Ian Louis Harris

Hamsters v Dedanists’ Society At Hampton Court: Pies, MVPs & Some Real Tennis, 16 October 2025

Captain’s log…

Once again I found myself match managing for the Dedanists’ Society in Tony Friend’s absence. This year he tried to be more specific about the match report:

The readers will want a pie report. And make sure you tell them about the MVP.

In my first draft, I waxed lyrical about several performances, even mentioning my own, before unequivocally stating that Oliver Buckley, who played two excellent rubbers for the Hamsters, was clearly the “most valuable player” on the day.

Tony was not impressed:

What are you doing? MVP doesn’t stand for “most valuable player” in a pie report. It stands for “most viscous pie”. Tell ’em about the pies.

The desserts were excellent too, but none were, strictly speaking, pies.

I needed to resort to gustatory memory and visual forensics

I detect Chicken, Ham & Leek on the one hand, Steak, Mushroom & Merlot on the other…

It was a tough choice. The dauphinoise potatoes need an honourable mention, as do the desserts, but they were none of them pies. On balance, the steak, mushroom and merlot was just a little more viscous than the chicken, ham and leek, but both were unquestionably delicious.

A huge thank you to Ian Hancock and Elwyn Hughes, who confessed to me when I arrived early and offered help, that they were “hosting virgins”, i.e. had neither of them hosted a match before. This would not have been obvious to most attendees. Nor to me at first, as the table was already laid at 9:30 am.

Then at 9:40, Lesley Ronaldson popped in and wondered why they hadn’t extended the table before laying it. I “helped” by photographing the ensuing refit.

At one point Lesley could be seen under the table, for reasons I couldn’t quite fathom. The next photo might have captured the moment that Ian & Elwyn realised that she was there.

Anyway, the point is, our hosts at RTC pulled off a blinder, as usual, providing wonderful hospitality for this convivial and enjoyable match.

There was also tennis, which, the results table below confirms, registered a 3.5/2.5 victory for the Hamsters.

But wait! Graeme Marks appeared for the Dedanists’ at 11:30 and then later for the Hamsters at 15:30. What confusion!

Many of us frequently find ourselves representing one team while also being qualified to represent the other. See the case of MCC v Dedanists’: [2025]. On such occasions, we might even find ourselves putting two shirts in our kit bag, unclear when setting off for the match which side we’ll end up representing. See the case Dedanists’ v MCC: [2020].

We even, very occasionally, find ourselves selected for a team for which we are not qualified, in order to help make the match-ups work. See Queen’s Club v The Dedanists’ Society: [2023].

Batting for both sides in the same match, though? Surely the Latin maxim “Nemo potest duobus dominis servire” – no-one can serve two masters – applies here. And if we scratch the two offending rubbers from the record, the match result looks oh-so different.

But wait! There is another Latin legal maxim: “Nemo iudex in sua causa” – no-one can judge their own case. So I suppose I must shut up with judgmental ramblings about the result, other than to say that the winner, as always, was real tennis, not least because a few hundred quid will find its way to The Dedanists’ Society coffers and then on to good causes.

Yet, I am still entitled to judge the MVP (most viscous pies):

Gold Pie: Steak, Mushroom & Merlot

Silver Pie: Chicken, Ham & Leek

And the other type of MVPs – i.e. most valuable pastry-cooks? Unquestionably Ian Hopkins & Elwyn Hughes. With thanks again for the warm and friendly hospitality in the fine tradition of Hamsters v Dedanists’ matches.

The Unbelievers by Nick Payne, Royal Court Theatre, 11 October 2025

I wasn’t an unbeliever in this play/production, nor was I completely convinced

Janie and I saw the second preview of this one. Not that the preview lacked the polish of a honed Royal Court Theatre production, but it is possible that a few aspects were toned down/toned up or cut between previews and press night. I am writing this ahead of seeing any reviews, although I shall probably publish it a week or two after press night.

Another thing to say is that we saw this taught, psychological drama around 24 hours after learning of Bobbie Scully‘s unexpected and untimely death, which wasn’t an ideal mood setter ahead of seeing this sort of play.

