Tour d'France

Number one son has just completed an amazing journey. For the last week he has been part of a cycle group who have traveled from London to Monte Carlo. They have done it on behalf of the Wooden Spoon Society, a charity founded in the rugby community whose aim is to bring help and support to young children from deprived areas either by sports therapy or by enhancing school facilities.

Do view his Facebook page   to follow his story, and if you are inclined please make a donation here.Note the links are not forward loading at the most but hopefully you can work out how to get there.

He was a casual cyclist who started his training around Richmond Park where cyclists in their 50's and 60's pedalled past him, but he got his miles up to about 35 per day by the time he started. It was still a shock though as the stages were an average of 90 miles long.

It got him through the first week but then came three days in the Alps. Just look at the route profiles to see why the pelaton fragmented and it was everyone for themselves. That said,  the whole group made it, and the coast downhill into Monaco must have been wonderful.

Allez mon fils, there I got it right that time.

Its day 9....

In the Mexican Big Brother house. Simon and SWMBO are on the beach, Jackie and Mark are snorkeling and Dave and Lesley are going for their lunch.

So far Big Brother has not evicted any of the housemates, although it was a close run thing on day 4 when SWMBO fell during the dressing up task and broke her elbow.

The BB medical team patched her up and she was straight back into the fray.

Simon was called to the diary room and warned that any more high jinks would result in him being asked to be official sun cream application monitor for the group, and be banned from the gym.

The anticipated hurricane passed to the West of the BB house so the excited American residents have returned to the beach from their shelters.

Tomorrow Big Brother has arranged drinking games in Playa Del Carmen for the residents, we can't wait.

Shedding pounds

Back stuck into building work this week, as the shed continues to take shape. All the brickwork is finished and the base is now laid, so I am confident the timberwork will be able to start at the weekend.

The sunny weather is certainly helping the concrete to set, and given the location of the site, it is not in full sun all day which will mean the muck will not go off too quickly.

The woodwork will tax my geometric capabilities and does make me wonder how they get all the parts for something like The Shard to all fit together. It does help to have the right tools, and I may have to solicit some help from the family when the structure needs to be placed in situ. That might be a bit of a struggle although if I suggest to Kieran that his dinner is ready in the garden that may get him outside.


He has started running and swimming big style, so I suspect he has his eye on a local filly in one of the hostilities he frequents. I think its the equivalent of ladies losing weight, having their hair done and starting to go out more regularly.....er, hang on a minute.........

Hong Kong Fui

Just back from a long weekend in Hong Kong, to watch the Barbarians v The British and Irish Lions in their curtain raiser to the tour of Australia.

It might seem a long way to go for a rugby match, but I had never seen the Lions, and we went with my sister-in-law and her husband, David and Michelle, who lived there in the late 90's. David was in the Army at that time, and was last one out switch the lights off when the former British territory was handed over to the Chinese.

The temperature for the game was about 32 degrees with humidity at 96% so it was pretty hard going for the two teams. The HK rugby authorities did a good job with the hospitality and match presentation , so all the spectators had a good time. Many were there just for the one off, including a group from the Gurkha regiment in Brunei, this lass from Wales, though was in it for the long hall.


Hong Kong are building a new stadium now on the site of the old airport at Kai Tak which will have air conditioning under its retractable roof, so that could see the Lions doing more one-off games in the future.

The attraction to Westerners of Hong Kong has often been the shopping opportunities in Stanley market and other places, rummaging for end of run and sample products from designer brands which use China for their product production. Sadly this aspect of island life would appear to be diminishing as the work moves to mainland China, so if we go again, we may have to travel to Shenzhen to do our shopping.

Other than that, there were opportunities to dine at a 31st floor Australian steak restaurant, and subsequently drink on their rooftop terrace, Fat Angelo's Italian has turned into a Pizza Hut type chain so that was a bit disappointing, but the usual array for Chinese and Thai outlets more than made up for that one blip.

So all in all a great few days, now its back to shed building.

Archibald Beet

...or Archie to his friends popped into the world last Thursday 16th May at 15:15 weighing in at 7lb 7 oz. He was delivered by C section and all seems well with the world.

