep up the facade of being Henry VIIIth when that happens. It was another good day and it was nice to meet Amanda and James, and our friend Alison Barling and her children and parents, for a nice relaxing non-alcoholic drink at the Beagles Cafe after I had finished being the King.

Back home for a relaxing evening and a good chortle at watching "Most Haunted".

Barrington Court - Part II

A long Easter Sunday for me. This began with the shock of my alarm going off at 6am so that I could make my way down to Ilchester. I was down that neck of the woods for the car boot sale at the playing fields there. I had a pretty good day and certainly didn't freeze as I did last week!

I got home for a brief lunch with Amanda and James before making my over to Barrington Court for my second appearance of three. I stopped in at the petrol station at Merriott, but as seems the norm these days, they had no fuel again!

Barrington was packed to the rafters, with cars spilling out of both car parks and staff having trouble finding space for the new visitors. I got changed in Matthew Applegate's office and launched out into the bright sunlight to meet the visitors. It was a lovely fun day again, lots of really cute kids dying to meet the King and ask questions, and some great "grown ups" most of whom also had good questions. One lady in particular from the village of Barrington did a fine line in doubles entendres! After she described herself as a simple wench, I made the joke of getting her into the dilapidated stables at Barrington. She complained that "they're coming down already!" before squealing "the stables! I meant the stables!" After that hilarity had died down I had a wander further afield, only to bump into this fine lady again as she came out of the National Trust shop. I had earlier mentioned my Henry work taking me far afield. As soon as she spied me this time she came up to me and asked: "How far do you go?" This naturally prompted me to crack up laughing and her to say again "What have I said?" And so the day went on!

Back there again tomorrow for the final time this Easter. I hope it is as good as today.

First Day at Barrington...

Today had a less than auspicious start. Instead of having a nice pleasant morning pottering around a local garden centre (original plan for this Easter Weekend), we discovered that my wife's car had a bald tyre. Upon taking it to Bathwick Tyres in Yeovil we discovered it needed FOUR new tyres. It turned out it would have been cheaper to have taken my wife to the garden centre after all!

After a quick lunch I was about to leave for Barrington Court for my 2pm to 4pm stint when I suddenly realised I hadn't had a shave for a couple of days and Henry looked decidedly fuzzy. I hammered through a quick shave which led to the inevitable screaming, blood and pieces of toilet paper stuck to my face and neck. I must have looked a less than Right Royal sight when I arrived!

The weather was fantastic and the turn out remarkable. Both car parks were full to bursting point. I strolled around the gardens in my full gear chatting to various visitors and posing for photos. It was all good fun. Then a lovely surprise! My cousins Anne and Jack from Portesham in Dorset arrived with their son Peter, his lovely wife Sue and their children (and I hope I get all these names right!) Sam, Jenny, Amelia and Anna! It was delightful to see them all. Sadly, at the end of the day I missed meeting them for a quick cup of tea as they went to the posh restaurant at Barrington and I (being me!) headed for the equally nice but more relaxed atmosphere of Beagles Cafe. Never mind. I chatted to them on the phone this evening and explained my silliness. It is back to Barrington tomorrow for more of the same, and the weather forecast is good for the next two days. This is one happy King!

Barrington Court!

Hello folks! Just to remind you this is your chance to meet the King face to face. On April 7th, 8th and 9th I shall be making appearances at Barrington Court from 2pm to 4pm each day, wandering round the delightful grounds, chatting to whoever wants to ask the King a question and leaping out of bushes startling small children (not very often I hasten to add). Bring along your cameras for a real chance to quiz a real life Tudor monarch.

Cotford St Luke School

What a good day this has been! If I can find a better school, more friendly group of teachers, or sparkier kids than this lot in the next 12 months, I reckon I will be doing pretty well!

I set out this morning for my trek to Cotford St Luke with some slight reservations, mostly about the journey. I would have to travel right through the middle of Taunton, a well known bottle-neck. I have been caught out by Taunton before, most notably on my most recent visit to Dunster School. Luckily today it was mostly benign and I made steady if unspectacular progress.

