Dame Judi Dench on "As Time Goes By"

The September 29, 2017 issue of Entertainment Weekly asked Judi Dench about the most important roles of her career. By way of introduction, interviewer Joe McGovern wrote, "She laughs a lot, including when you address her as 'Dame Judi.'" 

"In America, people get caught up in the Dame thing," the actress said. "I'm honored, yet it makes me sound very formal and self-serious, and you can safely say I'm not that."

This quote by Judi Dench may remind As Time Goes By fans of an episode in which Lionel and Jean fly from Heathrow Airport, England to Hollywood, California. There, the reunited lovers attempt to sell a CBS executive a TV mini-series based on their youthful--but sadly aborted--romance. Before talking business, the man attempts to put the couple at ease by asking a seemingly innocent question: "And how is your Queen?"

Needless to say, the very formal and self-serious Lionel is not amused.

 

 

Although she is better known in the United States for more high-profile roles, such as M in the James Bond movies, As Time Goes By gets an early mention in this American magazine.

"Unless you've done a situation comedy, you haven't experienced the most difficult job in acting," Dame Judi says. "I absolutely loved it, but it's terrible, exquisite agony to do."

 

 

Creator Bob Larbey once said that he would write scripts for As Time Goes By as long as actors Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench wanted to film the series. The fact that As Time Goes By spanned nine seasons and sixty-seven episodes (including three specials) affirms that Dench enjoyed playing Jean (alongside her cast-mates) very much indeed. 

As an American fan of the series, my only question for my British readers is: "And how is your Dame?"

Dragon Dave

The Week in Memes

Recently, I posted this series of memes on Facebook. As most people merely pay attention to their feed, I think my friends responded to them on an individual basis. I thought I'd share them all together in one post with you.

 

Before this is over, 

I'm gonna need 

a whole lot of serious therapy.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Who's the fairest of them all?

You'll never shine

If you don't glow.

It's on my To Do list.

Not interspersed with my Facebook memories, and placed all together on one day, I look forward to seeing how you interpret these memes.

Dragon Dave

E. F. Benson on the Pitt Club and Inner City Missions

In the novel Limitations by British author E. F. Benson, Cambridge students Tom Carlingford and Ted Markham decide to take a break from their studies. They leave their rooms at King's College, one of the most prestigious colleges in this English university town, and walk toward the Pitt Club, where they are both members. Along the way, Tom sees a crowd outside the mission rooms, and decides to see what has attracted so much interest. 

Tom says good-bye to his friend and wades through the crowd. The room is packed, banners hang from the ceiling, and the moisture from everyone's breathing coats the walls. On the platform,an impassioned greengrocer testifies how becoming saved led him away from a life of strong drink and regularly shortchanging his customers.

 

On the second day of our 2017 visit to Cambridge, England, my wife and I took a bus into town. We disembarked near St. John's College, the Round Church, and a candy shop. As none of these had yet opened for the day, we wandered along until we found a tea room in an old church, where my wife and enjoyed tea and scones, along with a Dalek and K-9.

Had we wandered the opposite way, we would have walked past the Pitt Club. Originally founded on political principles, by E. F. Benson's day the Pitt Club was a members-only social club. The club has a prestigious history, with writers, actors, politicians, and even royalty listed on its membership rolls. In addition to Prince Charles, other names most people would recognize are John Cleese of Monty Python fame, Tom Hiddleston who played Loki in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and Eddie Redmayne, who plays Newt Scamander in J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts films (a prequel series to the popular Harry Potter franchise).

As with the church in which we took tea, the Cambridge missions were Anglican in nature. Many of the colleges also set up inner city missions in London. There they ministered alongside missions set up by Oxford colleges, as well as others like the Salvation Army. 

I'm not sure if any Cambridge colleges operate mission rooms in the university town anymore. Still, visitors are always welcome at the Pitt Club. There you can enter, sit at a table on the ground floor, and enjoy a pleasant lunch courtesy of Pizza Express, which leases the space from the Pitt Club. Maybe next time my wife and I visit Cambridge, we'll arrive a little later, and enjoy a pizza lunch on the ground floor of a building in which E. F. Benson often relaxed with his friends.

