Author: nealpp

  • Anne’s Birthday at Harewood

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    Normally we go down to Chatsworth on Anne’s Birthday but she decided a change was in order so we went up to Harewood House (www.harewood.org). They don’t normally open in the winter and they’d decorated some of the state rooms, though the most interesting part was a collection of Royal Christmas cards sent to them…

  • Chatsworth at Christmas

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    Today we popped down to Chatsworth in Derbyshire (www.chatsworth.org) for our usual trip to look at the house in it’s Christmas adornments. Because of the ice and snow last year we couldn’t make it and it was a marked difference; mild, grey and rather miserable. Never mind, it was good to get here. The rooms…

  • Christmas Cake 2011

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    Made by Anne, to be tasted by Neal . . .  

  • Top Hat, Leeds Grand Theatre

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    Not got much time for a big blog post but just had to mention the superb Top Hat musical we saw this evening. It is the first time the famous Fred and Ginger film has been presented on stage, and it is currently touring before going to the West End. Starring was Tom Chambers, who…

  • Autumn at Harewood

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    nealpp
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    Had a run up to Harewood House today, though with it being half-term I realised it would be full of children! So, I decided to get there fairly early and wander over to the old church on the estate for some quiet (more info and pictures here http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/All-Saints-Church-Harewood-West-Yorkshire/). The church has been in the hands…

  • Tchaikovsky, The Queen of Spades, Opera North

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    Last night was a real treat. Never seen a Tchaikovsky opera live before and Opera North has been very bold this season in taking on The Queen of Spades. The scale in terms of production, cast and orchestra is huge and we were not disappointed! The Queen of Spades is based on a story by…

  • Mastering the Mac

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    Definite geeky post!! I’ve had the need to introduce a fairly old iMac into my office at work so I can keep up-to-date with iOS programming a member of staff is doing to make our elearning resources available on tablets like the iPad; getting ahead of the game hopefully! I’d not really been bothered about…

  • Harewood House

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    nealpp
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    With our unexpected day in Yorkshire as opposed to Cheshire, we decided to visit Harewood House (www.harewood.org); somewhere we’d not been for a while, and when we did it was in the winter and we’d not gone in the house. The day was drizzly again but not half as bad as yesterday so we started…

  • Knutsford and Tatton Park

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    For our ‘post open evening’ weekend away we wanted to visit Tatton Park as we’ve not been there outside the RHS flower show. For this we wanted to stay in Knutsford which is right next door. The place to stay we picked was the Rose and Crown just 2 minutes walk from the Knutsford gate…

  • Ruddigore

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    Just got around to posting a review of Opera North’s 2011 revival of last year’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore. This was actually the first Gilbert and Sullivan I’d seen, and I must say I was much impressed! The story is pretty complicated but involves a cursed family whose Baron at the time has…