It probably matters little what I say about this play/production anyway – it had effectively sold out even before the previews, let alone the press night and reviews. And why not? What a stellar list of contributors. We have very much enjoyed Nick Payne’s plays several times before – in particular Constellations was a triumph.

Similarly, Nicola Walker has long-impressed us as an actress. Although perhaps better known to most as a TV actress we have seen her several times on the stage, on at least one occasion (The Curious Incident…)directed brilliantly, as in The Unbelievers, by Marianne Elliot.

The list of recognisably excellent cast and creatives went on. That’s why we booked early. That’s why lots of people booked early.

The story is almost as unpleasant a scenario as you can possibly imagine. A middle-class family’s teenage son doesn’t return from school one day and disappears without trace. Did he run away? Was he abducted? Did he run away and then subsequently meet his demise? The play shows the impact of this horrifying event on the family, especially the mother, Miriam (Nicola Walker), over a number of years.

Janie got more out of this one than I did.

It felt, to me, as though the piece had been written as a virtuoso piece for the lead actress, which it undoubtedly is. Only an actress of Nicola Walker’s quality could carry such a part through 100 minutes or so of unbroken drama, during which she barely leaves the stage.

But the piece has a relentless gloom about it; it is not a spoiler to say that neither the family, nor the audience, get any answers to the mystery, The whole point is that the tragedy comes down to the belief the individuals involved, cast and audience, have in what might have happened and therefore how to live with the unknown.

Some elements of the play work brilliantly, especially the scenes where this question of belief is explored and illustrated through the drama.

But much of the play especially early scenes, felt like up-market versions of those television police procedurals that, frankly, I’d pay good money to avoid having to see. [Insert your own joke about the BBC licence fee here.]

I also found the light relief scenes rather forced and did not get the desired sense of relief from them. Janie thought they worked well on the whole for her, so perhaps that was more about my sombre mood than the scenes.

I was unconvinced, for example, by the character Anil, who came from a Society for Psychical Research-like organisation. He was trying to be intensely caring and professional, yet was unable to stop himself from answering his phone while in a meeting with distressed people. I think my unbelief in this character was down to the writing, rather than Jaz Singh Deol’s acting. Similarly, Harry Kershaw’s character Benjamin, the loquacious puffin-boffin fiancée of one of the daughters, given the context, was almost impossible for me to believe in, other than as a playwright’s device to try to lighten the mood of an increasingly dark play.

The Unbelievers might get/be getting rave reviews for all I know – you can read formal reviews through this link if you’d like to see them gathered – and for sure it is worth seeing if you have tickets for the short sold-out run.

Nick Payne is a fine writer, it was a superb team of cast/creatives, and The Royal Court puts on fine productions, so Janie and I won’t be dodging these people and places in future – far from it.

But this one just missed the mark for me and only just made the mark for Janie.

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Sixteen: From Portland Maine To London England, via An Updike Hike In Ipswich Essex, 8 October 2025

Last Brunch Before Boston Logan

The weather had smiled on us so wonderfully for most of our New England trip, it was perhaps ironically fitting that the weather turned just as we were leaving.

A damp view of Portland just before departure

We said goodbye to our lovely apartment on Munjoy Hill. I drove us from Portland to Ipswich in the driving rain.

The weather was due to cheer up middle of the day, but we found ourselves in Ipswich before noon. I had spotted two places for refreshments in the middle of the town: Heart & Soul Cafe & the Choate Bridge Pub.

We started in the first of them, which we could tell straight away would be to our taste. A groovy throw back to the 1960s & 1970s.

Tasty BLTs with avo and great coffee, which is not all that easy to find in USA cafes.

The staff were all very friendly and we got to meet the owners, Bud & Jenny, who were exactly the sort of jolly, genial people you might expect from the pictures.

They were especially taken with my shirt, which they thought might have been designed for their cafe. Funnily enough, it is the one I wore to Kim & Janie’s 60’s themed party, so Bud & Jenny were darned right!

