Wednesday 30th July marked a change in the mood of what was becoming a great and likely to be memorable holiday. Breakfast of pan au chocolat, Alpine cereal and coffee. I bought a pasta salad which I mixed with tomatoes and salad peppers brought with me for the trip. I also bought a fruit salad of strawberries, melon, grapes, apple. This was part of a two for £5 deal which brought the price within the reasonable range rather than expensive for my budget. I commenced to write this when I returned to my home on August 2nd and after unpacking and feeling tired I watched a DVD which had also made the same journey of the past week called Déjà vu about the use of as time machine to prevent the blowing up of a car ferry with 500 hundred passengers I am now trying to write a chronicle of my immediate past and my present as quickly as I can in order to bring the two into the same time dimension of ongoing experience. I am also trying to get up to date with everything else. I am visiting Nottingham to day, for Durham playing at the County Ground. I have visited the ground for cricket before. I have visited Nottingham University, the Football Ground and the neighbourhood of the Football ground. However in this situation it is about the present and not the past and previous experience is for another occasion. Before setting off today I completed writing about my journey to Havant and posted on MySpace. This meant I would arrive at the ground before the start of play but I had forgotten that parking could be a problem, unlikely Chester Le Street on County Championship days when the traffic would be normal with limited stops for lights and roundabouts and parking unlimited. There was no one at the Travel Lodge reception, when I was ready to leave, to ask how to get to the other side of the motorway and failing to identify the exit I returned, rang the bell and the assistant explained what I had to do, These roads are intended only for use used by emergency vehicles, staff, and motel guests, so the every effort is made to avoid casual visitors using the facility. It is such a long time since visiting the city, but less than ten years, and I had failed to work out the route and therefore I was driving more in hope of finding the best way, first time of travel, to the cricket ground. As I hoped, soon after entering the outskirts from the motorway there was a sign directing Football and Cricket traffic back out of the city towards a ring road. Then I was unsure of the way and turned back towards the town centre, passing a Park and ride, an out of town shopping centre and the coming by the main railway station where road signs included a reference to Trent Bridge and I was soon turning across the river with the football ground to the left and then saw what are the as yet unused six majestic permanent new floodlight masts at the cricket ground. These are contained within a ring rather than the usual squares and are unique and attractive architectural structures. I turned my vehicle in front of the building and went around another side, and reaching a wide road turned left moving away from the ground until finding a car park with many unused spaces. However the fee for over 3 hours was £20 set intentionally high to prevent use by cricket and football fans. I doubled back and explored the side roads but although parking was not restricted to residents there appeared to be no free spaces. However I found a space within five minutes walk of the ground and crossing over, found the ticket office at the very junction where I had turned the car left into the main road. I had gone a full circle and I work out now in my mind how I did so Usually one can enter the ground at the ticket office but there was some work being undertaken to what I discovered is the extraordinary new all singing and dancing scoreboard. By good fortune I had only needed to walk a couple of hundred yards from the car into the ground. I have lost my prescription sunglasses and had an idea where they might be, so broke off to investigate without success. The opportunity was also taken to close the bedroom curtains. I check emails and then decide to print out the Blogs that have been posted since on my travels. I have been going to sleep early around 10pm and while away waking early around four or five and writing I have then become tired during the day for longer periods that has become custom so I try and stay up but around 11pm I am very tired so leave further writing until the morning. My writing is impressionistic although written as a chronicle and an official report where the emphasise is on fact and accuracy and less on feelings and the intrusions of memories and flights into fantasy, although I encourage the former and disciplines the latter into projections of possibilities rewinding variations in future time options. Do I want this, can I make it happen, can I avoid that happening. I have recovered sufficiently from the night of my return home to break for breakfast and commencing the washing of clothes, but as it is Sunday and there will be no postman or anyone else calling I delay washing and shaving until this first writing has been completed. Inside the ground I am impressed by the visual impact and by aspects of the comprehensive developments since my last visit. There is only one old building at the corner of the ground by the street level ticket office with the entrance I used marking the other end. This is in fact the pavilion so the first aspect to note about the cricket ground is that the wickets are at angle to the pavilion with the site screen comprising white or presumably black blinds to the windows. Members sit in a the small terraced area below the windows and therefore are exceptionally well disciplined. The long room is quite small and when one cannot see the game except by bending down below window level. There are only a handful of tables compared to the vast area at Durham. There is an executive lounged/dining area which I did not explore, but I did find as small TV lounge. I only found this after circulating the ground in search of a cup of tea and in the members lounge cups of tea were being served for £1.20 a side table to the bar, where previously there had been a lunch time roast meal available. There was also a scone with cream for £1.30. There were also the player's dressing rooms and game viewing area. It is a ridiculously small and inappropriate Pavilion for a ground of such importance for international games. Nottinghamshire is the third oldest test Playing ground in the world and a photograph of the original Pavilion area indicates that section have been replaced by the new scoreboard and a hospitality conference suite. The then £7.2 million Radcliffe Road development comprises one of the tallest cricket stands I have experienced with four levels. The