Sir Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway
112

The many people who’ve commented that Project 60/60 is just a glorified canon of New Year resolutions are absolutely spot-on. (Where does the term spot-on come from?) Except that it is ‘glorified’, it starts in two days’ time rather than on January 1 and is intended to be a more life-affirming experience than giving up chocolate or ironing shirts more conscientiously.

Having said that, I do want to try and give up taking sugar in tea and coffee - and to train myself not to loathe any product with Diet or Good For You printed on its packaging quite so much.

I guess the only real difference is that the items on the 60/60 list are ‘grander’ and, with any luck, should make a difference to the way I see and understand Life, the Universe and Everything, as it were.

Anyway, I’m sooooo glad that so many truckshunters and regular nightshifters seem to be ‘in tune’ with Project 60/60; to know why I want to do it and why the items on the list were put there in the first place. Maureen’s certainly plugged into it with...

CATHEDRALS AND THEIR CITIES
A truly magnificent aim, Maureen - to visit every cathedral city in England and Scotland; why not Wales, though? St David’s is a real gem; it takes some getting to but it’s worth it when you finally arrive; a glorious cathedral in what is no more than a tiny village.

For what they’re worth, here are some of my thoughts recalled from my cathedral-bashing days. I’d be very interested to know how they compare to your impressions as you make your way round the country....

Southwell Minster is the cathedral of Nottinghamshire and Southwell is England’s smallest cathedral city. Again, it’s a bit off the beaten track but a real surprise when you get there. Worth every mile.

Another far-flung and (in my opinion) far too neglected masterpiece is Wells in Somerset - cathedral and city. It’s almost breathtakingly sedate, has one of the oldest residential streets of houses in Europe and a priceless ‘chain library’ - a rare mediaeval relic.

I found many celebrated cathedrals a little disappointing. Gloucester, Worcester and Norwich fall into this category, though it’s never easy to say exactly why this should be so. Maybe we’re just too used to the splendour of Durham! None of them seem to ‘dominate’ their cities in a way we would recognise!

Others, though, are genuine surprises. Nothing on earth can prepare you for the ‘shock and awe’ of Ely cathedral, for the ‘oddness’ of Exeter, for the inspired grace of Salisbury, the ‘cosiness’ of Chester, the brashness of Liverpool or the sheer inappropriateness of Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle cathedrals.

Enjoy them all. They are a very powerful legacy of our spiritual history and all of them, each in its own way, are works of art you can walk around in. As you go, tell us what you think of them, too.

Meanwhile, here are some of the next few items from the Project 60/60 list.

60/5
Begin to build up a DVD collection of ‘Ealing comedies...’
I’m a sucker for them - ALL of them. St Trinian's, Laughter in Paradise, Passport to Pimlico, The Ladykillers, The Titfield Thunderbolt, Lavender Hill Mob, Carlton-Browne of the FO....

60/6
Music: transfer LPs to CD
When you get to my age you’re almost bound to possess whole shelves full of LPs which you never listen to any more. I know it’s possible to transfer them to CD format; I’m just not sure about the best way to do it. But do it I must. Any advice or experience?

60/7
Join 'Silver Screen'
This is the discount movie club on offer to over-60s at our local civic cinema, the Tyneside. I’ll be there when the doors open on December 4 with my birth certificate in my hand....

60/8
Go swimming at least once a fortnight....
Simple, really. Thus...
1) I've always loved swimming - ever since my Nana taught me to swim at Seaton Carew baths.
2) I got out of the habit of swimming many, many years ago.
3) I need a lot more exercise.
4) Newcastle has quite a few good swimming pools.
QED.

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN

NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.

19 comments:

Sid said...

Ian, if you do a search for 'USB turntables' in Google (other options are available) you should find what you need.
I know that QVC the shopping channel have a choice of two, Amazon.co.uk have lots to choose from. As my gran used to say "you only get what you pay for". Some remove scratch/click/ hiss noises from the recording, others don't.
One word of caution though, check that whatever you go for is appropriate for your pc's operating system.
Good luck, you are heading for many hours nostalgia and thoughts such as "I forgot I had that".

Ian Robinson said...

Thanks Sid....

Maureen said...