I wondered whether the picture with Ed Sheeran (see headline photo) was an AI-generated joke, as it seemed incongruous for their 60s/70s theme, but it turned out that Ed Sheeran had popped in to the cafe a few months ahead of us.

For reasons known only to him, Ed Sheeran, a son of Ipswich (Suffolk, England), chose to film a pop video in the other Ipswich (Essex County, Massachusetts). And why not?

Perhaps this gave Janie the bug to film a video of her own, which I’ll insert a bit later.

The rain had pretty much died down by the time we had finished our brunch, so we said goodbye to Bud, Jenny and their team and wandered around for a while, taking in some of the old buildings in the town…

…before returning to the centre of town to start an Updike hike. The hike needed to start in the Choate Bridge Pub, as I was aware that Updike had written many of his novels from an office above that pub. Why he chose to write there rather than in his big house, a few minutes walk away from the pub, is a matter for some academic conjecture I am sure.

The nice barmaid told us that upstairs is now apartments (I’d kinda figured), so we thought best to wander down to pay homage to Updike’s house after photographing the Choate Bridge Pub Updike plaque.

On leaving the pub, we got chatting for quite a while with a nice lady, recently bereaved, who had lived in St John’s Wood at one time. Then we sought the Updike plaque.

I thought the couple sitting in the window were trying to avoid being photographed, which would have been fair enough, but it turned out they were clowning around, hoping to photo bomb our picture, which was really pretty funny.

OK, you must all be chomping at the bit to see a five minute hike movie – now’s the time for a showing of Daisy’s movie:

The Polly Dole House, Updike’s second in Ipswich.

Updike’s first house, on Essex Road…in case you couldn’t tell…

Janie drove us into Boston Logan airport, which was a relatively traffic and hassle free drive, but dropping the car and then getting to the check in at departures was a bit of a circus, as I suspect it always is at Boston Logan.

Once we got through formalities, though, the Delta hospitality (which Virgin shares) was excellent, so we chose to chow down before the flight and eat light on it.

Is that my relaxed face or my relieved face while eating a very tasty chowder?

Relaxed & relieved face, while eating a tasty fish dish

Studying the photos while taking some desert before flying.

If you want to see all the pictures from this day – we’re talking well north of 100 – then click this Flickr link or the photo link below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Fifteen: More Relaxing In Portland Maine, With Tennis, Reading & Dinner At Miyake, 7 October 2025

A streetcar named…well, it was unnamed, actually.

Our last day, mostly like the previous day, as we wanted to relax.

Breakfast, then off to play tennis around 9:40 for 10:00. No dramas on the tennis court today and another excellent close game.

Mostly relaxing, while doing a bit of packing.

Then, after finishing our packing, we went off in the evening to Miyake. Another really delightful meal – thank you, Jamie and Chris.

Coincidentally, we learnt the next day from our host Michele that Jamie and Chris are friends of theirs and happened to be over for dinner with our hosts that very evening and wondered whether we were enjoying the meals in the places they had recommended!

I know Portland is a small city and all that, but this felt very folksy indeed.

Anyway, the answer is…we sure did.

This all looks very neat and tidy at first

The food was delicious and the service very helpful, enthusiastic and discreet in equal measure.

Two of our favourites: unadon (above) and buta bara (kakuni is our real fave) below

Let’s get up close and personal with an ebi tempura

There’s always one diner who cannot get used to sensible portion sizes!

We really liked that place – a lovely way to end our time in Portland Maine.

In the unlikely event that anyone wants to see the handful of pictures that weren’t used in this blog piece, click the Flickr link here or photo below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Fourteen: Relaxing In Portland Maine, With Tennis, Reading & Dinner At Scales, 6 October 2025

Clam chowder is irresistible in those parts

Our morning “routine” in our temporary Portland home is now well set. Coffee and a breakfast of cereal, blueberries, grapes, banana & milk, followed by a game of tennis. I prevailed today 6-4, 1-1; it has been really close each day.