Then we'll head back to the candy shop near the Round Church, which ought to have opened by then.

Dragon Dave

Two More Stories From Chagford

During the Evensong service, the couple who had invited us to St. Michael the Archangel learned that Bernard Knight's novel The Tinner's Corpse had brought us to their Dartmoor village of Chagford. They invited us to the pub afterward to continue our conversation. As we told them about our lives and interests, we learned that they were retired doctors, who had attended Cambridge University when training for their medical careers.

Before COVID-19 struck, I attempted to contact them. I had a few questions for them about how the British medical and education systems functioned. I also wished to compare our 2017 visit to Cambridge with their time there. Despite a priest at St. Michael the Archangel putting me in touch with them, the couple ignored my emails. Subsequent emails to the priest also received no response.

It's hard to know how to interpret silence. Had the priest given me their email addresses without getting the couple's okay first? Were the couple drafted into help with the COVID-19 crisis in local hospitals? Or had they discovered that evening, that after sating their curiosity, they had no desire to converse with us ever again? There are people who are friendly, but who will never be your friend, after all. 

All I can do is pray that the couple and the priest are safe and well.

Another memorable event from that evening was a conversation I had with a man who worked behind the bar. I don't remember exactly what I asked him. Perhaps I inquired about historical associations regarding the town. In any case, he responded by telling me that occasionally he saw people sitting and interacting with others in the pub. These people are dressed in clothes from a different era, and their speech also hails from an earlier time. One moment he'd glance up and see them, the next minute they would be gone. 

Were these apparitions real or imagined? And does it matter? While Science cannot prove the existence of ghosts, authors beyond counting have imagined the world inhabited by the spirits of those no longer physically with us. Memories of loved ones can either plague us or help us get through our days. Long departed friends and family members often visit us through our dreams. Stories--whether included or not in holy texts--also help to anchor and sustain us, particularly in difficult times.

May these five stories about the British village of Chagford shine light upon these dark times, and bring interest and meaning to your life.

Dragon Dave

Related Link:
St. Michael the Archangel

Three Stories Of Chagford

Five years ago, during our tour of the British county of Devon, we spent an evening in Chagford. One reason the village, located in Dartmoor National Park, was on our radar was due to the TV series Doctor Who. In the mid '70s, Tom Baker won the role of the 4th Doctor, taking over from actor Jon Pertwee, who had brought the show to new heights of popularity. During Tom Baker's first season, the cast and crew spent their days filming for the story "The Sontaran Experiment" at nearby Hound Tor, and their evenings in Chagford. 

While filming around the windswept boulders at Hound Tor, Tom Baker fell and had to be rushed to hospital. As he had only filmed one previous Doctor Who story at this point, the actor worried that the BBC might scrap his first filmed story, and recast him. Tom Baker had been working at a building site for lack of acting roles when he won the starring role, so this understandably scared him. The rest of the cast and crew had similar worries. 

That evening, when Tom Baker reunited with the cast and crew in a pub in Chagford where they would be spending the night, he only had a broken collarbone. His jacket and colorful scarf could conceal his neck brace in closeups for the following day's filming, and a stunt man, clad in his clothes, could fill in for him on for distance shots. This allowed him to continue in the role, saved the series from scrapping the filming, and hiring a new Doctor. 

Tom Baker would star as the 4th Doctor for a record-setting seven years. During his tenure, the program would reach even greater heights of popularity, and the actor would become a national hero in Britain. But first, there was the crisis of "The Sontaran Experiment."

Another reason we visited Chagford was that part of Bernard Knight's novel The Tinner's Corpse was set in the historic village. This was the first novel I read in Bernard Knight's Crowner John series. The book so impressed me that I sought out more of his books. While these books may not be for the faint of heart, or those who prefer cozy mysteries such as those written by Agatha Christie, they paint a vivid portrayal of the working and living conditions faced by British coroners in the late twelfth century. 

At one point in The Tinner's Corpse, Crowner John visits Chagford, where the miners bring the tin they've dug from the Earth to be graded. Some of that tin would prove of sufficient quality to be used as coinage.

