Ashes to Ashes

 After a few years living in our downstairs gym, it was time for my mothers ashes to be scattered in various parts of Plymouth, which had certain memories for her.

It was delightful that eldest son Tim and his girlfriend Tay could join us from Switzerland and mums friends Lydia dn ian joined us for the first scattering.

That was initially at Effort Crematorium where my father was scattered in June 1980 so they had been apart for the best of 43 years. At Lydia's suggestion we then retired to Saltram House just outside Plymouth where both of them had worked as volunteers. We had a cup of tea and cake before nipping into the impressive floral border area where we did a bit more scattering.

Tim and Tay were not arriving until the next day, so SWMBO and I went to the Barbican for a trip down memory lane. We had a pint in The Dolphin, a pub made famous by Plymouth artist Beryl Cook, and then into the Queens which is one of the oldest pubs in Plymouth before going into the Trawlerman,

Now the Trawlerman is a cider house with a number of brews registering over 8.0% on the alcoholic scale, but many years ago it was called The Friary, and was our school pub. I first drank in there in about 1970 but had not been back there for well on 50 years. It was a very emotional visit as there were a group of young locals singing sea shanties, one of which 'Haul away for Rosie-o' was a favourite of the S -Club ably led by Stu.

The main part of the scattering took place the next day at Wembury beach. Tim did the honours and scattered his Gran in a suitable rock pool which was soon to be engulfed by the English Channel. We watched her start her final journey and were just able to keep a wretched dog owner from allowing his trio of Scotties to desecrate the site. She would have gone mad!!

We then trotted off to Stadden Heights golf club to toast her memory and show Tay one of the best views of Plymouth Sound.

During the trip we ate at Fletcher's, a fine dining establishment near the Theatre Royal,  Supha's, a market stall type restaurant at Sutton harbour and for Sunday lunch, The Dock in Millbay. We also spent some time on Dartmoor and visited Pricetown, Tavistock and Lopwell dam.

They must farm pheasant near Lopwell as I have never seen so many running around on the roads and in the hedgerows. I think SWMBO was a bit nervous of the narrow lanes but we survived and are now back in Scouseland, while Tim and Tay continued their adventure travelling to Falmouth in Cornwall for a few days.

Whether we will ever make it back to Plymouth remains to be seen, but if it is our last trip, then we did pretty much all we wanted to do and we leave with fond memories, the hotel we stayed in, the Moxy was also an experience, and recommended.....proper Job!

Georgia on my mind

I thought I might have used this headline as far back as 2007, because 15 years ago I was also in Bordeaux to watch Georgia play in a Rugby World Cup final. On that occasion they played against Ireland, and really should have won...... check out the entry here

This time they were playing Fiji, and once again they gave a good account of themselves  and very nearly fashioned a win with the last move of the match. At the final whistle both teams were collapsed across the length of the pitch as they had given their all in oppressive heat, as has been the case over Southern Europe for some time.

The match was played at the new football stadium which we travelled to by tram. I must say if I was building a new city somewhere, I would definitely model the tram system on the one in use in Bordeaux. From the airport it is about 35 minutes into the town centre. All the lights give priority to the tram over the cars, and there really are not too many of those compared with other major cities. On exiting the ground after the match, we were on a tram within 20 minutes with another 30 minutes until we arrived back in the city centre.

We went to the seaside on Sunday, Acheron, about 45 minutes on the train, where they have the largest sand dune in Europe. We did not scale it although there were maintained pathways to the top, but on our return to Bordeaux, there were two large cruise ships in port, mirroring once again our experiences all those years ago.

So after three days of good food, company and alcohol, we are back in Blighty where it is wet and windy. Plus ca change!! 

It's nice in Nice

 Where better to enjoy the rugby world cup than in the host Country, France. So after the first wekend of matches had been completed the founder members of S-Club took off for a few days in Nice on the Cote D'Azur.

There were live games in Nice bit we had chosen to visit prior to those and just soak up the atmosphere, and avoid the huge influx of Welsh supporters who would be in town on the Saturday. Nice is a very pleasant seaside town, with a pebble beach and numerous bars and restaurants. A renowned travel correspondent was once quoted s saying that the majority of tourists only eat in the same restaurant once, never to return, so don't be surprised if the food is second best and the waiting staff are offhand and bored. 

This was certainly our experience with the menu's being salad dominated and the plate d'jour of traditional steak et frites being average or worse. So after a couple of days we managed to seek out a few local's restaurants which were much better. The town was certainly less expensive than I had expected and all in all we had the time we had hoped for.

We even had a chat with Gerald Davies, a wales international and British Lion from the early 70's. He remembered our old school rugby coach, Keith Maddocks, also known as the Neath flyer, and was happy to pass the time of day with us. I did get called 'Jack Rowell' one occasion so some things never change.

With my thoughts very much on avoiding games at Twickenham in the future, the few days proved that an enjoyable time can be had without the need to flog to the stadium to watch a game. Add in the fact that the red and yellow card situation could mean a game being ruined as a contest early and I think a good lunch and the camaraderie which accompany it is the way to go.

Off to Bordeaux next where we will take in the Fiji v Georgia game.