pitch side terracing, hospitality boxes level and then the upper terracing and then an even higher level, unused today and I suspect restricted to Internationals and perhaps domestic 20 20 cricket. The building has dept so it contains facilities open to the public and there are a few private business offices at street level, The building contains residential accommodation as well as a host conference and meeting rooms. There are also lifts. I did not explore this area because unlikely any other ground it is not possible to walk round inside the ground although pass outs are freely available if one wants to go to other areas. What I have said is not strictly accurate as I will describe in a moment. The Radcliffe Road stand occupies the widest straight stretch of stand and building inside the ground and I thought this was the new Pavilion at first until advise to the contrary by a Nottinghamshire Member. The new Fox Road stand has what is a described as a state of the art aircraft wing roof which provides shelter to the upper tiers of its 2300 seat capacity. However on my visit I could not get around this stand without going up and then down steps into the stand, until lunch time when I was able to walk on the pitch where spectators are allowed to play during championship games. Opposite this stand there is another recently opened stand with a different kind of wind and rain shield but also only applies to the upper tiers. I was able to get to this stand via one side of the Members Pavilion passing in front of the new super scoreboard in a building which may also house players or media facilities. There is a logic about locating this facility here only if it includes facilities for the players as this is the only area inside the ground for parking cars for club officials and players. However the screen cannot be seen from the Members Pavilion. The other reason is that it would have further obscured the view from the County Council offices that are located in one area of the ground and where the old scoreboard remains. I sat in the Hound Road Lower stand as there is shelter from the sun for most of the day and from the rain by the upper tier. There are hospitality and conference meeting room facilities in between the two tiers. I was on my own at the beginning of the day but when the rain arrived briefly and then as the sun reached the area everyone congregated in the undercover space and this was when I had several conversations with Nottinghamshire members. I arrived just as the third over of the day commenced to find that Durham had won the toss and elected to bat first. Nottinghamshire is an excellent bowling side with Stuart Broad released from Test duty and a first class spinner Patel so Durham took their time playing defensively and awaiting scoring opportunities, a far cry from the approach to shorter one day games. There was a good performance from Will Smith who had played for Notts who had promise but failed to progress and where he has become the most consistent performer at Durham, His 85 runs came from 182 balls in included 13 fours, His partnership with Captain Blenkenstein was crucial in bring stability to the innings although again it was slow cricket with 28 runs from 77 balls, and Chanderpaul Ben Harmison and Mustard also each scored thirty and I was delighted that my advice to Notts players than Durham would bat to the last man was proved accurate as although 204 seven a total of 268 was reached and there was only time for a couple of overs for Notts. There was much interest in the test match with the performance of Vaughan and Collingwood the subject of comment. Collingwood especially it was felt had taken the place deserved by Broad although there was delight that he was playing again for his home club. I was also told that Members usually parked for free at the Notts Forest ground but where amazingly there was a friendly with Sunderland that night so the car park was closed except to football supporters. This explained the number of Sunderland shirts in the ground and as a group of young supporters of both sexes arrived and sat in the seats in front and became lively as the drink took effect. Some move doubt of the shade as the day progressed and two girls were bright red and going to suffer as they left sheltering too late. They were part of a coach party who had booked an overnight stay. I spoke with one local supporters late in the morning when wanting to know where I could buy a cool drink, He disappeared at lunch time, reappeared a couple of hours later and then disappeared again after tea. He clearly did not enjoy a day of the opposition batting. Eventually I found a drink on advice of a gate steward I went into the Squash club bar who were offering a Hoagie roast which is a form of bread and meat, with a pint for £5.50. The Member's bar was serving a Hoagie without the pint for the same price.. In the afternoon a married woman sat nearby and asked if I she was right in saying that I supported the opposition, which surprised me how she knew. She usually came with her husband who was engaged elsewhere fro the day and was a regular member who knew a great deal about the home players which was helpful. She as other longer term members were adjusting to scale changes at the ground but also added about the lack of food for those who did not want to rely on a packed lunch. Later in the day I could not resist advising one of the young men that. I too lived on the Lawe Top which had the effect of stunning the lad which was desire as he had been allowing the drink to govern his mouth. The group, seeking shade and surrounded another older Notts member, a woman sitting on her own and although the banter had been good humoured I could see that she felt overwhelmed and left early, or to move elsewhere. They had explained to her that they were not all from Sunderland and that some were from South Shields and the young man had added the Lawe Top. It is a small world but also underlines that one should always be careful what ones says because one never knows who could be listening. It had been a relaxed day, the kind I needed and I looked forward to a quiet evening at the accommodation getting up-to-date with emails and MySpace writing as well as thinking about the following day when the weather was forecast as poor and I planned to explore the area. I then had difficulty in getting on line which was later a identified as local problem and where the service provided gave me a reference for a couple free days use which will be left until the London trip. I was able to write a little after a good evening meal of soup, the last pasta, and some cake. I was in bed and asleep by 10am.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
1449 A return to Ruskin Headington, Headington Village and Headington