He is the first grandson for the Weathers, Collins, Smith dynasty and joins his cousins Ava and Sofia in the creche. He has a dash of red hair, so Ron seemed a good choice of name to me, my earlier suggestions of Bronski or Mersey having been rejected. Archie sits well though and he joins a proud collections of Archies.

Archie Leitch was a famous designer of football stands, one of which is still in situ at Home Park, Plymouth. Archie Knox was a famous art nouveau artist and did a large amount of his work for Liberty's. Finally of course we must not forget Archie Andrews, the ventriloquist' dummy of the 50's and 60's. He starred in his own radio show called Educating Archie, and the fact a ventriloquism act was being played out in a non-visual environment did not seem to phase anybody.

Some Internet fun indicates that 0.0000598‰ of the UK population have the name Archie Beet, that's 4 people!!!

Gottle of geer, Gottle of geer.

Le Shed

Football supporters often get a bad name, and many deserve it, however, the fans of Plymouth Argyle seem to rise above the stereotype with great regularity. Whether this is because they face crises which only their Naval port rivals Portsmouth can relate closely to, or whether its something to do with the sleepy West Country climate, I am not sure.

Anyway, when Peter Read was released as manager they clubbed together to buy him a pen and made a framed signed shirt as a memento, and Peter Read was not really associated with Argyle success.

So, what to do when French goalkeeper Romain Larrieu announced he was leaving the coaching staff as new manager John Sheridan looked to bring in his own team? Romain is an Argyle legend. He signed during the Sturrock years and was a regular in the side which moved from league 2 to the Championship during the noughties. He stuck around as the side slid back to League 2, and almost out of existence, so it was only right and proper that the fans said their own thankyou to him.

First thing was to start a collection and that quickly reached £500 and continued to climb. Next thing was a bit obvious, why not ask him what he would like. So Romain was consulted and to everybody's amazement he indicated he would like a shed for his garden!! It did not take long for some sharp thinking Janner to spot that Argyle are sponsored by Bond Timber. Maybe they could help?

So one phone call later and the deal is done, they will survey the site and supply the shed, everybody now waits for the unveiling and naming ceremony. Apparently it will be build to accommodate a second tier should the capacity of the shed need to be increased at a later date to reflect the success Romain achieves while playing in it!!

On the subject of sheds, my Summer project is now a work in progress. This is the starting position, more pictures will follow in due course.

  

Adrian Stanley, actor

Adrian Stanley was a repertory theatre player during the second world  war, and early 1950's before moving to South Africa where he produced in the apartheid dominated Country for many years. He died in 2010.

Never heard of him? Well, neither had I until I attended the local auction house last week. There were a couple of pictures I was interested in, however, it was an old leather suitcase which caught my eye. From experience I know these things fetch between £20-£30 at car boot sales, so to acquire it for £25 has probably negated any change of a profit on it.

What made me proceed though was the content of the suitcase. It was full of war time programmes magazines and books all relating to the life of Adrian Stanley. My uncle Philip was a thespian and I suspect that is why I was intrigued by the contents. You can read about Philip a bit more here. Falkland Carey, with whom he collaborated on a number of projects, and Philip King dominated the playwright arena at the time Philip was involved. Their big numbers were 'Sailor Beware' and 'Big Bad Mouse'  I was hoping one of the programmes may have mentioned Philip but none did.

So,  if I sell them all for 99p each I will be well wedged up, however, I have a feeling some of the items may be little gems. There is a Bolshoi Ballet programme which is a rarity, there is a series of South African theatre programmes which will be collectable, and there is a first issue of the Penguin theatre guide. My e-bay activity will start next week and I will watch developments with interest.

Adrian Stanley was granted an obituary in the Guardian and other theatre and African related publications. His real name was Stanley Roberts and the suitcase contained three of his school reports from Rock Ferry, Birkenhead his WWII discharge papers relating to the asthma which affected him, diaries chronicling his travels in repertory, as well as a photograph from the Spotlight casting directory of the time. Maybe a family member will be interested in that little lot  It's amazing what a good rummage will unearth.