On this occasion, we politely asked a pickleball pair to allow us to play on the court we had booked and the “gentleman” tried to decline our request, insisting that the place is “first come, first served”…which it is, unless you pay to reserve and play. His “Mrs” encouraged him to see sense, not least because there were several other pickleball spots free such that both they and we could play on uncracked courts. I’m starting to see why tennis and pickleball folk are at loggerheads in some parts of the US!

The Eastern Promenade courts are a beautiful setting for tennis (and/or pickleball come to that), with lovely views of the sea and (at least while we were around) a helpful but unobtrusive level of breeze.

Back to our apartment for a restful day, mostly reading on our terrace and/or writing up these notes. We met our host, Michele, briefly, and had a pleasant chat with her.

I even had time for a siesta today and it really did feel like siesta weather – sitting out had, at times, felt like too much sun; extraordinary for Portland Maine in October.

Dinner this evening at Scales, which came much recommended by our friend in Bretton Woods and the friendly couple up the street (Jamie and Chris), who also recommended the Japanese place we have arranged to try tomorrow.

Scales deserved those recommendations (as did the Japanese – see next article). Excellent setting, grub and service. We tried their clam chowder which was excellent – on a par with The Moorings in Newport.

Then Janie chose lobster roll with fries, coleslaw & pickle, while I had a very tasty haddock dish.

Janie looks very happy with her choice. I don’t look displeased with mine either.

We both had a glass of a NY Riesling to start, then I had Benziger Running Wild Chardonnay, while Janie tried an Oregon Pinot Noir rose. The portion sizes were sensible for once, so I tried some frozen custard (blueberry) and Janie tried a coffee frapee. Then we did both feel full, but very happy!

In the unlikely event you want to see the handful of other pictures we took that day, click this Flickr link or the photo below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Thirteen: In Portland, Portsmouth & Kennebunkport, 5 October 2025

We played tennis again after breakfast. 6-4, 4-4 in Daisy’s favour. A nice young basketball player who was practicing her shooting encouraged us to “have a go” before we went home.

A little reluctantly, Daisy agreed to do some coastal touring this afternoon. In the end she was glad that she acquiesced, not least because that freed up our last two days for rest and relaxation at our apartment in Portland.

Just two stops for the excursion on Sunday – Portsmouth and Kennebunkport. First stop, Portsmouth.

We parked on the edge of the centre of town, in a lot where parking is free as long as you can find a spot. We found a spot. My guess that leaf-peeping would be more popular this weekend and that consequently the seaside towns would be “buzzy but not heaving” proved to be correct.

We took some light refreshment (iced coffee and bread) at an Italian bar/restaurant on market square, then wandered round a bit.

We were not overly taken with Portsmouth, which reminded us of many nice but unexceptional old towns at home, and we were not attracted to look at museums on such a warm sunny day.

On, then, to Kennebunkport. The drive into that town was more scenic than the drive to Portsmouth, as was the town itself. Small, compact and rather quaint.

Which of these supermodels (above & below) is Model A?

We enjoyed walking around for a while, taking in the vibe. Then we had ice cream because that’s what you do if you spend an afternoon in seaside towns. Janie had coffee and I had blueberry pie flavour.

Then home, reasonably early, to enjoy a relaxed evening with our wine, cheese, charcuterie and salad, procured from Wholefoods and Micucci on the preceding days.

If you’d like to see all the pictures from this day, try the Flickr link here or on the photo below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Twelve: Relaxing In Portland Maine, Not Least Tennis, Micucci Pizza, Our Sun Trap Terrace & Dinner With Susan & Bill, 4 October 2025

Pickleball seems to be de rigueur on the Portland tennis courts

We played tennis for the first time at the Eastern Prominade. 6-2, 2-4 in my favour. Most people play pickleball there now. We got there a little early and had a nice lady explain pickleball to us.

Then we played a good game of tennis in that lovely setting.

After tennis and a shower, we went to Micucci to buy some charcuterie & cheeses for Sunday. Also to try their much vaunted pizza for lunch – one big pizza slice between the two of us was more than plenty.

I don’t normally dig pizza, but this simple (half) pizza slice was just the ticket for lunch

We relaxed on the terrace of our lovely Munjoy Hill apartment in the afternoon…

…ahead of an early evening meet up with Susan Gorman and her partner Bill at Woodford F&B, in mid-town Portland.