On waking the first thing I thought was that, the weather had broken. The rain had been tropical, fierce and prolonged and on my first look outside, to reload the car, the impression was of more rain to come. It was also chill, a damp chill. I was still governed by the heat rash so made a priority visiting a chemist as soon as I reached Oxford. Having walked Burford, through the town to its riverside and worked out where the Magistrates and Juvenile Courts had been located, there was no need to visit again. Burford marked one extremity of my patch as a child care officer 1964-1967. The Marques of Blanford chaired the Magistrate's Court, his wife the Juvenile Court, and once every six months we reported to the juvenile benches of Witney and Burford on the progress of those children committed to the care of the local authority by the courts instead of an Approved School, following an agreement reached between the Children's Officer and Magistrates in the County. Memories of individuals with whom I worked and of those for whom I worked remain vivid but on those of the children's officer and her husband can be included in the work. Barbara became deputy chief Inspector of Social Work, while her husband was an important child psychiatrist who gave me self confidence in my ability to understand and to communicate with clients in a constructive way. I had heard about the measures taken to cope with influx of visitors to Oxford city as the volume as built up since the 1960's but I had not idea that it had become impossible to park anywhere unless you held a resident's permit, except at the park and ride system and the few official public car parks around the city, The situation was not helped to day with work, to improve bus lanes, taking place along several of the main routes in and out and around the city. This was so along the road into Summertown where I had first lived after successfully completing the Certificate of Child Care Course at the University of Birmingham and awarded the Home Office Certificate to practice as a qualified officer. As a consequence of work along the shopping area I missed the entry to the car park, if it continued to exist. Summertown is the home of the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief and of Oxford City Radio. I had two partially furnished rooms at the top of the house and a tiny alcove of kitchenette, with other facilities shared, including a young couple and their first infant who I befriended as well as one of the other residents who lived at the house for a short period of time. Others I rarely saw, let alone knew. I took the road to Marston, this runs parallel to Ring road around North Oxford.
The existence of countryside within the city as well as the Parks and the river areas is a feature of Oxford which help creates its uniqueness and compactness. During the drive I did come across one small area of road where it was possible to park as the houses all had long drive ways, however by this time I was aware that the cooler conditions had not affected the inflammation rash which made walking difficult and I decided against leaving the car and taking a bus to the city centre. I would investigate if I could park within the city. I continued until joining the London Road turning down the Headington Hill passed where Sir Robert Maxwell had built up the Pergammon Press as well as his family home, before becoming a Member of Parliament briefly and buying the Daily Mirror. The site is close to the former City Polytechnic with both now forming the second city University. Reaching the bottom of the hill I decided against continuing to Magdalene Bridge with the College on the right and St Hilda's on the left and made the sharp right discovering a new college building in the process of completion and ended back along Marston road and this time decide to continue to Headington and the car park next to one side of the Bury Knowles Park and supermarket . I take a ticket for a four hour stay and park the car against the wall which forms a passage way along one side of the park. From the car park around the supermarket and turn left reaching the park where the public toilets comprised a building with a row of four facing the street and a row of four facing into the park each with their own door and available for both sexes. This is a novel approach which present undesirables although does provide personal space for drug users and for those on the street to have a home at night or when the weather is poor during a day, although from their state of cleanliness I assume their use is monitored. Across from the park entrance is the coop supermarket at the end of the road which leads to St Leonards Road where the pair of semi detached houses was made into a top and lower flat each with their own garden space. I occupied the top flat for over a year before buying a first home at Teddington in the Borough of Richmond and Twickenham. It has was demolished, soon after I departed and replaced by a small block of flats. On the corner still is the garden shop and five doors along the post office in the same building as before. It is still as busy with three assistants. I top up my mobile. The four shops between the garden and the post office are now involved with catering. The first offers coffees and pastries at this time of day with street tables and appears popular. Equally popular as the morning progressed is Posh Fish which in addition to the take aways, functions as a restaurant offering a range of fish dishes from £7. There is a Chinese which looks closed and a Turkish restaurant which looks pricey and popular. I try to remember what was the building opposite the cinema looking building. This is now a new block of flats nearing completion available only for key workers in the city. On the opposite side of the road there is an internet café and a bistro type restaurant with street tables. There is a pizza takeaway my side. The traffic light junction here is one of the busiest because of the constant stream of luxury Wifi buses coaches to London. One offers a service every ten minutes and the other appears to be just as frequent. Headington appears to be the second city stop after the central bus station en route to the capital city. From the junction I take the left turn where there is still the hardware and household store used over forty years before and the bakery with café, although there are also a couple restaurants one also looks closed. There are over a dozen such places including a fashionable looking bistro further down the main road, as well as two popular Inns and a small hotel. I found a chemist where during my examination of potentially suitable products a talkative young women who had lost he mobile phone while talking to a Russian man the previous night had come to consume her ration of Methadone which she