Too many, too soon

 Word has just reached me that my good friend at the golf club, Simon Birtles, died sudden,y at the weekend. There were thoughts he had some heart challenges but nothing we considered terminal. It was only towards the end of last year that he played an almost perfect round of golf to set the pace in our 'Ten of the Best' challenge. I always thought of him as being as fit as a butchers dog given he was always away on  cycling tour, usually in the Scottish Highlands and Islands he loved so much.

His sad loss comes hard on the heals of Paul 'Holty' Holt, a strapping 2nd rower at Twickenham Rugby Club. He had been battling ill health for a while and leaves five children behind. Holty was a session musician amongst many other professions he explored in the hospitality industry, and would often belt out Delilah at rugby events and tours. I suspect the banning of the song was one step too far for him. Interestingly over 50 years ago Stu and I of S Club fame went to our first match with Judith Glastonbury. I always thought I had a chance there, but it was difficult to compete against a musician. She became his first wife and produced his three oldest children, musicians every one of them.

I will miss his funeral on Thurday, and also the memorial service for Graham Sims the following day. 'Simsy' was a pest controller and locksmith who also played for Twickenham. He rented a room from me at Chiswick when he had lady challenges and we spent many happy times trying to put him on the right path where the fairer sex was concerned. Simsy had had a brain tumour for many years and while it was operable it was not able to be totally removed, and it got the better of him in the end.

All three friends taken far too early. They will be missed by their families and friendship groups. All three were younger than me so it re-enforces the need to live for the day.

May they rest in peace.

Frugal February

 The Six Nations rugby is well under way now with Ireland and France showing World Cup winning form. The rest will be hoping they have peaked too early.

England beat Wales which shows they are moving in the right direction although the debate now centres around their captain rather than coach.

We planned to go to North Wales on Friday to watch the U20 game against England but we had a blow out on the way and watched the first half in a layby on the A55. That said the England back line looked very quick and they ran out deserved winners too. There was a Chessum brother in each England  team with younger one coming in at 6' 9 ".

Golf dinners have kicked I  again with three in three weeks, but now we are ab.e to relax for a couple of weeks. This entry is being composed in LHR T3 so watch this space for more news of the significant birthday adventure.

I do look forward ro meeting up with the S Club again next season and we have planned a trip to Nice during the Rugby World Cup. We plan to watch a few matches on TV and take in the atmosphere. Tickets are reasonably priced but flights and hotels are ridiculous prices when the home nations are concerned. So I have sold my England v Samoa tickets in Lille and instead SWMBO and I are off to Bordeaux for Fiji v Georgia. That should be a hoot.

Two other news items. Number 2 son is heavy with child, their first, and our neighbours house is up for sale, so potentially new neighbours after 20 odd years. Let's hope a family buys it and not a developer with an eye to turning it into flats. Time will tell.

I felt the knife in my hand.....

I am not a great admirer of the Welsh and their attitude to rugby, English rugby in particular, so one would think i would be delighted to hear that the Rugby Football union are trying to ban the singing of Delilah at the National Stadium, but I am not.

Is this Woke going mad? Already this week Black Boy Lane, in Tottenham, was renamed without any consultation with the residents of the street, or the neighbourhood surrounding it. The consensus is that had such a study been conducted there would have been an over riding swell of opinion to keep the name. It is and was part of the history of the area, and that history cannot be changed or eradicated by the removal of something a right wing London councillor thinks might upset somebody.

The history of why the street is so named is more important than erasing the name from public view.

So more on Delilah. I have been known to lead the singing of the song on the bus from Richmond to Twickenham many times, my last public rendition was at my mate Stu's 70th birthday just before Christmas, and I  have a sneaky feeling that I will get to sing it again, maybe with Welsh supporters at Twickenham.

They are a fickle bunch, rugby supporters, and the last thing they like is somebody telling them what they can and can't sing at rugby matches. You pay upwards of £130 per ticket and reserve the right to sing. 

The RFU tentatively tried to stop the crowd singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot, a nergo spiritualist song, it was still sung, so they went quiet on their objection. They will probably try to get it banned now on the back of the ridiculous Welsh decision.

I would back my house on Delilah being sung by the crowd in Cardiff on Saturday, probably when the teams run onto the pitch. Sometimes you need to pick your battles more carefully.