I am not sure what overcame me last weekend, but on Thursday evening I found myself in Newport, Gwent, as part of a golf party. I guess the need for a few rounds overcame the lifelong aversion to Wales and all things Welsh, family members and long term friends excluded.
So there we were, twelve of us, staying at the Celtic Manor resort, preparing to contest the Dai Pedro golf championship on the greens of the Montgomerie and Roman Road courses, before sliding back into England to finish the contest at the Players Club near Bristol.
Things started off fairly sensibly the first evening, with a few gallons of Brains SA and a nosh in a Beefeater restaurant, followed by a trip into the centre of Newport to visit a Lloyds Bar. This one used to be the Queens Hotel and was probably a magnificent place in its day. On a Thursday night in Newport, it was virtually empty , and a fairly soulless place. Still there was golf in the morning so the hangover damage was limited.
Friday dawned bright and clear so we wandered onto the first tee wanting to see just what the courses had to offer. It soon became apparent that the drainage systems were just not up to the job of clearing the amount of water which had fallen recently, and that was strange, as Celtic Manor commands a position high on the hills overlooking the town. Sadly that had an effect on the day, and the scoring was high as a result. Still there was always the night in Cardiff to look forward to!!!
Cardiff has re-invented itself recently with pedestrian areas, restaurants and new plush bars, and this did seem to attract a fine selection of ladies out onto the street. There were very few fights, with limited ,but spectacular, examples of projectile vomiting remain the stand out memories, it put the Welsh lads to shame.
After more golf on Saturday, we donned our fancy dress attire to hit the town in. This year it was Pub Signs' and followed on from our previous attempts at famous Englishmen, and countries of the World. My effort as The Kings Arms was not very well received so I was forced to be a duplicate of the Blue Blazer, a famous drinking establishment in Edinburgh. Given Newport is the most common place name in the British Isles, I was disappointed nobody went as the Red lion, the most popular pub name.
The evening was highlighted by the twelve of us taking over a gourmet curry house and turning it into a typical Saturday night East End tandoori. The clientele and owners all took it in good spirits and a boozy time was had by all.
Now back to Celtic Manor. It was the venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup, which people may remember ran over into the Monday due to the terrible weather on Sunday. UK and Ireland triumphed there as they did recently at Medina in Illinois. It was played on the 2010 course which we did not play this year as it was considerably more expensive and lay at the bottom of the valley.
Celtic Manor has aspirations to be the Turnberry of Wales but from our experience, it has little hope of being able to emulate that venue. The courses are well laid out although very similar to those found in Portugal and Spain. The weather is a major inhibitor and the surrounding area does not offer too much of a distraction. Still, you need to try these places to find out whether they are worth a repeat visit. It is really a glorified municipal pay and play, so I won't be putting this one on my returns list.
Oh, yes, I came third and The Count and I won the pairs competition, the third year running he has won, each time with a different partner, and it went down to the last putt on the last green on the last day.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Windjammer Landing
I was reminded that today is the 25th anniversary of the 1987 hurricane that hit South East England during that particular evening.
I lived in Chiswick in West London at the time, and was fortunate enough to work in the office over the road. I was often to be seen rushing over the road at the slightest hint of rain, to get my washing in from the line. I was also fortunate enough to go home for lunch when the fancy took me and on some occasions I would be accompanied. Those were the days.
On the night of the hurricane, I have no recollection of the famous weather forecast presented by Michael Fish when he assured everybody there would only be strong winds and it would be nothing to worry about. I sleep through most things, although I do recall waking in the night to the rattle of the window in the bedroom.
For some reason I was sleeping in the spare room that night. Now whether that was because I was decorating I really cannot recall, but when the alarm went off, and the radio came on I do remember the radio announcer saying there was wide spread devastation over South East England. I got washed and dressed and then looked out of the window to see somebody else's shed roof in the garden, and a couple of fences down further up the road, but it was not until i got outside that I saw there had, indeed, been some stormy weather.
One tree down the road was leaning against the front of a house, and there were branches and boughs strewn all over the place. Car bonnets had been caved in, and tiles lay all over the road. I was lucky to avoid any property damage and after a brief inspection I walked over the road to work.
This is where the fun started. 'How did you get here?' asked the security guard. 'I don't know how I am going to get home , or when' he said, as it was apparent already that his relief was marooned at home.
Two or three other people who lived local made it in over the next hour or so, and we spent the rest of the day listening to tales of woe from people who had been badly affected or stranded away from home.
Two stories stick in my head. The first involved a work colleague who left addington near Croydon at 6am to drive to our office in Warwick. He drove around a fallen tree at the end of his road but thought nothing of it. He arrived in Warwick at 08:30 to be greeted by incredulity from his work colleagues that he had arrived there at all. He was totally unaware of what had happened. It took him nine hours to drive home that evening.
