<a href="http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img class="alignright wp-image-5846 size-medium" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/one-man-two-guvnors-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>A slow start to last week followed by a manic few days has meant that I haven't had time to update the website. I had the pleasure of going to see One Man, Two Guvnors as a <a href="http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NT Live streaming</a> event. I'm not a great fan of farce or slap stick however with James Corden front and centre he made the show work for me. It was hilarious and I spent the time laughing out loud despite the ridiculousness of the plot.

There were some great ad libs involving the audience and I'm disappointed that I never went to see it as a live show but I think it was a sell out show.

At the weekend I travelled up to Darlington to meet a new "friend". Fifty years ago I went to college just outside Darlington and is where I met Jane so there was huge potential for a nostalgia trip. The covered market is still there but the stall where Jane would exchange superman comics has sadly gone. Nothing stays the same. I stayed in the Bannatyne hotel; I wouldn't recommend it. When I came back late on Sunday evening after a day of heavy rain there were buckets in the corridors collecting water from the many leaks in the roof.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ad-astra-filmsep19.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5845 alignleft" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ad-astra-filmsep19-144x200.jpg" alt="" width="144" height="200" /></a>Visited Richmond on Saturday and had a delightful walk alongside the river with an impromptu picnic sitting in the graveyard of a medieval abbey (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easby_Abbey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Easby, St Agnes</a>) with the autumn sun warming the bones. For evening entertainment we went to see Ad Astra at the Richmond cinema housed in an old railway station. I had hoped for a film with the depth of "2001, A Space Odyssey" however it fell very short of that and was a long, drawn-out story of very little substance. I wouldn't recommend it.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Levens-Hall-TopiarySep19.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5844" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Levens-Hall-TopiarySep19-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>And on a very wet Sunday, we travelled over to the Lake District. Walked a short distance along Ullswater but it was raining too heavily for it to be called an enjoyable experience. The mists over the mountains remains enchanting whatever the weather. A quick drive down the M6 to visit <a href="https://www.levenshall.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Levens Hall</a> near Kendal. I last visited here in the 1970s with Jane's parents. The topiary has been here for over 300 years however the yew and box is under threat from a variety of new diseases that have infected our native trees as a possible consequence of global warming.

A late lunch in the cafe at Levens Hall was superb and worth a revisit at some time in the future.