Movember

It is quite amusing to see the pubs and bars full of blokes who look like porn stars with their best efforts at growing facial hair all in a good cause, falling short in some regards!! Good on them for trying though.

So whats been going on Up North this month?

First off was another visit to the Hill Dickinson stadium to watch england v Australia rugby league. I have not been to a league game since the London Bronco's used to play at Griffin Park. My then girlfriend of the time was a big Wigan fan so we went to see them rather than the Broncos. the Paul brothers, Jason Robinson, Shaun Edwards and others were in that great team.

The match at evertons new stadium just confirmed my view that its a dull form of entertainment where you watch the same game every week. England were well beaten,

The next day SWMBO and I went to see Dara O' Briain at the Liverpool Empire. He was very good value and I would well recommend seeing him if he comes your way. Next day saw me packed and off to Lisbon for a three day golf break with 'the teachers', a group of members from Wallasey and beyond. We stayed dry and I came second on the final day which got me some money from the winning pot.

We are in the lucky position of having a reduced price holiday in 2026 by virtue of Rory McIlroy winning the Masters and our travel agent running a competition based on him doing so. Happy days.

On my return I needed my eyes testing before enjoying the 25th anniversary beer festival at port Sunlight with some friends and fellow real ale buff's

As we ponder how and when to downsize, November allowed us to look at a couple of houses which could be possible targets for us. One we saw was a Bank reposession and would have been idea, but the people vacating the place has stripped it bare. No kitchen, no bathrooms, electric wiring all over the place and no doors on any rooms. All could be overcome, but the Bank wanted a 28 day exchange period and there was no way we could sell and fund the works in that time, so sadly it will have to pass.

Things wer ethen a bit sad for a day or two as we attneded the memorial for our good friend Ailsa who passed suddenly after suffering a stroke. There was a great turnout at twickenham RFC where her family and friends spoke well of here and gave her a really fittin sendoff. She was a great photopragher and many of the old pictures from rugby tours, dinners and other memorable events were there to browse through. She will be sorely missed.

The month then ended with a IBM lunch in Manchetser where I met up with some colleagues I had not seen for a while, and the on Saturday we had the St Andrews dinner, a red coat event at the golf club.

So, all in all a pretty busy month.  

Roast Guineapig

 The St Andrews dinner season concluded last night at Heswall. It was a very pleasant evening with all main guests sitting around an oval table. Only problem was there were thirteen of us and I know some people who would not have entertained sitting on a table with such a number, but we all seemed to survive.

The Address to the Haggis was conducted in due style with actions which would give Wallasey's Tom Blackstock a run for his money in the Address to the Haggis stakes. All in all a great night made all the better by being able to drink London Pride all night, a rare opportunity on the Wirral but Heswall golf club always seems to have it on draught and it was lovely.

The penultimate dinner was at Woolton where they always schedule their dinner on St Andrews Day. This year it was a Tuesday and I was thankful that Wednesday was a Wintery day which meant golf was cancelled.

The rest of this week has been involved with storm damage repairs. We had a large limb come down off one tree, but the main problems were the eight fence sections which were lost. The debris was scattered over a large area  to such an extent  that neighbours came round with armfulls of wood,,,,I think these are yours!!

So the exterior is secured once more, I just have the boundary sections to fix, a door to the store room to repair and then all the old wood and branches to dispose of. In the day that would have been a big bonfire, but it seems those days are long gone. There is one leek in the room which I might have to put through the insurance people, but I am holding off on that just at the moment to check no other leeks appear this weekend, when the rain is forecast to be heavy, but the wind less so.

One of the granddaughters has a birthday tomorrow so there is a pool party going on as I type, Then we are hopefully off to a woodland light trail. The Harry Potter experience last weekend was postponed because of the storm, hopefully we will have better luck tonight. Both Ava and Nell have had an early Christmas present of a guinea-pig each. They are a delicacy in Peru but we did not have the nerve to try them when we were in Cousco. Maybe we can eat one of the new ones when nobody is looking!!!

 

St Andrew @ Wallasey

 Last night Wallasey hosted the annual St Andrews dinner, the third I have attended, with still two to go. I had a lead role in this one as I had to make my last major speech of my Captaincy . There were about 100 people in attendance and the in-house catering team did us proud with traditional Scottish fayre including the haggis which I got the opportunity to stab to death. The address was conducted by Tom Blackstock in his usual exuberant style with bagpipes accompaniment.

