April 21, 2023 by Mike Madden
Horace Comes Home
Waiting For Wildlife
A month or so after completion the dead hedge has not seen too much action – other than the wrong kind of birds!
There seems to have been a lot of shifting of moss, and as we come towards spring I think the activity should increase significantly.
Meanwhile, regular readers will no doubt recall the array of hedgehogs we had last year. This year we have had more activity, and perhaps one of the babies has grown. He seems quite a large chap!
Shortly before the hedgehog, this very skittish critter appeared, no doubt wary of the presence of Bo!
I have placed plenty of bird treats throughout the garden as well as some shiny discs to deter the crows (I knew those CDs would come in handy one day). Hoping to have a few more visitors when the weather warms up.
St Guinness Day
St Patrick’s Day is always one to be celebrated with Guinness and cake, and this year was no exception. I made an Irish stew with soda bread, and of course St Patrick’s Day cake.
The crustiest soda bread in the world!
St Patrick’s Day cake
Turkey Taste Test
Elsewhere in the kitchen, I stumbled upon a real crowd-pleaser with turkey slices. These are “Gregg’s quality” according to Ole, and even Zac is a fan.
Home-made turkey burgers with home-made burger sauce have featured a lot recently. This is partly because of the healthier nature of turkey mince, and partly because Zac actually eats a whole one, though he does make his own sauce with ketchup, mayo and more ketchup.
Voluptuous Volcanoes
Another experiment that did not last very long was chocolate fondants, also known as lava cakes, with custard, cream, or just as they are. Disappeared within minutes!
Finally, we cranked up the wood-fired oven for the first time this year. Pizzas, chicken and sausages all came out very well. I think I am getting the hang of it now!
Duchess And Dandylion
It is an exciting time to be a racehorse owner, and we took a trip to Malton and Upper Helmsley to see our horses. First up was Habton Grange where Tim Easterby is looking after Emerald Duchess and Lady Dandylion.
Emerald Duchess is still recovering from her injury, but she did seem pleased to see us.
(Pic thanks to Edwina Currie)
Lady Dandylion looked magnificent, and although she is not quite ready to race, we should see her in action in May.
The syndicate really enjoyed the tour of Tim’s facilities, and particularly Lady Dandylion on the gallops. It was certainly a family affair, with the legendary Peter Easterby on hand as well as Tim’s son William.
We left them with gypsy creams and look forward to seeing them at the track.
The Star Is Back
Over at Willow Farm it was a brief visit as David O’Meara was on his way back from Dubai. We found Star Of Lady M to be in good spirits, and she should be making her seasonal return at Thirsk on 22nd April. She will have been off for 236 days, and so this race will be a good opportunity to blow the cobwebs away, and to prepare her for the challenges ahead.
Second Syndicate
I did a presentation for High Peak Business Club on racehorse ownership – and particularly Star Of Lady M. Despite a few technical hitches it seemed to go well, and it was an appropriate time to launch a new syndicate.
This will not be actioned until September, and only if I get 40 names to each buy a share. The cost will be £975 per share, and that will cover the purchase price plus one year of training fees. After a year the horse may be sold or trained for another year – depending upon what the syndicate decides. The 40 shareholders would each own 2% with the trainer retaining 20%. The benefits include watching the initial auction (online or in person), stable visits, prize money, days at the races, and even the chance to name the horse. If you are interested please let me know.
There have been some injuries in the house lately, with Ole first up suffering ruptured ligaments at football. He didn’t help himself by going out dancing the same evening, but when the doctor examined his x-ray he confirmed that nothing was broken. Given that he is relatively young and fit he should heal normally with no further treatment. Lady M is not so lucky. She fell off Nancy, though I think that if it was a horse race the correct term would be “Brought Down”. She is left with a swollen knee and a damaged air jacket. A replacement hat is essential, and she will need to install a new gas canister for her protective clothing. She has been resting and icing her injury, in between bouts of gardening and tending to her horse. If she went to the doctor, which she won’t, I think he would frown upon this prolonged activity.
Kitchen Karma
Sally has been tinkering with the oven recently, and her “one-pot” method can be a bit of an acquired taste. Ole remarked that whatever was in the oven smelt quite nice, but Zac was quick to reply. “It might smell nice, but you can’t trust mum’s cooking”.
Eggsasperating!
Sally seems to have a perennial problem with Easter eggs. She tends to buy them in bulk, particularly once Easter has passed, and she puts them into her “chocolate cupboard”. Ole and Zac have known this for quite some time, and so they frequently dip into the cupboard to satisfy their chocolate cravings. Zac is particularly bad for this, and he had to replace two eggs that he demolished. Unfortunately, before the replacements could make it into the cupboard, he ate one of those too.
Also in the cupboard are several boxes of biscuits. The problem here is that biscuits have a relatively short shelf life, and I noticed the other day that a box had expired. However, as it was only by a couple of weeks I put them into the biscuit tin. Once the boys found out they did not last long, and when I pointed out that the Easter eggs may also have expired they were attacked too. Now, part of this is sheer gluttony and a lack of willpower on the part of the boys, but part of it is definitely the insistence of Sally to buy anything that is a bargain. It is approximately 50 weeks until Easter, and we must have at least half a dozen Easter eggs stashed away.
Cat In The Clouds
Bo has discovered that she has the ability to leap great heights, and she has taken to tucking herself away on the top of cupboards to keep an eye on those below. It can be quite disconcerting when a cat suddenly lands at your side when you least expect it.