Summertime blue's

Well where did it all go? It's been two months with no postings, but I can't recall being overly busy to be that distracted, although possibly there was little going on in the World. 

So a quick check of my diary shows that SWMBO was away on holiday for a week, I worked at the Open Golf Championships for a week, I went to a 70th birthday in Huddersfield, played about 15 rounds of golf, had a routine brain scan (all clear) as I was having stress headaches and celebrated our wedding anniversary at Hawksmoor, a steak restaurant in Liverpool centre. That was just in July!!

August was more golf, several bbq's and another 70th birthday, SWMBO away at here sister's for a few days with the ankle biters and me at the Forest of Arden golf resort with 240 fellow golf club captains. It could have been messy but was actually quite reserved.

We have now entered September and all my 'grumpy old man' attributes are getting a really good airing. Why? Because the sports World has gone mad. Firstly the Spanish football president kisses one of the lady World Cup winning players. There has been uproar and it has taken up far more column inches than the war in Ukraine. Please lets put these things in perspective. Clearly clutching his groin was an action he should have avoided but everything else has just been over exposed!!

Now the English Lionesses footballers want pay parity with the men. This is a continuing theme throughout at the moment. The tennis players got their way with equal prize funding even though they only play three sets compared with the men playing five. If the products are the same then I am happy the prize fund should be so too. In football, the money is in the Premiership, and the wages and prize fund reflect that, the players in the lower divisions are paid proportionately. Lady's football is nowhere near Premiership level so should be paid accordingly. Somebody needs to take a stand and point this out.

Now the rugby World Cup has started in France, we are again seeing the positive discrimination which has forced it's way into sports commentary. Ladies do not have the lower range of vocal cords to present a fast moving sport like rugby. As the game gets exciting their range gets higher pitched and difficult to listen to. Add in the fact that all panels now need to include one lady pundit and it just shows how commentating has gone from one extreme to the other

Luckily the rugby has started off with good quality games and a fair bit of controversy, and there is always the mute button if things do get a bit out of hand vocally. Allez le blanc! 

Feck

Another short break, this time to Newcastle in Northern Ireland, to play at the mighty Royal County Down golf club, so long regarded as the best golf club in the World. A club of such standing is clearly going to be a magnificent and tough track to navigate around, so on day 1 we thought we should employ local caddies to help us through our journey.

What we, nor they, could count on, however, was the storm of a biblical proportion which dumped on us during Thursday afternoon. By the 8th tee we were all absolutely saturated having been battered by 30mph winds and driving rain. We retired to the bar much to the relief of said caddies who confessed they had never seen anything like it before.

Day 2 arrived with thankfully no rain, but still with 30mph winds, and that was still a bit too much for me so I retired to the bar after 9 holes and left my three chums to battle the elements for another two hours. With hindsight what I should have done was move to the forward tee's on the holes which played into the teeth of the gale, but my brian was a bit mashed by then and the plan never got executed. It is a learning experience for next time it is 'only a friendly'.

The two days were great, and if an opportunity does present itself to go again, I will certainly be up for it, but might start on the 10th hole next time!!

Gary Player was in the group ahead of us, he managed 18 holes and is in his 86th year, so there is hope for me yet!!

Up in smoke

The annual pilgrimage to Lords to see the first day of the Ashes test allowed SWMBO and I a few days in London. We started with dinner in J Sheekey, the renowned seafood restaurant, and the n spent the next day sightseeing.

I was keen to see what had become of Battersea power station, so we started there. It has its own tube station terminus so getting there was easy enough, albeit we had planned the river taxi, but they did not stop there from the Waterloo side of the river.

The main turbine halls have been turned into a shopping mall and food court, a bit of a poor man's Westfield, without the same level of foot fall. I think they might have been better going down the outlet mall route.

The main attraction though is the observation pod at the top of one of the chimney's. You take two elevators and walk a few steps, and the pop out of the top of the chimney already in the pod. The views are spectacular and give another perspective on West London. You would still prefer the London Eye if it was central London you wanted a good look at, but the chimney tour is still worth the trip. The whole area is now built up with flats and hotels, one of which had a cool pool and bar on its roof.

After a light lunch in one of the cafe's we did manage to get the river bus back to Westminster pier, and hit the West End before the must have burger in Joe Allen at Covent Garden. The restaurant has moved now but has tried to maintain the basement dive vibe of the old site, and with a fair amount of success.

The cricket was disappointing as England won the toss in bowler friendly conditions but failed to take the three or four wickets they needed to exert their authority over the Aussies. This year was the 60th year since I first went to Lord's as a ten year old with my Dad. I am wondering whether enough is enough now, although it would be good to get my 50 year reward badge from Middlesex first, and I think I have three more years to go to get that !!

Gone for a Burton

 Burton Albion actually, and the ground where Plymouth Argyle clinched the League 1 title. They fought off Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Bolton and Barnsley and put their Wembley defeat behind them to gain 101 points. It's the second time they have surpassed 100 points, a rare feat in any clubs history,

Well done to all concerned. Are Argyle the new Brentford and will Wrexham be the new Argyle. Watch this space.