The second concerned the cross channel ferry chaos. A friend of mine was on a Calais to Dover ship which was diverted to Folkstone as they could not navigate the harbour entrance at Dover. They arrived outside Folkstone to see another ship already tied to the quay and unloading. There was a queue of ambulances waiting to ferry the injured to hospital as people were flying across the decks with the size of the swell, breaking limbs and knocking themselves out.
Eventually the ship finished unloading, and she was then cut from her moorings and allowed to drift away from the quay, that being the only way they could quickly free up the space for my friends ship to dock. Apparently they could not unload any cars from either ferry as they too had been tossed around in the hold, and blocked the exit ramps. Ouch!
It's a bit breezy here on the Wirral today, but nothing has compared since. 25 years eh!, a lot has happened in that time.
I lived in Chiswick in West London at the time, and was fortunate enough to work in the office over the road. I was often to be seen rushing over the road at the slightest hint of rain, to get my washing in from the line. I was also fortunate enough to go home for lunch when the fancy took me and on some occasions I would be accompanied. Those were the days.
On the night of the hurricane, I have no recollection of the famous weather forecast presented by Michael Fish when he assured everybody there would only be strong winds and it would be nothing to worry about. I sleep through most things, although I do recall waking in the night to the rattle of the window in the bedroom.
For some reason I was sleeping in the spare room that night. Now whether that was because I was decorating I really cannot recall, but when the alarm went off, and the radio came on I do remember the radio announcer saying there was wide spread devastation over South East England. I got washed and dressed and then looked out of the window to see somebody else's shed roof in the garden, and a couple of fences down further up the road, but it was not until i got outside that I saw there had, indeed, been some stormy weather.
One tree down the road was leaning against the front of a house, and there were branches and boughs strewn all over the place. Car bonnets had been caved in, and tiles lay all over the road. I was lucky to avoid any property damage and after a brief inspection I walked over the road to work.
This is where the fun started. 'How did you get here?' asked the security guard. 'I don't know how I am going to get home , or when' he said, as it was apparent already that his relief was marooned at home.
Two or three other people who lived local made it in over the next hour or so, and we spent the rest of the day listening to tales of woe from people who had been badly affected or stranded away from home.
Two stories stick in my head. The first involved a work colleague who left addington near Croydon at 6am to drive to our office in Warwick. He drove around a fallen tree at the end of his road but thought nothing of it. He arrived in Warwick at 08:30 to be greeted by incredulity from his work colleagues that he had arrived there at all. He was totally unaware of what had happened. It took him nine hours to drive home that evening.
The second concerned the cross channel ferry chaos. A friend of mine was on a Calais to Dover ship which was diverted to Folkstone as they could not navigate the harbour entrance at Dover. They arrived outside Folkstone to see another ship already tied to the quay and unloading. There was a queue of ambulances waiting to ferry the injured to hospital as people were flying across the decks with the size of the swell, breaking limbs and knocking themselves out.
Eventually the ship finished unloading, and she was then cut from her moorings and allowed to drift away from the quay, that being the only way they could quickly free up the space for my friends ship to dock. Apparently they could not unload any cars from either ferry as they too had been tossed around in the hold, and blocked the exit ramps. Ouch!
It's a bit breezy here on the Wirral today, but nothing has compared since. 25 years eh!, a lot has happened in that time.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Dip stick
I had my mobile telephone stolen last night. It was taken from my jacket pocket as I took wine with a number of friends in a bar near Liverpool Street station in London. Liverpool Street is one of the four stations on the Monopoly board. On the bespoke board I have at home, the stations have been replaced by bars, so there is some sort of symmetry here.
My jacket was hanging over the back of my chair, and early in the evening I had used it to text one of my daughters. The perpetrator must have seen me place it back in my blazer pocket, and dipped me sometime later as he or she was leaving. The ease of the crime was increased by the fact that I was sitting on a bar stool type chair, which made the pocket more accessible without any need for an average height person to bend down.
It's only a phone, and I was not mugged for it, so its no big deal really. It's just the fag of having to recreate all the records and reload the apps and synchronise the diary entries that really bug me. It took me over an hour today just to go through the crime report and the insurance claim to allow another phone to be sent out to me. The joy of recreation starts on Friday, wish me luck
If I had been smarter at the time ( it was late and as already mentioned, alcohol was involved) I could have logged into my laptop and done a GPS search for the phone and tried to track it down. There is a facility on the Windows phone home page to do just that. It would have been a bit 'Jennings and Derbyshire'.
As it is, I am now phoneless and will face the four hour drive back to Scouse without the urge to phone anybody and tell them I am still on the M6......the car does have a link to the BMW control centre though, I could always ring them up for a chat I suppose!!!
