JohnS

Very much enjoyed an outdoor lunch with friends the other day. It would have been months since sharing a meal and despite the unfamiliarity of social eating took the high risk strategy of eating a bacon sandwich - fortunately no Ed Miliband moment. Having had my second jab and booked a ticket for next week’s rehearsal, I’m going to try a day trip to London. I’d almost given up as when asked for seating preferences I couldn’t book an aisle seat on the train and didn’t want to run the risk of being hemmed in for 3+ hours but then I realised that social distancing means that no one can sit in an aisle seat. If all goes well, I’ll have a second day trip later in June and then hopefully book overnight trips for the new season. It’s much safer on the fells but even when walking it can feel a bit odd at times. Dozens of people on Scafell Pike and queuing to get on the summit cairn yesterday but no one at the Eskdale cairn a hundred or so yards away and one of the most dramatic views in the Lake District, a fabulous lunch spot.

Many thanks Richard - that’s a much better response.

Couldn’t help but note ENO’s charges: “Tickets start at just £10 plus £2.25 booking fee per ticket. A maximum of £9.00 per transaction is charged for Multi-Buy Packages.”

I can’t help but look back fondly to the pre COVID times when you could choose your seats and sometimes get your favourites. Here’s hoping that those days return for next season. Meantime I see the socially distanced performances as something of a bonus. It must be pretty tough for Box Office/Front of House staff trying to deal with the unfamiliar, ever changing restrictions. And from my limited experience, things seem to be going reasonably well.

Many thanks Richard. I rather liked Tom’s prompt response although I don’t think ‘Misleading’ is quite the word I’d have chosen.

Booking online We know that booking looks different to many of you right now, even those of you who have been booking online for many years. Laurence in our Box Office has put together this video to guide you through registering and signing in, using our temporary social distancing seat map to find your tickets, and where to download your e-tickets. With the Friends’s booking email (extract abive), there was a useful video which explained about e-tickets and front of house staff not being able to check printed out tickets. There’s also confirmation about tickets being sold in 1s or 2s so if you book more than 2 tickets, you may find you are not together (unless you’ve booked a box). Not in the video but I think in the ‘attending a performance’ section on the website, there’s a reference to signing in using the NHS app. I’ve never needed to download the app so I’ll have to do have a look at that. I’m hoping to get to a couple of rehearsals in June as day trips but they’re contingent on when I get my second jab.

I’m sure when booking there was a clear statement that ROH front of house staff would not be able to accept/check printed tickets because of COVID. Hence the 100% e-tickets. I don’t know what arrangements (if any) there may be for people without iPhones etc. I can’t recall when the ROH introduced the £3.00 ‘donation’ per booking added to the basket and have no idea what the split is between those who pay the donation and those who remove the donation. But I imagine introducing a booking fee would see the £3.00 donations taking a hit.

Squirrel in Burtness Woods, Buttermere busy collecting and burying nuts yesterday lunchtime - kept me entertained. Yellowhammer on the lower fell side above Crummock Water. Proper snow on Skiddaw earlier in the week - even better with blue sky and sunshine.

Robin on Castle Crag, Borrowdale. If the robin turned round ...

Six roe deer (only the snout of the sixth) on Grange Fell when climbing Ether Knott, high above Watendlath. First time on Ether Knott - well away from the main Grange Fell summits and normally very wet under foot but the Lake District is still incredibly dry so very little risk of wet boots today.

Red Squirrel in Nether Wasdale.

Brilliant - thank you so much for sharing this.

First cuckoos heard yesterday in Nether Wasdale when spending the day rhodo bashing at a friend’s wood. Just checking I see it was the same day as last year although a different location. Saw four red deer on a recent walk high above Thirlmere off the beaten track near Ullscarf. I managed to get a little closer but could only catch the straggler pair bounding away. Always good to see traditional Lake District Herdwick sheep at lambing time. Another fabulous spring. Last year we were very much in lockdown with limited exercise. So it’s good this year to be able to enjoy the fells. But we really need some rain - forest fires at Whinlatter on Friday although nothing on the scale of the Mountains of Mourne. We were very impressed with our one visit and it’s desperately sad to see the devastation.