Cotford St Luke appears to be being completely rebuilt. There are new areas of it apparently springing up everywhere. The school appears to be brand new, as though the wrappers have only just been torn off it. It nestles next to the semi-renovated remains of an old Victorian asylum that broods over the whole area. I was warmly welcomed by an old friend, Adrian Jones, who I had previously met when I visited him at his old school of St Mary's in Bridgwater nearly two years ago. I piled all my stuff into the main hall and got into costume. The morning was fine, with some good knowledge from the children and laughs aplenty. At lunch time I was treated to an Ocean Pizza, which lived up to it's name by being not so much fishy as FISHY!!!! in the extreme.

The afternoon seemed to go even better. Laughs galore during the stocks, which poor old Mr Jones got stuck in (which I believe he suffered the indignity of at St Mary's!) before the jousting started. At lunch time, I had said to Mrs Cooper (another one of the teachers at the school and a very glamorous lady! I hope she is blushing when she hears about this!) that I was absolutely certain that the ladies would win the jousting. It is a good job I am not a betting man. The boys won, only just, but they did. The first time in a long time.

My drive home was interrupted by a crashed tractor near Kingstone just outside Ilminster, but I got home in one piece. I am due back at Cotford St Luke in July - I can't wait! Thank you for a wonderful day, I really enjoyed it! Superb school!

Chard School

Spring has arrived it seems! Brilliant sunshine today and a nice short round trip for me, to Fore Street in Chard and a visit to the historic Chard School. The main part of this lovely school dates from the 1580's, but I am performing in the old Chapel which is even older. No one is quite sure of the exact date but it could be contemporary with Henry VIIIth himself!

The caretaker is the first person to greet me and gives me a full run down on the previous evening's "X-Factor" talent show the children had put on. Then the headmaster comes to join me. He is very warm and welcoming and bears a more than uncanny resemblance to the character Scottie as he appeared in the later Star Trek films.

The children, as with most private schools, are very confident and knowledgable. Thankfully they laugh at all the gags as well. The day is given a slightly disjointed edge by not having one teacher with the group all day. Instead, each teacher who's lesson I am interrupting, sits in for that hour or so. However, the day goes swimmingly. I am treated to a lovely lunch by the headmaster's charming wife in their flat overlooking Fore Street, before I am back on parade in the chapel for the stocks session and a final jousting tournament. Very predictably the ladies win the jousting! Big rousing cheers at the end and then I am on my way. A lovely day and a lovely school.

Thursday I am off for the first of two days at Cotford St Luke (the 2nd day isn't until July!).

Drayton Middle School, Norfolk

Now before I start today's blog, a little comment on yesterday's entry. Moonroot, in the comments section asked whether the child lying at my feet had been rendered unconscious by my musical ability. I don't think he had. As it is my son, James, who is lying there, and as his grandparents were with him, I am thinking it was probably a case of him being told he would have to go home and leave Daddy dressed as "The King" and he was protesting. Naturally, whenever I wish to render my son unconscious I always use a coal shovel like every sensible parent should. But seriously...

I had a far better nights sleep last night and woke up at the usual ungodly hour to drive to Norfolk feeling a bit more with it than yesterday. It was still bitterly cold as I stepped outside and it took a while to defrost the screen of the car entirely. However, I made very good progress again and was soon driving through beautiful frosty countryside up the A12. The sky was delightful, ice cream pinks mixing with swooping blues, and all flecked here and there with wispy cirrus clouds.

Drayton is a small village/town on the northern outskirts of Norwich and a place I had never visited before, but it seems quite charming! The school was nice and easy to find and I was soon being welcomed in with a hot cup of tea and a whistle-stop tour of the school facilities. Mr Wilkinson, my main contact for the year 5's I was with today, looked fabulous dressed in his green Tudor gear and went up in my estimation immensely when he revealed that he was a Manchester City fan like me! It was another biggish group today and my voice was suffering a little from three shows in four days, but it held out remarkably well. I got two breaks in the morning as there was morning assmbly to get through and then a usual morning break. Lunch was very nice, roast beef, Yorkshire puds, roast spuds and peas with a thick gravy and a nice crisp juicy apple for afters. All of the teachers had dressed in splendid Tudor clothing and the ladies in particular looked absolutely lovely! All but one of the children had come in fabulous costumes as well and it all just added to the good feeling about the day. The final joust was again a good one, but this time the gents bucked the trend and triumphed by a couple of quoits.

