Francis Crane M.B.E.

CONGRATULATIONS

Extract from this morning’s New Year’s Honours List

M.B.E.

Doctor Francis Gibbs Crane. Head of Geography and Duke of Edinburgh's Co-ordinator, Stafford Grammar School. For services to Education.

You could have knocked me down with a feather – I never knew his middle name was Gibbs!

Francis Crane M.B.E. lunches at the Ship Inn, Danebridge

Francis is the originator and organiser of most of the walks posted on this blog; he is also the map reader who is never wrong. Above is a picture of Francis in the pub (not exactly alien territory) as it is one of the few I have of his face. I have, though, hundreds of pictures of his back as I plod along behind struggling to keep up.

Francis, rear elevation

Francis and I both arrived at Stafford Grammar School in August 1989. I have retired, he is still there. I do not know if he introduced the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in the school, but he is entirely responsible for the huge success it has become. SGS is one of the smallest schools in the Stafford area but regularly gains the highest number of gold awards - in some years as many as all the other schools combined. Enrolment for the bronze award in Year 9 is entirely voluntary, though it is never far off 100%.

Francis turns left - well he is a Guardian reader

The time Francis has devoted to the scheme is mind-boggling. From the endless but ever efficient organisation, through the pre-expedition checks, six or more weekends every year for the expeditions themselves and countless hours chasing up unreturned tents and incomplete record books. And he gets to camp out in the Peak District in March. The reward for all this? The satisfaction of a job well done, the knowledge that hundreds (maybe thousands) of youngsters have had experiences and opportunities they would not otherwise have had, and the chance to drive into a cow in a Dartmoor fog. And that was all – until today.

Francis on Bredon Hill

Congratulations Francis, a well-deserved honour. You now, though, lose the title of Unsung Hero – you just got sung.

June 2024: A Sad Epilogue

I wrote in 2012 that I had retired while Francis soldiered on. In due course he too retired, handing over his beloved Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, but continuing to walk. The epic 'South West Odyssey,' 4-years-old in 2012, came to its natural conclusion in 2019, and there were other projects with other walking groups and with ex-wife Alison. Then, in 2022, something went wrong. Francis lost his stamina, co-ordination and sense of balance. He received a diagnosis of vascular dementia and went steadily downhill, becoming an ever more diminished version of his former self.

At the end of March 2024 Francis moved to sheltered accommodation in Didcot, near to his daughter, Heather. In June his son Matthew came from Australia on a long planned visit, bringing his two older daughters to see their grandparents. Some days after they left Francis suffered a heart attack and died peacefully in hospital on the 25th of June 2024 attended by Alison and Heather. A sad and rather premature end to a life well lived. Rest in peace, Francis.

See also Shifting Tectonic Plates. The (N + 12)th Annual Fish and Chip Walk

Cannock Chase in Torrential Rain: The (N + 2)th Annual Fish and Chip Walk

The British climate can be described in two words – temperate maritime – the weather, though, is an entirely different matter. After the extraordinary cold of the Nth Chip Walk , and last year’s milder experience, this year’s Chip Walk was dominated by rain. And it was not just the day of the walk, the whole of the preceding week had seen persistent heavy rain.

Whenever I hear reports of flooding I comfort myself with the smug thought that I live on the top of a hill. This year I have been forced into a rethink; living on a hill, I have learnt, is a small step from living on an island. I have had to choose my routes from Swynnerton based on which roads are still above water.

To reach Cannock Chase, I detoured through Eccleshall, where the River Sow was still flowing under the bridge – if only just. In Stafford I crossed the little River Penk which had spread right across its flood plain, incorporated the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, and was doing its best to imitate the Nile (if the Trent can look like the Dordogne…..)

Staffordshire’s soil is largely clay – hence the pottery industry – but Cannock Chase is a pile of sandstone pebbles 100m high, so if anywhere is suitable for a walk on such a day at the end of such a week this is it.

The popularity of a wet day’s walking on the Chase can be seen from the photograph, but I eventually found a space in the Punch Bowl car park.



Here's my car squeezed into the last free space in the Punch Bowl car park

Lee and Francis arrived shortly afterwards. The Chip Walk was down to three people, which was how it started fifteen or more years ago. As we struggled into waterproof jackets and over-trousers we mused on the weakness of the others, though to be fair the shortage of walkers was more due to family commitments than fear of the weather, and I was the one who had been on the phone an hour before to see if anybody else wanted to cancel. ‘It’ll be the only exercise any of us will get over Christmas,’ Francis had said, and I found that a powerful argument.