It was lovely to meet Susan (my Keele flatmate Alan Gorman’s widow) after several years of correspondence. It was also a pleasure to meet Bill.

We tried Woodford’s famous burgers, which were very good, preceded by a cheese plate to share with a special local cheddar as its centre piece, together with a wild cherry garnish. Janie and I drank a very interesting NY State Gewurtztraminer.

Susan and Bill both had very interesting things to say about local issues in South Maine and wider issues too, of course. They live in Biddeford, which is about 25-30 minutes south of Portland, but Bill had lived in Portland previously.

Indeed, the food, beverages and conversation were so completely absorbing, that our resident culinary photographer (Janie) forgot to take any photos of the occasion, which had her kicking herself afterwards. Actually, an unphotographed meal out is such a rarity these days, I think the absence of photos signifies the very specialness of the occasion.

It was such a pleasure to spend some time with Susan and Bill – they kindly dropped us back at our apartment before they set off for home.

If you want to see all (eleven) photos from this day, click this Flickr link or the photo below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Eleven: Leaf Peeping In New Hampshire On The Kancamagus Highway & Bretton Woods, 3 October 2025

Janie (Daisy) took hundreds of pictures and I took a few – a small sample are shown in this piece

After that cheesecake breakfast…

…we set off early for a day of leaf-peeping in New Hampshire.

Janie drove out to Conway, where we discovered (more or less as I expected) that the tourist information office was closed as it is staffed by Federal employees who were in shut-down.

No matter, as I had planned our route carefully anyway.

I took the wheel to drive the Kancamagus Pass to Lincoln. Janie took an infeasible number of pictures along the way, and some video (just 2’42”).

We stopped at Rocky Gorge and took a short walk around the gorge, going beyond the tourist-heavy area on the car park side of the bridge and finding some quieter spots where we could explore the gorge a little.

We encountered a wedding couple having their pictures taken. We discreetly left them alone, only to subsequently witness a bossy-boots cyclist women telling the couple and their photographer how to do it “her way”.

I continued the drive beyond Lincoln, starting the journey home “the long-way-round” by driving up into the foothills of Mount Washington to Bretton Woods.

This enabled us to see some different scenery and also enabled us to take a break at the Omni Mount Washington Resort, which was the scene of the 1944 Bretton Woods conference.

This felt, to me, a pilgrimage I needed to make. We wanted a light lunch, so we ordered just a couple of “appetisers”: calamari & fries. The portions were so darned enormous, I don’t think we ate much more than half of the food presented to us.

The bar manager who served us was very helpful, and knew Portland well, so gave us some dining tips that served us well for the rest of our holiday.

Upstairs after dining, I hoped to see The Gold Room where the documents founding the International Monetary Fund were formally signed off. While searching for the room, a small man asked if he could help us, we explained our mission and he most certainly helped us as it turned out that he is the new General manager of the Omni Mount Washington.

“John & Henry have texted to say they have some documents for me to sign”

That was good fortune as we sensed that most people around there only had the vaguest idea about the site’s historic past.

The Ballroom where the conference took place

Yup, I’ll vote in favour of that…whatever it is…economics or something?

Janie did the longer drive home, via Wholefoods, where we had planned to stock up for a supper at home on Sunday, but after our bumper lunch and long day, we resolved to have a supper at home also that evening.

I had been keen to try the nova style of salmon, which I had read is subtly different from “Scottish” smoked salmon style and New York lox style. Wholefoods afforded us the opportunity to try some small packets of the various types of salmon, so we could have a private tasting of those things.

It actually proved to be a very pleasant and tasty way to end the day. And after all the fried food of calamari & chips, some smoked fish and salad seemed just the ticket.

If you are crazy enough to want to look at all 200 or so pictures from this day (at least one or two gallant readers have already done so pre-publication), you can click this Flickr link or the picture link below.

