To get to see a little bit more of the UK, I thought that going to 40 different places 40 miles from where I live would be an interesting concept. Okay, it's not exactly going very far but it's far enough and I could be living anywhere over the next 6 and a bit years (even abroad - doubt it though).
So far I have travelled 4 places 40 miles from my current residence in Borehamwood. I'm never going to get it at exactly 40 miles so I've allowed it to be within 40-50 miles (but not exceeding 50).
My first destination was Tilbury in Essex in March of this year. I currently work for a charity and one of my fundraisers was hosting an event to raise money for his London Marathon sponsorship. He organised a football match and got the team together of the boys he used to manage in the 1980's. Some of the old team members even came from abroad to support him and play on the team again.
Now, I'm not a fan of football, but this was actually an exciting match. The pitch was water-logged but the players didn't care - all in the name of charity!
Following the match there was a dance and a raffle so I stayed for a bit of that to show support.
On the way back I got this photo as evidence that I was there. I had to drive around the roundabout a couple of times to get a good shot!
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| On my way back from Tilbury |
My next destination was Essex again but this time it was Chelmsford back in May. A while ago a friend of mine recommended I go to Chelmsford to do a gig at Hooga. It was a great gig but, unfortunately, the venue closed. However, they moved further into town and became The Loop. I booked a gig there and drove down after leaving work early.
I had a few Chelmsford-ites come down to the gig to support me. One was my friend, Neil, who was the person who told me to perform in Chelmsford and the other supporters belonged to Hospital Radio Chelmsford (Graham and Ian).
It was a good night and you may find a couple of YouTube videos posted by Neil from the gig (also see my July blog - number 11).
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| I had to slow down to take this photo |
This is another gig related destination - Reading - 15th June. I was asked by my friend, Steve Morano, to be his support act at The Turks pub. I picked up my guitarist at the time, JC, and we headed on to Reading.
On the way, I got a FaceTime call from one Jon Barker who was editing my video for "Fragile Girl" with Paul Woods (the amazing videographer).
As we were arriving in Reading I told JC to be on the lookout for a "Reading" sign. JC asked how I knew there would be a sign and I replied there must be. I was right and we almost missed it but JC (who already had his camera out from taking photos on the journey) got a great shot of the "Welcome to Reading" sign.
So, we finally got to Reading and picked up percussionist extraordinaire, Anthony. We drove around for a bit trying to find parking and, after several circuits of Reading City Centre, we found somewhere close to the venue.
The lovely Marion came to see us play and we whipped the crowd into a frenzy near the end of our one-hour set. It seems the favourite song of the night was "The Drink Talking" - go figure!
I also got to view the "Fragile Girl" video on my phone for the first time on this night.
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| A great shot taken by JC with his pro camera. |
On Saturday 30th June - a glorious sunny day - I headed to Radnage in Buckinghamshire for the Radnage Beer Festival. I got the gig from doing a few open mics at The Swan in Beaconsfield. It was a solo gig and I was a little nervous about it. It went well though and had a few musician friends who were also playing on that day who supported me.
During "The Drink Talking", I plugged the wine that one of the wineries had brought to the festival and scored a free glass of it.
It was also great to see the mega-talented, Glen Kirkham, there and have a good old natter with his lovely girlfriend, Cher. He wasn't due to perform but James, the organiser, managed to slot him in which pleased me no end.
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| I nearly missed this sign - it's not exactly a big sign but it's not exactly a big place |
So, now I have to figure out some other places to go to that are 40 miles from Borehamwood. One suggestion has been that I head out to Windsor to see Marion's neck of the woods and maybe a spot of geocaching (two birds / one stone) if there are any nearby. However, it's just shy of 40 miles so might need to make a detour!
Any other suggestions would be most welcome.
