Foyle’s War

 

Last week, Nich and I were chatting about autumn/ winter viewing. I asked him if he’d ever watched ‘Foyle’s War’, a series that ran from 2002 - 2015.

Written by Anthony Horowitz and starring Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell, the first 6 episodes are set in the town of Hastings. After this, there are 7 more series, in various settings, ending in 1947, after the war. 

It’s the most wonderful series and some of it was set at the very college where I trained to be a teacher! Balls Park College, Hertford.

I was fortunate enough to have spent three years here! Three idyllic years! Part of the college buildings included a 17th century mansion set within lovely grounds, with a lake.

Another part of the college included, ‘West Wing’,  (below), where I had a room in my third year. I think my room was on the top floor, third from the right.

As well as the mansion and a few modern buildings built for lectures etc, the college had also bought a number of large houses, nearby, for student accommodation. Below, is Asbourne House, the accommodation in my first year.

Everything about this place oozed peace and charm and it was the best place to study! Here I am sitting outside the mansion; I was in my third year and nearing the end of my training.

This was The Cottage; it was in the college grounds and also used for accommodation…and also used in Foyle’s War.

I have to say that I was very excited to see my old college, some years later, in Foyle’s War. It all brought back such good memories…

…especially what we knew as, ‘Black and White Hall, where I would go every day, to the ‘cubby holes’ to see if there was any mail for me.

I passed on my collection of Foyle’s War DVDs, to Nich, so that he could watch them throughout the next few months. And no sooner had I done so when I saw that this series was being shown again on TV! 

Needless to say, I’ve now decided to watch them all again! I highly recommend! It’s my very favourite series, that’s for sure.

Aberdeenshire…and reminiscing!

I’ve been to Scotland! 😁  From my armchair, that is! And as I was sitting and watching, ‘Britain’s Gardens From the Air’, my mind went back to 1973! 

I was training to be a teacher, in Hertfordshire, and I was in my second year, with a T.P. ( Teaching Practice) about to start after the Easter holidays. Those were the days when you could plan your own projects in the primary classroom and with no National Curriculum guidelines, you could do whatever you wanted, within reason! Teaching ‘topic style’ suited me! 

During those holidays, a friend and I decided to spend some time youth hostelling in Scotland. And it suddenly struck me that I could use Scotland as a project. Why not? My mind was working overtime as I thought about art…tartans…Robert the Bruce…castles…and all sorts of other things connected with Scotland! And so that is what I did! My class of 7-8 year olds had a wonderful time and I had a teacher  (with whom I’m still in touch!), who handed her class to me, trusted me to take over and still get the basics done but also to make the time very special indeed. I received some wonderful comments from my tutor too. How I loved that T.P. It was at a junior school in a place called ‘Goff’s Oak’, Hertfordshire.

So there I was watching this wonderful series and at the same time reminiscing, which I often do! Where did those years go?

I felt quite sad that this particular episode, ‘Aberdeenshire’ was the final episode. And it was lovely! I mentioned Christine Walkden in my last blog post and I also felt quite sad that she didn’t do more on the TV yet at the same time, that was probably how she liked it, being such a busy lady.

And if you’re able to watch it, Aberdeenshire is Here

A Year in Christine’s Garden

Years ago, in 2005/2006, I watched a series called,  ‘A Year in Christine’s Garden’ and I remember that I loved every minute of it! More recently, I noticed that some of the episodes were available to watch on the TV and so I grabbed the opportunity to watch what was available.

I can honestly say that out of all the programmes I watch re gardening, this is the series that I love the most! It is charming! And part of that charm was Christine’s neighbour, Reg, who was featured in all of the episodes. Reg has sadly passed away since the programmes were made… but what a character he was!

Christine’s enthusiasm shines through, throughout these programmes and as well as that, her work ethic is amazing!

In addition to showing us her own garden through the seasons, and her interaction with her neighbours and helping them ( especially Reg, his tomatoes and pruning his trees!), Christine’s other work includes lecturing, judging at shows, giving talks to various groups and working on projects etc. She even takes us to the allotment that she tended when she was just 10 years old. Gardening is her life!

Here’s a run down of all the episodes from, ‘ A Year in Christine’s Garden’ :

However, some of the episodes were missing on the TV and so I ventured online in order to search: 

I found the first series ( episodes 1-6) here. 

The second series ( episodes 7-12) isn’t so easy to find but I eventually found it online, here .

Sadly, no programmes seem to be available on dvd…they should be! It’s a simple, uncomplicated and most enjoyable series, that’s for sure. 

Meanwhile, I did find the book, ‘A Year in Christine’s Garden’ and I’m really enjoying that too!

Finally, in 2014, Christine also made another fantastic series, ‘Glorious Gardens from Above’. Travelling in a hot air balloon, she visits some of Britain’s best gardens, exploring their history and the people connected with them. There are 15 episodes and I was able to find these on TV, recently. My favourite was, ‘Hampshire’ and in particular her visit to Mottisfont; how I loved this episode! You can find it here .

‘A Year in Christine’s Garden’ and, ‘Glorious Gardens from Above’ : Two delightful series, well worth watching and to which I think I will return again and again!