Fond farewells are said and I drive back to my parents in Essex. I shall be having dinner soon and will stay the night here tonight and have a nice leisurely drive back to Somerset and my loving wife and son tomorrow. All in all, a superb school and a good day.

Falcon Middle School, Sprowston

After a particularly appalling nights sleep, I got up at a very early hour and prepared for the long hike from Essex up to Norfolk for today's Henry visit. I had driven up from Somerset to my parent's house in Mountnessing the day before. On stepping out of the front door at about 5.30 am I was presented by piercingly cold clear morning. My car had a light dusting of snow across it and the morning sky was flecked with scudding clouds.

Soon I was on my way, up the jolly A12 (a road I am now far more familiar with now that I no longer live in Essex) and made very good headway. The faintly ridiculous Sarah Kennedy was waffling on the radio about how grateful she was that the wind had dropped. She clearly wasn't standing on the forecourt of the petrol station on the A12 where I was. I have no idea where the wind was coming from (Antarctica at a guess) but I knew where it was going. It was howling round me!

I soon found myself in Norwich, a delightful city, a winding my way past Carrow Road (home of Norwich City FC) and on the road up to Sprowston itself. This was a completely new school for me, but it was truly wonderful. A fabulously warm welcome from everyone and I was even allowed to park in the disabled parking bay when there was no space left in the car park - though I did make it clear that I would be happy to move if necessary. There was about 70 children today and despite being very quiet at the start they soon warmed up as the day got going. Lunch was very nice, a warming sausage pie with thick gravy, followed by Bakewell tart with custard!

The afternoon sped by and the jousting was just wonderful. In the grand final the gents got way out in front, but the ladies pegged them back and finally snatched victory with a quite magnificent anchor leg from their last lady. Lots of laughs and thank yous and a promise of a return visit next year. Sounds good to me.

The drive back to my parents was relatively easy and I am now about to have a small drink with my father and then allow my mother to molly coddle me with a proper home dinner. Very nice! Tomorrow its back to Norfolk and Drayton Middle School.

St Martin's Junior School, Weston-super-Mare

Today was a good example of one thing leading to another. I got today's appearance at St Martin's Junior in Weston-super-Mare after my show at the North Somerset Museum back in February. One of the children at the school had seen me, handed one of my leaflets in at the school and here I was almost exactly a month later making this appearance!

It was a really good day today. Nearly 200 children is always going to be challenging, but these kids were brilliant! Full of beans, ready to laugh, ready to enjoy and they also knew when to sit and listen. The morning was partially interrupted by an assembly where the Welsh head teacher wanted to make a few choice comments about the Rugby match between Wales and England this weekend! He seemed very happy indeed...

The morning was good, considering how big some of the groups were with the activity rotation, but this afternoon almost topped the lot! The noise during the final of the jousting was almost unbelievable! They fair blew the roof off the place! In a pulsating finale it was the ladies who just sneaked home (as usual) and took the plaudits. As for me, I packed up and headed home to my lovely wife, my darling little boy and a plate of spaghetti bolognese. You can't ask for much more than that from life.

St Martin's Junior was a delightful school and I would love to visit them again some time. Next Henry? Wednesday at Falcon Middle School in Sprouston near Norwich. See you then.

King Henry VIIIth Launched into My Space!

Just a quick note to let you all know that in a desperate attempt to remain trendy, groovy and, above all else, not 40 years old, I have been persuaded to launch my own My Space site. At the moment this is still very much in it's infancy, but it will be a nice compliment to the official website (www.goodkinghal.co.uk) and to this Blog.

You can visit my "My Space" site, which will give you all the latest news about what Henry is up to and where you can come and see me in action as everyone's favourite despotic Tudor monarch at http://www.myspace.com/henryviiith There will also be lots of Henry photos put on here and you never know, maybe even some sound bites and even video clips to entertain. Fingers crossed! Keep watching for more...

Oakfield, Dartford & Sweyne, Swanscombe

Another two days in Kent. Just think, if I stay for a few more days I could probably apply for citizenship! Monday and Tuesday this week were third year in a row visits to two of my favourite schools in Kent. On Monday I was due at Oakfield Junior School in Dartford. I had driven to Kent on the Sunday afternoon and stayed at my sister's house again near Sittingbourne. We enjoyed Sunday night with an Indian takeaway and some silly TV.

