Amps. The once ubiquitous stallwart of any electrical store now seem to be on the ‘close to extinction’ list. Nowhere in Harrogate could you walk in off the street to buy a straight home entertainment audio amp.   A week or so ago, I had the notion to set up a ‘proper’ music system that we’d had gathering dust in the cellar for ages that I’d forgotten all about. An amp and a CD deck. I’d recently acquired a set of really good quality studio monitor speakers and so what at the time I thought would be a simple ‘plug and play’ type excersize turned into an audiophile quest. Ironically, the rarity of a music free Bank Holiday weekend for me, that involved no gigs, parties, festivals or other (as is not usually the case) had a large amount of it dedicated to the introduction of a new audio set up in DragonDrop.

The first problem was that said amp from the cellar (a Sony F-242) had popped. No power. I’d committed myself by buying a few meters of high ish end new speaker cable and shuffled things into place. As the amp was written off I decided to look on eBay for a suitable, reasonably priced amp – so that I could ‘simply’ plug speakers in, a cd deck in and off we go. Over the prior weekend and week I’d researched, read up on, hunted down and eventually sourced a very nice looking marantz amp. When this arrived on Friday I was gutted to find that it also, didn’t work.

A friend and I decided to go and have a look around the typical generic electrical shops – Curry / Commet / PC World / Maplin etc. A mission I’d dipped my toe into the previous weekend, to see if I could pick up a new amp. At one point not too long ago, these type of shops showed a dazzling array of components from the ‘ separates’ market. Now, disappointingly, the beating heart of any hi fi system – the amp – cannot be bought separately from the high street.

For music, docking stations for your iPod seem to be the de rigeur with blister pack hi-fi units that seem to resemble something from a space station crossed with a fruit machine, a close second. The combination of a tv’s surround sound amp being the closest cousin to the endangered amp. The days of separate boxes doing separate, specialist jobs seem to be over. If one bit goes, the whole system is kaput. If one bit is a cheap-o short cut, the whole system suffers. Admittedly, modern audio technology has come a long way and some of the new mainstream stuff does sound pretty good – but it’s key selling feature seems to be that it is friendly, stylish and “well designed”. The ‘separates’ seem to have been pushed right out of the market.

As it happens, I put a note on facebook asking if anyone had an amp and an old friend came up trumps with a Mirantz pm-43, which I rigged up with a decent CD Deck and a superb set of Tanoy speakers – end result –  it sounds amazing. I’ve also rigged a second set of Wharfedale Diamonds on the second set of speaker outputs through in the next room (kitchen) and have also got a record player and aux (from pc / spotify) and a DAB radio feeding it.

I am now a happy badger as far as my aural pleasures go, but am just bit disheartened to see this homogenisation of home audio equipment. I don’t know if its the case that the application and inconvenience of a ‘big’ audio system isn’t practical in the modern lifestyle, or that its possible to get incredible sound via earphones combined with omnibox convenience or that pure music as a home entertainment format isn’t standing its ground any more, but I was surprised to see such a demise of mainstream audio geekism.

We’d booked a campsite right on the beach front - Mossiscastle Strand. First impressions (after coming from the natural beauty and ‘right up our street’ style campsite that was Poppit Sands) of this site were.. a bit of a culture shock!  Nothing exactly ‘wrong’ with the site but we were not over enamoured with it – it seemed to be lacking charisma perhaps – The regimented / allotted space for each of the hundreds of caravans and motor homes had the feel of a fiberglass suburbia. The rules and regulations, the high volume of branded sports goods and English football tops just didn’t sum up the true character of the Emerald Isle for us. Our first plot was right next to a water point – mistake! The drains were backed up and it stank. An infestation of mating flying ant type things wasn’t too pleasant either.

We’d not stocked up the van a huge amount and the shops were a mile or so away.I’d read that the shop was “fully stocked with food”. I wouldn’t quite say ‘fully’ stocked – fully stocked with a few tins, and a chiller with sausages and/or bacon and frozen ready meals and frozen pizza. It would have been nice to have some fresh veg – even I, the perpetual carnivore was craving a bit of salad. I popped into the take away around the back of the shop (pizzas and deep fried fayre) and asked if they could do me a salad box. They looked at me as if I’d just asked for a pianoforte. Flat nose, no salad. There was however,one culinary highlight – fresh croissants available every morning.

