The days are just packed
Some of you may have come across a set of cartoon books called Calvin and Hobbes - a hyperactive and over-imaginative boy called Calvin and his toy tiger Hobbes who comes to life. The world through their eyes is full of excitement and imagination and adventure but they are occasionally dragged down to Earth by reality.
It often feels that way at Blenheim Palace; I think that the variety in one day here is one of its most interesting features, frankly, even if the pace of it does leave your head spinning.
Gulliver's Travels is being filmed here, today was a full filming day - of a game of basketball in the Great Court. The stars were out in force: Jack Black, Billy Connolly, Catherine Tate, Emily Blunt, the big bloke out of Gavin and Stacey. I'd like to make clear that I had heard of two of them (when your kids are into Doctor Who you pick up a bit). Jack Black's most notable role was as an animated panda (which John, in my defence, is why I didn't recognise him!)
For some visitors it was a bit disruptive, but for the vast majority it was very exciting indeed. As stars go, these were clearly good-natured and pleased to interact with their fans. I lost count of the number of staff and visitors who joyfully showed me photos on their phones and cameras of them posing with a star.
"I chatted up the Big Yin" one lady gleefully told me as we queued for an ice-cream (a nutritional requirement of the triathlon, by the way, OH MY LORD IT IS ONLY FIVE WEEKS AWAY, WHAT AM I DOING HERE WRITING A BLOG?) Back to the lady, she told me she was staying in a nearby caravan site, had got her free annual pass and would definitely be coming back. Several times. Sadly, I don't think they are filming this weekend, but she promised she would occupy herself with our jousting tournament instead. Nice Lady...
I trotted off to look at the jousting arena and infrastructure. They always put on a great show. For many parents though, the big appeal is that next to the arena is the Pimms "Silver Bullet". Be rude not to, really. We're lucky to have it this year, on the way in it took a wrong turn and got very stuck indeed. Our maintenance team, either through professional determination or a fierce unquenchable desire to drink Pimms, managed to get them back onto the right site. Heroes all.
It tends to be me who brings people back down to Earth. With some colleagues I went to RHS Wisley yesterday to meet some of the RHS team and compare some operating numbers etc. We were given a fascinating tour by the Curator and their head of fruit and vegetables (what a great job!). I could have spent a very long time wandering around those gardens. But we went to our meeting room and the spreadsheets came out. There was some very interesting stuff in there, and as the accountant in the room I soon got carried away.
Pointing at one set of figures, I blurted out "I'm really excited by this financial model!"
Their commercial director fixed me with a disbelieving stare.
"We've just taken you around one of the most inspiring gardens in the world and.... you're..... excited..... by...... the........ spread....... sheet." His voice dripped disbelief. I backtracked rather hastily. I like gardens as much as the next man, though the speed of our grass growth here at Blenheim is proving to be a bit of a problem. But our gardens team are manfully keeping up.
I stood marvelling at the pace of it with our Head of Operations, the unflappable Heather Carter. "I couldn't do this", I told her. "Trying to get my head around all of this and not panic." She grinned and pointed to a nervous looking photographer, master of ceremonies and a wedding planner standing at our Flagstaff entrance. "It'll be them not coping soon", she told me. "The bride-to-be is running very late...".
By the end of the day, order is restored. Filming is still going on (yes, they are late too) but the arena is built, the bride is married, the Pimms van is functional, the grass is shorter than in started the day and an awful lot of people have had a great deal of fun (with the possible exception of the driver of the Pimms Silver Bullet who had apparently had better days).
Tomorrow will be an even better day, I think. And the next day too.
Like I said, the days are just packed.
Post a comment
It often feels that way at Blenheim Palace; I think that the variety in one day here is one of its most interesting features, frankly, even if the pace of it does leave your head spinning.
Gulliver's Travels is being filmed here, today was a full filming day - of a game of basketball in the Great Court. The stars were out in force: Jack Black, Billy Connolly, Catherine Tate, Emily Blunt, the big bloke out of Gavin and Stacey. I'd like to make clear that I had heard of two of them (when your kids are into Doctor Who you pick up a bit). Jack Black's most notable role was as an animated panda (which John, in my defence, is why I didn't recognise him!)
For some visitors it was a bit disruptive, but for the vast majority it was very exciting indeed. As stars go, these were clearly good-natured and pleased to interact with their fans. I lost count of the number of staff and visitors who joyfully showed me photos on their phones and cameras of them posing with a star.
"I chatted up the Big Yin" one lady gleefully told me as we queued for an ice-cream (a nutritional requirement of the triathlon, by the way, OH MY LORD IT IS ONLY FIVE WEEKS AWAY, WHAT AM I DOING HERE WRITING A BLOG?) Back to the lady, she told me she was staying in a nearby caravan site, had got her free annual pass and would definitely be coming back. Several times. Sadly, I don't think they are filming this weekend, but she promised she would occupy herself with our jousting tournament instead. Nice Lady...
I trotted off to look at the jousting arena and infrastructure. They always put on a great show. For many parents though, the big appeal is that next to the arena is the Pimms "Silver Bullet". Be rude not to, really. We're lucky to have it this year, on the way in it took a wrong turn and got very stuck indeed. Our maintenance team, either through professional determination or a fierce unquenchable desire to drink Pimms, managed to get them back onto the right site. Heroes all.
It tends to be me who brings people back down to Earth. With some colleagues I went to RHS Wisley yesterday to meet some of the RHS team and compare some operating numbers etc. We were given a fascinating tour by the Curator and their head of fruit and vegetables (what a great job!). I could have spent a very long time wandering around those gardens. But we went to our meeting room and the spreadsheets came out. There was some very interesting stuff in there, and as the accountant in the room I soon got carried away.
Pointing at one set of figures, I blurted out "I'm really excited by this financial model!"
Their commercial director fixed me with a disbelieving stare.
"We've just taken you around one of the most inspiring gardens in the world and.... you're..... excited..... by...... the........ spread....... sheet." His voice dripped disbelief. I backtracked rather hastily. I like gardens as much as the next man, though the speed of our grass growth here at Blenheim is proving to be a bit of a problem. But our gardens team are manfully keeping up.
I stood marvelling at the pace of it with our Head of Operations, the unflappable Heather Carter. "I couldn't do this", I told her. "Trying to get my head around all of this and not panic." She grinned and pointed to a nervous looking photographer, master of ceremonies and a wedding planner standing at our Flagstaff entrance. "It'll be them not coping soon", she told me. "The bride-to-be is running very late...".
By the end of the day, order is restored. Filming is still going on (yes, they are late too) but the arena is built, the bride is married, the Pimms van is functional, the grass is shorter than in started the day and an awful lot of people have had a great deal of fun (with the possible exception of the driver of the Pimms Silver Bullet who had apparently had better days).
Tomorrow will be an even better day, I think. And the next day too.
Like I said, the days are just packed.
Post a comment
posted by Dominic Hare at
Friday, May 01, 2009
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home