I got up relatively early on the Monday and made my way to Dartford. Oakfield is lovely and easy to find and as ever, the friendly welcome from all the old familiar faces was very nice. The hall where I perform had been recently decorated and looked particularly spik and span! It was a great group of children as usual, if a little quieter than in recent years. One of the lads was blind and it was fun to hand him the props and let him feel them out for himself rather than have me describe them to him. The jousting was a belter as ever and went to a close finish with the ladies triumphing - as per usual. I packed up my stuff and headed back to my sister's house for a bottle of Valpolicella and a nice pasta bolognese!

Tuesday saw me hurtling back up the M2/A2 and this time to Swanscombe, sometime described as the latin quarter of Gravesend. This was my third year in a row visit to the Sweyne Junior School and yet another encounter with Mr Dan Burghin. He was as welcoming and courteous as ever and it was lovely to be back in a school that I know and enjoy so well. The children were lively and full of laughter. They had only just started studying the Tudors but still seemed to have a good grounding of general Tudor knowledge. One lad during the talk about the stocks suggested that hammers should be thrown at people in them. When I asked the group why throwing hammers at people would be a stupid thing to do, I expected the answer "it would kill you", but instead from another lad I got the suggestion that the Tudor's hadn't discovered hammers! So THAT's why all those old Tudor buildings kept falling down! All the builders were left standing around wondering what the hell they were going to use to hit the nails in with... The finale of the jousting was very very close, but this time, just for a change, the lads won. Congratulations to them.

I packed everything away and was on my weary way back to Somerset at about 3.15pm. After a nice easy journey back I found myself back home with my beloveds by about 6pm. Lovely. And now for a quiet pint with Mr Matthew Applegate at the Dinnington Docks.

The Western Gazette - FAME!

I got a phone call yesterday from a nice young reporter on the Western Gazette, asking me if I would be interested in being interviewed for inclusion in next weeks issue, particularly the Crewkerne and Villages area. Who was I to say no?

Each week they do a feature on someone from the Crewkerne area and interview them and shed a bit more light on what it is they do. So this morning (Friday) I found myself driving up to Yeovil to meet Chris Sweet of the Western Gazette at their office for an interview. Chris' shorthand skills are very good which is lucky because I waffled on so much, but he seemed very pleased with the interview and it will be featured in the next issue - out next Thursday. To finish off I was introduced to Gemma Hampson, a lovely lady who works at the Gazette and who I have dealt with in the past over Henry VIII articles and who has always been a good help. I have only ever spoken to her on the phone before, so it was nice to put a face to the voice.

This weekend will see me driving to Kent on Sunday ready for appearances at Dartford on Monday and Swanscombe on the Tuesday. Such are the demands on a Tudor Monarch...

Thomas Johnson Lower School, Lidlington

And here I was thinking D-Day was the longest day? It all began at about 3.55am when my alarm went off. There is definitely going to be a law about times like that... I got up and got ready for the rigours of the day ahead. It was going to be a long drive, all the way up to Lidlington near Bedford and Milton Keynes, and then just for the fun of it, driving back again.

My early morning driving fun was not helped by the fact that the best DJ on in the wee small hours, namely Alex Lester on Radio 2, was off and there was some bloke on instead, whose name escapes me, but he brought a whole new meaning to the word "dreadful". His phone in quiz was embarrassing, he kept fluffing words, not understanding what some people who were phoning in were saying and just generally being a bit too "Smashy and Nicey" for his own good.

One part of my journey that was nice was to see the full moon, or at least it looked full, bobbing along just above the horizon for most of the way, before broiling down in the clouds as the sun came out. Very nice!

I found the school nice and easily, but was a little bit early (it was still only about 7.45am when I got there). So I nipped off for a sandwich and a newspaper, sat and read for a bit and then made my way back to the school. I was very warmly welcomed and offered a smashing cup of tea as I set everything up. It was a small group today, about 23 children and a mixture of years 3 and 4. But we had a wonderful day. Their knowledge of the Tudors was impeccable, up until the end of Jane Seymour - but apparently that is as far as they have got in classes, so that was understandable! After a lovely lunch of Shepherds Pie it was back in the hall with all the usual afternoon shenanigans. The jousting was a blast, with the ladies quietly strolling to a comfortable triumph.

