I have gone to print previously about my fear for rugby once it became a professional sport. I was particularly concerned about the introduction of 'gamesmanship' of a style similar to that endemic in football, and the lowering of the IQ level of players as youngsters see a career in rugby being a replacement to a solid education. This latter trend would very much see the game become one divest of vision, imagination and spontaneity.
At the moment the former has not come to prominence, however, the antics of the England centre Manu Tuilagi have certainly highlighted the real danger facing the game when amoeba-like players take the field.
That said, his offer to send an apology to David Cameron did make me laugh. I suspect he would need to use a ghost writer.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Friday, 13 September 2013
Magical Mystery Tour
I agreed to see a friend for a few beers yesterday. We decided to meet at The Farmer's Arms in Wallasey Village in the hope that they had Fullers London Pride on draught. My friend, Steve, is a fellow exile from dan South and we play golf at the same club. The Farmer's Arms has a good range of real ale, but on this occasion the Pride was replaced by Timothy Taylor's Landlord, so we drank that....no hardship there.
Now that I have a free travel pass I decided to go there by bus. Big challenge! The Wirral bus network is very difficult to understand and is designed and run by people who , in their infancy, must have been limited to playing with train sets and buses in the confines of a very small bedroom. They must have also been tucked up very early at night.
Wirral buses seem to run in very small circles and start and end at the most obscure and inconvenient times. Take my journey last night. I needed to take two buses, the first of which conveniently stops out side the house. I needed to be at Wallasey for about 7pm, so decided to get the 6:15pm bus to Liscard where I would change.
Unbeknown to me, the 6:15 bus was actually the last bus on this route that night, but it got me to my change stop by about 6:35. I then had ten minutes to wait before my second bus arrived. This turned out to be the first bus of the day which arrived at 6:48pm and dropped me right outside the pub.
All sounds easy, until you work out that I could not get home by the same means, at a very reasonable 9:30pm. So I had to get the train back to Birkenhead and hop in a cab, so defeating the object of avoiding transport costs.
Further research indicated that the first bus was primarily a peak time bus for commuters and school children so it actually does not run after 10:00am or before 3pm. The second bus starts when the Wallasey loop bus finishes. While the loop bus runs all day, it stops at 6pm.
The ,majority of Wirral buses run in and out of the Birkenhead bus depot, either at Laird Street or Conway Park, and also call into Arrowe Park hospital. So if you are going shopping or are ill it's great. If you need to get from A to B particularly at night, its a nightmare.
We have a new bus which runs from our door to Liverpool, but guess what? The last bus back is 6:30pm, so no good if you plan a night out. The other popular bus to West Kirby (Cougarland as it's locally known) only runs every hour, so you have to be spot on to get there and back.
So it is no wonder I am having to drive much more than I used to, and when I study the bus map and find I can get to my destination, I then have to check that I can actually get back as well. Couple that with the fact the drivers are not exactly local, and I begin to realise where The Beatles got their inspiration from.
Now that I have a free travel pass I decided to go there by bus. Big challenge! The Wirral bus network is very difficult to understand and is designed and run by people who , in their infancy, must have been limited to playing with train sets and buses in the confines of a very small bedroom. They must have also been tucked up very early at night.
Wirral buses seem to run in very small circles and start and end at the most obscure and inconvenient times. Take my journey last night. I needed to take two buses, the first of which conveniently stops out side the house. I needed to be at Wallasey for about 7pm, so decided to get the 6:15pm bus to Liscard where I would change.
Unbeknown to me, the 6:15 bus was actually the last bus on this route that night, but it got me to my change stop by about 6:35. I then had ten minutes to wait before my second bus arrived. This turned out to be the first bus of the day which arrived at 6:48pm and dropped me right outside the pub.
All sounds easy, until you work out that I could not get home by the same means, at a very reasonable 9:30pm. So I had to get the train back to Birkenhead and hop in a cab, so defeating the object of avoiding transport costs.
Further research indicated that the first bus was primarily a peak time bus for commuters and school children so it actually does not run after 10:00am or before 3pm. The second bus starts when the Wallasey loop bus finishes. While the loop bus runs all day, it stops at 6pm.