A third reason we visited Chagford was because the village had real-life associations with events that may have inspired part of the historic novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore. The local church, St. Michael the Archangel, has a memorial to Mary Whiddon, who was murdered outside the church on her wedding day in 1641. I have not yet read Lorna Doone. When I do, I imagine it will feel more real to me after visiting Chagford.

After checking into a local pub, we wandered around the village. As the afternoon waned, our footsteps led us to the church yard. As we sat and gazed at the local church of St. Michael the Archangel, we debated what to do that evening. We had spent the day driving, and exploring the windy moorland of Dartmoor National Park. We were tired from our exertions and exposure to the elements. 

A sign outside announced an Evensong service, but did we really want to sit in a pew for an hour? Yet, when a couple arrived, they invited us to join them. While we were tempted to return to our room above the pub to read and relax, we accepted, and followed them inside. Who could say what other stories we might discover, inside this country church, in the historic village of Chagford?

As you can see, we discovered a very beautiful church, which tells a story in its own right.

Dragon Dave

Related Link:
St. Michael the Archangel

A Salute to Doc Martin

From the moment you enter the seaside town of Port Isaac, your thoughts immediately turn to the TV series Doc Martin. While the residents are thankful for the tourists that provide income for their seaside village, I suspect most visitors only see this part of Cornwall as Portwenn, the adopted home of Dr Martin Ellingham. 

Our thoughts turn to the characters we have met, and gotten to know, such as savvy entrepreneur Burt Large, the Doc's Aunt Joan, and local policeman Joe Penhale. We also think of Louisa, the headmistress of the local school, who falls in love with the haemophobic physician. Still, we love Doc Martin most of all.

Whether you make an appointment with your own doctor at the first symptoms of a disease, or only seek help once the illness has reduced you to misery, we all rely on our doctors. We are comforted by knowing they are there: ready to serve us when we call on them. When, for whatever reason, they prove unavailable, we feel their loss.

We love Doc Martin, more than our real-life doctors, because we know how hard he works for us. Every time he sees a patient, he battles his personality quirks, and his fear of blood, while doing his best to provide the best possible medical care. We understand his difficulties, and his sacrifices. And so, we follow him to this little village, in the English county of Cornwall, to see where he lives and works.
 

The morning my wife and I visited, the sky threatened rain. We walked around town, looked in a few shops, and took lots of photos. Eventually, our footsteps led to the harbor. Here, while my wife searched for unique shells and pebbles, I gazed at the surrounding cliffs, buildings, hillsides, and out to sea. Then I pulled out my sketch book, and got to work.

After an hour of so of sketching, my wife and I shared a Cornish Pasty, with a cherry tart for dessert. When the rain started to fall, we returned to our rental car to wait it out. I did more sketching, and my wife turned on the ignition occasionally to clear the windows. When the rain stopped, we headed back to Louisa's school, which in reality is a pub. After sharing a pot of tea, and scones with clotted cream, we took one more walk around the village, before driving back to where we were staying in Devon.

A few months later, we visited a family member in the hospital. While he was grateful for all the help he received, he did not know the doctors and nurses who attended him. Once, he asked to see my sketch book. His eyes lit up when we came across my portrayal of Port Isaac harbor. "Doc Martin," he said, with a smile.

Doctors and nurses everywhere, we may not know you like we know Doc Martin. Nonetheless, we wish you well as you minister to our needs.

Dragon Dave

Driving from London to Brighton with Genevieve

The 1953 movie "Genevieve" starts in the Temple area of London, where Alan, a young barrister, leaves work for that weekend's London To Brighton Veteran Car Run. He goes home to work on a 1904 Darrocq, which has been in his family for decades. While his friend Ambrose, an advertising salesman, has the money to have his 1905 Spyker professionally maintained, Ambrose does all the work on his beloved car.

Any car that arrives at the finish line in Brighton by 4:30 pm wins a medal. Unfortunately, Alan and his wife run into trouble. After performing several repairs en route, they don't arrive in their car Genevieve until much later. 

In 2013, we enjoyed seeing these old cars arriving in Brighton. After seeing how many mechanical problems these historic cars can suffer in the movie, I can understand why many cars that start from London each year don't arrive in Brighton.