We moved to a new spot after the first night though and things started looking up. Our new plot had a much nicer feel to it and was right next to the play park – A simple but safe park – a nice hang out for the hoards of kids including ours.

The showers were 1 Euro for 8 minuites. This irked me. I didn’t clock this fact on any literature or the website.  I understand why they do it I guess – to conserve energy and water (and make a bob or two) but we paid  fee for the site then found we had to pay extra for the showers. If I could have been bothered, I’m sure there’s some kind of Trading Standards argument. Every cloud has a silver lining though.. The Yorkshire man in me decided that Eirene’s whimsical purchase of a solar shower perhaps wasn’t so silly (as my initial assessment had concluded)  after all. I rigged up a shower cubical out of some high windbreaks and brought the shower down from the roof of the van. Perfect! It was so nice! The odd bit was the kids walking past looking at me like I was a freak. (How close to the truth I hear you cry)

The beach was a saving grace – a blue flag beach backed by sand dunes and only less that 100m from our van. Gorgeous sand and fairly quiet on the ‘campsite stretch’.  We really enjoyed playing in the sea, sitting around and reading or just watching the world go by. We’d been looking out over the same sea but from the other side of the pond earlier in the week. Sunrise instead of sunset over the sea.

We had some great success at crab fishing one evening at a tidal swamp creek just north of the campsite.  We bagged 26. Jay 13 (winner), me 11 and Sophie and Eirene one each. We did the crab race thing – where you wet a runway of ground back to the water and tipped our bucket out and watched them break for the border. Much fun. Realised a few days later that we were getting eaten alive by some bugglies biting our feet and anckles – lashings of Avon Skin So Soft. Avon Skin So Soft? the beauty product that has great anti midge qualities - according to the Royal Marines, who still use this curious lotion.

After Wexford, we trucked up through the Wicklow Mountains to Powerscourt Waterfall – fed by the river Dargle. (I just wanted to use that fabulous word. Dargle Dargle Dargle. ) It’s the highest waterfall in the British Isles. Cracking play park for the kids there – one of the best I’ve seen. Nice ice creams which we sampled and Eirene and I knocked back a couple of very passable espresso’s. Good cup of Joe. Pretty little short circular walk through the surrounding woods – mixture of Oak and Fir mainly was sampled and we were also there on a day when they were filming a TV show called Camelot. The best bit of that was watching the climber de rigging the protection for a recent stunt that we just missed. There were some really impressive pop side trailers as well. It felt quite cool as they let Clover park with the big vans.

We trundled over the Wicklow mountains – the scenic route and dropped into Dublin around tea time and got to Eirene’s dad’s house (Hello sir! hope you’re doing good!) . Lovely to see him. Lovely to be in a real house with a real fridge (fully stocked) and  drinks press (fully stocked!) and a cooker. And electric things. And literally all the home comforts. It’s a lovely neighbourhood. Nice bunch of bright kids knocking around. Very safe double cul-de-sac type arrangement with a huge playing field at one end.  I dragged the stumps and a couple of cricket bats out of the van and introduced the Irish lads to a game of cricket. We played a short kwick cricket style game (minus five runs instead of out, if your caught, bowled etc.).

Cooked a lovely bit of Irish Rib Joint on the Sunday to set us up for the early start on Monday. Stroke of top luck on the ferry – we had paid for Club Class (you get to sit in a much more chilled out lounge, and it has ‘free’ cheese, biscuits, fruit, salmon on bread, bits and bobs, teas and coffee and wines) but the ferry was really busy – Manchester Utd’s first game of the season and the she was full to bursting with Irish Man U shirts so they opened up the club lounge to all. My name was called over the tannoy. Uh Oh thought I. When I arrived at the desk, they apologised profusely and gave us 5 meal tickets (full British fry up with all the trimmings, thanks very much) and keys to a private suite. The James Joyce Suite it was called – second biggest (after the Presidential suite) on the whole ship. Lovely it was too! We made full use of the sitting room, kettle, bathroom and then had a refreshing kip on the super comfortable beds.

From there on in there was a bit of a chug from Holyhead to home but we’d had such a lovely restful, fulfilling holiday that we didn’t mind it. Such a nice adventure. Super strong family bonding.

