The Admirable Fellowes

Judith Woods of the Daily Telegraph has a splendid article on Julian Kitchener-Fellowes, now sitting in his rightful Place as the Right Honourable Julian Alexander Baron Fellowes of West Stafford DL.

And a good egg he is, too. I thoroughly approve of, and rarely miss, his productions, or any broadcast with his good name thereon.

Lord Fellowes is possibly most famous for his screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.

"Fellowes, 61 – a clubbable, hearty, high church Tory in mandatory Viyella shirt and Harris tweed jacket – regrets coming across as such a churl and hopes to enter the forthcoming Downton Abbey fray in a more relaxed frame of mind. He understands now that audiences gripe because they feel intensely involved with and proprietorial towards Downton, even if they have a peculiar way of showing it.

The phenomenal viewing figures, which topped 11.6 million, made Downton both a critical and commercial triumph and ITV’s most successful costume drama since Brideshead Revisited. Yet Fellowes claims he was taken aback by the groundswell of enthusiasm. He describes himself as a lone Right-winger in the predominantly Leftie television industry, who was forcibly told on more than one occasion that Toff Television was infra dig.

The second series opens during the Great War. Downton has been converted to a convalescent home-cum-hospital for injured officers, run by the family physician Dr Clarkson.

Fellowes took up his seat in the Upper House earlier this year, sitting naturally on the Conservative benches, which is for the best, as his wistful evocations [and Timothy Belmont's] of the Empire and an age when Great Britain truly was Great, might not play so well on the other side of the chamber".

'Downton Abbey’ returns for a second series in the autumn.

Costly Tardiness

Well done to His Honour Judge Burgess, Recorder of Belfast. A defendant habitually failed to turn up at court on time, so Judge Burgess whacked him in jail till his next appearance.

Judge Burgess had told his victim's family his non-appearance was "very unsatisfactory but we have the ways and means of getting people to court".

KCVO Appointment

BREAST STAR OF A KNIGHT/DAME COMMANDER OF THE ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER

5 July 2011

THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following promotion in, and appointment to, the Royal Victorian Order:

KCVO

To be Knight Commander:

Major-General William George CUBITT, CBE. On relinquishing the appointment of Major-General Commanding Household Division.

Royal Expenditure

Timothy Belmont never ceases to be astounded at how economical, mean and stingy successive governments have been towards the Royal Family.

Readers will be aware of my utter loyalty to Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family.

I remain, and have done since I wore short trousers, a fervent royalist.

It is my opinion that HM former Yacht Britannia ought to be re-commissioned and refitted, if necessary, for the Sovereign.

Failing that, sufficient funding must be made available for a new royal yacht.

The Royal Flight should be enhanced, with a small fleet of medium size aircraft painted in royal livery.

The crumbling fabric of Buckingham Palace must be restored forthwith by the State.

I am only too well aware of the vociferous minority of anti-royalists. My Blog shan't be a playground for republicans of any hue or colour.

Lounging with Berries

The birds are singing; the pigeons frustrated by Eagle Owl observing them with its beady eyes in the front lawn.

Timothy Belmont is spending an idle, relaxing day.

I cycled to the gymnasium this morning and have been lying on an old lounger at home, basking in the kindly Ulster sunshine. Beside me, I munched a small punnet of friends' strawberries and raspberries, sweet and juicy. Heavenly.

Ethereal bliss, what?

Last night I entertained my Godmother to dinner at the Belmont GHQ, donning the feed-bag for slow-cooked lamb shank with seasonal roasted vegetables; small, steamed potatoes tossed in garlic and herbs; cauliflower cheese; closely followed by Eton Mess; along with a few gins and plonk, for good measure.

Today is booze-free in the household, readers shall be relieved to learn.

Pigeons Beware!

In an attempt to deter feral pigeons below my bird feeders, I have invested in a large, plastic, owl costing £6.99, at a local store called Wyse-Byse.

It shall be interesting to see whether this action produces the desired effect.

Apparently eagle owls enjoy a pigeon or three for dinner, if they can gets their talons on them.

The Ebullient Horatio

Horatio Todd's is an establishment which appeals to a variety of tastes; the reason, perhaps, why it is so popular (and the fact that there is not a great choice of decent bars in the vicinity).

For those living outside the Earldom, I should explain that Horatio Todd's is a popular bar-restaurant, part of a chain of bars run by a larger company, at Ballyhackamore in east Belfast.

You can go for a meal in the restaurant; or find a comfy sofa, provided they’re not all taken; or stand at the bar which, last night, was like a jungle. Frankly, I did not appreciate the Experience at all. It must be my age!

BP and self were shown to our seats in the restaurant at eight-thirty. BP ordered the "Prime 10oz Char-grilled Northern Irish [sic] Sirloin Steak", at £18.95;  while I had the "Crispy Confit of Silverhill Duck with Lyonnaise potato, apple, plum and ginger chutney and crispy leeks", costing £11.50.

We shared onion rings, at £2.95.

BP professed to enjoy the steak. I also enjoyed the duck, which was certainly tender, though the thick fatty skin was soggy and not crisp as stated on the menu. The portion of duck was small, to the extent that I had finished the meat on my plate long before the rest of the vegetables.

For pudding, I had the Rhubarb Crème Brûlée with a flamed crisp caramel top, £4.50; while BP had Classic Eton Mess: cream, summer berries and raspberry coulis, at £4.50. No complaints with the desserts.

After dinner we removed to the human jungle at the bar. I am afraid I was out of my comfort zone in Horatio’s on Friday evening and didn’t appreciate standing all night, with demi-drunk revellers bumping into me, very loud music later on, taking ages to buy a drink (not the fault of staff - just very busy).

Give me a cushy sofa, waiter service, with convivial company any day. Horatio did have plenty of sofas - they were simply occupied long before my arrival at seven forty-five.

I am convinced that one of the clientèle had taken some kind of tablet owing to his jerky movements and yelping noises; and he was no spring chicken, either. I did say it was a jungle! There was very loud music later in the evening. Many, including ourselves, stood outside with the smokers.

Despite my impressions, Horatio Todd's is undoubtedly very popular with a broad spectrum of humanity, young and even middle-aged. Many, I suggest, simply go for a meal and avoid the boisterous atmosphere at the bar.

I think I'd have been more content, had I been comfortably installed in a sofa tucked away from the madding crowd.

I cycled home at about one-thirty.