The ,majority of Wirral buses run in and out of the Birkenhead bus depot, either at Laird Street or Conway Park, and also call into Arrowe Park hospital. So if you are going shopping or are ill it's great. If you need to get from A to B particularly at night, its a nightmare.
We have a new bus which runs from our door to Liverpool, but guess what? The last bus back is 6:30pm, so no good if you plan a night out. The other popular bus to West Kirby (Cougarland as it's locally known) only runs every hour, so you have to be spot on to get there and back.
So it is no wonder I am having to drive much more than I used to, and when I study the bus map and find I can get to my destination, I then have to check that I can actually get back as well. Couple that with the fact the drivers are not exactly local, and I begin to realise where The Beatles got their inspiration from.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
My day in Court
The long running battle I have with the local police and council concerning their overly aggressive use of speed camera's reached a new level on Friday when I had to appear in court to defend my position not to identify the driver of my car when it was flashed in early January.
The car was travelling at 38 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, the road was an eight lane carriageway, and traffic was minimal. I was seriously annoyed when I found out I had been 'flashed'.
How did I find out? Not by the usual process of summons, but by a policeman visiting the address in late March or early April. He was there to check I lived at the address in question, but when I informed him this was the first I had heard of the offense, he indicate he would resend the summons.
This arrived towards the end of April and I wrote indicating I could not be sure who was driving so could they give me photographic evidence to help? No, they said, the photo is only for car identification. "Oh" I said, "see you in court then".
I was duly summoned and warned that a guilty verdict would result in a 6 point penalty. My in-house legal team attended court three times on my behalf, arguing , that I had not received any notification until April, that I had co-operated to try to identify the driver and that I should be acquitted. The CPS were having none of it, so I was wheeled out in person to face the bench.
Three magistrates sat in judgement, and after my new solicitor put the case for dismissal, the young CPS lawyer asked a few questions and pushed for a guilty verdict. The magistrates then retired to consider their verdict.
After 15 or 20 minutes they returned to find me not guilty and, on application, awarded me and the team costs. So six points avoided, a lot of tax payers money wasted and a vindication of my bloody minded attitude towards the Liverpool road policing policy.
I got flashed again in May this year while taking my mother to hospital for a check up so I still have 3 points on my license, but what I am now exploring is a bolt-on for my sat nav and to see if there is a governor facility on the cruise control. I really must accelerate way from traffic lights at a much slower speed as that seems to be my undoing.
So I am leading 2-0 on contested cases at the moment, and have also used up my driver awareness option. If they had all gone the other way I would be facing a ban with twelve points totted up in less than a year. Compared to London, Liverpool is really not a good place to get around by public transport, but with my old gits bus pass I must try.
The car was travelling at 38 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, the road was an eight lane carriageway, and traffic was minimal. I was seriously annoyed when I found out I had been 'flashed'.
How did I find out? Not by the usual process of summons, but by a policeman visiting the address in late March or early April. He was there to check I lived at the address in question, but when I informed him this was the first I had heard of the offense, he indicate he would resend the summons.
This arrived towards the end of April and I wrote indicating I could not be sure who was driving so could they give me photographic evidence to help? No, they said, the photo is only for car identification. "Oh" I said, "see you in court then".
I was duly summoned and warned that a guilty verdict would result in a 6 point penalty. My in-house legal team attended court three times on my behalf, arguing , that I had not received any notification until April, that I had co-operated to try to identify the driver and that I should be acquitted. The CPS were having none of it, so I was wheeled out in person to face the bench.
Three magistrates sat in judgement, and after my new solicitor put the case for dismissal, the young CPS lawyer asked a few questions and pushed for a guilty verdict. The magistrates then retired to consider their verdict.
After 15 or 20 minutes they returned to find me not guilty and, on application, awarded me and the team costs. So six points avoided, a lot of tax payers money wasted and a vindication of my bloody minded attitude towards the Liverpool road policing policy.
I got flashed again in May this year while taking my mother to hospital for a check up so I still have 3 points on my license, but what I am now exploring is a bolt-on for my sat nav and to see if there is a governor facility on the cruise control. I really must accelerate way from traffic lights at a much slower speed as that seems to be my undoing.