See some photos from it all over here>>

We’ve spent the last week or so doing a bit of chugging around in Clover (a van). We set out for Wales and aimed for this field in Poppit Sands

a wonderful hidden gem of a spot we were introduced to last year – a back to basics camping spot in the with superb views, interesting people,  fires allowed and a very short walk to one of the best beaches I’ve come across. We spent a few days chilling, eating, sitting round the fire at night under the spectacularly unpolluted night sky showing her diamond cloak to full effect. Beach combing, ball and frisbee games, crab fishing, and splatting on the beach – some of the simplest but finest pleasures in life! Our stay in that part of the world took in a walk across the cliff tops to Witches Cauldron with a swim to a land locked sea cove and beach. An incredible stretch of coastline with some of the finest cliff views I’ve seen.

By Saturday we were ready for our next appointment – an evening with William Shakespeare. Our good friend Henry and family have been involved with a company called The Abbey Shakespeare Players that puts on an excellent play each year in St Dogmaels Abbey. This archaeological site of historical might is an apt setting for the dramatic might of the performance we were lucky enough to see – The Winter’s Tale. I’d secretly harboured a bit of a ‘ I just don’t get what all the fuss is about’ attitude with Shakespeare. I’ve seen several incarnations of The Bard’s work including a very fine Hamlet at the Harrogate Theatre, and the obligatory school readings but I’ve never been truly wowed – don’t get me wrong, I’ve liked it all immensely but part of me though – what am I missing? Some people get a whole lot more out of this than I’m doing.   This performance –  possibly assisted by the idyllic and timeless setting, the mesmerisingly  brilliant acting and company but largly due to the plot line and sinker of such a good yarn changed all that. I am now an official, self confessed fan of Billy Bard, albeit a novice one. A few learned stories about some of the times of the man himself added to the allure – he was the Rock and Roll of his day. He is, or rather was super cool.

After the show we joined the after show party which took place at the mill house and mill pond over the way. Good fun that was! midnight coracle races, Welsh language song recitals and the true mark of a successful party – to have people still ‘at it’ the next day was fulfilled (not be me, for a change I might add!). The next day I fought off the hangover with some graft n sweating n drinking loads of water (a winning hangover cure) as we helped de rig the stages.

Following on from that, we went back to Poppit for a night and a day before catching the ferry to the next leg of our adventure – the other side of the St Georges Channel in Ireland. We’ve done Holyhead to Dublin countless times for this crossing we headed to Pembroke, an hour or so away from where we were, to board the Isle of Inishmore Ferry to Rosslare.

NB – the Ireland leg of this adventure and photos to follow…

Just a very quick blog – my first (I think) from a ferry. We are between Wales and Ireland at the moment. Superb adventure so far. Looking forward to Ireland. right – less that 1 min credit left! ttfn.

FIRE 50 photo set on flickr

What an innings. x 50 FIRE parties. Officially half centurions. I am the only person who has attended every minute of all of them (Allan nearly has, but he had to chip off early from one a few years ago as his better half went into labor – pathetic excuse if you ask me.)

What a party the 50th was. We were the official after party to the Harrogate Fringe festival – which itself was brilliant fun from what we saw. The set up for this FIRE, even though we were in a smaller space was way bigger than it normally was. We decided to go on the slightly smaller top floor and have it as more of a VIP party – wristbands and guestlist. It worked. Such a nice atmosphere in there. Those that were there had made an effort to get in there and as a result, it was spot on.

Only downside was that Dharma was away – playing a festival in France (again, pathetic excuse) – but we got old fave Craig Cameron in to fill the void and fill it he did. Loved his set. Len and Jimmy on the sax and trumpet were on top form as well and I had a right good bash on the congas for quite a while. All the other DJ’s were also superb – including new boy Nick Wakefield who did the tricky 4 – 6am slot.

Bottom Of The Bottle downstairs was so complimentary to our gig – and vice verca – I’m surprised we haven’t done it before! We declared the v’s bit and official draw. A second test is on the cards.

Looking forward to the next one – a new invigoration of enthusiasm has come about us – probably something to do with the milestone, something to do with the new format we tried out, something to do with it being such a top fun good times great songs ninety seven point two.