Thursday 7 June 2018

08:00 Lois and I take a shower and get dressed. Today, we are going on Lois' birthday outing to the town of Woodstock, visit postponed from Tuesday.

She wants to visit the Oxforshire County Museum, and also the town's military museum, dedicated to the local regiment, which is located just to the rear. She is especially interested in Leonard Gillett, her grandfather's brother, who served in the regiment and sadly died in 1917 during the First World War. She does not have the faintest idea of how he died, and during what campaign, etc.

09:30 We drive over to Woodstock. Our route takes us over the top of the beautiful Cotswold hills, which is nice.

our route to Woodstock

10:30 We find our way to the museum and relax with a cup of coffee in the garden next to the museum's café, and then walk around the museum's exhibits.

the town's military museum, dedicated to the local regiment

 We see, for example, the uniform that Lois' relative Leonard would have worn

On the one hand Lois is a little disappointed: in the old museum in Slade, Oxford (now closed unfortunately), there were ex-soldiers and military enthusiasts present who could help with genealogical research and questions: they had a considerable database and were genuinely interested in, for example, the local regiment's contribution to various battles during the First World War.

In the new Woodstock Museum, all of those elderly enthusiasts have disappeared, and you only meet professional museum staff, employed by the county museum and library service. Many of the exhibitions are aimed at the school children who come to the museum on group visits.

On the other hand, however, Lois gets some great ideas for pursuing her online research, for example, by browsing through the local newspapers from 1917, looking for reports of local people's deaths and the circumstances of their deaths.

And we buy some interesting postcards in the museum's shop, including a photo of Winston Churchill in 1910. He was an officer in the local regiment - his family was of course based in the nearby Blenheim Palace. Leonard would have got to know Churchill well, no doubt about that.

1910: Winston Churchill (left) on maneuvers with the local regiment

13:00 We have lunch at the museum cafe and drive home to Cheltenham. Lois gets started on trying to track down the local newspapers online.

She succeeds in finding reports of Leonard's death. Coincidentally she also finds that another of her relatives, George Hutchings, was unfortunately killed for approx. same period.

So all in all, we think that today's visit has been a success, thank god.

Lois and I are exhausted by today's activities and it's hard for us to be sure how to feel about the tragedy of these young people's deaths from so far back in time: positive, enthusiastic young men in promising careers, always cheerful who died in some field in France. We cannot imagine their parents' sorrow.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television, an old episode of Top of the Pops from October 1985, and afterwards an interesting documentary (2nd part of 3) all about American art. This episode revolves around the art that came out of New York City. The programme's presenter is the charming Waldemar Januszczak (crazy name, crazy guy).

Unfortunately, we both fall asleep on and off during the program, and decide to see it again another day.

We both like the presenter Waldemar's style, which is completely different from most TV presenters. He speaks very directly and never tries to wrap up uncomfortable facts with calming words. And he waddles his way through the program, a bit like a (slightly overweight?) duck, shall we say.

His style and comments are very down to earth, and one expects him to be contemptuous towards the more pretentious modern artists, such as Mark Rothko, who produces paintings like pieces of wallpaper or paintings consisting of only 1 color, the kinds of paintings a little child could do. It is therefore a little disappointing when you hear Waldemar praising them to the skies. Good grief, what madness !!!

rothco: it's a bit disappointing when we hear Waldemar

praising Rothko's pretentious paintings to the skies - good grief, what madness!

We enjoy his descriptions of Edward Hopper's strange paintings, where we see people who look isolated and are stting deep in thought, people who not connecting with others in the same room. He liked to portray the loneliness of the big city, and the impossibility of being able to read other people's thoughts.

Edward Hopper's enigmatic paintings. He always notices

the distance between people in the same room.

Hopper himself was a bit of a riddle. His wife said that sometimes, when she was talking to him, it was like dropping a stone into a well, except that the stone didn't thump when it hit the bottom. My goodness! His poor wife !!!!

Hopper himself - unfathomable and enigmatic - yikes! His poor wife !!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg tager et brusebad og klæder os på. I dag tager vi på Lois’ fødselsdagsudflugt til byen Woodstock, udskudt fra tirsdag.

Hun ønsker at besøge grevskabet Oxforshires museum og byens militærmuseum, dedikeret til det lokale regiment, der ligger lige bagved. Hun interesserer sig især for Leonard Gillett, sin farfars bror, der tjente i regimentet og desværre døde i 1917, i løbet af det 1. verdenskrig. Hun har ikke den fjerneste ide, hvordan han døde, og under hvilket felttog osv.