My jacket was hanging over the back of my chair, and early in the evening I had used it to text one of my daughters. The perpetrator must have seen me place it back in my blazer pocket, and dipped me sometime later as he or she was leaving. The ease of the crime was increased by the fact that I was sitting on a bar stool type chair, which made the pocket more accessible without any need for an average height person to bend down.
It's only a phone, and I was not mugged for it, so its no big deal really. It's just the fag of having to recreate all the records and reload the apps and synchronise the diary entries that really bug me. It took me over an hour today just to go through the crime report and the insurance claim to allow another phone to be sent out to me. The joy of recreation starts on Friday, wish me luck
If I had been smarter at the time ( it was late and as already mentioned, alcohol was involved) I could have logged into my laptop and done a GPS search for the phone and tried to track it down. There is a facility on the Windows phone home page to do just that. It would have been a bit 'Jennings and Derbyshire'.
As it is, I am now phoneless and will face the four hour drive back to Scouse without the urge to phone anybody and tell them I am still on the M6......the car does have a link to the BMW control centre though, I could always ring them up for a chat I suppose!!!
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Cardinal sin
Strange things afoot at England Rugby 2015, as new Chairman, Andy Cosslett, dispenses with the services of Paul Vaughan, the CEO and my sometime golfing companion.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
4 men on a raft
Another August Bank Holiday, another raft race. Yes, the S Club 5, have once more paddled their way into the record books at the Bampton raft race.
We arrived on the Sunday morning this year, as number one son travelled up to visit his grandmother on the Saturday, and SWMBO's dad had to go into hospital for a heart beat synchronisation operation. The heart seems to be OK now, and the excess fluid in his lung appears to be dissipating.
So it was all a bit hectic getting to the raft race start, but our spirits were lifted as the rain had stopped but the river remained fast flowing and full. This last attribute is vital to us heavyweights, as usually the raft can get grounded five or six times during the race and we have to get off and pull it over the shallows, while lighter and rubber ring based rafts can sail on by.
Not so this year. Not only did we do a personal best, breaking the 30 minute barrier, but we overtook four other vessels, something which is unheard of for us. Couple that with only 4 of the S Club participating, and two paddles breaking and it was a cracking good show.
We were dressed as Olympians this year, but failed to win the most entertaining craft award. In fact we have not won the award for several years, when we were dressed as pirates. Our Viking attire deserved it but we were denied on a stewards enquiry. our Hawaii Five 0 came nowhere nor did our grumbies, although we did get the tele coverage for that one last year.
This year the award went to two lads dressed in DJ's who punted a raft all the way down with a couple of tree branches as poles. The raft full of Bruce's and the newly weds on a raft bed also got a mention in dispatches.
We are considering dressing as Missus Mop's next year and going for the 'all girl crew' prize!!
We arrived on the Sunday morning this year, as number one son travelled up to visit his grandmother on the Saturday, and SWMBO's dad had to go into hospital for a heart beat synchronisation operation. The heart seems to be OK now, and the excess fluid in his lung appears to be dissipating.
So it was all a bit hectic getting to the raft race start, but our spirits were lifted as the rain had stopped but the river remained fast flowing and full. This last attribute is vital to us heavyweights, as usually the raft can get grounded five or six times during the race and we have to get off and pull it over the shallows, while lighter and rubber ring based rafts can sail on by.
Not so this year. Not only did we do a personal best, breaking the 30 minute barrier, but we overtook four other vessels, something which is unheard of for us. Couple that with only 4 of the S Club participating, and two paddles breaking and it was a cracking good show.
We were dressed as Olympians this year, but failed to win the most entertaining craft award. In fact we have not won the award for several years, when we were dressed as pirates. Our Viking attire deserved it but we were denied on a stewards enquiry. our Hawaii Five 0 came nowhere nor did our grumbies, although we did get the tele coverage for that one last year.
This year the award went to two lads dressed in DJ's who punted a raft all the way down with a couple of tree branches as poles. The raft full of Bruce's and the newly weds on a raft bed also got a mention in dispatches.
We are considering dressing as Missus Mop's next year and going for the 'all girl crew' prize!!
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Gold......
We are in the lull between the Olympic Games and the Paraolympic Games. The gap has been filled by a riveting final test match between England and South Africa.We were fortunate to be at Lords on the Saturday as is our tradition, and its fair to say that the Safa's just played the better cricket and deserved to win.
I suspect the Kevin Petersen saga will run and run, and it must have had an affect on the England camp and the way they performed, however, I would like to congratulate Vernon Philander for winning man of the match, and almost putting this web site on the map big style, a cricketer and a philanderer, now he would not have been the first!