After lots of lovely help stowing stuff in the car, I was on my way and managed to get home by about 6pm, which was pretty good going, considering the weather was closing in and a large part of my journey was during rush hour. I was greeted at home by a lovely hug from James and my wife, plus she had made me for dinner... you guessed it, Shepherds Pie!

Barrington Court Re-visited

Saturday morning I paid a visit to Barrington Court near Ilminster to see Matthew Applegate, sometime visitor's services manager for the Court and occasional "God" of the acting profession. We were to discuss possible future Henry appearances at this lovely National Trust property. (For a good look at this wonderful old building and all it's opening times and info please click on this: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-barringtoncourt/ .

We decided that Henry should be making appearances over the Easter weekend of the 7th, 8th and 9th April, afternoon strolls around the gardens. Then again Henry will return over the weekend of the 18th and 19th August for slightly longer Tudor musings and wanders. I love Barrington Court, it is a real gem of a place to visit and well worth making the effort.

St Michael's Junior, Colehill, Wimborne

It was another return visit for me today, for a third year running, down to Wimborne and the village of Colehill. I was back at one of my all time favourite schools – St Michael’s. This school is just so good! I always get a big group of children (usually about 130), nearly every single one of them dresses up in wonderful Tudor costumes, they always behave impeccably, they are very articulate, have good knowledge and enjoy a good laugh at most of my nonsense! The food at lunchtime is always absolutely spot on and delicious. Added to which the teachers and class room assistants are all wonderful and friendly, and the icing on the cake is that one of them is the dead ringer for Sophie Raworth! All good news from my point of view!
We had another excellent day, only broken up slightly by an enforced break as they held a morning assembly, but this just meant I got to have a much longer morning break time than usual and a couple of cups of tea! The coat of arms task instead of the Breughel painting is proving to be very popular with the children and some of their designs again today were marvellous. The afternoon session got off to a bad start as one poor little soul got upset during the crime and punishment section and was reduced to tears. I have been advised to tone it down for my return visit next year. The jousting though was of a very high standard and an incredibly noisy and tumultuous final saw the ladies just snatch victory away from the gents. Wonderful stuff.
My drive home was nice and uneventful and my lovely wife then bought home a take away curry. Now that is what I call a good Friday.
Next week I am off to Thomas Johnson School in Lidlington in Bedfordshire.

Coalway Junior, Coleford

Today was my third visit in three years to one of the loveliest schools you could ever wish to find! I was back up at Coalway Junior in Coleford in Gloucestershire. It is a pleasant, if somewhat long drive up to the place, being only just short of 100 miles and taking in crossing the Severn Bridge and going up through Chepstow, but some of the views when driving up into rural Gloucestershire are just delightful - or I should say they usually are, this morning was somewhat fog enshrouded. It was nice to get to the school again. Yet again I had the two classes of year fives who were really sparky and great fun. They really got into the making of their own coats of arms and also showed a fine and deep knowledge of the whole Tudor family.

After lunch the gruesome Tudor punishments were greeted with the usual mixtures of "Ewwwwwww!" and laughter! The jousting was just magnificent with the grand final between the ladies and the gents going right down to the wire, with the ladies coming from behind to pip the lads as they struggled with their last quoit. Marvellous stuff.

The drive home was relatively easy and I have this evening been sifting through loads of great photos sent to me of the party last weekend. These are great mementoes of a wonderful night. Everyone who came seemed to enjoy themselves and I have been requested to organise another party next year! I shall see...

Next Henry... St Michael's Junior, Wimborne on Friday.

A Grand Tudor 40th Birthday Bash

The Date? Saturday 24th February 2007. The place? Clapton Village Hall, near Crewkerne, Somerset. The event? My 40th birthday party! I have to just quickly say I had a wonderful evening, and I like to think that my friends did as well. We had about 70+ people turn up for the event, many of them dear old friends who I hadn't seen in years and who had travelled many miles to be there. I was very moved.

