Diesel fitter

Busy day today. Up with the larks to take my car to the garage for a safety upgrade and gear box oil change. Managed to convince them neither took very long so they had it done by 2pm. In the meantime I decided to spend the time in Liverpool rather than go home.

Then I had a thought......Everton's new football satdium was just down the road so I thought I would go and stare through the fencing and see it in all its glory. Its a mighty fine structure but not quite up to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium level. It is built in the old Liverpool dockland on the site of Bramley Moore dock,  and is bordered on one side by the Mersey on another by Nelson Dock and on the third side by the old dock wall.

This dock wall extends into Liverpool from Seaforth and it was here that my investigative journey started. I wondered how long it would take to walk to the nearest (but 1) Metro station, one I can reach without changing trains. 35 minutes was the answer. So it has some similarity to aforementioned Tottenham stadium.

Both are over 30 minutes away from a mass transit underground system and both have an unfit for purpose overground station much closer. In Evertons case it is Sandhills which is small old and decidedly unsafe for 60,000 fans every fortnight. Interstingly the nearest tube station to the new Brentford stadium, Gunnerbury, is closed on match days exactly for safety reasons. Why do authorities let these large stadia be built without the infrastructure to allow people to get home safely. Wembley is another example.

The area around the stadium is comprised of cleared land and dereliction with the exception of a gin distillery and Ten Streets Social, both of which should make a killing on match days.

So let me finish with a bit of culture. While walking the dock wall home, I passed several drinking fountains imbedded in the wall. These fountains were installed by a Liverpool philanthopist, Charles Pierre Melly, in response to the dockers need for fluids which were being met by a stroll across the road to the beer and spirit outlets which sprung up to meet the demand. Dockers were arriving back after their break drunk and dangerous so Melly felt something had to be done to address the problem. A very enlightened solution in 1854!!

So that was my day completed, although a bit frustrated that my car now says it needs an oil change in 1300 miles. Why could they not have done that at the same time? Hey ho, thats BMW where even the steering  wheel is extra!! 

One down

So a Bank Holiday full of sporting activities comes to an end. Rory McIlroy won a cool $15m for winning the Fed Ex golf championship in Atlanta, Ben Stokes re-ignited the Ashes cricket with an unbelievable rear guard action in the test match at Headingley and Newcastle United parked the bus and snatched three points from Tottenham yesterday in a game I suspect Match of the Day struggled to find any highlights.

So guess which one I went to? Yes , with SWMBO playing Shirley Valentine in Greece, I thought I would just pop down to London and explore the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium for the day. The train down was fine, and then came the 35 minute slog from Seven Sisters tube station in 34 degree heat, a walk I have done many times in the past but not for a few years. I got to the stadium praying I would have a seat in the shade. Luck was going my way as, yes I did, on the fifth tier of the North stand. Looking around at the amazing auditorium it was clear they had reserved the sunny seats for the Georgie boys so they could get their kit off and fry. I bet there were some very sore bellies this morning.

The game was so dull that the lady sitting next to me left at half time, and her husband did the Express crossword through out the second half. I left early to ensure the walk back to the tube was not rushed as was the case.

The new stadium is huge. There are bag checks and security checks everywhere, and even when it was as hot as yesterday you could not take water bottles inside. The bars and food stalls were doing a roaring trade, and the sensible thing if you are local is to wait around afterwards , have a few beers and then head home. White Hart Lane station has been completely refurbished with Club money but I am unsure whether there are extra trains to get people away form the ground quicker.

The Club were sensible enough to have the cricket on the TV screens which made for a very different match day experience than would normally be the case, but I was delighted to watch the highlights again when I got home. I was disappointed with Virgin rains that the first class lounge now charges for alcohol. This I was informed is due to too many people getting drunk for free before their train leaves. Never mind that its all free on the train anyway!!  So I had a pint of Pride in the pub next door. If you are going to pay may as well have something you like.

On Saturday I played golf at 07:15, a time I was unaware was part of Saturday morning!! I was pleased how I played, and there were three 1's in our group. I got an 11 at hole 13 and one of my partners got a hole in 1 at the 5th. Drinks all round!!

Today I played again and was 5 under par after 6 holes, slipped to 4 under after 10 and finished 2 over, very much a nearly round, hey ho! Tomorrow is a day of rest which will probably involve cosmetic cleaning and ironing just to show willing, before the golf starts all over again, weather permitting.