We had a lovely Easter weekend on the Jurassic coast, staying in Weymouth. The weather was a bit stormy at times, but otherwise things were great.
We stopped en route at one of our favourite places -- Stourhead. The weather that day was perfect and we absolutely loved wandering round the beautiful grounds in the bright spring sunshine. The kids, despite being teenagers now, were insistent that we do a National Trust Easter egg trail (they're still prepared to do it for the chocolate!!) and so we did. The (gratefully received) prize was a Cadbury's chocolate bunny each. We also enjoyed eating sandwiches and cakes on the terrace outside Stourhead's cafe. We managed to secure a table in the sun after braving the rather stressful queues for food -- unfortunately only too common in National Trust restaurants these days.
Saturday saw us in Lyme Regis in the pouring rain and howling wind. We visited Dinosaurland, seemingly named for marketing purposes rather than accuracy, given that this museum was more about small fossils than dinosaurs. However, it proved rather interesting -- a large, eclectic collection gathered together over the years from Lyme Regis' beach by a husband and wife palaeontologist team. We did a bit of fossil hunting on the beach ourselves, but didn't come up with anything more than a couple of pretty coloured stones. The wind and rain were a bit of a deterrent, to be honest...
We drove back to our holiday cottage via Abbotsbury -- a beautiful village, originally the site of an abbey. We climbed the hill behind the village to visit the picturesque and windswept fifteenth century church, which was built by the monks. Despite being bare inside, apart from some nesting birds, the chapel still occasionally hosts (presumably standing) services. Well worth a visit.
On Sunday, we visited the absolutely beautiful Athelhampton House. This is a fifteenth century manor house with lovely, award-winning gardens. We truly enjoyed our visit here. It is privately owned and so doesn't have huge numbers of visitors, and when we arrived we were warmly welcomed and actively encouraged to sit on any seat we saw -- most unusual in a stately home! We particularly enjoyed sitting in front of the roaring fire in the magnificent wood-panelled great hall.
We came home via family in Bournemouth, having enjoyed a fun-filled, relaxing Easter weekend.
Tesco delivers our shopping once a week and the thing we like about this -- apart from the convenience, of course -- is the drivers.
On the whole, they are a lovely, friendly bunch. And there are one or two who we have got to know really quite well. We spend a while chatting to them on the doorstep and have learnt about what's going on it their lives -- their kids, their spouses, their plans to buy a new car, etc., etc. It's a pleasure when they deliver.
Last week, the driver who delivered to us was quite a surprise -- we hadn't seen him for several months. It transpired that his partner had been ill and so he had transferred to work for a Tesco branch in Wales for a few months so that she could recuperate. He told us all about the beautiful scenery and the relaxed pace of life in Wales. It sounded as if he'd like to go back!
We just enjoy chatting to these friendly Tesco delivery drivers, but I imagine that they provide a real service to the elderly and the lonely. Who would have thought that Tesco could be credited with that?
I attended an interesting talk recently by academic Kate Hoskins.
It was all about successful women in academia -- specifically, what makes them successful and what are the barriers to success experienced by women. Hoskins interviewed a cohort of female UK professors in her quest to find answers to these questions. She also had a particular interest (due to her own non-traditional route into academia) in successful women who come from working class backgrounds.
Amongst the women who Hoskins interviewed, almost all became successful, not alone, but with the help of either a sponsor (someone influential in the field who had recognised their potential, picked them up and actively made opportunities for them) or a mentor (someone who had been assigned as a mentor to that person and thereby supported them, gave them advice, etc.). Several of the women also attributed their success simply to being in the right place at the right time.
The talk was thought provoking and got me musing quite a bit around the subject. What about people who succeed in the absence of a mentor or sponsor? Do men also become successful through the support of sponsors and mentors? What effect does part-time working have on success?
Other things that Hoskins touched on were:
The effect that one's schooling can have on success. Those who are educated privately have a far higher chance of becoming successful. Did grammar schools give opportunities (or a leg up) to those who showed promise in a way that today's comprehensive system does not?
How should we deal with the fact that women feel less confident about seeking out promotion than men?
Being middle class gives you privilege and opportunities, which, on the face of it, is a good thing. But there is a flip side. A child who comes from a middle class background will very much feel the weight of expectation to do well and to succeed. But what if their aspirations are different from those of their parents? Or what if they have no desire to become successful? In that case, this weight of expectation may become disabling rather than enabling.
All big, important questions, which, I'm sure you will agree, are very interesting to consider...
I had a lovely birthday weekend a couple of weeks ago, and felt very spoilt as the celebration extended over two days!