The whole success of Team GB has once more focused the political radar on sports fields and physical exercise in schools. We all know there are too many fat kids about, but in many cases they take the lead from their parents. It is they who buy them playstations, x-boxes and Nintendos and are happy to leave little JoHannie to become a coach potato. I wonder if we will now see more and more children being attracted to social clubs to try to emulate the recent stars we have all see strut their stuff very impressively on the biggest sporting stage.
Rory McIlroy must have felt a bit miffed that not too many people were watching when he won his second major, the US PGA Championship, which concluded during the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The lure of the Spice Girls reunion was just too much for some people.
They tied in the themes quite well in the ceremony, just missing the opportunity to have Duran Duran perform Rio as the link up to the 2016 Games. We are already making plans to go, principally to watch the rugby 7's. it will certainly not be as ferocious as the Paraolympics version aka Murderball.
So as the footie season kicks off again with the usual petulance and cheating lets see if some of the Olympian fair play and sportsmanship is able to filter through society and make everybody strive to do that little bit better, but always within the spirit of the game.
I suspect the Kevin Petersen saga will run and run, and it must have had an affect on the England camp and the way they performed, however, I would like to congratulate Vernon Philander for winning man of the match, and almost putting this web site on the map big style, a cricketer and a philanderer, now he would not have been the first!
The whole success of Team GB has once more focused the political radar on sports fields and physical exercise in schools. We all know there are too many fat kids about, but in many cases they take the lead from their parents. It is they who buy them playstations, x-boxes and Nintendos and are happy to leave little JoHannie to become a coach potato. I wonder if we will now see more and more children being attracted to social clubs to try to emulate the recent stars we have all see strut their stuff very impressively on the biggest sporting stage.
Rory McIlroy must have felt a bit miffed that not too many people were watching when he won his second major, the US PGA Championship, which concluded during the closing ceremony of the Olympics. The lure of the Spice Girls reunion was just too much for some people.
They tied in the themes quite well in the ceremony, just missing the opportunity to have Duran Duran perform Rio as the link up to the 2016 Games. We are already making plans to go, principally to watch the rugby 7's. it will certainly not be as ferocious as the Paraolympics version aka Murderball.
So as the footie season kicks off again with the usual petulance and cheating lets see if some of the Olympian fair play and sportsmanship is able to filter through society and make everybody strive to do that little bit better, but always within the spirit of the game.
Friday, 27 July 2012
It's the taking part....
Tonight's, the night. The Olympic Games opening ceremony signifies the start of the London 2012 event. The question on everybodies lips is, of course, who will light the torch in the stadium?
Tradition dictates that it is an Olympian, so thet rules out Davis Beckham, although Ryan Giggs now qualifies after the game last night. Don't worry though it won't be him.
For what it's worth here is my take on how tonight will unfold.........
The stadium goes black, by design, not due to non-payment of leckie bill.....a single spotlight pierces the darkness and picks out a solitary figure riding a trandem. ( a three person bicycle made famous by The Goodies ). Zoom in and it becomes evident that riding the trandem is the recently crowned winner of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins.
Bradley waves to the crowd, then thinks better of it as the bicycle careers all over the track. He pedals on for another few seconds before another spotlight picks out a bus stop at which stands another solitary figure. Bradley stops, and picks up his first passenger, no less a person than Daley Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Decathlon gold medalist.
They then wobble round the track to the final bus stop and there waiting for them is the Olympic torch being carried by Sir Steve Redgrave, Olympic gold medalist at five different games, and to many people the greatest ever Olympian. He jumps on and they all pedal to the top of the stadium where they all hold the torch as the flame is lit.
Everybody cheers and the games begin.....you read it here first!!!
Tradition dictates that it is an Olympian, so thet rules out Davis Beckham, although Ryan Giggs now qualifies after the game last night. Don't worry though it won't be him.
For what it's worth here is my take on how tonight will unfold.........
The stadium goes black, by design, not due to non-payment of leckie bill.....a single spotlight pierces the darkness and picks out a solitary figure riding a trandem. ( a three person bicycle made famous by The Goodies ). Zoom in and it becomes evident that riding the trandem is the recently crowned winner of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins.
Bradley waves to the crowd, then thinks better of it as the bicycle careers all over the track. He pedals on for another few seconds before another spotlight picks out a bus stop at which stands another solitary figure. Bradley stops, and picks up his first passenger, no less a person than Daley Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Decathlon gold medalist.
They then wobble round the track to the final bus stop and there waiting for them is the Olympic torch being carried by Sir Steve Redgrave, Olympic gold medalist at five different games, and to many people the greatest ever Olympian. He jumps on and they all pedal to the top of the stadium where they all hold the torch as the flame is lit.
Everybody cheers and the games begin.....you read it here first!!!
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