Tag: Burghley

Gold medals and golden eagles

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August passed in a whirlwind, but fortunately not all work-related – most noteworthy was my annual trip to Fealar, this time falling immediately ahead of Blair.

It remains breathtakingly beautiful, although we had rather less sunshine than last year. Not only did I discover that the coat I had taken wasn’t waterproof, I also very nearly disappeared into a peat bog – fortunately there was a strapping young man close at hand who caught me and pulled me out. The highlight of my, as ever abbreviated, stay (due to Blair commitments), was again seeing the golden eagles, as well as half a dozen stag less than 50 meters away. My last night there was after everyone else had left – to be alone in the most remote lodge in the British Isles was fabulous.

The only drawback was that I was in the Highlands (with no phone/internet/tv) during the European Championships. I hared in to Pitlochry on the final day to catch up with the live stream, courtesy of the Atholl Palace Hotel, for the last few showjumping rounds…. and was delighted to see Oliver and Ros collect their team gold medals.

On to Blair, which was great fun. I had two new team members keeping me on the straight and narrow, Sue Polley and Molly Shepherd-Boden, who both worked their socks off. We had a few excitements, starting with an unexpected overnight (and unknown) visitor in our static caravan on the first night – I’m not sure who was more surprised at 6am the following morning. That rather set the tone for the week…

After 48 hours in Norfolk it was time for Burghley. I was definitely dribbling by this stage, but the joy of Burghley is staying with ‘Growler’. It’s almost impossible to believe that exactly a year ago, the day I turned up, she had been diagnosed with the Big C. Twelve months on, and currently the picture of health, she was in celebratory mood and we planned a picnic with Manners Media’s Trevor & Lorna.

The sky had been blue, the temperature balmy… until we set out to the cars to extract said picnic. Thunder crashed, lightning crackled and the rain came down. Net result – a very funny, rather cramped supper in the car… the mirth continuing back at base, aided by a bottle of Toffee Vodka 🙂

Burghley was fabulous – more so than ever because Manners Media clients posted a 1-2. Oliver took his second title (the last one 8 years ago), finishing a couple of points ahead of Piggy, for whom the runner up spot was a best Burghley result so far. Totally deserved results and I have yet to stop smiling.

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks…*

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(* with apologies to Shakespeare for stealing)

Life has been a little dull of late. It’s all very well having a ‘quiet time’ from work, but when the strong winds blow and the sun takes itself off to…. well…. sunnier climes, the net result is a rather grumpy me.

I only got airborne three times in July, and one of those occasions was suitably buttock clenching, practicing cross wind landings – all other attempts, including to start aerobatics lessons, have been thwarted. The early morning checks of the aviation forecasts to assess if a trip to Kent to fly with my godson have so far all resulted in a text from me to him saying ‘not today, fingers crossed for tomorrow’.

Instead it’s been a case of windswept gardening, soggy hacks, and tortuous (often also both windswept and soggy) boot camp sessions. The highlight of the month turns out to be work related, which I’m sure shouldn’t be the case… I was asked to write a piece for the Burghley Horse Trials programme, which necessitated me going to Burghley HQ and rifling through all the old programmes back to 1961. Absolutely fascinating – to think that whilst today the gentlest of tumbles onto the ground means elimination…. in 1961 a horse could fall 4 times before a rider was given his marching orders!

But I almost forgot – another serious highlight… three Manners Media clients have been selected for the European Championships in a couple of weeks time. I am so chuffed for Oliver Townend, Piggy French and Ros Canter – Trevor Holt is going to have his work cut out keeping up with those three.

With so little to report, the month concluded with a really fun evening in a new Burnham Market restaurant, 20 North Street, courtesy of Shanty the Highland cow’s owner. The food was melt-in-the-mouth delicious and the gang of people round the table wonderful company.

So now I have 3 weeks to go before Blair, and the next eventing-dominated onslaught… Blair, Burghley, Blenheim and Osberton. Yikes.

What was all the fuss about?

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zip… I say, lying through my teeth.

My trip up to Blair involved a diversion to stay with some great friends in the Borders. I don’t get to see them often, and George – one of their sons/my godson – becomes ever more gorgeous as the years go by. If I keep the Blair job, I have an excuse to visit them every year 🙂

Blair was great. The sun shone (most of the time) which after last year’s European Championships is definitely news-worthy, the internet worked almost seamlessly (ditto) and I found myself zip-wiring from the top of the Blair Castle tower in aid of Barnardo’s. Ellie Crosbie joined me in the Media Tent and Trevor & Lorna were there, taking photos of Manners Media clients Oliver Townend & Bill Levett – with the dream-team what could go wrong! Oliver was on fire – he had 7 rides, all finishing in the top 6 of their classes and Cillnabradden Evo winning the Event Rider Masters.

From Blair I back tracked down to Pitlochry before diverting east for another trip to the incredible Fealar estate. My charming host had dropped a Land Rover at the bottom of the 8 mile obstacle course, flatteringly referred to as the drive, so I could abandon the Jazz and enjoy a much speedier trip to the house than 12 months ago, arriving in time for dinner.

Sadly, with Burghley looming, I could only stay for 36 hours, but I came away feeling restored – a long, long walk, another encounter with a golden eagle, totally delicious food, slightly too much alcohol and great company. The 10 hour drive home was less enjoyable!

