The old bandstand in Stratford Park

I didn't notice that despite a notification yesterday that my blip had been posted, none of my words had been included. So here is a brief resume of a lazy Sunday for both Helena and I, after our busy day on Saturday.

We managed to get ourselves to Stratford Park where Helena wanted to see the entries of an exhibition called 'Secret Artists' which were being shown briefly in one of the galleries of the Museum in the Park. Helena had created a small artwork conforming to the requested dimensions so that all the exhibits could appear in the similar format. People are invited to pay £15 for the right to have one of the anonymous artworks as a way of raising funds for the Museum's latest project, the restoration of the old Victorian walled garden attached to the Museum, which itself was established within the big house of Stratford Park.

While we were looking at all the exhibits the acting manager of the Museum came and invited us all to a rare guided tour of the Walled Garden to see the work achieved so fart and to hear about all the plans for it. As we had about 45 minutes to wait, I took the opportunity of going into the Park to find the disc golfers whom I had met and photographed last Saturday who I knew were playing there again today.

I worked out where in the park they might have reached on their round of the 18 hole golf course they have established in the park. I managed to catch them playing two of the holes before I had to rush off and took some pictures of discs flying again. The six players all liked the photos I produced for them last week but today's won't be as good because of the rather poor light and the lateness in the day.

I returned just as the tour set off and I found it very interesting to hear the history of the garden and its relationship to the house. About half a million pounds has been raised so the results should be very impressive when finished next year. But I didn't blip any of these events, and instead am going back to the first picture I took this afternoon, which was of the Victorian bandstand in the grounds of the old house which now comprise the Stratford Park. This structure is only about a hundred yards from the house set in the small arboretum that was established in mid-Victorian times. I wanted to record the structure and the yellow and browns of the last leaves on the trees near the lake. Sadly I had to include the rubbish that is left by the revellers who use this space to drink and party at night times. The groundsmen had to put this rubbish bin close by but to no effect, so the plastic bags and other debris were still flying about when I came along.

Apparently the bandstand is used by a range of relatively local brass and silver bands all summer from May till October. I musty come back and have a listen next year and it may well remind me of my childhood when such events were common everywhere.