said was going down well. The product selected appeared to be the most suitable and worked so that within twenty four hours I became fully mobile without discomfort. I debated having lunch at the Dew Drop Inn but decided on a carton of orange fruit juice, half of which replaced the cold water I had drunk from the flask. I bought a couple of rolls although I still had some of the baguette and a small tub of rice pudding which I fancied but no spread which I decided to do without. I enjoyed lunch al fresco using the Havant bought Ham, with the rice pudding and some orange. I finished off the flask coffee. It was then time to revisit Old Headington, where I lived in a converted stable block for my first year at Ruskin College. Old Headington is amazing, an ancient rural village within seconds of the car park and used to be the homes of Tolkein and C S Lewis and other notable academic such as Sir Isaiah Berlin and David Marquand, of Lord Nuffield who made his money from cars and founded Nuffield post graduate college. It is also the family home of Emma Watson who plays Harmione Granger in the Harry Potter films. There is one new building, a church and which is opposite the Christian Counselling centre. The Black Boys used by locals and the White Heart where in term time there is a mixture of accents between Oxford and Ruskin. I continued along what is a country lane as the main college building is set back in tree covered grounds with only the former stable block against the roadway wall. I lived on the first floor in cubicle cell like room with a single bed on one side and a desk on the other with limited area for clothing and books. If someone entertained a wife or girl friend the experienced was shared by everyone.
The majority of students were accommodated in the main house. Now it has become a teaching centre for a Certificate in Social Work Course and there are small residential blocks as well as an additional teach area built around the extensive grounds with border countryside. There were some cars parked by no movement of people so I saw on a seat under a tree for a while and reflected, I moved quickly when I saw the changing colour of the clouds and reached the White Heart when there was a heavy but brief shower I stopped inside for half a pint of diet cola. There was a party of student from diverse lands ordering lunch, and one other inside the Inn who stepped out into the garden area for a smoke when the rain stopped. There were to others in the garden who stayed out under protection during the rain There was only occasional traffic outside and no movement of people anyway in the village until leaving when someone came out of their attractive three storey country town house. On the way back I tool the side road entrance the public Library building located at one end of the park, It is a large park given the size of Headington. With a vast area of grass land and trees. Near the car park and main road there is a good children's safe play area and dotted around a few picnic tables. The area neat the Library building has attractive formal beds of flowers and plants and then an interesting garden of exotic bushes and plants. In the opposite corner there are several tennis courts and activity areas and some men were felling trees nearby. I sat again and reflected more. Down the hill used to be the Oxford City Football ground then dilapidated and playing outside the football league we went occasionally during term time in that first year. Oh dear me I have just lost again all that I have written over the past half hour and I need a bath, and to pack and journey home. The most interesting building in Headington used to be the Cinema where my most memorable experience while living in college during the second year was to see Les Enfant du Paradis with Marcel Marceau and which together with the cinema in Walton Street near the college were cinema art centres with the cinema next to the bus station and the theatre showing popular films from the Sound of Music to Marlene Dietrich and Tosca. The Oxford Playhouse theatre where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor performed was in the a nearby street with the Randolph Hotel on the corner on the other side of the bus station. I digress because the well known building today in the whole of Oxford is also in Headington opposite the former cinema. This is the house with a full size shark embedded in the roof. I kid you not. My time was up in the car park without paying more and contact with the garage revealed the cost of the work and that a road test was still to be carried out. I therefore made my way towards Bicester and stopped at a service station with a Little Chef to one side and a garage with extended facilities for the traveller including small Wild Bean Café. I waited here until the call of ready came but then circumnavigated the town first to find the garage and then to find my way to the M40 and onto the A34 and A 43 to Northampton and the Motorway. I had a sleep and also loaded the software and inserted the hardware for Wifi connection. There were two available services at the stop but I waited until settling in to the travel Lodge for the next four nights at Trowell on the MI north of Nottingham City. The cost of repairs and services was £300 which I believe is of a similar order to having hired a car and where I had lost about three hours on the first day of travel and a couple of hours this day but where I also was not in any condition for activity. What did I get for £9 a night? A large first floor room with a king size double bed , a full size convertible into a second double bed settee, A large wall length desk with working TV at one end and tea making facilities before a large area to place my case and the hanging wardrobe and shelving plus a bath and other facilities. Admittedly this was an almost on motorway located room so noisy with windows open to let in the air. But I was able to sleep well after dining on red wine with large green olives, soup and a pasta. The rest of the grapes, a Danish and coffee. I had enjoyed fruit juice on arrival and later in the evening. At the Marks and Spencer's store I bought a two for £5 large carton of fresh fruit salad which included strawberries and grapes as well pieces of orange and apple. It was a good portion worth £2.50. I also bought a pack of four pan au chocolat and a single pasta salad. I also decided on an ordinance survey Map of the city area rather than a map booklet. Then miraculously I got myself on line and was sable to eliminate without reading of 90% of the accumulated emails. One alerted that I won £10.60 on the Euro Lottery and two were from cousins to ask that I join in an electronic petition to number 10 in support of a specialist hospital for service categories. Previously I supported the government view and that of the High Command that it was better for the injured to bet treated as close to their families as possible getting the best specialist treatment available. There is still a strong case for this especially as many of the wounded will not be able to continue their service career and therefore using a civilian hospital will help adjustment to what will be a major change again in their young lives. However given the number of casualties, that individuals can be transferred for specialist operations and that medical personnel can be given short term or sessional contracts I am in sympathy with those who want to be with others who have undergone similar experiences and to do so in a service. I suspect costs will be a factor. It is still shocking how we appear to be treating some of those who are wounded and the media could help more by keeping the public informed about what is happening on a daily basis