We set off up the slope and turned left round Hart’s Hill to join the Sherbrook. Looking on the bright side, as one is apt to do after voluntarily setting off for a walk during a downpour, there was little wind so the rain was falling vertically rather than being blown into our faces.



Around Hart's Hill

We reached the stepping stones which were, I was surprised to see, still not submerged. I took the customary picture. It is not that I actually want anybody to slip and topple into the icy water, but if they did and I was standing there with camera raised, well….. Half way across Francis stopped. Lee did not walk into his back, though for a moment I thought he might. Francis turned round. ‘We’re not crossing the stepping stones, I only came here for the picture.’



Just for the picture

We continued up the Sherbrook Valley. What would normally have been a gentle uphill plod became an upstream walk as the Sherbrook (version 2.0) was flowing down the stony path.




The Sher Brook (version 2.0)

After 3½ Km we turned right to splash up the path that climbs out of the valley up to the Katyn Memorial.



Splashing up towards the Katyn Memorila

In places the water on this path was even deeper and flowed even faster.



Looking back 'downstream' into the Sherbrook Valley

According to the map there is no pond at the top of the hill, but I lacked the heart to explain it to the happily paddling mallard.



There is no pond here

We passed the memorial (for more information see Chip Walk(N + 1).)



The Katyn memorial, Cannock Chase

On the far side of the nearby road is the Springslade Lodge Café and after walking for an hour and a half it seemed reasonable to spend a short time under cover. We removed our outer clothing, sat in the warm, dry café drinking coffee and watching the rain splash down outside.

I was comfortable where we were, but lunch, and the fish and chips which lie at the heart of any Chip Walk, was an hour away, so we had to brace ourselves, replace our still damp outer garments and venture into the rain.

Lunch since Chip Walk 1 (nobody is quite sure when that was but I am confident that 10 < N < 20) has been at the Swan with Two Necks in Longdon. It once had pretentions to be a gastropub and produced exceptional fish and chips but has changed hands several times over the years and the food has usually been satisfactory rather than outstanding. This year, like so many other country pubs, the Swan with Two Necks closed. Consequently we were heading for the Chetwynd Arms near Brocton, a thriving pub beside a main road.

We headed out over Anson’s Bank......



Over Anson's Bank

.....and past Chase Road Corner, another popular car parking spot with hardly a vehicle in it, and turned left to descend the Oldacre Valley.



Into the Oldacre Valley

There is more top soil here, so it was distinctly squelchy underfoot as we splashed down towards Brocton Pool. ‘This has been a dry valley since the ice age,’ Francis remarked. I presume this was some technical geography teacher’s use of the word ‘dry’, it certainly had bugger all to do with the valley I was standing in.



The Oldacre Valley has been a dry valley since the ice age!

I am not sure what route we took round Brocton Pool, I never saw it, but we emerged on the minor road that leads to the A34 and the Chetwynd Arms.

This Chetwynd Arms is not to be confused with the Chetwynd Arms in Upper Longdon (which features in Cannock Chase: not for the first time) – and Upper Longdon should not be confused with Longdon, home of the defunct Swan with Two Necks!



The Chetwynd Arms, near Brocton

The fish and chips were satisfactory, if hardly memorable, but were pleasingly inexpensive (though ‘two meals for the price of one’ is not best exploited by three people eating together). The staff were friendly and efficient and it is clearly a well run business, even if it lacks the personal touch of an old fashioned village pub.



So its a Chip Walk.
Fish and Chips are compulsory (yes, Sue, that means you)

Leaving the pub we found that the rain had eased. We crossed the A34 and followed a narrow path round the back of some houses that leads, by way of a horse paddock and a playground, to the centre of Brocton village. We would rather have lunched in the pub on Brocton village green, but there isn’t one; the clichés of the English countryside sometimes let you down.



Brocton Village Green - a space crying out for a pub

We returned to the Chase, climbing up the Mere Valley...



Up the Mere Valley

....to the tautologously named Mere Pool.



Lee passes the Mere Pool

From there it was a simple path round Hart’s Hill back to the Punch Bowl and the end of a short but relatively dry afternoon. Overall it may have been the shortest Chip Walk ever, but, despite the deeply unpleasant conditions we got out there and we did it, and I am glad we did. Tradition has been maintained.

