Uplifting Upheaval

Hi everyone, and welcome to an out-of-character July blog post. It's not often I write posts during the 'quiet' summer months within the ski industry, but thought I'd buck the trend this year. As mentioned in the last couple of posts leading up to the end of June, Harriet and I were to move house at the end of June. This has now taken place, and blimey what an upheaval? I move my life every year between Méribel, Leamington Spa and back again. This can be a pain, however this house move was next level, and we are still unpacking!

We had lived in our old house for thirteen years, after moving in during the summer of the London Summer Olympics in 2012. So we had had a good and enjoyable stint there, but it was time for a change. Our old house was a Victorian terrace built in the 1880s. Our new house (staying in Leamington Spa) was built in 1908, also a mid-terrace. Our Estate Agent described it as a Villa from the Edwardian period! The moving day went well, although a touch close timings-wise with the solicitors, which was stressful.

Earlier in June we had had a couple of weekends away in Yorkshire, staying respectively in Skipton and Ilkley. We loved both weekends, managing some good hiking, and we twice popped into nearby Haworth. Even if you haven't been to Haworth, it's possible you know about the cobbled steep hill of the Main Street. One reason for going to Haworth was to visit the Brontë Parsonage (Museum). Harriet has been a Book Worm all her life, and was keen to see where the Brontë Sisters were raised and wrote their famous books. I found The Parsonage to be really interesting, even though I haven't read any of the Brontë books. For me there was another highlight, I saw and smelt a rose bush at the foot of the steps of the front door! Let me explain further.

A couple of weeks before we moved house, I had been doing some visualisation of how I wanted to improve the back garden. I found myself on the internet doing some research, as you do. I went onto the David Austin website and lost a couple of hours mooching about. If you are a keen gardener, you will be familiar with his roses. If you aren't, and gardening isn't your thing, then let me explain. David Austin roses are probably the most well respected rose breeders and growers in the land, and have to date won 29 Gold Medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Their website is so so good, and I had found a particular rose bush I really fancied growing in a pot. In 2018, David Austin was commissioned by the Brontë Society to create a new rose to help celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Emily Brontë. They created this new stunning rose, named Emily Brontë. Click here for the link if you are interested. I loved the look of it, and made a mental note.

Anyway, back to Yorkshire, this was the rose bush I recognised at the Parsonage in Haworth. So obvious really that one would be growing in their garden! It was absolutely beautiful, with an amazing scent. It was great to see this bush in person, rather than just only online. This experience confirmed that I wanted to buy one of my own.

Guess what, within a few days of moving into our new house, I jumped into the car, and drove out to the David Austin garden centre in Shropshire.

Oh my goodness, what an amazing garden centre, and I can't believe I'm coming out with these words, let alone write them in a blog post. It was the best I'd ever been to over the years. My Mum and Dad were really keen rose growers back in the day, and I remember them talking about this place. And here I was walking around admiring everything around me. It seems a bit of their passion had been passed down to me!?!

But what has rose growing got to do with a ski blog post, and skiing in Méribel and Courchevel? Absolutely nothing I guess.

Hang on a minute, no I'm not going to let that go. Shall I tell you something I observed at David Austin's? Everyone there was really excited about walking around and looking at the sights. They were loving it. The mood was very uplifting and infectious. The staff were friendly and clearly proud to work there. There was a sense of passion, with people really getting into and enjoying their hobbies. This reminded me of being in Méribel. Of how I feel every time I'm there, surrounded by people having fun and having a great time. Granted, David Austin's is a very different environment to skiing in the 3 Valleys, but....... Can you see what I'm getting at? I even stopped for a coffee and carrot cake and bloomin loved it, just like us skiers would stop for a hot chocolate (or vin chaud) on the mountain.

Some would argue that this is possibly the most tenuous of links with skiing yet on this blog page, perhaps. But isn't it nice seeing people having fun doing whatever it is we like to do? After hoofing down my coffee and carrot cake, I went and made a purchase, and drove away with a massive smile on my face!

I'm pleased to announce that Emilly Brontë has settled into life since moving from Shropshire to Leamington Spa. She is flourishing nicely in the back garden, and the Head Gardener of the household (that's me) is looking after her and making a right royal fuss of her!?!

Right, I promise I'll be more Méribel focused with my next post. I'm back to Méribel next month for more of my hobbies and passions; photography, cycling and hiking. It will be strange leaving our new house and garden behind for a bit, but you know how strong the pull of the mountains are for me. And you know me, I'll blog about the visit at some point. Don't forget that the Tour de France bike race is going to Courchevel and the Col de la Loze in just under a couple of weeks time, do watch out for that on ITV4. I hope you are all having a fab summer, and enjoying any summer holidays. As ever, and even more appropriate for this post, let's finish with my usual mantra - Live With Passion. Martin.