Liverpool Pals

The City has been experiencing giant fever for the last few days as the street theatre group, Royal de Luxe, returned to Liverpool with their giants. They were here last time for the Titanic memorial weekend, and this time headlined the World War 1 commemorations. Grandma Giant joined Little Girl Giant and her dog Xolo as they toured the city evoking memories of the build up and longevity of the Great War.

We went on Sunday to the finale as the two giant humans were placed on a barge and sailed out of the City from the Albert dock. On their final parade through the centre, the giants were joined by actors dressed as the Liverpool Pals, and WW1 officers in a tribute to the hundreds of locally recruited soldiers who lost their lives in the regular hand to hand conflicts of the war.

The Pals were groups of friends, co-workers and factory owners who were galvanised into action by Lord Derby. He wanted the City to answer the call from Lord Kitchener, that 'Your Country Needs You'. Within weeks of the announcement of war, Lord Derby, put forward the idea of a battalion drawn from the Liverpool business workforce, and even wrote to employers asking that they encourage their employees to enlist. So many turned up that in the end four battalions were formed. These troops were officially the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Service Battalions of the King’s, but known as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th  Pals.

Other cities followed Liverpool's lead and Pals regiments became widespread. By April 1915 the Pals had been formed in to the 89th Infantry Brigade and on 31 October, 1915, it was announced that the Pals would be leaving for France and in a letter to his brother Lord Derby gave his view on how the war could be won, “This war is only going to come to an end by killing Germans, and I am perfectly certain that at that game, the 89th Brigade will more than hold their own.”

The Pals would go on to fight in some of the most costly battles of World War I, taking part in the ‘big push’ at the Somme in 1916.
Almost 200 Liverpool Pals were killed going ‘over the top’ on 1 July, 1916, over 300 more were wounded, captured or recorded as missing.
Of the four original Pals Battalions who sailed to France in November 1915, twenty per cent would be dead by 1919, if the figures of wounded and those transferred to other units are included the casualty figure is closer to seventy five per cent.

The effect of these losses on Liverpool was highlighted on Sunday by a guard of honour of widowed mothers and sweethearts dressed in black,  who lined the procession route.

That Liverpool, and the rest of the Country can find ways of keeping these sacrifices in the minds of our people is a credit to them. Over 1 million people took to the streets in the last four days, many of them young children and teenagers, many with parents and grandparents. The storytelling will continue and with it the pass down of memories and understanding.  It was  heart warming to be part of it.

A thrash round a field

Rory McIlroy had just come back from a boys weekend in Ibiza, before he went on to win the Open Championship at Hoylake last week. Clearly that sort of break can do your golf the world of good.

I was one of the volunteer marshal's and did seven or eight shift from the Tuesday onwards. It was fascinating to see the players close up and wonder at how they hit the ball so far with apparently little effort. I am told something's called timing and practise are to blame!

I did not exactly meet the world but I did see David Clarke, an ex-Twickenham RFC lad with whom I used to play golf. He was caddying for Cameron Tringale, who had two steady rounds but was unable to make the cut mark.

David must be one of the most unlucky caddies around, he was with Justin Rose when he turned pro, and went through the hard times with him. They parted on good terms some time later but before Justin started winning big. He was with Michelle Wie when she had totally lost her game, and then moved on to VJ Singh for a while, and VJ has never been the fame force since his deer antler scandal.

I did appear on the BBC news at 7pm on the Sunday as a lady reporter did a piece to camera. I had my back to her and looked like I was perched on her shoulder like a parrot. We got £12 food allowance which did not buy too much food at the prices they were charging, so I saved mine up and got a bottle of champagne from the beer tent...every little helps.

So after Rory played so well after his boys weekend away, I wondered what difference my trip to Lisbon had made, and the formula seems to have worked. I went round Southport and Ainsdale yesterday in 82 shots, helping Wallasey to gain an honourable 4-4 draw. Interestingly when I consult my records I see that during our Southport flog expedition in 1988, I birdied the first hole and then went round in 103, so I seem to be improving!

Summer lovin'

What great weather we are experiencing at the moment. If we could guarantee this every year then who would need Turkey or the South of Spain. Its glorious.

I did take advantage of Portugal though, a couple of weeks ago, when I went to Lisbon for a stag weekend. 25 blokes aged from 45 to 63 all there for a few holes of golf , some sardines and gallons of sangria. I stuck to the very pleasant white wine and consequently lasted better than I was expecting. It was the stag's second go at matrimonials, and with a nickname of Wally, what other theme could there be!!

That's me at the back, with a black and white hat on! For some reason I got the golf colour code and the evening colour code mixed up!!  The man at the front with no hat was a local who was in the hotel celebrating his divorce, bit of a dichotomy really!  He picked up the bar tab so we had to include him in the picture.

I arranged the whole trip, given I was the only one 'not working' and it was quite an experience to do that. Transfers proved to be the hardest and most expensive part of the trip, given everybody makes their own way to these sort of things. They all land at different times and at different terminals, but everybody got there and a good time was had by all.

Better than a hole in one!!

No posts during May is a bit of a let down, but was due in most part to a holiday trip to Turkey with some of Maxine's mad mate's, one of whom was celebrating her 60th birthday. I took my bats along and managed to get five rounds in including two on the Montgomerie course which will be hosting the Turkish Open later in the year. It was a very well turned out track and I played it pretty well.