Thanks for the advice Ian. I'll print it off and use it while planning my agenda. There's certainly food for thought there. I should have said that I've already started and I said England and Scotland as we tend to visit during short breaks. You are right though, Wales isn't so far away and I have already been to Chester Cathedral and got as far as Wrexham, so it's possible ...
I remember when we visited Lincoln I discovered that you can actually stay in what was the Prince Bishops' Palace within the Cathedral grounds. It had it's own little chapel and we ate in the refactory, lovely!

Maureen said...

Sorry I meant refectory, I think..Doh! Ian you can't use the spellcheck on this template, I've just realised!

Sid said...

Morning folks,
Ian, regarding your start to a DVD collection of the Ealing Comedies, can I point you in the direction of Amazon.co.uk
They have just about every Ealing comedy going. Some are about £20, (Carlton Browne of the F.O.) Others are £5,(The Titfield Thunderbolt). Hope this helps in your search.

Inga said...

HILDIE, your list of the most catchy [?] tunes was the cause of much hilarity last night :-). I enjoyed the advice on "How to Give a Cat a Pill" - ruined my eye make-up, that did!

Maureen said...

Hi, I've just read Sids' comment about the Ealing comedies and Amazon who I also recommend, along with Play.com (other stockists are available, etc!) Then I opened my emails to read that Simplyhe.co.uk who we've also used for hard-to-get DVDs (art/history etc) now have a free Movie Channel on SKY 341 and Freesat 308. I quote : "we bring the best British and American films from the 1930s through to the 1970s right into your living room." So there MIGHT be something decent to watch over Christmas!

Maureen said...

Do you see what's happening here? We're helping each other get the Christmas shopping in without having to go to the shops ... brilliant!
Sorry Ian, I didn't hear all of the show last night but what I heard was great, you sounded like you were having a great time.
Why can't you be on during the day? (Stamps her foot...)

Hildie said...

I heard the first hour and a half of The Nightshift, as is my wont! Those two were having a great time, weren't they? Reminiscent, I thought, of the Blue Bus style of co-presenting. Ian, sounds like it's going to look a lot like Christmas on your birthday! So much snow on the way, they reckon .... I wouldn't bother with your scooter in the morning!!!

Hildie said...

Vivienne, just noticed you got the correct answer to the riddle on the previous posting .... it was the letter "D", just as you thought. Well done!

Vivienne said...

Hi Hildie,

Thanks for letting me know about your puzzle. It was just a flash of inspiration. I don't get them very often!

Vivienne said...

Happy 60th Ian!!!!

Well it's here at last. I hope it isn't too painful. Have a fantastic day.

Lots of love, Vivienne xxx

Maureen said...

Sounds like you've made a great start Ian. Have a good 'un!

Sid said...

A truly wonderful show Ian, the happiness and excitement filtered through the radio and filled the house.
I'm a little bit busy at the moment, should really be keeping an eye on something else. Yours will be on its way later today Inga, snowing or not!!.

Anonymous said...

Chris and Jo Jo said thats a fantastic pic of Santa, we loved it - thanks Inga.......

Maureen said...

Hi Anonymous,
lovely to hear from you, anon. Would you please tell Chris and JoJo it's lovely to hear from them at last! I have a son living in Nelon NZ and I love to hear their comments about what's going on over there. I rang him one morning after hearing them say they'd had earthquakes! I'd love it if you'd join us on the blog. Sorry it's a bit of a journey for me to get to Benwell, but I'm sure that Wendy will get lots of visitors. Great idea!

Inga said...

Hello Anonymous - thanks for forwarding Chris and JoJo's comment about the Santa pix. Hope they had time to read my little story about why this is particularly funny to me. [posting 115, Dec 15]
Well now we have two mysteries to solve: J.Arthur Smallpiece and Anonymous :-). Hercule Poirot where are you hiding these days?

Anonymous said...

Hi Maureen, Merry Christmas from New Zealand. No earthquakes at present (thank-goodness). Nelson is beautiful,as you will already know. The forcast for a warm and sunny Christmas Day for Nelson, so they will be having Christmas Dinner at the beach no doubt!!!!
Compliments of the Season to All from Chris and Jojo.

Maureen said...

Hi Chris and Jojo, thanks for your reply, it's lovely to have another link with NZ. I've heard you so many times on different programmes that I feel like I know you already! Ian told us this morning how to say merry Christmas in Maori but I've forgotten it already I'm afraid. Merri something ...
Yes, they live very near to Tahanunui Beach. Lovely!