On the Saturday, we visited Lacock Abbey, a
National Trust property in Wiltshire. Some of you may know that some
scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed in parts of the old
abbey. The cloisters were used, and one of the abbey rooms served as the potions classroom in the early films. At the time of
filming, one of our friends was the house steward for Lacock and had to
admonish Alan Rickman for repeatedly bursting through the ‘potions room’
door! (The repeated impact was causing damage
to the ancient wood.) All of this was highly entertaining fare for our
kids, of course.
Despite the fact that the weather was wet and
miserable, we had a great time at Lacock. The house itself is beautiful
and exemplifies several different periods of architecture. The abbey was
also home to pioneer photographer William Henry Fox Talbot in the 1800s, and so there is an interesting photography
exhibition on site. The National Trust owns not only the abbey, but also
Lacock village, which we thoroughly enjoyed wandering round. We
especially enjoyed the opportunity to explore inside one
of the ancient houses in the village (currently a gift shop) and to
visit the old tithe-barn, which is particularly impressive. We also
enjoyed lunch (and tea) in the NT café – the food comes highly
recommended.
On the Sunday, we ate out at a local Thai
restaurant – the Zabb Thai in Abingdon. The food was delicious, the
venue small and intimate, and the owner very pleasant and friendly. I
would definitely recommend the Zabb Thai for all lovers
of Thai food out there. And the kids loved it too!
On Saturday afternoon, we went to see Hetty Feather at the Oxford Playhouse. It was our
youngest daughter who was so keen to see this, being a firm Jacqueline Wilson fan,
and we weren’t altogether sure what to expect. However, we all enjoyed the show.
It was very imaginatively produced and rather acrobatic, with actors making full
use of ladders, aerial ribbons, and an aerial hoop, which is always impressive
to watch. The only downside was the amount of whispering and sweet wrapper rattling
during the show. Inevitable, I suppose, in a theatre full of kids.
On Sunday, we were invited to a dedication celebration for a
friend’s baby. This began with the dedication ceremony, which was part of the regular
Sunday morning service at Trinity
Church in Abingdon. Trinity is a Methodist/United Reformed church and one
thing I didn’t realise was that the hymns sung by Methodists are different (or
at least were different at this service) from those sung in a traditional C of
E church. I enjoy hymn singing, so was rather disappointed that I didn’t
recognise any of the hymns! Never mind.
The service was followed by a lovely three-course lunch in the Barn – the function
room at Abingdon’s Crown and Thistle Hotel. This was very enjoyable. The Barn
was beautifully and sympathetically restored, with lots of lovely old timber
and fairy lights wound around all the wooden struts – very pretty! The food was
excellent too. I had pumpkin soup, salmon, and a kind of Eton Mess with
cherries, all of which were delicious. Highly recommended!
There was an interesting article in the news last week about pay rates within the university sector.
We learnt that vice-chancellors at UK universities received average salary packages of £272,000 last year, marking an increase of £12,000 on the previous year. We also learnt that thousands of pounds more were spent on hotel accommodation and flights for vice-chancellors, with 50 per cent of flights being either first or business class.
The justification? 'The salaries of university leaders in the UK are ... comparable to similarly sized public and private organisations,' according to Universities UK.
Fair enough, you might think. But hang on a minute. What about those working at lower levels in UK universities? They certainly do not receive salaries comparable to people working in similar roles in the private sector. When entering the university sector, you do so in full knowledge of the fact that your salary will be lower than those working in similar roles in other sectors. It's just part of the deal. And there is absolutely no question that you will travel anything other than economy class, wherever you go -- assuming that your department has the budget for you to travel anywhere at all, that is.
A spokesperson for the University of Oxford said: '[the University's] research output is vast, it has more than £1bn a year in turnover, not including the colleges and Oxford University Press, and it has great institutional complexity. The vice-chancellor's salary reflects that.'
All of this is true, but it is no justification for the VC earning so much more than the University's other employees. After all, all of these people need to navigate the institution's complexity in order to do their jobs. And, let's face it, it's not the VC who brings in the research income or balances the University's books -- it's all those hard-working academics and administrators who are committed to their jobs, despite their pay being (often much) less than those working at a similar level in other sectors.
I am a creature of habit when it comes to clothes shopping. Once I've found a shop or product that I like, I stick with it. I don't enjoy searching for clothes, so this is a good solution for me.
However, what this means is that, when things change, I find myself rather at sea. Years ago, I used to buy work clothes from Laura Ashley, but then our local branch closed, and I had to find something else. I liked the Per Una label at M&S while it lasted, but after a few years it all but disappeared. My local branch of Monsoon closed recently, giving me yet fewer options for clothes shopping.
And now the same thing has happened with underwear. The only bras that you seem able to buy these days are like armour -- underwired, padded, moulded, you name it... Whatever happened to nice, soft, comfortable underwear? Surely I'm not the only person who thinks like this?!
