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DEREK'S NEWS


Derek Harwood's News

If you have any queries about the pictures or descriptions e-mail me at: derek@harwoodonline.com

LATEST NEWS

December 4th December 2020
Walking the South West Coastal Path - Between 1999 to 2014 I walked the Coastal Path over 81 days . I have updated my website to include all the information. Please check it out. Click Here, for photographs of this amazing walk.

Saturday 21st December 2019
Neighbours Christmas Party - The annual Neighbours Christmas Party for 2019 was held at the Hilton Hotel, Warwick. The theme of the party was disco music from the 60's, 70's & 80's. A good time was had by all, with plenty of merry water and a taxi waiting at the end of the evening.Click Here, for more pictures of Derek's News>

21st April 2019
Cruise Holiday to New York on the Queen Mary 2 - Cruise holiday
from Southampton, England, to New York, USA, and return, on the Cunard Line Queen Mary 2, the world's only Cruise Liner. Specially designed ship to cater for the rough seas of the North Atlantic Click Here, for more pictures of the holiday to New York City, USA

Sunday 7th April 2013
Derek's 1,000th Walk - Ryton Roundabout - My friends, relations and well wishers congregated in the Old School Lay-by, Bubbenhall, to help me complete a memorable 1000th recorded walk and raise some charity funds for Myton Hospices. Click Here, for a description of Derek's 1,000th Walk - Bubbenhall, Warwickshire.

Saturday 5th February 2011
Auntie Betty's 90th Birthday Party - Betty Jonas celebrated her 90th Birthday with relations and friends at Lillington Club, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Click Here, for photographs of the celebrations.

Saturday 27th June 2009
Lillington Tower Outing 2009 - The 2009 annual Lillington Tower Outing was a lovely day to Buckinghamshire & The Chilterns. - Ringing at Brill Village, Cuddington Village, Haddenham Village, Monks Risborough & Chinnor. Click Here, for a description of the 2009 tower outing.

Sunday 5th October 2008
Quarter Peal - Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Doubles. Rang to celebrate the Harvest Festival Evensong. Click Here For photos and information.
Bell Ringing Homepage
Saturday 21st June 2008
Lillington Church June Jamboree - The 2008 annual Lillington Church June Jamboree. - This year the bell ringers organised an extreme sports event for teddies. Click Here, for photographs of the extreme sports.

8th 9th 15th March 2008 & 16th May 2008
L&DTTA Closed Championships - 2008 - Annual Event held at Sydenham Sports Hall for the preliminary rounds (8th & 9th March) and recently at the Kenilworth Wardens Sports Ground for the Finals Night (15th March). This year, for only the second time, the Presentation Evening was held at St Patrick's Club Adelaide Road.Click Here, for a description and photos of L&DTTA Closed Championships - 2008.

Saturday 10th May 2008
Lillington Tower Outing 2008 - The 2008 annual Lillington Tower Outing was to Cambridgeshire. - The first tower visited was St. Ives, All Saints from 10:00am to 10:45am, on the banks of the Great Ouse River near the town centre. The second tower was a short distance upstream to Hemingford Grey. We rang at the stumpy tower of St. James from 11:15 am to 12:00 noon, again on the banks of the River Great Ouse. Many pleasure boats cruised past as we rang. From Hemingford Grey we continued the short distance upstream along pleasant village lanes to Hemingford Abbots, St. Margaret 12:15 to 1:00 pm. After ringing we all had our lunch at the Axe & Compass public house close to the church in the centre of the village. After lunch we travelled along the A14 trunk road to the town of Huntingdon. Here we rang at St. Mary's near the centre of the town. Parking is always difficult in a strange town and Huntingdon is no exception. We were scheduled to ring from 2:45pm to 3:30pm, but the access to the ringing chamber was very difficult up the very uneven and damaged spiral staircase. Our last ring of the day from 4:00pm to 4:45pm was at St Mary Magdalene Church, Brampton. We finished the ringing day with the customary group photograph, before a pleasant journey back to Lillington. Thanks to Martyn for a lift. Great to be the navigator for a change. Click Here, for a description of the 2008 tower outing.

14th February 2008
Leamington & Coventry Table Tennis Teams - During the Table Tennis Season 2007/2008, Derek faced many teams from the Leamington & District Association and the Coventry & District Association. Here is a selection of photographs of some of the many teams (or players) who faced Derek across the green table top. Click Here, for photos of some of the many teams during the Season 2007/2008.

Bell Ringing Homepage
26th October 2007
GEC / Marconi Reunion Lunch - GEC / Marconi Reunion Lunch at the Queen's Head Public House, Bretford Village, near Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Geoff Badcoe organises the lunch at regular quarterly or bi-monthly intervals. Most of the diners are ex transmission engineers, who started their careers on outside staff, installing or commissioning transmission equipment into BT (Post Office) telephone exchanges. Great to see the old smiling faces again, they haven't changed a bit. Well, just the odd wrinkle here and there. Definitely more relaxed without the pressures from Cliff Marriot, Bernard Lawson etc. Click Here, for photos of many of the lunches over the past few years.

1st October 2007
Rugby Town during The Rugby World Cup - Rugby Town, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, during the Rugby Football World Cup. Held in France September and October 2007. Rugby Town is where the game originated. On the Rugby School playing field, called 'The Close'. When, in 1823, William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran towards the goal. All the players shouted 'Stop him'. This is where and when the game for men was born. Is it true that all True Rugby Players should drink a pint of beer in the William Webb Ellis Public House, Warwick Street, Rugby? Click Here, for photos of Rugby Town, Rugby School, The Close, William Webb Ellis Statue, etc.