I always remember when I was off on vacation from work, little of my backlog got cleared while I was away, so there was a huge work effort when I returned and the holiday quickly became a distant memory.

The same thing happened this time, although the backlog was a series of golf matches which needed to be played in short order, when I got back. The schedule finished yesterday with a rare win in the first round of the Nike match-play. I worked out that I have played nine rounds in 12 days.

The highlight of those rounds has to be a gross 79 which I hit in the Twickenham Legend's v Hero's match at Hersham Village Golf Club. It was the first time I have ever broken 80 and did feel just a bit special. especially as I travelled down and back in the day!!

Other matches saw a second place at Wallasey, a win against Prestbury and a defeat away at the West Lancs course close to where we used to live in Waterloo.

So now I am putting my feet up for a while before I tackle some decorating and other little jobs which are building up.

Interesting the football fixtures have just been released and I can see the mighty Green's at Tranmere this year, as well as at Morecambe and Accrington Stanley. Might even get to Wigan to see Brentford.

The standard of football will be a little bit lower than that on display during the World Cup, but I am sure the quality of refereeing and playacting/cheating will be the same. Such is the price we have to pay for 'the beautiful game'.

That was the week that was

I am writing this as I watch the final holes of the Masters golf unfold at Augusta National. It's a course I would love to play, but have little or no chance of doing so. It is one of a few around the world where you can't just turn up, pay your green fee and play. I don't know any members so have resigned myself to missing out.

The week started interestingly with a dry run of the stag weekend I am attending in Lisbon during July. It was held at Twickenham RFC to co-incide with their winner take all match against Old Priorians. Up until this game T's had only lost three times in two years, all had been to Old P's. Sadly they have now lost four as they went down 20-28 to a very good side, in a proper game of rugby where no quarter was given or taken. Priorians will now be promoted by right, and T's will engage in a play-off against Saffron Waldron. If they win they will move into London 1, the highest level they have ever been in, Hopefully they can turn over Priorians next year.

On the Wednesday I was down in London again for a retirement lunch for my long time work colleague and golf companion Chris Finden-Browne. It is very easy to do London to Liverpool in a day, so I took the advantage to catch up with a few friends I had not seen since I left IBM almost 18 months ago.

Friday saw me having another lunch with IBM colleagues, this time in Manchester, and I sensibly retired hurt about 5pm, as I had a golf competition on Saturday morning and wanted a reasonably clear head. As it happens I was 68th out of about 150, not good, but could have been much worse. The Wallasey wind was blowing and it was a real battle to get round.

During the week, the RFU also issued instructions on how to obtain tickets for the Rugby World Cup matches in October next year. I have no appetite for the kick-off times, or the prices, so will be encouraging the usual subjects to look at alternative entertainment options which will allow us to watch the games on TV but maybe in Ireland or France.

So it's been a pretty full on week, and I am now looking forward to a more restful one coming up.....

The batsman's Holding, the bowler's Willey

Trips to London are less frequent than they used to be these days, but no less enjoyable. On Friday I had the opportunity to attend a lunch at Lord's cricket ground to celebrate the start of the 150th anniversary season of Middlesex county cricket club.

The room was littered with players from past years, many of whom I grew up watching from the stands as an impressionable schoolboy, and more recent players who are trying to emulate those true legends.

The afternoon was compere'd by Bob 'the cat' Bevan, an after dinner speaker of some note. He was joined on stage by Geoff Miller, a recent England selector, who told tales of Derbyshire cricket in his own inimitable style.

It was a very good way to welcome in the cricket season, even if the weather is still more suited to football.  The World T20 competition does continue in Bangladesh but England have no further interest in that after the usual last few overs they bowled flew all over the field. Quite why England persist with Dernbach in those situations, I have no idea. He also dropped a 'dolly' in the match against Sri Lanka, using the new catching technique adopted by the modern players where the palms face away from the body.

We were always taught to have the fingers facing skywards and the palms towards the body. I did ask Angus Fraser at the dinner why the catching art had been tampered with, but he was a bit grumpy so did not give me any plausible explanation save that apparently the players can watch the ball straight into their hands, or in Dernbach's case onto the grass.

A little something for the weekend....

It's been a long time since I have had to pay for my car to be serviced, and it was not the shock I was expecting it to be, that is, until they inspected the tyres. One off-side tyre  had a bulging inner wall and the other had a split which showed the steel wiring. At £200 each, that did blow the service budget a bit. I am sure rubbers were cheaper than that the last time I brought some.

Oh well, it had to be done, you can't mess with 'elf and safety or the possibility of 6 points on yer license.

While the car was in the garage, I took the opportunity to go and explore the new Liverpool central library which has recently undergone an expansion and face-lift. I have to say the place is fabulous.

The old parts of the library incorporating the Picton reading room, the Hornby library and the Oak room have been fully restored, and a whole new section has been built to house local history reference, a kid's discovery area and a gaming pod all within the infrastructure of the traditional lending library concept.

The is a café, at least 50 public internet stations and a roof top viewing gallery and terrace. It really is a magnificent building.

The older rooms referred to above house displays and exhibits from the Liverpool archives, which change every few months. The current displays include the original Henry II seal of office, the oldest surviving Liverpool city seal, letters from Charles Dickens and a photographic history of the Adelphi hotel.

Many old manuscripts and illustrated volumes were also exhibited so anyone wandering around could view them.

It's definitely worth another visit, and next time I will be investigating the archives in more detail to see if I can find more information about the early occupants of Hill House.