Although the rules of the club that sponsors the rally forbid their members from racing, Alan and Ambrose have a falling out, and place a bet on who will return first to London. They wager one hundred pounds on the outcome. Alan and his wife already suffer marital friction because of the time, energy, and money he devotes to Genevieve. His impulsive bet makes this worse, as the young couple only have one hundred-and-twenty-five pounds in the bank.

Alan and Ambrose's bet stipulates that the first car across Westminster Bridge wins. I won't spoil the outcome of the movie for you. But it was interesting to learn that the 1904 Darrocq in "Genevieve" still runs the rally every year. Hopefully, it doesn't suffer as many breakdowns, and finishes the rally more often than not. Perhaps I saw it in 2013, crossing the finish line.

Alan's Darrocq and Ambrose's Spyker can be seen at the Louwman Museum in The Hague. The city is known for the world-famous International Court of Justice. If Alan ever had to travel to The Hague to pursue an important case, I wonder if he would have driven there in Genevieve?

Dragon Dave

Related Links
Genevieve at the Louwman Museum

Boating With E. F. Benson and C. S. Lewis

On our last visit to England in 2017, while touring Norfolk and Suffolk, our adventures often took us to the river. We punted along the River Cam in Cambridge. We cruised along the Norfolk Broads. England's canal and river system seemed a delight for holidaymakers. I could imagine, if my wife and I lived there, regularly partaking of such riparian outing.

While staying in the picturesque town of Loddon, people docked their ships in the harbor, or tied them up along the river. Signs told boaters where they could leave their boats for free, and for how how long. It seemed a pleasant and carefree way to spend one's vacation, tooling along the river, spending each night in another historic village, and never having to worry about booking hotels. 

One afternoon, while resting in our room in Loddon, we flipped channels, and came upon a couple taking a riverboat journey. The woman was Prunella Scales, who had played Basil Fawlty's ever-suffering wife in "Fawlty Towers," and socialite Miss Elizabeth Mapp in the 1980s miniseries "Mapp & Lucia," based on the novels of E. F. Benson. Prunella Scales and husband Timothy West cruised along beautiful stretches of English canals in their TV series "Great Canal Journeys." I wished I could watch the series in America, so I could see more of their riparian adventures.

A TV program showed up on Amazon Prime a few months ago. Titled "Travels By Narrowboat," and produced by Country House Gent, the host Kevin chronicled his own adventures cruising UK waterways. Unlike Prunella and her husband, Kevin had reached a nadir in his life. In order to find healing and purpose, and perhaps even redemption, he had sold everything he owned, and purchased a boat. Chronicling his adventures became not just a pasttime, but a way of life. He didn't just travel aboard a boat, he lived on it.

Kevin has been traveling aboard his narrowboat for two years or so now. As he's journeyed from place to place, he's uploaded his videos to Youtube. Since they appeared on Amazon Prime, we've sped through his last two years in two months, and now await the completion of his current journey for more. Like many of us, the COVID-19 outbreak brought his life to a standstill. We wish him well, and hope he can resume his life aboard Britain's waterways soon.

Through "Travels By Narrowboat," Kevin has made us look at our five trips to England in a different way. In traveling through areas like the English Midlands and Yorkshire, he's taken us to places we've been, and shown us new ones worth visiting. Better yet, he has done it all aboard a ship called Aslan, named after the great lion in the seven-book series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. 

Not surprisingly, he has found healing and purpose, and a new outlook on life, thanks to his journey aboard a ship named after a figure of love and redemption.

With everything that's going on right now, I don't know when, or even if, we'll visit Britain again. If we do, Kevin's journey has suggested an entirely different way to find joy and renewal in his country. That, I think you'll agree, is a great gift indeed.

Dragon Dave

Related Links
Travels By Narrowboat on Facebook

A Sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park

A small park on the northwest coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Another stop along our drive. My wife and I left the car to check the snorkling conditions. A few people braved the strong waves, and kicked around in the rough current, but those conditions weren't for us.

My wife took her painting kit to a picnic table. I opted for my comfortable seat, and added color to my sketch of Richardson Beach. Gradually, the clouds moved, exposing the front seat to full sun. 

Even with the windows down, I grew hot. The sketch paper reflected the sunlight into my eyes. I left the car, and walked around to stretch my legs.