We had fine Tudor food (as you can see in the picture) supplied by my friends Tris and Jane Pinkney from the very wonderful Bilby's Cafe which you can find in Ilminster, and also in Chard and Crewkerne. The music was superb coming from the lively folk duo of Morgan Rattler, again highly recommended and really got the evening going beautfiully. And finally there was the World premiere of a new radio play entitled "Henry VIII - A Life" written by yours truly and acted out by a superb cast, some of whom had only known they were going to be in it by a matter of hours. Top honours must go to Matthew Applegate of Barrington Court who ended up copping the part of Sir Thomas Cranmer after my old friend Simon Whittaker from Alsager was unable to attend at the last minute. The rest of the cast were: Me as Henry, Ted Heath as Will Somers, Simon Runagall as Sir Thomas Cromwell, Cathy Martin as Lady Cilla of Ye Black, Ann Turner-Maynard as both Lady Legovia-Crumpet and Princess Voluptua, Alison Barling as Catherine Howard and my lovely wife Amanda as Catherine Parr. Viv Rich jumped in at the last minute as our narrator. Viv's husband John videoed the entire play and has threatened me with a DVD of it.

It was nice to see some representatives of some of the local schools, including Tracy and Sally from Arbishop Cranmer School in Taunton and Alexine and friends from Brookside School in Street.

All in all a very memorable weekend (which had kicked off with a splendid evening meal and drinks over at the Dinnington Docks) which I am still trying to recover from!

Today is my actual birthday, so I am taking it easy with James at home and will be taking him out for a little trip shortly. Tomorrow it is back to being Henry again with a visit to Coalway Junior School in Coleford, Gloucestershire.

North Somerset Museum, Weston-super-Mare

As it is half term, Henry's like me get the chance to do visits that aren't the usual school days. Today was one of those days and also included me going to Weston-super-Mare for the first time in my life. All I really knew of Weston was that (a) it was by the sea, and (b) it is the birthplace of John Cleese.

Luckily the museum was very easy to find (if you have a sat nav) and I could unload parked just outside it. I was welcomed by all the staff, who were without fail, warm, cheerful and very friendly. After dumping all the stuff from the "Henry-mobile" (for this, read "Elderly Green Honda Accord"), I had to then go and park it in a nearby car park.. Obviously the word "nearby" has a completely different meaning in Weston-super-Mare. This place was about a mile away, three times the size of a football pitch and with only one working ticket machine for the pay and display, which just happened to be about 500 yards from where I parked. My, how we laughed.

I trekked back to the Museum and got changed into my glad rags. It was a lovely day! Lots of people coming and going, lots of lovely friendly children, some really cute little ones and some happy jolly parents and grandparents. I wandered about a little, tootled on my instruments and chatted to anyone who came within earshot of me. The "So Solid Crew" from Bristol were a bit much to take, but I had a good laugh with and at them from time to time.

Had some lovely photos taken by lots of different people, and posed right at the end with an almost too cute little lady called Isis and her stunning Mother! All that was needed then was to put everything away, have a quick "Great March" over to get the car back from the back of beyond, drive back to the Museum, throw everything in the car and then head for home. And here I am! It was a lovely day today, thoroughly enjoyable at a wonderful Museum. Go and visit it if you are in Weston - you won't be disappointed!

Westonzoyland Junior

What a lovely day! No, not the weather, which is unlike the rest of Britain at the moment. The rest of Britain is currently doing a very passable impression of Antarctica, here in deepest rural Somerset it is wet with a capital splosh. It has poured down all day from a leaden sky that seemed to get lower by the minute.

I drove out to the school at Westonzoyland through enormous puddles and with the cricket on the radio. We skittled the Aussies for 252, but as I tuned in we were reduced to 14-3. I gave up at this point as I had arrived at the school. I received a lovely warm welcome from all the teachers and my fears were calmed somewhat as I was under the impression I was with just years 2 and 3 for the day, who might be a little young to get all the jokes and references. I had no such worries. I was in with everyone from year 2 to year 6, and the little ones got it just as much as the older ones! We had a wonderful day. So many laughs from such a wonderful group of children. They really knew their Tudor stuff as well. We over ran slightly on each session, just purely as the children were enjoying themselves so much and laughing.

At lunch time I was presented with some fan mail from some of the children, which was very sweet, and I was inundated with more later! I shall see if I can put some of them on the wesbite in the next few days.

The afternoon was quite riotous with so much fun and laughter that I had to quieten it down a bit at times! The jousting was of a prodigiously high standard, with the boys winning AGAIN! I left with the endorsement of some of the children still ringing in my ears - they said: "you are the best visitor we have ever had at this school!" I was deeply touched. It is nice to know that your work is appreciated.