09:30 Vi kører over til Woodstock. Vores rute tager os over toppen af de smukke Cotsworld-bakker

vores rute til Woodstock

10:30 Vi finder vores vej til museet og slapper af med en kop kaffe i haven ved siden af museets café, og så vandrer rundt blandt museets udstillinger.

byens militærmuseum, dedikeret til den lokale regiment

vi ser for eksempel, uniformen, som Lois’ slægtning Leonard ville have båret

På den ene side bliver Lois lidt skuffet: i det gamle museet i Slade, Oxford (nu lukket desværre), var der eks-soldater og militære entusiaster til stede, der kunde hjælpe til med genealogiske forskning og spørgsmål: de havde en anselig database og var oprigtigt interesseret i, for eksempel, den lokale regiments bidrag til forskellige slag under den 1. verdenskrig.

I det nye museum i Woodstock er alle de ældre entusiaster desværre forsvundet, og man møder kun professionelle museumpersonale, ansat af grevskabets museum- og bibliotekstjeneste. Mange af udstillingerne er rettet mod skolebørn, der kommer til museet på gruppebesøg.

Men på den anden side får Lois nogle gode idéer til at forfølge sin forskning på nettet, for eksempel ved at blade igennem de lokale aviser fra 1917, og søger rapporter om lokale menneskers dødfald og omstændigheder af de dødfald.

Og vi købte nogle interessante postkort i museets butik, herunder et foto af Winston Churchill i 1910. Han var officer i det lokale regiment – hans familie var selvfølgelig baseret i det nærliggende palads, på Blenheim. Leonard ville have meget godt lært Churchill at kende.

1910: Winston Churchill (til venstre) på manøvrer med det lokale regiment

13:00 Vi spiser frokost på museets café og kører hjem til Cheltenham. Lois går i gang med at opspore de lokale aviser på nettet.

Det lykkes hende at finde rapporter om Leonards død. Tilfældigvis finder hun også ud af, at en anden af hendes slægtninge, George Hutchings, desværre blev dræbt i ca. samme periode.

Så alt i alt synes vi, at dagens besøg har været en succes, gudskelov.

Lois og jeg er udmattede efter dagens aktiviteter, og  det er svært for os at være sikre på, hvordan man skulle føle sig om tragedien af disse unge menneskers dødsfald fra så længe tilbage i tiden: positive, entusiastiske unge mænd i lovende karrierer, altid muntre, der døde på en eller anden mark i Frankrig. Vi kan ikke forestille os deres forældres sorg.   

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra oktober 1985, og bagefter en interessant dokumentarfilm (2. del af 3), der handler om amerikanske kunst. Dette afsnit kredser om den kunst, der stammede af storbyen New York. Programmets vært er den charmerende Waldemar Januszczak (skørt navn, skør fyr).

Desværre falder vi begge i søvn af og til under programmet, og vi beslutter os for at se det igen en anden dag.

Vi kan begge to godt lide værten Waldemars stil, der er helt anderledes fra de fleste tv-værter. Han taler meget direkte og prøver aldrig at svøbe ubekveme kendsgerninger med beroligende ord. Og han vrikker lidt  gennem programmet, lidt som en fed and (eller en lidt overvægtig and, skal man sige).

Hans stil og kommentarer er meget jordnære, og man forventer, at han vil være foragtelig overfor de mere prætentiøse moderne kunstnere, som for eksempel, Mark Rothko, der fremstiller malerier, der ligner stykker tapet, eller består af kun 1 farv, de slags malerier, et lille børn kunne lave. Det er derfor lidt skuffende, når man hører Waldemar  rose dem til skyerne. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

rothco: det er lidt skuffende, når vi hører Waldemar

rose Rothkos prætentiøse malerier til skyerne – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Vi nyder hans beskrivelser af Edward Hoppers mærkelige malerier, hvor vi ser mennesker, der ser isolerede ud, og som sidder dybt i tanken, mennesker der ikke forbinder sig med andre i samme rummet. Han kunne godt lide at skildre ensomheden af storbyen, og umuligheden af at kunne læse andres tanker.

Edward Hoppers malerier. Han bemærker altid

afstanden mellem mennesker i samme rummet.

Selve Hopper var lidt af en gåde. Hans kone sagde, at nogle gange, når hun talte med ham, var det ligesom at droppe en sten i en brønd, bortset fra, at stenen aldrig dunkede, da den ramte bunden. Du godeste!  Hans stakkels kone!!!!

Selve Hopper – uudgrundelig og gådefuld – yikes! Hans stakkels kone!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!