The Annual Fish and Chip Walks

The Nth: Cannock Chase in Snow and Ice (Dec 2010)
The (N + 1)th: Cannock Chase a Little Warmer (Dec 2011)
The (N + 2)th: Cannock Chase in Torrential Rain (Dec 2012)
The (N + 3)th: Cannock Chase in Winter Sunshine (Jan 2014)
The (N + 4)th: Cannock Chase Through Fresh Eyes (Dec 2014)
The (N + 5)th: Cannock Case, Dismal, Dismal, Dismal (Dec 2015)
The (N + 6)th: Cannock Chase Mild and Dry - So Much Better (Dec 2016)
The (N + 7)th: Cannock Chase, Venturing Further East (Jan 2018)
The (N + 8)th: Cannock Chase, Wind and Rain (Dec 2018)
The (N + 9)th: Cannock Chase, Freda's Grave at Last (Dec 2019)
The (N + 10)th: Cannock Chase in the Time of Covid (Dec 2020)
The (N + 11)th: Cannock Chase, Tussocks(Dec 2021)
Dec 2020 - no walk
The (N + 12)th: Cannock Chase, Shifting Tectonic Plates (Dec 2023)

Bangkok (2) Jim Thompson's House and Other Shrines

Jim Thompson, Khlong Taxi, Nai Lert Fertility Shrine, Erawan Shrine and More

Thailand

Jim Thompson's House

On a sunny morning we set off for Jim Thompson’s House, first making our way back to the bridge over the canal 'Khlong Saen Saeb'. ‘Khlong taxis’ ply up and down the waterway, but for this journey they were unnecessary, we only had to walk a couple of hundred metres along what at home would be called the tow-path.

A 'Khlong Taxi' passes as we walk to Jim Thompson's House, Bangkok

Jim Thompson arrived in Bangkok in 1945 to set up the local office of the OSS (later known as the CIA) and subsequently became Military Attaché at the US embassy. On leaving the army he created a business dealing in Thai silk, the huge success of his enterprise saving the country's ancient but then dying craft of silk weaving. He was an art collector and brought six old teak houses to Bangkok from the countryside and reassembled them as one house for himself and his treasures.

Jim Thompson's House, Bangkok

It is a beautiful house set in a lush tropical garden which makes it difficult to photograph, but is so peaceful it is hard to believe you are in the heart of the city. We were shown round by a sharp-tongued guide, ‘don’t hang around taking photographs here you can do that later... put your bags in these lockers... don’t take any photographs inside... take your shoes off here’ but who revealed, as the tour went on, a dry and very appealing sense of humour.

Jim Thompson's House, Bangkok

Thompson collected objet d’art from all over SE Asia including many statues, some like this one (outside, so photography was permitted!) lacking heads or other parts of their anatomy. To Thais this is eccentric behaviour; damaged statues bring bad luck and should be destroyed, not collected.

Headless statue, Jim Thompson's House, Bangkok

In 1967, while visited friends in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, Thompson went out for a stroll after lunch and disappeared. Despite extensive searches no trace of him has ever been found. Many theories have been put forward and some, given his CIA background, involve interesting if improbable conspiracies. To our guide the answer was simple: that’s what happens when you collect broken statues. [update March 2017, Cameron Highlands: we saw the house from which he disappeared]

Khlong Taxi

After coffee in Jim Thompson’s snack bar, we returned to the canal and hopped on a Khlong Taxi. ‘Hop’ is an appropriate word, the boat slows but barely stops and the already high sides are topped with a tarpaulin to protect passengers from the sun and splashes of the extravagantly polluted water. The crew, hard hats on their heads, clamber along the gunwales outside the tarpaulin, thrusting a hand through to collect the minimal fare. We only wanted to go two stops, but our boat terminated at the first stop and everybody had to climb off and then onto the next one – an interesting scramble above water you really would not want to fall into.

On the Khlong Taxi, Bangkok

The Nai Lert Park Fertility Shrine

Some poor map reading made it an unnecessarily long walk to Nai Lert Park where there is a small shrine…..

Shrine in Nai Lert Park

…. which is hardly unusual in Bangkok, but this one gained a reputation for promoting fertility, resulting in many interesting donations from those in hope and those giving thanks.

A small selection of the phalluses at the shrine, Nai Lert Park, Bangkok

'Dashing Through the Snow' at 30 Degrees

We lingered briefly among the lingams before heading back tothe main drag and turning right towards the MBK centre. We passed a shop which seemed a little early with its New Year message. In Yangon a few days previously I had photographed Father Christmas seriously overdressed for the climate. Here everything looked right, it was the music that was wrong. It is weird to hear a choir singing about ‘dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh’ when the temperature is on the high side of 30.