So I am leading 2-0 on contested cases at the moment, and have also used up my driver awareness option. If they had all gone the other way I would be facing a ban with twelve points totted up in less than a year. Compared to London, Liverpool is really not a good place to get around by public transport, but with my old gits bus pass I must try.
Monday, 2 September 2013
Men at Work
This is Mark, working diligently at his bench in the heart of Liverpool city centre. Mark is a furniture restorer and is married to one of SWMBO's girl friends. He invited me to the workshop to look round, and I must say it was a bit of an Aladdin's Cave.
The workshop is on the ground floor of an old cotton warehouse. Chris, an upholsterer, works on the first floor beside the stripping and varnishing sections. There is work in progress all over the place.
Next door is the showroom where all the restored items, and some originals are displayed for potential buyers. Mark pointed out the restoration work on some items, which to the untrained eye would be impossible to spot. Some areas of the showroom were fitted out as period rooms, such as an Art Nouveau lounge and a country kitchen from the 1950's. I was interested to see one of the artefact's was a vintage Totopoly set, but only had paper horses so was not in the same league as my cast iron version.
While the market in brown goods has hit the floor over the last few years, good pieces like chaise longue, desks and dining chairs still continue to command premium prices. Wardrobes and tables though don't.
We have some dining chairs which need repair so Mark and Chris will be on the case for those soon, and Mark very kindly offered me some bench space and the use of the industrial saws, for when I start to do my own work. I have enrolled at the local technical college to do a basic carpentry and joinery course so will welcome access to some of his tools.
The basement area is suffering from damp, so is not used for the furniture, but they have set up a 20 metre shooting range to pass the time in their lunch breaks!!
My shed is progressing well, to the point where there is lighting and bike storage available so just a few shelves to put up and I can finish the sides. Just need a good downpour to test out the internal drainage system now.
The workshop is on the ground floor of an old cotton warehouse. Chris, an upholsterer, works on the first floor beside the stripping and varnishing sections. There is work in progress all over the place.
Next door is the showroom where all the restored items, and some originals are displayed for potential buyers. Mark pointed out the restoration work on some items, which to the untrained eye would be impossible to spot. Some areas of the showroom were fitted out as period rooms, such as an Art Nouveau lounge and a country kitchen from the 1950's. I was interested to see one of the artefact's was a vintage Totopoly set, but only had paper horses so was not in the same league as my cast iron version.While the market in brown goods has hit the floor over the last few years, good pieces like chaise longue, desks and dining chairs still continue to command premium prices. Wardrobes and tables though don't.
We have some dining chairs which need repair so Mark and Chris will be on the case for those soon, and Mark very kindly offered me some bench space and the use of the industrial saws, for when I start to do my own work. I have enrolled at the local technical college to do a basic carpentry and joinery course so will welcome access to some of his tools.The basement area is suffering from damp, so is not used for the furniture, but they have set up a 20 metre shooting range to pass the time in their lunch breaks!!
My shed is progressing well, to the point where there is lighting and bike storage available so just a few shelves to put up and I can finish the sides. Just need a good downpour to test out the internal drainage system now.
Friday, 16 August 2013
Dominic Foos
The Boys Amateur golf championships are being played on the Wirral this week, with my club Wallasey featuring on the first two days before the top 64 players then go into the knock-out stage at Royal Liverpool ( Hoylake).
I volunteered to be a marshal, so have watched the cream of European U18 golfers strutting their stuff for a couple of days. There were two Americans in the field but otherwise it was dominated by Brits, Italians, Germans, French and Spanish.
The weather on day 1 was wild, but that did not stop a few players beating par with 5 under being the clubhouse leader. The course standard scratch (CSS) at Wallasey was 76 which is 4 over par, so the leader actually was 9 under in real terms. The CSS at The Royal was 77.
Day two saw conditions more favourable with the CSS reduced to 74 at Wallasey, and it gave me the chance to see the new wonderkid on the block, the German Dominic Foos.
Dominic is just 16 and has a handicap of +6. For non-golfers reading this that means he should play courses in six shots less than the par for the course. He is already being courted by American colleges for a 2016 start, he has his own web-site, and a monogram designed on his initials DF, much like Tiger Woods does.