As last year, I stayed with the wonderful ‘Growler’ for Burghley. She received some bombshell news on the day of my arrival, so I was more pleased than ever to be there to keep her spirits up. My lasting memory is of setting mouse traps (a long story), giggling uncontrollably – the mouse didn’t stand a chance.

shantyBurghley passed in something of a blur. I can’t complain, Ellie fitted in a job in Germany in the three days between Blair and Burghley – it was all I could do not to dribble by the Sunday. Oliver, Bill, Ros Canter and Harry Dzenis were all in action, Oliver finishing as best Brit. I also met up with new client Ruth Edge to discuss her website, now she has hung up her eventing boots to focus on dressage.

I genuinely slept for a week once I was home again. It’s such bliss to actually have time to ride George most days, fly, indulge in a few massages (I have found a wonderful woman who comes to the house – heaven!), go for long beach walks and catch up with friends. Admittedly one such walk did end up with 2 fire engines, a boat and over 20 strapping men joining in the fun – poor Shanty, the Highland cow, had got herself stuck in a dyke and the only option was to call the cavalry.

I have one more job for Horse & Hound next week and that is me done for 2016. Time to finish the garden, endure a month or so of builders, and get my paintbrush out again…

The calm before the storm

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h-sOne problem with knowing that you have another full-on work blitz pending is that time runs away even faster than it should. My last blog ended just ahead of me travelling south for a weekend.

Charlotte & Pete hosted a fantastic 25th wedding anniversary party (though I’m too old to still be up at 4am – ouch), and the following day, rather bleary-eyed, I headed on for lunch with more old friends. A side effect of the weekend was a plan to take one of my godsons out for dinner in London, in cahoots with a fellow godmother, to celebrate his 21st.

Now I don’t go to London often, and I remembered why as I sat in Covent Garden feeling like a complete country bumpkin. There were some great performers doing their thing, and some superb live music, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw how many people (of all ages) were walking along in silence, staring at their phones. The whole Pokemon thing hasn’t really reached North Norfolk, and it was like the human race had been possessed. Very disturbing!

Dinner was eye wateringly expensive but also eye wateringly delicious and great fun, so worth every penny and then some.

Back in Bumpkinsville and life became really very social (not like me at all). My sister-in-law came to stay so I had the opportunity to almost frighten her to death in the air, various folk came to supper, and it was Paul Graham & Martin Renfrey’s Las Vegas themed wedding party – I can now confirm that Elvis Presley is alive and well, and performing in Leicester.

I’ve just had time to get my flying godson airborne again, renew my CAA medical and now I’m bracing myself for the Blair/Burghley double whammy….

Do as I say, not as I do…

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FelearI have just broken the cardinal rule that I tell all of my clients who blog… if you are going to do it, keep it up… I know, I know, this one is very late….

I’ll try to keep it short: first up, since my last blog, I spent a restorative few days staying with some of my oldest (perhaps I should say longest standing) friends in what is apparently the highest, most remote lodge in the British Isles; basically hang a right a few miles before Blair Castle, turn off the main road, drive for 4 miles up a slightly pot-holed tarmac drive and then a further 8 up a monstrously pot-holed adventure playground (yep, I have a land rover…. so why oh why did I take my mum’s Honda Jazz? Patently failed to read the instruction email) The last 8 miles might have taken 2 hours (this picture is right at the start), but credit to Honda, the car got in and out in one piece, to the surprise of all…

I laughed like a drain for the duration. For anyone who likes a good read, google Antony Woodward – I can wholeheartedly recommend both Propellerhead and Garden In The Clouds, depending on your interests… I have known Ant for way more than half my life and even bought my dream BMW 325i soft top from him back in the 1990’s – a brilliantly funny writer, whose wit is matched only by Vez, his wife. I went for long, highly entertaining walks with my ‘flying’ godson, Tom (am now an expert on Japanese warfare), coming within less than 80′ of a golden eagle… saw beautiful things, with some of my favourite people, and left a much more chilled person (bar the 2 hour crawl to civilisation!).

Next stop the heady heights of Keysoe for H&H…. and moving swiftly on, the beautiful Eliza Manners’s 18th birthday party (I’m not biased), and her mother Emma’s birthday celebrations. I might not be good at parties, but this family know how to throw one – or two!

BlairTeamOf course reality always has to kick in and it was time for the Burghley/European Championships double. Having been semi-dreading it, it was ace… couldn’t do it without my partner in crime Ellie Crosbie. She does the creative stuff and I do the easy bit – but it seems to work. For Burghley I stayed with the wonderful ‘Growler’ (that’s another blog in itself) – more laughing like a drain… then for Blair I found myself ensconced in a lodge at the Atholl Palace – oh yessssss…. me, Ellie, Rupert Bell (radio) and Peter Morris (very important organising person) (all pictured, and I realise, quite blurry and slightly pink!). Quite how I managed the 9 hour drive home afterwards I will never know – probably pondering how Michael Jung can be THAT good.

Then it was down to Sussex and back to Rockingham to make plans for 2016, sadly more x-rays for my horse, and then to undoubtedly the most (for me) exciting job I will probably ever get… next time..