The existence of countryside within the city as well as the Parks and the river areas is a feature of Oxford which help creates its uniqueness and compactness. During the drive I did come across one small area of road where it was possible to park as the houses all had long drive ways, however by this time I was aware that the cooler conditions had not affected the inflammation rash which made walking difficult and I decided against leaving the car and taking a bus to the city centre. I would investigate if I could park within the city. I continued until joining the London Road turning down the Headington Hill passed where Sir Robert Maxwell had built up the Pergammon Press as well as his family home, before becoming a Member of Parliament briefly and buying the Daily Mirror. The site is close to the former City Polytechnic with both now forming the second city University. Reaching the bottom of the hill I decided against continuing to Magdalene Bridge with the College on the right and St Hilda's on the left and made the sharp right discovering a new college building in the process of completion and ended back along Marston road and this time decide to continue to Headington and the car park next to one side of the Bury Knowles Park and supermarket . I take a ticket for a four hour stay and park the car against the wall which forms a passage way along one side of the park. From the car park around the supermarket and turn left reaching the park where the public toilets comprised a building with a row of four facing the street and a row of four facing into the park each with their own door and available for both sexes. This is a novel approach which present undesirables although does provide personal space for drug users and for those on the street to have a home at night or when the weather is poor during a day, although from their state of cleanliness I assume their use is monitored. Across from the park entrance is the coop supermarket at the end of the road which leads to St Leonards Road where the pair of semi detached houses was made into a top and lower flat each with their own garden space. I occupied the top flat for over a year before buying a first home at Teddington in the Borough of Richmond and Twickenham. It has was demolished, soon after I departed and replaced by a small block of flats. On the corner still is the garden shop and five doors along the post office in the same building as before. It is still as busy with three assistants. I top up my mobile. The four shops between the garden and the post office are now involved with catering. The first offers coffees and pastries at this time of day with street tables and appears popular. Equally popular as the morning progressed is Posh Fish which in addition to the take aways, functions as a restaurant offering a range of fish dishes from £7. There is a Chinese which looks closed and a Turkish restaurant which looks pricey and popular. I try to remember what was the building opposite the cinema looking building. This is now a new block of flats nearing completion available only for key workers in the city. On the opposite side of the road there is an internet café and a bistro type restaurant with street tables. There is a pizza takeaway my side. The traffic light junction here is one of the busiest because of the constant stream of luxury Wifi buses coaches to London. One offers a service every ten minutes and the other appears to be just as frequent. Headington appears to be the second city stop after the central bus station en route to the capital city. From the junction I take the left turn where there is still the hardware and household store used over forty years before and the bakery with café, although there are also a couple restaurants one also looks closed. There are over a dozen such places including a fashionable looking bistro further down the main road, as well as two popular Inns and a small hotel. I found a chemist where during my examination of potentially suitable products a talkative young women who had lost he mobile phone while talking to a Russian man the previous night had come to consume her ration of Methadone which she said was going down well. The product selected appeared to be the most suitable and worked so that within twenty four hours I became fully mobile without discomfort. I debated having lunch at the Dew Drop Inn but decided on a carton of orange fruit juice, half of which replaced the cold water I had drunk from the flask. I bought a couple of rolls although I still had some of the baguette and a small tub of rice pudding which I fancied but no spread which I decided to do without. I enjoyed lunch al fresco using the Havant bought Ham, with the rice pudding and some orange. I finished off the flask coffee. It was then time to revisit Old Headington, where I lived in a converted stable block for my first year at Ruskin College. Old Headington is amazing, an ancient rural village within seconds of the car park and used to be the homes of Tolkein and C S Lewis and other notable academic such as Sir Isaiah Berlin and David Marquand, of Lord Nuffield who made his money from cars and founded Nuffield post graduate college. It is also the family home of Emma Watson who plays Harmione Granger in the Harry Potter films. There is one new building, a church and which is opposite the Christian Counselling centre. The Black Boys used by locals and the White Heart where in term time there is a mixture of accents between Oxford and Ruskin. I continued along what is a country lane as the main college building is set back in tree covered grounds with only the former stable block against the roadway wall. I lived on the first floor in cubicle cell like room with a single bed on one side and a desk on the other with limited area for clothing and books. If someone entertained a wife or girl friend the experienced was shared by everyone.
