Goodwood, Brooklands and Manics

ok just a quick update on the last couple of weeks. Last time I mentioned the Goodwood Revival. Well, unfortunately we picked the wrong day. I had been watching the forecasts from the previous weekend, at which point the Saturday was the wet day but as the week went on the Sunday became wetter and wetter. Unfortunately they were accurate and from 2 30 it pissed down. This year there was a 9 strong party; Tracy, the boys, sue and david, adam and my carer kadvi. Knowing the likely weather we positioned ourselves on the covered wheelchair viewing platform from where you get an okayish view (once you have reminded the row of people standing at the front of the enclosure that it's not a photography platform)

We arrived around 11 30 as usual, missing the first couple of races. I had come prepared with blankets, waterproof and hat, all of which were employed during the day. The boys weren't very interested this year and by the end of the day, I think every wheelchair visitor was well aware that playing xbox is greatly preferable to watching a "bunch of old cars drive in the rain", when you're a 12 year old boy.

The rest of the party were less vocal about any dissatisfaction and alternated with being with me and looking around the various period exhibits and shops. But by four o'clock the horizontal rain and gale force wind resulted in the first stage of an early retreat. Me, kadvi. Adam and david lasted another 30 minutes but decided to take advantage of a break in the rain, returning to the car. It was such a shame because on a late summer's day it's a magical place, but in the rain it's miserable. The journey home was very slow and despite kadvi doing a great job of supporting my head from the back seat, it was a horrible journey home. And at the time I said to myself "That's the last Revival I am going to". I am not so sure now, 2 weeks on.

Last week I continued the theme of historic cars with a trip to Brooklands. It's been  18 months since I last went so it was nice to go. They have recently moved the nearby bus museum there so there was something new to see. Although it's nice seeing someone else enjoy it, especially the opportunity to go on Concorde. The weather was beautiful and I had a lovely afternoon.

On Tuesday this week we went to see the Manic Street Preachers at Shepherds Bush Empire or as every venue now seems to be prefixed, the O2 Empire. It's a bit of a pain to get to but the wheelchair viewing platform is great. Sandra, my carer for this week, kindly agreed to drive which made parking easier and the journey more comfortable. The gig was brilliant; long term readers will know we are long standing Manics fans but this is probably the smallest venue we have seen them play. This was also the first gig for ages when it wasn't freezing cold which made it far easier for me. It's been so long since I have been out at night, that in itself was a treat.

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The song above is from the new album which has much more acoustic approach than previously but they played a good selection from their back catalogue and below are short clips of some of the other songs they played