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Ten: Orientation In Portland Maine, Followed By Dinner At Street & Co., 2 October 2025

Some of the orientation required sitting on our terrace enjoying the sun & the view

Our house was a very very very fine house

We decided to make this an orientation day, so we did a fair bit of walking around but not a lot of things.

Giant cruise ships were regular features in the harbour

I had spotted that we were relatively close to a nice-looking and well reviewed Italian deli, Micucci, so we started our exploration there. After buying a few provisions there (and checking out that we would return for other stuff during our week) we progressed on to have a look at the tennis courts on the Eastern Promenade, which looked well-appointed so I resolved to work out how to book those.

We walked all around the Eastern Promenade and met a really nice lady near the bandstand who gave us some good advice ahead of our Kancamagus trip tomorrow.

Then home again via the convenience store at the top of our street where we stocked up on some basics that Italian delis don’t sell, such as breakfast cereal, bananas and milk.

Several of the fancier restaurants were fully booked for this night, but I got us a late evening booking at Street & Co, that looked good for seafood. I also made one or two other bookings for later in our week to be sure to have places to go, as it seems the better places book up.

Street & Co is on the wharf, about 20 minutes walk from our flat. It was a buzzing place and they kept us waiting best part of 30 minutes for our table. But the wait was worth it, as the grub was great. A home-made tomato soup that tasted like an Uber-posh Heinz tomato soup on steroids.

Then, perhaps unwisely, we had the Lobster and seafood linguini dish for two, which comes with a “wrestle-your-own” lobster to share.

In our defence, I think the chefs had forgotten to crack the claws with their industrial instruments before serving, as the less-industrial tools we were given were not really up to the task. This is partly inadequate work-folk blaming their tools, but I think the waitress realised the error when Janie asked for some help. The dish was utterly delicious though…almost worth the fight…although we think our lobster-wrestling days are behind us now. The “lazy lobster”options look that much more enticing.

There’s a man who knows how to cut a cheesecake

No such fight with the cheesecake, which looked super special and was. We shared one piece and took a second piece home for tomorrow’s “breakfast”. Indulgent? Yes, and why not when we are on holiday? It was the best cheesecake we tasted on the whole of our trip.

If you want to see all the pictures from this day, click this Flickr link or the picture link below.

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Nine: Cape Cod To Portland Maine Via Lunch With Pady Jalali Just South Of Boston, 1 October 2025

Me, Janie & Pady – thank you, photographer/waitress.

Janie and I set off quite early from Cape Cod after a hearty breakfast and fond farewells with our hosts Mike and Helen.

Janie drove the 90 minutes from Cape Cod to South Shore Plaza in Braintree, just south of Boston, where we had arranged to meet Pady at the American Cheesecake Factory.

It was lovely to see Pady again, after a couple false starts over the past few years, due to her unfortunate needs to abort planned visits to England, most recently in July.

A few hours flew by before our agreed departure hour arrived – 3:00ish, to avoid the Boston traffic on the way out to Portland.

Pady had carefully planned the convenience of the meet up around an easy to find and get away from location. But none of us had counted on an earlier than usual rush hour, on account of the Red Sox playing the Yankees in a play-off match starting at 6:00. Who knew?

What would have been a little over two hour drive became a three-and-a half hour drive, which Janie insisted on doing, pleading that I was better at navigating to new destinations, which might be true.

We arrived in Portland just as it was getting dark. We checked in to our lovely AirBnb apartment and then went in search of a local casual place, as we didn’t want all that much food after sampling “light lunch” and sharing a cheesecake with Pady earlier.

We found a quirky, casual place named The East Ender, which turned out to be a karaoke bar downstairs and a casual diner upstairs. The wailing from the karaoke bar had to be heard to be believed, but mercifully the sound didn’t much travel up the stairs. We were able to enjoy a light supper of caesar salad (Janie) and schnitzel (me).

One of the waitresses suggested that we might like to try our hands at the karaoke. When I told her that I could offer some Renaissance tavern songs, she said:

Medieval? Scary!

At that juncture, Janie and I saw our opportunity to leave and have a much-needed early night.

If you want to see all the photos from that day, click this Flickr link or the picture one below:

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