More cars arrived, filling the parking lot. I didn't feel like drawing cars. My wife was immersed in her painting. What could I do?

I sat at the picnic table across from her, enjoying the cool shade. The relaxed spirit of the place called to me. I got out my pencil and sketch pad, and attempted to capture it.

I combined the elements that I most liked into my composition. When my wife finished her watercolor, I had completed the penciling and begun coloring the grass. Then we continued our tour of the northwest corner of Hawaii.

Later, I studied my sketch, and frowned. Had I not begun coloring it, I could have erased it, or added something to the foreground. Instead, I had just strewn a few objects in a horizontal slash across the page. What had I been thinking?

During our stay on Hawaii, we returned to Richardson Beach several times. While my wife did other paintings, I added color and detail to my initial sketch. When we returned home, I continued working on the Richardson sketch until I completed it. 

After that, I went on to other projects. My remaining sketches from Hawaii, including the sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park, languished in my book, forgotten, unloved.

Recently, I took out my sketchbook, and reconsidered the sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park. So what if it was just a horizontal line of items? So what if I had too much grass? 

Perhaps it could not evoke as much interest as the Richardson sketch. But I should not try to compare the two. Nor, I thought, should I attempt to forecast the result. I would never know what it could become until I finished working on it.

I got out my colored pencils, and tried to breathe life into it.

The result surprised me. The picture calls to me. I'm glad I finished it.

Someday, I may have to return to Kapa'a Beach Park.

Dragon Dave

John Wyndham and Triffids at Seven Sisters

In John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids, Bill Mason attempts to make a new life in the Sussex Downs. These are a range of chalk hills that terminate along the south coast of England with the Seven Sisters.

During our 2013 stay in Brighton, we took a bus trip to Seven Sisters. From the visitor's center, we braved the wind and the rain as we hiked out to the coast. I can imagine retiring to one of these cottages, such as Sherlock Holmes did in the Arthur Conan Doyle story "His Last Bow." I can envision a pleasant life there filled with relaxing strolls along the shore, walking past fields with grazing cows, watching the farmers working, and sketching all the beautiful scenery. 

Unlike Sherlock Holmes, I probably would not raise bees.

If like Bill, I lacked basic necessities such as power, clean and running water, and a nearby source for groceries, my time there would prove less pleasant. If Triffids were  constantly trying to break through the barriers I've constructed around my home and farm, that would also make the situation less than idyllic. 

Another complication Bill faces, which I would not have envisioned, is that with few people occupying and working the land, the roads deteriorate, and the land reverts to marsh. He sees a future in which driving a car or truck will be impossible, and he will have to rely on a half-track (a vehicle with wheels in front and tank-like tracks in back) for transportation.

Seven Sisters, England

One thing I discovered, during our day there, was how isolated you are. My wife and I simply hadn't realized how long it would take us to walk out to the beach. The rain and wind slowed us down, and made each step precarious. Narrow, rural roads my wind their way through the area, but I suspect most who live along these coastal hills have four wheel drive vehicles.

We encountered few other people during our walk. If I had slipped in the mud and broken a bone during our walk, my wife would likely have had to phone for a helicopter. Assuming the people in these cottages were home, I'm sure they would have sheltered us until an ambulance or helicopter arrived. If they weren't home, and the stormy weather interfered with cell coverage, my wife could have tracked down a farmer like Bill, who could have given us a ride back to the main road on his tractor.

While we returned from our trek uninjured, we had not taken food with us, and only a small bottle of water each. We returned to the Visitor Center well past our normal lunch time, and boarded a bus back to Brighton. By the time we found a place to disembark and eat, fatigue and exposure had gotten to us. Both of us caught colds, and my sore throat persisted for weeks.

I imagine the farmers who live here get used to the cold and wet weather. Unlike Bill Mason, they have access to power, fresh water, and nearby grocery stores. So they can concentrate on growing enough food to feed their families, even if they have to take care of a few blind friends too. At least they don't have to worry about fending off the Triffids, or developing an effective pesticide to wipe out the Triffids, whether they have a home laboratory or not. That might not be the most fun, or stress-reducing hobby, they could pursue.

Dragon Dave