Truly awful news. Sim asks that comments focus on Liam Scarlett’s work and artistic legacy. Opening night of Liam Scarlett’s new production of Swan Lake was unforgettable - rapturous applause and a triumph for all involved. I recall Liam Scarlett acknowledging that ovation for him and his sense of pride and achievement. The various Insights heralding the new Swan Lake production showed a man of great intelligence and perception and his dancing in demonstrating what he was looking for from his dancers was extraordinary - so expressive and crystal clear. My wife and I loved much of Liam Scarlett’s work. I think Sweet Violets was the first ballet we saw - shocking in many respects but he seemed very much in the Kenneth Macmillan mode, both in terms of drama/narrative and in being so responsive to the music. And what good choices he made in selecting the music for his ballets. I know Frankenstein received mixed reviews but we thought it gripping, an astonishing piece of theatre. We occasionally saw him in Covent Garden and were pleased to have the chance to say how much we enjoyed his choreography. We had tickets for Symphonic Dances and were very much looking forward to the opening night. Sadly that was not to be. I was hoping to see its revival but, as we know, that was cancelled. I was not as impressed with Age of Anxiety, in part because I was not greatly taken with the characters, although it benefitted from its cinema relay and the close attention paid by the camera. The last Liam Scarlett ballets I saw were Cunning Little Vixen, with the Royal Ballet School, and Asphodel Meadows, both utterly delightful. Liam Scarlett was a hugely talented choreographer, fully at home in both abstract and narrative ballets. I felt his choreography really flowed, enabling his dancers to express themselves naturally, in the long established Royal Ballet tradition. I’m sure there were many technical demands but I always thought the dancers looked in their element, using their technique to deliver character and dance that invariably touched the soul. It’s good to see the support for Liam on social media from his many friends and colleagues. I do hope his work will live on and that when Swan Lake is revived, the Royal Ballet properly acknowledges his creative genius.

Perhaps all the fish dive cover photos?

A Roe deer on the walk to The Watches and Skiddaw this morning. I’ve seen a couple of pairs much closer to home when setting off early in the car but much better on the fells for taking a photo. Over lockdown the squirrel feeders have vanished from Dodd Wood. I’d invariably see squirrels around the feeders but no sign of new feeders so far. And the Dodd Wood Osprey project isn’t able to function with telescopes/staff at the observation platforms because of COVID. I hear a couple of ospreys arrived at the end of March although it’s not clear if they are a pair. It’s been a fabulous Easter in the Lake District and, with lockdown easing, chance to visit a number of special places with some Easter flowers. Here’s the replacement bridge across Buttermere Dubs which everyone walking around Buttermere or climbing the fells on the south side of Buttermere has to use. The bridge has been built up and hopefully would survive the flooding events that badly damaged the earlier bridge leading to its demolition. Buttermere from the bridge.

Many thanks Jan. I think male wheatears have grey uppers and females have brown uppers but I’m very unsure about the bird in my photo: I’ve never knowingly seen a wheatear.

Following the easing of lockdown, I’ve enjoyed visiting familiar places for the first time this year having spent lockdown walking from home. On a walk from Buttermere earlier in the week I saw a couple of squirrels and I think a wheatear. Squirrel in Burtness Wood. Not sure who’s more curious. Is this a wheatear?

I’m reading this as meaning that Tony Pappano will be conducting the whole new Ring cycle which starts in September 2023 and I assume will not be complete for some years. If so that’s very welcome news. And excellent for the LSO too.

Booking for Premium 2 Friends is 3 August if that’s any help.

Agreed - particularly Laura Morera’s unforgettable Masha.

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday’s walk and very pleased to see two red squirrels for the first in a new wood. Completely unexpected on a cold, grey morning at 850 feet and just a couple of small woods on the largely open fell side above High Ireby. No need for up and down signs for these two. On recent walks in sunnier weather, I’ve been accompanied by the skylarks singing away pretty much all of the time. Hopefully we’ll soon be able to return to concerts but these impromptu al fresco performances have been a delight.

Many thanks Jan - I’ll try photo sharing websites tomorrow and see what I can do.

I think I’ve exhausted my photo allowance and, having come across a couple of red squirrels this morning, l was wondering if the link to Facebook might work: https://www.facebook.com/100010002404409/posts/1417992148544185/

I’m rather hoping there may be more than one performance at the ROH given that Opera Holland Park is not available. Also who knows what social distancing will be operating and tickets may be in very short supply. But it’s great to think that the RBS may be performing.