Oxborough Hall

Today we visited Oxborough Hall in Norfolk. This is a splendid moated Tudor house owned by the National Trust. The Bedingfield family has lived here for 500 years.

We ate at Hingham in a small cafe where we had been before.  Hingham is where Abraham Lincoln's ancestors came from. It is between Norwich and Watton. It is a lovely place.

See http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oxburgh-hall
See http://www.lincolns-of-hingham.co.uk/

Swallows - at last

Yesterday, I was questioning if the number of swallows returning on migration was down as I had seen none so far in East Anglia, although there are daily sightings in Devon.

Well, today I saw 2 in Norfolk. By this time in April I have usually seen several, but not this year. I am sure numbers are down. At least I have now seen some.

Fewer Swallows?

Usually by this time I have seen quite a few swallows here in East Anglia, UK. They migrate from deep in Africa and I usually see them here from April 7th. In South Devon they are usually arriving by the beginning of April.

Swallow (Barn Swallow)

I know there are swallows around in Devon - they appear every day in the reports - but I am surprised not to have seen any up here yet. I may have seen one last week at Felixstowe Ferry but I was not certain. I definitely saw a house martin.

So, I am beginning to wonder if there are fewer swallows about this year as by now I would be seeing them quite commonly on telegraph wires. Of course, it could just be that I have been unlucky.

Swallows usually fly south from mid-September. They take a long and hazardous trip twice each year. Their forefathers have been doing this for thousands of years. I hope they still do long after I am gone. It is quite humbling really.

See http://www.rspb.org.uk/…/discover…/birdguide/name/s/swallow/ .

BBC's weak attempts at regional accents

At 1200-1215pm local time BBC Radio 4 has a series looking back 100 years to ordinary people in WW1.

Call me a grumpy old man, but I get appalled by the BBC's weak attempts at local regional accents. It really grates on me. It is not just the BBC. Why can't they get rural accents right? You can always tell a BBC Radio 4 drama a mile off! I guess they assume most listeners won't notice or care.

I watched the film "Warhorse" . It was appalling: a Dartmoor, Devon village was actually filmed in Wiltshire I think. It looked nothing like Devon. The Devon accents were very very bad. No excuses: they spend millions making these films and need to get the basics right.

No, get the accents right please!

Front Garden in Spring

This is a photo of our front garden yesterday. The windmill is in view on the right. Spring has nearly sprung: all the trees are now starting to look green or are in bud. Mind you, we still had a frost on Sunday morning.

Spring sunshine

Today started with a frost and ice on the car roof, but it has been sunny all day. The garden is still not in its "spring glory" yet, but it soon will be. There are buds or leaves appearing everywhere at last.

I like the lighter evenings too. It does not get dark here now until after 8pm. In June it is light until after 10pm.

Soon be time to hear swifts screaming in the evening sky. Great.

EU referendum

There is a poor quality debate on this matter. We vote on whether or not to remain in the EU in less than 10 weeks but the quality of the arguments is very poor.

The UK has looked towards the EU as a common market and never with a view to a political union. Many in Europe see it as a way to keep peace in Europe. At the moment I am still inclined to vote "IN" but the politicians here are certainly not winning hearts and minds on either side.

The debate needs to be more positive! All I hear are fear and uncertainty.