Then it was up to me to summarise my 18 months in office and I threw a few stories in to add to the entertainment. I was fortunate to recieve a standing ovation at the end of it which was a great surprise and very much appreciated.

We then adjourned to the bar to exchange stories and experiences with the ex-Captains and my personal guests, Jim Mitchell and Paul Spivey. Jim very kindly led the evening with the Selkirk grace  to maintain the Scottish theme 

Golf is now starting to return to normal with no formal events to attend so I can return to playing at the Club when I want to. That said, the weather has been awful with high winds and rain. We lost eight fence panels at home and I have obtained enough wood to replace them, so that will take me a few days. The price of wood was extraordinary and has increased three fold since I last needed to buy some. So at least I now have enough to see us through the next few years as most of the panels which came down were over 20 years old. The ones which remained and survived I had already replaced at some previous time.

The golf club lost the three elegant pine trees by the clubhouse but not any of the scrubby sycamore around which they were circled. So that will be a maintenance job for the greens staff that they were not expecting!

So two St Andrews dinners this week then we are into December and the festive dinner season. Lets hope the latest COVID mutation is kept at bay long enough for everybody to enjoy it. Ho ho ho!

Princes to paupers

Last week I was in Sandwich in Kent for the inaugural final of the Linksnet golf society. Kent is a long way from anywhere, even Kent itself, so the four and a half hour drive was not too bad and the company and competition were first rate. Princes golf course which hosted the event though was a real disappointment. The layouts were very samey and so had no wow factor about them and the service and food in the Lodges was very poor. So poor in fact that I wrote a letter of complaint. They seemed very non-plus about it all so i will not be back, nor will I recommend the place to anybody else.

Compare that to our day at Royal Birkdale a few days later when we were treated like royalty and had an excellent day with The Visionaries. My golf stood up to it pretty well and the meal afterwards was first class. even won a fiver from the captain of S & A which does not happen too many times in a season.

We are now well into the dining season, The Bromborough St Andrews dinner kicked things off and was a very pleasant red jacket affair and on Saturday we had the Leasowe St Andrews dinner, a more boisterous event. Sandwiched between the two was the Bidston Summer Ball which showed off everything good about Bidston. The girls could wear their finest adn the hospitality was first class.

Most clubs in and around Liverpool have a St Andrews event and it seems to stem from the fact that many of the great golf designers originated from Scotland, and St Andrews in particular so these dinners are in recognition of them, rather, than usually assumed, the patron saint of Scotland.

Wallasey hold their event this weekend when I do a speech summarising my 18 months in office. Then I am pretty much done in terms of official dinners and speeches at the club. Our incoming captain will be announced  to the members on 10th January.  

St Andrew

It was  a big weekend for me, just past, as I had been asked by the current Wallasey Golf Club captain to speak at the St Andrews Dinner and propose the toast to him.

The St Andrews dinner is one of the most popular dinners on the circuit. It is attended exclusively by members of the golf club, is a black tie event, and signals the last formal dinner hosted by the 2019 captain. People have lived or died by the speech they have given.

The Spring dinner in April is the main externally focused event. The Captain invites fellow captains from other golf clubs, the Captain of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) traditionally proposes a toast to Wallasey Golf Club, and a Wallasey member will then tell stories concerning the other invited guests.

The St Andrews is a lot more relaxed, until that is, one has to get up and speak. Many ex-speakers came over to me to offer advise, and I was invited into the pre-match drinks reception, so to speak, where ex-Captains also offered words of comfort.

Nothing prepares you though for the moment when you stand on your feet and the room goes hushed, except the work you have done yourself beforehand.

Now I was not first choice, but the original speaker got his availability wrong. He was courteous enough though to give me a copy of his speech, from which I was able to get an idea of the flow and timing. I wrote down ideas as I thought of them for many weeks prior to the event, and had some brutal editing sessions along the way. That said, the start of the speech only came to me in the car driving to the Club, and several chunks were removed as I sought shelter in the 'little room' during the evening meal.

I am pleased to report that the speech went down pretty well. There was a constant hum of amusement during it with several raucous moments.when I made some pointed remarks about the Club infrastructure. All in all the Captain and past Captains liked it, and many members came up afterwards to congratulate me.

So job done and onto 2020 to see what entertainment is in store at the Hot Pot supper.