The potatoes are in the ground (under fleece), sycamore seedlings are sprouting, primulas are brightening the borders, I have a hankering for a new rose (why??! Just think of blackspot), the full extent of moss in the lawn is unignorable, and fritillaries are flowering in the long grass.
A walk I’ve done before from Penrith station, but this time I was leading a small group. We took in Penrith Castle, a war memorial from the Boer War, two Neolithic earthworks, Brougham Hall, the site of a Roman fort, Brougham Castle – and still they were up for looking at an Edward VIII postbox at the end. I put it down to the fine weather, which encouraged dawdling.
Written and directed by and starring Alice Lowe
I rather enjoyed Sightseers and I was prepared for black humour, comic-book gore and bad taste – but not for this. Despite some flashes of imagination and comedy, it was bitty and crude. It sounded OK – and what is the difference between a timeless infatuation à la Dante and Beatrice and stalking? – but the execution was hit and miss. It’s quite a while since I’ve come to the end of a film and felt that I’d wasted an evening.
Barrow: a rather left-behind town where you see a group of naval officers in smart uniforms waiting to cross on the green man. Lots of once-prestigious Victorian and Edwardian civic buildings, all stripes and terracotta, announcing high ideals. It’s a pleasant train ride away, and there’s a bus to Walney Island – so what was I waiting for on so fine a day?
I walked along Biggar Bank to the South Walney nature reserve, looking out for the sight of seals’ heads bobbing about in the calm sea. At the very tip of the island I went into a hide, where a keen photographer pointed some out to me. One was basking – in that odd, crescent-moon position that makes them look as if they have found a new yoga posture – and others were swimming effortlessly. There were eiders too far out to be seen clearly, and Piel Island looked like something out of I Know Where I’m Going.
It would have been a long walk back, but fortunately a family I had chatted to in a hide stopped to offer me a lift on the road, saving me four miles of walking. And on the return journey I was unable to resist the temptation of stopping off at Arnside to eat fish and chips in the last of the sunshine. A perfect end to the day.
I made the mistake of binge-reading these, so that Kate Atkinson’s style – which I enjoy in her other novels – soon turned into tiresome tics and tricks. I think it was the self-referential knowingness that grated: a series of detective stories which are practically made for television: interweaving of short scenes, every character (it seemed) with a backstory of childhood trauma, and a parodic reliance on coincidence to keep the plot spinning. Along with (pot and kettle here, obvs) her use of parentheses and the constant asides as other voices butt into interior monologues.
There’s much to enjoy, of course. The wit, the settings, the recreation of past decades, the final plot twists. I just shouldn’t have binged.
Director Carl Hunter with Bill Nighy and Sam Riley
A pleasant, off-beat film starring Bill Nighy as Bill Nighy (which he does very well) with a Merseyside accent. It begins with him amongst the statues on Crosby beach, almost indistinguishable from them. He is an ageing man who has spent years looking for his missing son – and rather taking his remaining son for granted. He’s also a Scrabble fiend – so, good with words but – we gather – not with communication.
It’s filmed in a slightly quirky, retro style which invites rewatching and implies he is stuck in the past. (It also invites comparisons with Wes Anderson.) There are lots of good scenes and it was entertaining.
A bit of overlap with a previous walk, taking in Hoff Beck, Great Ormside and the River Eden. It was lovely to see the wild garlic sprouting up beside the river, giving a fresh green glow to the banks.
After the walk I went into St Lawrence’s Church to see the tombs of Lady Anne Clifford and her mother, Margaret. Both died at Brougham Castle.
Old Shoe Box 