The Italian Job

We are half way through our short break in Barbados and up to now it has been anything but dull! The usual room rearrangement was interesting as initially one couple had a suite and the other had the spare box room but they were on different floors. The hotel then came up with a cunning plan to put us in a double suite with a sea view on the floor below. That sounded a good plan until we came back from breakfast find the door would not open. This was when it became necessary to paraphrase Michael Caine as angle grinders and power drills came to the fore. That didn't work so a ladder was brought in so the maintenance crew could get until the rooms via the balcony. After four hours we were back in the room, holiday back on track.

We were fortunate that Tuesday was a Bank Holiday here so the horse racing was moved accordingly. As a result of our room problems we we were guests of the hotel in their VIP tent. Two winners later and we were lined up for a free day. One jockey almost did a Frankie Dettori and had six of the eight winners. People in the known picket up an 800-1 accumulator in the quad forecast.

As can happen here, it dumped down with rain yesterday but it looks set fair for a bit of sea fishing tomorrow. No golf planned while Apes Hill is closed but the positive news is that it should reopen during 2021. Lets hope it is still affordable.

Coincidences still appear regularly. On this holiday I popped into the pavilion at Dover cricket club and there on the wall amongst pictures of famous West Indian cricketers was a presentation plaque from Old Parkonians, the local club to us in Oxton. They went in 1993. Continues to be a small world.

Full metal jacket

Well it's red actually, and every member of the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains has one. The tradition stems from the days when golfers played on common land and wore a red jacket to warn non-golfers that small hard spherical objects were flying around in their area. A bit like the armed forces raising red flags when they are having live firing practise in Aldershot or on Salisbury Plain. Some clubs still insist that their members wear a red outer garment when they are playing, in keeping with tradition.

It is said that when Bobby Jones, the eminent amateur golfer, was playing in and around Wallasey in the 1930's the image of the red jackets stayed with him so when he designed Augusta National and was looking for a suitable image for that Club, he thought of those red jackets. Red was associated in the Southern USA with the English during the civil war, so he opted for Green which was more acceptable being linked as it was to the Confederate army.

Anyway, today I went for my fitting at the local tailor in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead. The tailor, Mr Marchini,  was in the middle of making a red jacket for the incoming captain of another local club but was plaeased to pause and measure me up. I opted out of the trousers so was spared the question regarding which way I dress!!

The grandson of the tailor used to go to school with our youngest grandaughter, Ava, and they used to go to his house for home made pizza nights, after school. It really is a very small world.

So in a few weeks I will be back for a fitting and then it will be displayed in public at the Spring dinner in early April. The first person to say 'which circus do you belong to' will almost get a laugh. Ho, ho ho!
 

Captain obvious

I started this blog in 1997 and now enter the 14th year of spewing out trivia concerning me,  my family and friends. I started it to try to outline the trials and tribulations of selling a house in London with a view to moving full time to the Wirral. I was still working at the time and the house move, sporting events and work experiences meant I was able to blog more than once a week on average. More recently though the variety in my life has reduced and consequently my blog entries have dropped to below one a week.

I get the feeling that the trend is about to reverse,

Yesterday I was formally announced as the 2020-21 captain-elect for Wallasey Golf Club with a start date as Captain for March. I am finding it hard to put into words how big an honour this is. Wallasey is recognised as a seriuosly good course and is ranked in the top 100 courses in England. It's a senior member club within the  Society of Liverpool Golf Clubs, and as Captain I join that elite band. I immediately get 27 new chums and SWMBO becomes part of the ladies section. My diary less than 24 hours after the announcement is already starting to fill with events and competitions to which I have been invited. It's going to be a busy year.

When I moved to the Wirral, I knew almost nobody except SWMBO's extended family and some of her friends. Their husbands were really my only drinking partners. I took a punt by applying to join Wallasey golf club and they very kindly popped me on the wait list for about 15 months before inviting me to interview. The process I went through to arrive at Wallasey as my preferred destination is documented somewhere in the blog around 2009, but what a great decision it was.

The golf club welcomed me with open arms, no heirs and graces were evident, and there was me expecting a South of England elitist attitude. Many of the members live locally in the Wallasey and New Brighton area and the Club has a comfortable feel to it. It was certainly my rock on which our whole Wirral life was built. I have little doubt it was the main reason I managed to stay and thrive op North, and now that they have given me the ultimate badge of acceptance, I will be able to pay them back for their faith in the coming months and years to come.

 There will be stories and tales to fill the pages of my blog for weeks to come, and ,as one ex-Captain said, 'It's the present which keeps on giving'. Happy Chistmas to me!!