When I left this morning, I left a note on the front door in case someone might actually come and deliver my piano at last. When I got back the note had been updated to say that a delivery had been made and was with my next door neighbour, Geoff. I went over to Geoff and he proudly told me he had a parcel for me. I was very excited. Until he produced a big box of Lush bath products for my wife which had been sent to her as a birthday present from my sister. DOH! So, still no piano.

Finally, England have thrashed the Aussies with Paul Collingwood playing a heroes innings. I should have listened longer, shouldn't I?

St Margaret's Junior School, Tintinhull

I am still getting over a very traumatic day yesterday. First of all I was to sit at home and wait for the delivery of my 40th birthday present from everyone, namely a brand new digital piano! So, I began waiting at about 8.30am. And I carried on waiting. I waited sitting down, and I waited standing up, which is pretty much the same only taller. I carried on waiting. I was soon up to Olympic Standard waiting and still I waited some more. After numerous more waits, it became apparent that the piano wasn't turning up. I had wasted a complete day when I had so much I needed to do. I had to get to the bank, post office and over to Ilminster to see Tris, and I got to do none of it. Nothing. In the evening I sat and watched England against Spain from Old Trafford. We were pants. And we lost. Then just when I thought a Wednesday evening could get no worse, my wife came downstairs to let me know she had broken this computer when she plugged her I-Pod into it. Great. After several muttered oaths and use of colourful language, I went to bed.

Today I was over at St Margaret's Junior School at Tintinhull near Yeovil, the very village that Paddy Ashdown lives in. Or did, anyway. I had to give these poor people a hand written invoice for the day, which was mightily embarrassing. However, the day (only a half day I hasten to add) was a stonker. Great kids, very lively, only about 20 of them and some really enthusiastic and friendly teachers. We had a great morning. The boys again won the jousting so this is turning into something of a habit for them. After stopping off at Crewkerne on the way home, my wife informed me that the PC was being repaired at a cost of about £90 which wasn't too bad, my piano STILL hadn't turned up, my wife's Tudor costume for my 40th HAD turned up and everything seemed to be returning to normal. As you can see, the PC is fine and dandy (I am typing this blog on the very machine I believed to be dead) and fingers crossed, it has many years of appalling blogs to be typed on it from now on!

Tomorrow, I am up bright and early and off to Westonzoyland near Bridgwater for more Tudor frolics!

Riverview Junior School, Gravesend

This was the day that might have been! I was due to appear at Riverview Junior School in Gravesend, Kent alongside a BBC film crew for an upcoming BBC3 documentary about people with red hair and how it has affected their working lives. I, of course, could not be the Henry VIII I am without having my red hair (unlike some Henry's I have seen around the country!), and the Beeb were very keen to get me on board and have me filmed "in action" at a school. I had mentioned that I was appearing at Riverview School, which being in Kent was a lot closer than Somerset and some of my other haunts. Obviously the BBC are a little like Giles Coren and are not that keen to venture too far away from their west London stamping grounds. Anyway, it was arranged with the BBC and the school for the filming to go ahead. However, on Sunday I got a call from the producer saying that Riverview School had pulled out of the day. When I asked why she said it was because they had discovered the title of the programme - and when I found out I could hardly blame them! The BBC, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to call this programme: "F-Off, I'm Ginger". Now you can see why the school said no!

Anyway, I drove up to Kent on Monday to stay at my sister's house. We had a nice evening as her husband and I both fell asleep in front of the TV after dinner and snored all through "Trial and Retribution", much to my sister's annoyance. Up early this morning and off to Gravesend. Even if the BBC weren't going to be there, I was determined to make it a good day. The teachers were lovely and friendly as ever, the children were great for such a big group (120+) and the school dinner quite spectacularly good! What more could a King ask for? The gentlemen won the jousting session at the end of the day and all the children posed for some great photos in their fabulous Tudor costumes. A visit to Riverview Junior is always a pleasure and I was not disappointed this time. Here's to next year.

I am next on parade on Thursday when I am on a half day at St Margaret's School in Tintinhull, near Yeovil.

