Knole Park - It was 45 years ago today

Those unfortunate enough to have stumbled across this blog will have quickly concluded that the cannon of Beatles facts and trivia is neither enhanced nor extended in any way by the desultry meanderings contained herein. Indeed a quick scan of these paltry entries reveals Brilig to be a mere follower of others - skipping from one page of the Beatles' London book to another ticking off sites in a haphazard way dwelling only long enough to put the sticker in...whether it be PG Tip cards tracking the History of Aviation or '74 World Cup pictures of Gordon Banks flying through the air, the only real joy was feeling the width of the album as it became engorged with those bloody stickers.

Nevertheless, one tries and so it was that yesterday the jalopy was parked up in the grounds of Knole Park at the ungodly hour of eleven (it was Saturday - give me a break) in order that Brilig should be the first to get a snap of The Tree (Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane etc) on the 45th anniversary of the filiming of the vidoes (?) that accompanied the release of the greatest single of all time (damm you Englebert Humperdick).

So here is That Tree, the nearby ponds, the archway etc etc etc..

This is the walk from The Tree, past the Bird House down towards the ponds. Golfers and walkers alike visibly dismayed (actually, more a look of sheer disdain) by the site of a besuited middle aged man clearly off his bloody trolley.




And here is the walk from the ponds up to the archway.



Postnote : I have just discovered that the actual 45th anniversary is 30/31 Jan. Maybe this explains why there were not hordes of other nuts in the grounds...but I doubt it.

Agghhhhhhhh...Durello Avenue !!!!!

The New Year holiday period would not be the same in the Brilig Household if the annual pilgrimage to Beatles-Places-of-Interest-Within-Shouting were not made. I say 'annual pilgrimage' as if the rest of the clan have an idea of what is going on - I generally find that its better if they don't know our destination as this only causes irritation and things to be thrown around the car (and sometimes out of it, including themselves) and so best to visit some 'other' place and make a detour when they have all nodded-off.

And so off to West Malling with renewed determination and confidence that the hitherto ellusive (to me, at least) alley know as Durello Avenue would be discovered. This being the spot where our eponymous boy band filmed the 'I am the Walrus' sketch (?) for their MMT. Now, I have recalled in an entry exactly one year ago that this spot had caused me much angst (stop thinking about it) but an excellent piece of research by Mr KenwoodLennon some months back renewed my faith in the existence of the place.

So snap away my laddies ! snap away ! And so I did with zzzzz coming from the car, I made my escape in the rain and snapped like a good 'un. Oh the misery of this place...roads leading nowhere, half finished building sites, tut-tuts from the busy bodies..But one very important piece of popular culture cheers up this hapless estate.

But wait.. the clan are stirring..they're looking bemused..oh hell, I can see the teenager (least sympathetic of the Brilig clan) pointing out the roadsign to the rest of them. Then an ear piercing scream from the youngest ..."Aghhhh not Durello Avenue AGAIN... Daddy's brought us to this place again"

A quick stop at Knole Park (SFF tree) was out of the question. I asked the question but it was definitely out of the question.

Happy New Year to all