The majority of students were accommodated in the main house. Now it has become a teaching centre for a Certificate in Social Work Course and there are small residential blocks as well as an additional teach area built around the extensive grounds with border countryside. There were some cars parked by no movement of people so I saw on a seat under a tree for a while and reflected, I moved quickly when I saw the changing colour of the clouds and reached the White Heart when there was a heavy but brief shower I stopped inside for half a pint of diet cola. There was a party of student from diverse lands ordering lunch, and one other inside the Inn who stepped out into the garden area for a smoke when the rain stopped. There were to others in the garden who stayed out under protection during the rain There was only occasional traffic outside and no movement of people anyway in the village until leaving when someone came out of their attractive three storey country town house. On the way back I tool the side road entrance the public Library building located at one end of the park, It is a large park given the size of Headington. With a vast area of grass land and trees. Near the car park and main road there is a good children's safe play area and dotted around a few picnic tables. The area neat the Library building has attractive formal beds of flowers and plants and then an interesting garden of exotic bushes and plants. In the opposite corner there are several tennis courts and activity areas and some men were felling trees nearby. I sat again and reflected more. Down the hill used to be the Oxford City Football ground then dilapidated and playing outside the football league we went occasionally during term time in that first year. Oh dear me I have just lost again all that I have written over the past half hour and I need a bath, and to pack and journey home. The most interesting building in Headington used to be the Cinema where my most memorable experience while living in college during the second year was to see Les Enfant du Paradis with Marcel Marceau and which together with the cinema in Walton Street near the college were cinema art centres with the cinema next to the bus station and the theatre showing popular films from the Sound of Music to Marlene Dietrich and Tosca. The Oxford Playhouse theatre where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor performed was in the a nearby street with the Randolph Hotel on the corner on the other side of the bus station. I digress because the well known building today in the whole of Oxford is also in Headington opposite the former cinema. This is the house with a full size shark embedded in the roof. I kid you not. My time was up in the car park without paying more and contact with the garage revealed the cost of the work and that a road test was still to be carried out. I therefore made my way towards Bicester and stopped at a service station with a Little Chef to one side and a garage with extended facilities for the traveller including small Wild Bean Café. I waited here until the call of ready came but then circumnavigated the town first to find the garage and then to find my way to the M40 and onto the A34 and A 43 to Northampton and the Motorway. I had a sleep and also loaded the software and inserted the hardware for Wifi connection. There were two available services at the stop but I waited until settling in to the travel Lodge for the next four nights at Trowell on the MI north of Nottingham City. The cost of repairs and services was £300 which I believe is of a similar order to having hired a car and where I had lost about three hours on the first day of travel and a couple of hours this day but where I also was not in any condition for activity. What did I get for £9 a night? A large first floor room with a king size double bed , a full size convertible into a second double bed settee, A large wall length desk with working TV at one end and tea making facilities before a large area to place my case and the hanging wardrobe and shelving plus a bath and other facilities. Admittedly this was an almost on motorway located room so noisy with windows open to let in the air. But I was able to sleep well after dining on red wine with large green olives, soup and a pasta. The rest of the grapes, a Danish and coffee. I had enjoyed fruit juice on arrival and later in the evening. At the Marks and Spencer's store I bought a two for £5 large carton of fresh fruit salad which included strawberries and grapes as well pieces of orange and apple. It was a good portion worth £2.50. I also bought a pack of four pan au chocolat and a single pasta salad. I also decided on an ordinance survey Map of the city area rather than a map booklet. Then miraculously I got myself on line and was sable to eliminate without reading of 90% of the accumulated emails. One alerted that I won £10.60 on the Euro Lottery and two were from cousins to ask that I join in an electronic petition to number 10 in support of a specialist hospital for service categories. Previously I supported the government view and that of the High Command that it was better for the injured to bet treated as close to their families as possible getting the best specialist treatment available. There is still a strong case for this especially as many of the wounded will not be able to continue their service career and therefore using a civilian hospital will help adjustment to what will be a major change again in their young lives. However given the number of casualties, that individuals can be transferred for specialist operations and that medical personnel can be given short term or sessional contracts I am in sympathy with those who want to be with others who have undergone similar experiences and to do so in a service. I suspect costs will be a factor. It is still shocking how we appear to be treating some of those who are wounded and the media could help more by keeping the public informed about what is happening on a daily basis
1448 An unpleasant condition during a visit to Portsmouth
Although handicapped by a heat rash in an intimate area I was determined to make the most of Monday before heading north to Burford in Oxfordshire for an overnight stop. I had reorganised my luggage in such a way that I would only need to take the communications and entertainment bag, plus the attaché case and food out of the car for the overnight stop. I planned for an early breakfast of, well by now I had a pattern of two croissants, grapefruit segments, fruit juice and coffee taking a pan au chocolat for later. I also planned to reach Havant by 9 am, giving me half an hour to get sun aftercare lotion and investigate a wireless link for the lap top before being eligible for a cheap day return train ticket into Portsmouth.