The question is though, is he really that good? Well frankly yes he is, but he is not commanding the European boys arena uncontested.
He played his stroke play rounds with Bradley Moore and Connor Syme and all three of them qualified for the knock-out stage due, in no small part to playing holes 13 & 14 in a combined total of 10 under par. Connor lost in the last 32 but Dominic and Bradley have made it through to the last 16.
Dominic was 3 holes down against Harry Ellis, the English Amateur champion, but won 5 holes on the bounce to triumph 3 & 2. With good French, Italian, Spanish, Belgium and British players still left in the competition, the final couple of days are going to be riveting. You can follow it all here, but remember you heard his name here first!!
I volunteered to be a marshal, so have watched the cream of European U18 golfers strutting their stuff for a couple of days. There were two Americans in the field but otherwise it was dominated by Brits, Italians, Germans, French and Spanish.
The weather on day 1 was wild, but that did not stop a few players beating par with 5 under being the clubhouse leader. The course standard scratch (CSS) at Wallasey was 76 which is 4 over par, so the leader actually was 9 under in real terms. The CSS at The Royal was 77.
Day two saw conditions more favourable with the CSS reduced to 74 at Wallasey, and it gave me the chance to see the new wonderkid on the block, the German Dominic Foos.
Dominic is just 16 and has a handicap of +6. For non-golfers reading this that means he should play courses in six shots less than the par for the course. He is already being courted by American colleges for a 2016 start, he has his own web-site, and a monogram designed on his initials DF, much like Tiger Woods does.
The question is though, is he really that good? Well frankly yes he is, but he is not commanding the European boys arena uncontested.
He played his stroke play rounds with Bradley Moore and Connor Syme and all three of them qualified for the knock-out stage due, in no small part to playing holes 13 & 14 in a combined total of 10 under par. Connor lost in the last 32 but Dominic and Bradley have made it through to the last 16.
Dominic was 3 holes down against Harry Ellis, the English Amateur champion, but won 5 holes on the bounce to triumph 3 & 2. With good French, Italian, Spanish, Belgium and British players still left in the competition, the final couple of days are going to be riveting. You can follow it all here, but remember you heard his name here first!!
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Doghouse
Just spent the weekend at the Tatton Park RHS garden show. It's the first time I have been to such an event although SWMBO has been to the Chelsea flower show in the past. Two things struck me; it's very old pound oriented with most of the clientele making me look young, and, loads of people walk round with these plastic collapsible shopping trolleys which get in everybody's way
The event was quite interesting though, and I took a couple of shed shots to see whether they inspired me
This one had the Plymouth word on it, but I was taken by the astroturf SHED on the orange one. They do both look a bit like beach huts though, so I will not be using outrageous colour schemes when it comes to painting mine.
That moment is still sometime off as I have been faced with a leaking roof crisis. The recent downpours have certainly indicated that the pitch on the roof is inadequate, so the felt has all come off and its back to square one on Monday, with a different fall angle and slope. Hopefully that will work, then the sides can be completed and the shed used for its main purpose.
I am still being pressured to have a sofa and TV in there, but as the only power source is going to be solar, there is little point in the TV or kettle. If I am sent to the doghouse I may just have to revert to the original shed which is all powered up. Lets hope it doesn't come to that though, and the Tatton Park plans can all be hatched and installed ready for next season.
This one really has been a bit of a wash out.
The event was quite interesting though, and I took a couple of shed shots to see whether they inspired me
This one had the Plymouth word on it, but I was taken by the astroturf SHED on the orange one. They do both look a bit like beach huts though, so I will not be using outrageous colour schemes when it comes to painting mine.
That moment is still sometime off as I have been faced with a leaking roof crisis. The recent downpours have certainly indicated that the pitch on the roof is inadequate, so the felt has all come off and its back to square one on Monday, with a different fall angle and slope. Hopefully that will work, then the sides can be completed and the shed used for its main purpose.I am still being pressured to have a sofa and TV in there, but as the only power source is going to be solar, there is little point in the TV or kettle. If I am sent to the doghouse I may just have to revert to the original shed which is all powered up. Lets hope it doesn't come to that though, and the Tatton Park plans can all be hatched and installed ready for next season.