Shepton Beauchamp School

I was a very lucky King today as I was to visit one of my favourite villages and schools in the whole UK. Admittedly, I am a little biased as I used to live there, but I am always afforded such a warm friendly welcome that I will continue to sing their praises for evermore! I am talking about Shepton Beauchamp of course, a charming little village sort of midway between South Petherton and Ilminster. My wife and I lived in Shepton between 1998 and 2004 and only the desire for a bigger house for our new enlarged family forced us to look elsewhere. I had first appeared at the school as Henry back in 2005 and had also popped back when I was asked to appear at a school for an ITV News item for the local network and Shepton kindly offered to be the school for that item.

I arrived today quite late, about 9.15am which is normally the time I begin with a group, but I knew the chidlren wouldn't be there as they were over at the village church first thing. I set up my stuff in the front class room and got changed. The children were waiting when I came out. None of them knew I was going to be there! Wonderful. We had a great morning with the opening talk going very well and a lot of the children displaying wonderful knowledge of the Tudor era. We then went straight into the coat of arms design bit which again showed some real talent from some of the children. After lunch we moved to a larger classroom where the stocks proved as popular as ever and the rip roaring jousting tournament was won by the gentlemen - by a whisker! Normally if we have some spare time I'll let the teachers have a race, but there was only Mrs Fraser in with me today, so for the teachers race and for the first time ever, I took part with a team I selected. Not wishing to show off, but I won! I suppose they felt they had to let me win as I was the King. It would have been rude not to.

I now have a nice weekend at ease followed by a trip to Kent on Monday for my appearance at Riverview School in Gravesend. The BBC will be there to film this for a BBC3 documentary about red-headed people. I wonder who they mean?

White Woman Lane and Caister School

This was another week away for me with a visit up to Norfolk and two days, one at White Woman Lane School near Norwich and another which was a return visit to Caister Middle School. However, our story begins in dark Somerset...

My car had gone in for it's MOT on Friday 26th January at Popular Motors in Merriott. I seem to spend a lot of time there, and I told Ian Summers who works there that there should be a blue plaque on the wall announcing that it was in this very car repair shop that Mike Farley's bank account died. Anyway, they got my Honda on the Friday but they needed a few spare parts which would not be available until the Monday, which was the day I was hoping to drive to Essex to see my folks before striking out for Norfolk. Sadly the delivery time of the parts was not to be until 2pm on the Monday, so that was lunch in Essex out the window! When the parts were delivered, they were the wrong parts. The proper ones didn't turn up until nearer 5pm and my car wasn't ready until just after 7pm! And then I had to drive to Essex. So though I was due to have lunch with my parents I even managed to miss dinner! Thankfully Amanda and James were there as well, so it was nice to meet and have some cuddles.

I was up at the crack of dawn to head up to Norfolk and my appointment at White Woman Lane school. This was a lovely school. White Woman Lane apparently is so named because of a ghost frequently seen in the area. Get "Most Haunted" up there, that's what I say! The children and teachers at the school were wonderful and we had a really nice day. Lots of laughs and the children had a great time doing the quiz and the design your own coat of arms. The afternoon session was super fun and the jousting a real rip snorter with the ladies triumphing as well. I then had to make a presentation to one of the little girls who was leaving the school on Friday as her family were moving out of the area.

The next day, I found myself back on the road up to Norfolk to visit Caister on Sea Middle School. This was a return visit and I picked the perfect day for it as it was the Head Teacher's 60th birthday and they had laid on drinks and a nice buffet lunch for us all. It was a big group, about 120 children, but it all seemed to go really well. They did a fine example of some Tudor dancing for me, which was much appreciated. During one of my talks in the morning I managed to get a tickle in my throat which I could not get rid of, and spent some time just coughing pathetically in front of the children, which was a bit embarrassing. Also during this point I was giving the children a little talk about writing implements used and I showed them my feather pen and asked them what it was called - the answer I got? A quiff! Perfect... The final jousting session was longer than normal because of the large number of children, but we managed to whittle all the teams down to a ladies champions and a gents, and in the final the men triumphed for once. With some help from some little roadies I was soon on my way.

I had a lovely evening with my parents and my wife, and today I have driven back to Somerset. My mother and father, gawd bless 'em, have bought me the piano I want for my 40th! It should be arriving on Wednesday next week. I can't wait!

Before then, my next Henry jobs are tomorrow at Shepton Beauchamp school and then next Tuesday with the BBC film crew at Riverview School in Gravesend.