I considered using the bus but wanted to spend as much time as I could in the city before heading northwards for the overnight stop. I had difficulty putting money in the machine for a place in the almost full car park and fortunately an assistant came to my rescue and took the coins to another machines and brought me over a ticket to where the car was parked at the far end of the park. I must wrote about the contrasts in the behaviour of people towards me now that I am regard as old by others. In order to reach the shops I had to walk over an external bridge which involve a walk up over gardens to the left where one house had to large trampolines, another a single trampoline with side protection to prevent falling off and a play pool while a third had a larger pool possibly a hot tub and a barbecue patio area. This confirmed my impression that when one neighbour goes for something others tend to follow as if they give permission to each other. In this instance they were being brave as any activity in the gardens would be under constant observation not only from all the users of this foot bridge but there was a second linking pathway to the side of the house with the most expensive array of garden furniture. In contrast them there was one house which had attempted to create levels of privacy by a series hedges between gardens and within the garden although the height of the bridge still enabled passers by to overlook. They also had to contend with the noise of trains to Waterloo, to Victoria and to Brighton. I found a major electronics and appliance store in the shopping centre but they did not have the wireless device in stock but I felt I was making progress. I then found a chemist, not a chain store, where three assistants were waiting for their first customer of the day. Yes they had some sun after care sun for 2.99 but it was part of a two for one special offer and but they only had one tube, would I like some sun tan cream instead so I chose factor 25 and threw my existing out of date supply which appeared ineffective at the earliest opportunity. On the way back to the station I noted a car on this side of the station which would have avoided having to walk over the external bridge. I was determined to make the trip into the city although I was handicapped by the heat rash which made mobility difficult. On the train I was entertained by a mother with one or two daughters and pre school son who was taking three other teenage girls on a shopping trip singled handed, five teenage girls and small boy was a challenge for anyone. I quietly wished her success (to myself).I was able to tale a quick look at the free London based Metro newspaper when the main story was the survival of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. It is significant that the Cabinet have not rushed to his defence and that a momentum is building up behind my Member of Parliament, David Miliband. It would be a mistake for him to stand, unless as with Heseltine it is to make way for someone's to take the crown although whoever won would have to go to the country for an endorsement. My instinct is for Harriet Harman. I decided against going to the Spinnaker Tower and chose the Naval Dockyard and although I knew I had time for only a couple of attractions I took the annual season ticket at the concession price for Seniors of £15.50 and which included gift Aid, providing entry to four major attractions, HMS Warrior 1860, The Marie Rose Museum and Ship Hall, the HMS Victory Walkup and a Boat trip around the Harbour, plus unlimited access to the Royal Naval Museum, the Dockyard Apprentice and Action Stations, the various restaurants and other facilities on what is n exceptionally large site and which in turn is only a small area of the restricted naval dockyard, I found the experience overwhelming and moving and regretted that I was handicapped and with a limited time. It is my view one of the most important attractions in the British Islands. My first interest was to take a boat trip around the port which included a view of the warships remaining in the secured naval docks and where the next trip was at 11am. I considered visiting the HMS Warrior but the assistant advised that there would not be time especially if I wanted a good seat on the boat. I took the advice and made a slow walk around the site finding toilets and getting my bearings. There is a cavernous store of naval antiques would could have occupied the rest of the morning. However my mind was on my previous visit to the Naval dock gates which were close to where the public entrance is now. Sometime between 1947 and 1949 the son of one my mother's brothers who had become a USA citizen and arrived in his ship at Portsmouth and at least a dozen of us went to see him. There was the three aunties. There was the son and his wife of one with both recently demobbed from the army after serving in world war two. There were cousins and a friend of one on whose lap I went to sleep on the return journey. It took us all day to get there and get back. (I need to know who went as I remember some but not everyone).We waited at the gates with lots of young women anxious meet American sailors with their presents of nylons, chocolate and chewing gum. Everyone came out at the appointed time except our relative. Enquiries were made and it was discovered that he was confined the ship for some misdemeanour. Representations were made and it was agreed he could meet us at a nearby café but under escort and on hearing about the numbers he had managed to acquire nylons for the lasses and chewing gum and chocolate for everyone else. It was the second great peace time event of my life after seeing the street lights come on for the first time, with oranges, lemons and bananas the third. The trip around the naval harbour was extraordinary especially as we were able to watch