This one really has been a bit of a wash out.
Monday, 22 July 2013
50 not out
SWMBO and I were at Lord's on Saturday for the second testy match against Australia, we have been going for most of the 23 years we have been together. Saturday was, however, my 50th anniversary.
It all started in June 1963 when my dad took me out of school and we went to the second and third day of the second test against the West Indies. What a test match to debut in! West Indies were stacked with great name cricketers, Conrad Hunte opened, Gary Sobers came in at number 3 followed by Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher. Frank Worrell captained the side and could call upon Lance Gibbs as well as Wes Hall and Charlie Griffiths in his bowling attack.
The match is memorable for two things. Ted Dexter took on the might of Hall and Griffiths, scoring 70 runs off 73 balls when others struggled around him, and following Butchers classy 100 in the West Indies second innings, Colin Cowdrey came out to bat the final over with England needing six to win with a plaster cast on the arm he broke earlier in the innings.
Dad took me to many games after that, always saying the Friday and Saturday gave a chance to see the end of the first innings, all of the second and the start of the third, and so I continued after Dad was no longer able to attend. We were at the Massie test in 1972 when the Australian took 8 wickets in each innings, and he did take me to the last test played by the South African's at the Oval, before the D'Oliviera case isolated them, in 1965
My mate Mike McBride and I took up the gauntlet starting at the England v Australia centenary test in 1980 and I was later joined by Figs together with whom I attended all five days of a test against Australia, albeit with lunchtime visits to Crocker's to lubricate the tonsils.
So now its SWMBO, who eased into the seat which Figs had to vacate when the tests started to clash with his role at the Wimbledon tennis. We have seen many changes. The ground has been developed extensively with new grandstands, Mound stand and Compton and Edrich stands. Spectators can no longer sit on the grass around the perimeter, and sadly Crocker's is no more.
I have been lucky enough to see the Ashes won and lost, the West Indies black wash, the great and good from each Country, and some of the bad. Moments of genius from Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee and Sir Ian Botham have been peppered with moments of madness and high jinks the pinnacle of which was a day in a box with Rillo and the Red Stripe girls.
So I am now 50 not out, time to take a fresh guard and push on to the century.
It all started in June 1963 when my dad took me out of school and we went to the second and third day of the second test against the West Indies. What a test match to debut in! West Indies were stacked with great name cricketers, Conrad Hunte opened, Gary Sobers came in at number 3 followed by Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher. Frank Worrell captained the side and could call upon Lance Gibbs as well as Wes Hall and Charlie Griffiths in his bowling attack.
The match is memorable for two things. Ted Dexter took on the might of Hall and Griffiths, scoring 70 runs off 73 balls when others struggled around him, and following Butchers classy 100 in the West Indies second innings, Colin Cowdrey came out to bat the final over with England needing six to win with a plaster cast on the arm he broke earlier in the innings.
Dad took me to many games after that, always saying the Friday and Saturday gave a chance to see the end of the first innings, all of the second and the start of the third, and so I continued after Dad was no longer able to attend. We were at the Massie test in 1972 when the Australian took 8 wickets in each innings, and he did take me to the last test played by the South African's at the Oval, before the D'Oliviera case isolated them, in 1965
My mate Mike McBride and I took up the gauntlet starting at the England v Australia centenary test in 1980 and I was later joined by Figs together with whom I attended all five days of a test against Australia, albeit with lunchtime visits to Crocker's to lubricate the tonsils.
So now its SWMBO, who eased into the seat which Figs had to vacate when the tests started to clash with his role at the Wimbledon tennis. We have seen many changes. The ground has been developed extensively with new grandstands, Mound stand and Compton and Edrich stands. Spectators can no longer sit on the grass around the perimeter, and sadly Crocker's is no more.
I have been lucky enough to see the Ashes won and lost, the West Indies black wash, the great and good from each Country, and some of the bad. Moments of genius from Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee and Sir Ian Botham have been peppered with moments of madness and high jinks the pinnacle of which was a day in a box with Rillo and the Red Stripe girls.
So I am now 50 not out, time to take a fresh guard and push on to the century.
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