Happy New Year, Bangkok style

Erawan Shrine

A little further along we passed the Erawan Hotel. Its construction had been plagued by a spate of accidents so instead of looking at their health and safety policy the builders constructed a shrine. This solved the problem and news of the shrine’s protective powers spread resulting in a steady stream of supplicants bringing their own petitions.[Update: In August 2015 the shrine was the scene of a bombing in which 20 died and 125 were injured. The bombing is believed to be the work of Uighur nationalists in retaliation for the extradition of one of their number to China].

Brahman shrine, outside the Erawan Hotel, Bangkok

The MBK Centre

We reached the MBK Centre in time for lunch. MBK is, I read, Bangkok’s trendiest shopping mall, though on some floors it looks more like a covered market. For us the attraction was the food court, which had been recommended by Hilary (who is reliable in these matters) and Lynne’s hairdresser Fay (who has yet to establish a track record). We made our way to the 6th floor, bought an appropriate supply of coupons and wandered round the stalls deciding where to spend them.

The MBK Centre, Bangkok

The food court is bright and clean and offers a variety of Asian cuisines at reasonable prices. It had the feel of a huge cafeteria, but I would forgive that – and the lack of beer – if the food was good. Selecting a Thai stall (well we were in Thailand) Lynne ordered Pad Thai prawns and I went for mussels on a sizzling dish with a variety of accompaniments. Lynne said her meal was nothing special; mine was so bland it could have been anything. Sorry Hilary and Fay, perhaps we picked the wrong stall.

After lunch we wandered round the shops failing to find a XXXXXL(local size) tee-shirt to fit my XL western frame.

Back to our Hotel

We walked back in the hot afternoon and dropped into the 7/11 shop outside our hotel to acquire a couple of cold beers to drink in the air-conditioned comfort of our room. Grabbing some cans from the chiller I took them to the counter to be told, very apologetically, that it was illegal for shops to sell alcohol before 5pm. With that plan scuppered, we repaired to the little restaurant where we had eaten dinner yesterday and found them happy to deal with our hard earned thirst.

Traffic beneath the skytrain, Bangkok

At the hotel, we wrote some emails before attempting to look up King Bhumibol on Wikipedia. In China there are lots of bits of the internet you cannot access, Facebook for one, but in Thailand with its more-or-less functioning democracy and liberal tradition we were surprised to be greeted with a screen informing us that we were not permitted to view this page.

Accessing it at home we found little to upset the Thai authorities. The king, we already knew, is above politics and greatly revered by his people. He ascended the throne in 1946, making him the longest reigning monarch in Thai history and currently the world’s longest serving head of state (beating Queen Elizabeth by 6 years) [King Bhumibol died on the 13/10/2016 and was succeded by his son].

Street Dining, Bangkok Style

For once the evening was dry and we selected a street restaurant near our hotel. Although it had been set up by hand in the hour since dusk, there was an extensive menu (with English translation) and a good selection of drinks. Lynne chose a lightly fried fish which she said was excellent but my ‘duck north-eastern style’ was less successful. Livers are not my favourite part of the bird, and there was so much lemongrass it overwhelmed everything else – but at least it was not bland.

Elaborate street food, Bangkok

Dinner over, we strolled up and down the road. We would set off for home the next morning and felt unconvinced our short stay had allowed us to properly get to grips with Bangkok. Beneath the pedestrian bridge over the main road was a small shrine, and on that shrine was a cat, stretched out and asleep. In my memory this has become the defining image of Bangkok.

Cat on a shrine, Bangkok

Myanmar, Land of Gold

1 Arriving in Yangon (or is that Rangoon?), the former capital of Burma (or should that be Myanmar?)

2 Yangon, A Reclining Buddha and the Shwedagon Pagoda

3 Across the Yangon River to Dala

4 Bagan (1): Temples, Lacquerware and more Temples

5 Bagan (2): Yet more Temples and a Drift Down the Irrawaddy

Interlude: The Road to Mandalay (Kipling's Version)

6 The Road to Mandalay (Our Version)

7 Mandalay and Amarapura

8 U Bein's Bridge, Sagaing and Inwa

9 Pindaya Heho and the 5-day Market,
10 Inle Lake (1), Stilt Houses, Fishermen and Non-Swimming Buddhas
11 Inle Lake (2) Watching People Work and a Myanmar Winery

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Bangkok (1) The Old Royal Centre

Bangkok (2) Jim Thompson's House and Other Shrines