Feck

Another short break, this time to Newcastle in Northern Ireland, to play at the mighty Royal County Down golf club, so long regarded as the best golf club in the World. A club of such standing is clearly going to be a magnificent and tough track to navigate around, so on day 1 we thought we should employ local caddies to help us through our journey.

What we, nor they, could count on, however, was the storm of a biblical proportion which dumped on us during Thursday afternoon. By the 8th tee we were all absolutely saturated having been battered by 30mph winds and driving rain. We retired to the bar much to the relief of said caddies who confessed they had never seen anything like it before.

Day 2 arrived with thankfully no rain, but still with 30mph winds, and that was still a bit too much for me so I retired to the bar after 9 holes and left my three chums to battle the elements for another two hours. With hindsight what I should have done was move to the forward tee's on the holes which played into the teeth of the gale, but my brian was a bit mashed by then and the plan never got executed. It is a learning experience for next time it is 'only a friendly'.

The two days were great, and if an opportunity does present itself to go again, I will certainly be up for it, but might start on the 10th hole next time!!

Gary Player was in the group ahead of us, he managed 18 holes and is in his 86th year, so there is hope for me yet!!

Up in smoke

The annual pilgrimage to Lords to see the first day of the Ashes test allowed SWMBO and I a few days in London. We started with dinner in J Sheekey, the renowned seafood restaurant, and the n spent the next day sightseeing.

I was keen to see what had become of Battersea power station, so we started there. It has its own tube station terminus so getting there was easy enough, albeit we had planned the river taxi, but they did not stop there from the Waterloo side of the river.

The main turbine halls have been turned into a shopping mall and food court, a bit of a poor man's Westfield, without the same level of foot fall. I think they might have been better going down the outlet mall route.

The main attraction though is the observation pod at the top of one of the chimney's. You take two elevators and walk a few steps, and the pop out of the top of the chimney already in the pod. The views are spectacular and give another perspective on West London. You would still prefer the London Eye if it was central London you wanted a good look at, but the chimney tour is still worth the trip. The whole area is now built up with flats and hotels, one of which had a cool pool and bar on its roof.

After a light lunch in one of the cafe's we did manage to get the river bus back to Westminster pier, and hit the West End before the must have burger in Joe Allen at Covent Garden. The restaurant has moved now but has tried to maintain the basement dive vibe of the old site, and with a fair amount of success.

The cricket was disappointing as England won the toss in bowler friendly conditions but failed to take the three or four wickets they needed to exert their authority over the Aussies. This year was the 60th year since I first went to Lord's as a ten year old with my Dad. I am wondering whether enough is enough now, although it would be good to get my 50 year reward badge from Middlesex first, and I think I have three more years to go to get that !!