You can read the previous edition here
When Is A Hedge Not A Hedge? (when its a Dead Hedge!)
August 2, 2018 by Mike Madden
The Billerettes
This article first appeared in the High Peak Review.
When Bill Weston dressed as Luther Billis from South Pacific to appear in the 1974 Buxton Carnival, he could not have predicted the chain of events that will ultimately lead to the 1,000th performance of his majorette troupe The Billerettes at this year’s Buxton Carnival.
Bill was part of the amateur dramatics society that were performing South Pacific at the Buxton Opera House, and they had a float in the carnival. Bill is not keen on floats, so he travelled on a scooter and quickly got to the front of the carnival procession. He noticed that many of the majorettes were simply going through the motions, and they did not have the enthusiasm and excitement on their faces that would normally be associated with a carnival day. This was certainly no Mardi Gras, and Bill decided that he would set up his own majorette troupe for the following summer.
He got together with two friends, rustled up some uniforms, and that was that. No rehearsals, it was just a case of “follow the leader”, and Bill was adept in that role. The performance was warmly received, and as far as Bill was concerned, that was the end of it. Buxton Carnival, however, had other ideas, so there was another performance in 1976, and then again for the Queen’s Jubillee in 1977 when they were dressed in smart red, white and blue outfits.
Although each performance was supposed to be the end of the adventure, in 1979 they appeared at a Café Continental gathering as part of the carnival, and by this time their fame had spread. Bill dug out an old sewing machine, and adopted the now familiar orange colour as he made costumes for the entire troupe. The intention was to ensure that the costumes did not present the troupe as drag artists, these were actually men dressed as women majorettes, and the result was phenomenal.
In the audience for the 1979 performance were the production team from the television show The Innes Book Of Records, and they were interested in getting The Billerettes to perform during the show. At first they were looking at a 20 second slot in the background, with some children picking flowers as Neil Innes sang in the foreground, but this led to an additional three minute slot for a subsequent show, in which they came out of the Doctor Who tardis to perform.
Bookings were beginning to take off, and Bill found that he had a growing list of willing participants. Each show required eight to twelve performers, and he had around 25 to choose from. In these early days they performed approximately six shows per year, but this quickly progressed to upwards of fifty at their peak. Today they will do around thirty to forty shows per year.
With the thousandth show approaching, I asked Bill why he keeps on doing it. “That is simple,” he said. “It makes people smile and it makes people laugh, and in the moment when someone is laughing it is impossible to think of anything bad. Laughter is like a medicine.”
After 999 shows you may think that The Billerettes would be like a well oiled machine, but this is far from the case. The troupe have rehearsed just three times in 35 years. They generally turn up at the last minute, work out where to stand, and then just follow Bill’s lead. It may seem a bit haphazard, but it works just fine. Traditionally, Bill rings round his twenty or so contacts a week before an event, just to find out whether he will have three performers or a dozen or more. For carnival performances they simply follow the carnival band. They have no prior knowledge of the music that will be played, so they just make it up as they go along.
On a carnival day there is always the procession followed by a performance of The Billerettes, but they have also performed in many other arenas, including at 26 weddings. For Bill they are always memorable performances, but the first time they appeared at Crewe theatre was particularly special. “We arrived 15 minutes before the curtain went up which gave us the luxury of a run through first,“ Bill explained. “As soon as we got on stage we just gelled. The audience loved it, because the rest of the show was filled with nice dance acts, and this gave them a kind of relief.” Buxton Carnival will always be Bill’s favourite, and for a very special reason. “When I perform at Buxton, to paraphrase Al Jolson, its my town,” he said.
Although the theme to The Billerettes is men dressed as women majorettes, his daughter appeared as mascot in 1978, and several wives and girlfriends have also featured, firstly as flag bearers, and then as Billerettes in their own right when numbers were a little sparse. In fact, one couple met whilst performing with The Billerettes, and a few years later got married in full Billerette uniforms.
Alongside The Billerettes, Bill is chairman of the High Peak Mayoral Charities organisation, a position he has held for 15 years, and he is the Charity Steward for a variety of Masonic organisations. He is also involved in Liberation Day with the police, Emergency Services Day, and he is an active assistant at St Ann’s Primary School. He still finds time to be Town Crier as well as an after dinner speaker, and he was deservedly awarded the MBE by the Queen in 2004 for his “Outstanding Contribution To The Community Of Buxton In Derbyshire”.
Over the years The Billerrettes have had 420 performers, including notable celebrities such as Liz Dawn and Matthew Kelly, though Mr Kelly caused a problem as he never does anything without a rehearsal. Every one of these, and indeed every Billerette show, has been meticulously recorded by Bill in “The Billerette Chronicles”, a series of pages that Bill is being urged to publish. Incredibly, Bill has missed just 3 Billerette performances, and that is only because they were performing in majorette competitions at which he was an organiser and one of the judges. He is also writing “Men In Skirts”, a history of The Billerettes, and his autobiography is ready and waiting to be snapped up by a publisher.
The 1,000th performance will be notable, but it will pass with little or no fuss, as is Bill’s way. There will be a party afterwards, and he is hoping to be joined in the parade by some of the performers from yesteryear. The Billerettes have performed at Old Trafford, the MEN Arena and many other large venues. They have also been seen by millions of viewers in 110 countries on television, but Bill is rightly proud that the 1,000th performance will be at his home town of Buxton on 16th July. For more information on The Billerettes please visit www.billerettes.org.uk.