phil | Christine Lucas

On our journey north towards our bed for two nights, I planned an excursion to Grizedale Forest. It was the perfect opportunity to look for the colours of autumn. However, the day dawned grey and oppressive. Indeed all weekend the weather forecast was for heavy cloud cover.

Grizedale is the UK’s first sculpture forest and while David and I walked the route towards Carron Crag we looked for sculptures en-route.

17 Degree South, Linda Watson, 1997

The walk to Carron Crag took two hours. There are many other walks, some strenuous, others less so. Our visit was brief but Grizedale is definitely a place to re-visit. Have you been? What did you think of the place?

Grizedale was an hours drive from our B&B, Hermiston Guest House. Hermiston is situated in the quiet village of Braithwaite, just 10 minutes drive from Keswick. On arrival we were met at the door by Helen who welcomed us inside. She carried my suitcase and showed us to our room, Skiddaw. The room was well appointed, in neutral colours with an en-suite (the shower was lovely!) The window opened to glorious views of the Skiddaw mountain range.

While we chatted about my wild swims over coffee, tea and cake in the guest lounge, Helen informed us that she had left me a gift for my birthday from herself and husband Phil. I was astounded by their generosity. They had gifted a bottle of bucks fizz! I was warmed by their kindness!

Hermiston Guest Lounge

David and I had planned on an early rise the next morning, meaning we would miss breakfast. Helen offered to make me a fruit salad to take on my travels, which I kindly accepted.

Even breakfast the day after was a relaxed and friendly affair. Phil served the meals and friendly chatted to the guests, showing real interest and giving suggestions on places to visit. Helen and Phil made us feel very welcome in their home. David and I really enjoyed our stay and would recommend their B&B. It would be nice to visit again in the future.

I can’t wait to write up and tell you all about my next adventure. Our full day in the Lake District was EPIC! 14 hours of wondrous sights and experiences! Do continue to follow me as I recount my short but wonderful trip to Cumbria.

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

I had been excited about attending this concert for some time. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and chief conductor Vasily Petrenko had earlier in the week been wowing the audience at the Royal Albert Hall, London in the biannual Classic FM Live. Friday’s programme borrowed heavily from their earlier London performance, though sadly Petrenko did not return to Liverpool with his glittering sequinned jacket which he wore in celebration of Classic FM’s Make Some Noise charity.

Vasily Petrenko Picture: Ian West/PA

David and I were in the cheap seats in the upper circle. The auditorium filled up nicely, but was not a full house as Thursday’s performance of the same programme was. I was thankful for this and we enjoyed a unobstructed view of the orchestra!

View from our seats

After the National Anthem, the orchestra started the evening as they meant to go on with a Celebration Overture composed by Nigel Hess and commissioned for the Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary! It was a fun opening to the concert though I was more interested in what came next.

Ji Liu who had also graced the stage of the Royal Albert Hall with Petrenko and co on Tuesday, came to Liverpool to perform Rachmaninov’s ultimately romantic second Piano Concerto!

Ji Liu

It is undoubtedly my favourite piano concerto! I love the lyricism of the piece and the second movement (adagio sostenuto) is spine tingly good. Ji Liu cuts a very slender frame on the stage and at times during the performance the piano seemed too small for him, (if that make’s any sense)! He played the piece deftly and with skill.

During the opening movement (moderato), I found that the orchestra seemed to drown out the piano at times. I have noted this earlier in my review of Nobuyuki Tsujii‘s performance of Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto. Perhaps this was why the orchestra was surrounded by padding that adorned the walls? In part to rectify the change in acoustics due to the earlier renovations? Either way, the performance was exceptional.

While Ji Liu took the audience into the slow, second movement, made famous by David Lean’s Brief Encounter, I prepared myself to be swept away with romantic feeling. However the reality was that any sentimental musings were disrupted by some unfortunate, who coughed and retched about five minutes into this musical reverie. I imagined the poor stricken soul expiring in his chair. I gripped David’s arm hoping the gentleman would recover or graciously leave the auditorium. He thankfully recovered so we could all enjoy the remaining performance which culminated in Ji Liu coming onto the stage three times to raucous approval and then satisfying the appreciative crowd with his rendition of Skyfall.

After the interval, the Philharmonic continued their celebratory mood, with Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, Vaughan William’s English Folk Song Suite and Verdi’s Aida march and ballet music. The concert was rounded off loudly with the much played 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. I would have loved this performance even more, if it were not for the recorded playback of cannons near the cymbal crashing culmination! To me it seemed a little forced. I was content with the wonderful playing of the percussion section whose bells sounded glorious!

Overall it was a fun concert to see and a great start to the Philharmonic’s new season. I look forward even more to Petrenko’s Mahler in November when the RLPO perform Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, a symphony very close to my heart!