21st July 2007
Andrew & Michelle's Wedding Reception - Andrew & Michelle's Wedding Reception, a perfect occasion for the 'Burrows Family'. The wedding took place at Gretna Green, Scotland, with a few close family & friends. The reception was at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium in Cudworth. Click Here, for photos of the Wedding Guests and an evening to remember.

14th to 17th May 2007
Lillington Church Bells & Clock Restoration - Lillington St Mary Magdalene Church Bells - The final stage of the restoration was to install all the new and refurbished bell & clock parts back into the bell chamber and ringing chamber respectively. Only the bell frame and the actual bells had remained in the bell tower. The other bell parts had been transported to the Nicholson Engineering factory at Bridport, Dorset. The clock was refurbished by a different contractor. After restoration, all the fittings were transported from the works and back into the tower. Click Here, for photos of the clock & bell assembly, also final finished bells ready for ringing.

Bell Ringing Homepage
21st April 2007
Lillington Tower Outing 2007 - The 2007 annual Lillington Tower Outing was to Buckinghamshire. - The first tower visited was Newport Pagnell Saints Peter & Paul from 10:00am to 10:45am, on the banks of the Great Ouse River near the town centre. The second tower was a short ride down the A509 road to Olney village. We rang at Saints Peter and Paul from 11:30am to 12:15pm. After ringing we all had our lunch at Olney before travelling to the other side of the Great Ouse River to ring at Clifton Reynes village church, Saint Mary the Virgin. We were scheduled to ring from 2:30pm to 3:15pm, but after we rang the bells up and started to ring rounds, the tenor stay broke, so we had to abort the ringing and continue our travels to Yardley Hastings. Our last ring of the day from 3:45pm to 4:15pm was at St Andrew Church, before a pleasant trip back to Lillington.Click Here, for a description of the tower outing.

15th March 2007
Derek Wins the John Harwood Memorial Cup - 2007 - Annual Event forming part of the Leamington and District Table Tennis Association (L&DTTA) Closed Championships. This year (2007) is the third year this cup has been contested by the 'Over 60s Veteran Singles'. The first year the cup was won by Bert Banks (St Georges) and last year (2006) by Graham Hoskins (Colbridge). This year was my second attempt to win the cup, losing last year to Graham Hoskins in the semi-finals. Click Here, for a description and photos of Derek's efforts to win the competition.

10th 11th 24th March 2007 & 18th May 2007
L&DTTA Closed Championships - 2007 - Annual Event recently held at Sydenham Sports Hall for the preliminary rounds (10th & 11th March) and for over thirty years at the Warwickshire County Council Staff Club Canteen for the Finals Night (24th March). This year, for the first time, the Presentation Evening was held at St Patrick's Club Adelaide Road.Click Here, for a description and photos of L&DTTA Closed Championships - 2007.

12th to 16th February 2007
Lillington Church Bells Restoration - Lillington St Mary Magdalene Church Bells - After many months of planning, obtaining official permission and raising funds, the work started on 12th February 2007 to restore all the bells. All the current ringers assisted Nicholson Engineering of Bridport, Dorset, to remove all the fittings from the tower for transportation to the works for re-furbishment or replacement.Click Here, for photos of the heavy works involved transporting the bell headstocks and bell wheels etc from the bell chamber, down the tower and across the churchyard to the Nicholson van.

Sunday 11th February 2007
Quarter Peal - Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Minor. Rang to celebrate the birth of Ellen Taulbut on 21st January 2007. This quarter peal is the last rang before the major restoration works. See items above and below. Click Here For more photos and information.

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Tuesday 6th February 2007
Preparation for Lillington Bells Restoration - The last major work in the tower was in 1927, when the three old bells (cast in 1480, 1625 & 1675) were augmented to eight and hung in a new bell frame. After eighty years constant use, all the moving parts are very worn and so the project to re-hang the bells was started. The first phase of the works is to construct a jib from the top of the tower to lower the bell parts to the ground from the belfry. The same jib will be used to raise the bell parts back into the belfry after the re-furbishment of the worn parts. Click Here For more photos and information.

Tuesday 16th January 2007
Ricoh Stadium - Coventry Football Club - Derek's first visit to Coventry's new Ricoh Stadium to see a Football Association 3rd Round Cup match against Bristol City. Although Bristol were in a league below Coventry, the result was not easy to forecast because Coventry have lost most of their previous dozen matches and were not in good form. For more photographs of the stadium, Click Here, or for the Official Coventry City Website and the latest league & cup news Click Here.

Sunday 14th January 2007
Tom at Leamington - Always pleased to see little Tom at Leamington. Growing up fast, always new experiences of life to enjoy. For more photos Click Here

Saturday 6th January 2007
Bredon Hill - Overbury Worcestershire - Enjoyable walk in the rain with Brother-in-law Eddie to the ancient hillfort and summit. Eddie is slowly and surely climbing to the summits of all the hills and mountains in the British Isles. He has successfully completed all the Munros' and the adjacent 'Tops'. So he has now turned his attention to Corbetts', Grahams', and Marilyns'. Breden Hill was Eddie's 1325th mountain or hill. Click Here or go to Walking Section number 689 for a description and photographs of the walk.

Click Here for 2006 News
Click Here for 2005 News
8th November 2006 - Tom at Leamington - Tom & Granny

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Derek Harwood: Copyright 2020
Devised: March 2004
Revised: April 2020