Steve's trip to Avening
Saturday & Sunday 6th & 7th November 1999
Well, here I am, back in London after a WONDERFUL weekend
spent with Columba & Susan Powell at Lee Cottage in Avening.
I had arranged to meet them in the pub in Avening - but there turned
out to be two pubs !! I phoned them but they weren't at home so I
took a short walk down to Avening church.
That's the church where Michael & Thelma got married. Some of you might
have seen the film of that ("Directed" by Columba) with Michael &
Thelma swinging on the gate. I thought about asking Columba & Susan
to emulate them later, but the gates didn't look too strong :)
Michael's grave gives his name, dates & says "Film Director and
Optimist" which I think is lovely. The stone was designed by Columba.
Pamela's grave had a little plastic tub by it & remembering that
(in MDM) Michael had said that she liked wild flowers I looked
around for some. But November isn't the best time to find
wild flowers.
As I had hoped Michael & Pamela lie side by side.
I then tried phoning again & they were in (they'd been shopping)
and we sorted out which pub to meet at (The Bell) and a short while
(and a half pint) later I saw Columba walking up the hill with a
Welsh Collie by his side. It turns out that the cottage is only a
short distance from the pub (useful) on the edge of the village.
I drove into the gate and there it was, the cottage that I'd seen in
pictures & "home movies" of when Michael lived there with Pamela.
A lovely shiver went down the spine :)
I unloaded my bags & went in to greet Susan & thank them both for
inviting me. I know that sorting out their computer was of value to
them but I thought it was a minor thing to do compared to the friendliness
and hospitality they bestowed on me - I always have difficulty on
putting a value on what I can offer !!
Anyway, I walked in and there it was. Imagine a small stone cottage, 2 up,
2 down but with every available wall, upstairs as well as downstairs
FULL
of books on every subject imaginable. We knew that Powell was an
erudite man and here it was - all his favourite reading & reference books
in front of me. To quote young Dickie Attenborough in AMOLAD "This
is heaven isn't it"
There was lots, lots more ...
[But I'll excise the details as we don't want to detail the contents
of friend's houses too much do we?]
And then there was Columba and Susan (and the dog) themselves.
Wonderful people, we chatted for hours. I had taken down a few of the
books from my collection. They'd seen most of them but not all. Oddly,
they'd never seen the Blimp book with all the Churchill papers and the
full script showing the original & final versions.
As Susan had expressed an interest in Gina's web site about the Jaques
Fath dresses that Moira wore in TRS I'd printed that out (in case I
couldn't get them online).
I told Columba that you'd suggested some "nice stripey pyjamas" in
memory of his role in "Peeping Tom" Derek - and he loved the thought
but was glad I hadn't actually got them :)
They told me that they tended to regard the house & contents as a
bit of a museum (but not a shrine) and were gradually sorting everything
out.
After a nice bit of lunch I thought it was time to start "earning
my keep" I went to work on their computer. An Apple iMac, they
were mainly worried in case it was the modem that had died, especially
as it was just out of warranty. I was soon able to show that the modem
was OK but their internet connection (via Demon) wasn't set up
very well. That and a noisy phone line (and maybe some problems
with Demon) meant it was a slow connection & kept dropping the line.
I got them set up as best as I could and showed them a few bits &
pieces - like where the IMDb has a page for Columba which records
his film appearances and his childhood nickname <G>
I'll be getting back on to Demon & will hunt around for some other
stuff to improve their connection.
By then it was getting a bit late so we put on our glad rags and
went off to this lovely little restaurant. All organic and
delicious. A roquefort soufflé with pears, then a lovely bit
of salmon followed by a rich chocolate ice cream. All helped
along with a couple of bottles of wine. Gosh, it's not easy
being a hedonist :)
Back to the cottage where we nattered into the small hours.
When we'd met (briefly) at Canterbury, Columba had though I was
about 10 years younger than him (it must be my boyish good
looks <G>) In fact he's only a year older than me. So even
when I wasn't paying homage to the works of P&P we had lots
of other shared references to compare about growing up in
those times.
I'd made it clear to them from the beginning that although I'm
a devotee of their work I never hesitate to point out the (few)
times when I do think they may have made mistakes so we were
able to have a more honest talk about things like why Michael
was so wicked to some people. (We decided it was mainly because
he was such a perfectionist & drove himself so hard towards his
ideals that if anyone else didn't have the same drive & dedication
he didn't think much of them. Often cruel but that's the way
he was)
And so to bed. I did somehow manage to get some sleep despite
the high level of excitement (and wine).
I awoke at about 9am and as the other two didn't look like stirring
for a while (it had been a frantic night) I made myself tea & found
some bread & cheese (years of batchelordom mean I'm capable of surviving
on my own <G>) & did a bit more tidying up on their computer.
They staggered downstairs at about 10 and I showed them what I'd
got their machine to do. Convinced them it wasn't a problem with
the modem (so wasn't going to be expensive) and it was just a
matter of setting it up right and tuning rather than major surgery.
We settled down for a full(er) breakfast and then started to go through
various other things ...
[Again the details of what's there have been excised. They were burgled
recently & we don't want to encourage that sort of thing by detailing
the contents which probably don't have a high monetary value (the
burglars didn't take anything, just did some damage) but are invaluable
to people like us]
A bite of lunch and a walk with Columba and the dog up to their
local long barrow (burial mound). Oh, did I say that the village
is right on the edge of Princess Anne's place (Gatcombe Park) so
almost every field is set up as an eventing (cross country on
horseback) course :)
But then the days end approached much too quickly. After a fond
farewell I packed up and headed back to London. I called them
when I got home to say I'd got there OK & to thank them again
for their hospitality and they told me they'd found that I'd
left my camera behind !! Typical.
I said that the camera itself wasn't too valuable but that it
had the photos of the graves, the church & the cottage.
When it arrived Columba had written a short note on the back
of this Peeping Tom postcard
One odd thing I noticed when I got the photos developed
was this photo of the graves.
What's that wraith like apparition?
Was somebody watching me? :)
Lovely people, a lovely place and a lovely time and I hope to
see them again as soon as I can.
Other P&P trips