three visiting Japanese vessels depart, police launch ensured that we kept our distance but there was no restriction on photographs and film. Everyone had crowded on to the top deck whereas I quickly discovered the best place was at the front or rear of the saloon deck where I was able to photograph without the heads of others appearing in frame or blocking the views of the children. There were a score of vessels which we were able to see at close quarters, the majority in active service. There were decommissioned vessels including several who had participated in the Falklands campaign and had been replaced after their vulnerability to modern rocket assault had been exposed. The running commentary was excellent. In the distance we had pointed out the Submarine training facilities as well as the vessels used now a training ships. We then called in at the new marina type shopping development which includes the tower having also passed close to what is called Spice Island and is now given over to a huddled collection of Inns and restaurants, both areas to visited, hopefully. I then visited HM Warrior, in its day the most powerful fighting vessel on the seas. In order to explore the three below levels it is necessary to use steep ladders with for the most part ropes help one up and down. I had difficulty and discomfort butt grateful that I did not miss out, The main deck comprised a score of large breach loading cannon type guns each requiring 18 men to fire and maintain. The men slept in hammocks slung over the guns and improvement to when they would sleep on any available hard space and they eat at tables between the guns with food prepared at a central galley. There was no privacy or room for personal possessions and as one observant young pointed out to his parents there are no toilets or bathrooms! The captains quarters were impressive in contrast with all the atmosphere of a London Club. The quantity of other weaponry and ordinance was impressive but only served to emphasise the danger to everyone although in the instance of the Warrior it was a fast ship with the power to sink opponents using just a couple of forward mounted guns. I also explored the next deck to see the quarters of other officers, the workshops and. I did not go lower to the steam power house which made every other warship obsolete and can be regarded as the most ship to have ever been built. For those who can travel within a day I would recommend making a visit to the Warrior as one trip other wise there will not time to digest the information provided or speak at length to the available crew guides. This also applies to the Marie Rose, the only remains of a fighting vessel for the time of Henry the Eight. Known to have been sunk in Portsmouth Harbour in 1545. Like many people I witnessed the raising of the remains on television in 1982 and have since watched one or more films about the finds of objects and the restoration projects. I did not see the hull in this instance which is kept in a "dry dock " sprayed previously with water and not with a waxing preservative to prevent the timbers from drying out and disintegrating. Some 190000 objects were retrieved and many of these are on display in the museum, Shortly after arrival there was a showing of the hour long BBC film about the location of the wreck, the raising to the surface, and the information which the objects have provided about the life of naval men at the time. I watched half the film which I have seen before and then the rest of an hour in the museum, but it merited a whole morning or afternoon of a visit. I had been on site for four hours and felt that given my condition with increasing difficult in walking without painful discomfort, I had had to end the visit in this instance but determined to return and to the Isle of Wight. I decided to return to Havant where I left by rucksack the car and made my way back to the town centre where I purchased a sandwich, a bottle of water and a packet of crisps from Boots for £2.99, My dyslexia meant that when looking to see what was included in the meal deal I missed the hundred or so notices in deal in deal in deal marked on the display units. That evening or maybe the next I watched a programme about commercial sandwich making in which those from Boots rated the best in terms of healthy content. I eat these on a bench in the shade under a tree. Having not heard from the garage about my car I decided to withdraw cash from the nearest machine and called in at the nearest supermarket on the way back to the station where I bought a baguettes, a jar of large olives a three for the price of two deal on packs of salami and cured natural ham for a picnic feast that evening. Why I did not go back to the chemist for advice o the heat rash is a puzzle. It was around 4pm when I decided to commenced the journey to Burford in Oxfordshire which formed the end of my patch as a child care officer 1964 1967 and where I had represented the county at the juvenile court chaired by the wife of the Marques of Blanford and where her husband chaired the Magistrates Court which I also had occasion to attend in my professional capacity. To get to Burford I decided to journey west along the M27 and hen take the MS back north and then across from Oxford via Witney, However the MS was closed because of an accident and traffic was also congested at the next exist so I continued on taking a route to Salisbury, Marlborough Swindon and then directly to Burford via Lechlade. This journey takes one through some of the most glorious of British countryside full of quite villages with thatched roofs, However Salisbury was busy at rush hour so seeing a large supermarket and a Staples office store and left the traffic for some cold water and to see if Staples had a wireless link. This was a very successful detour using the toilet and drinking down a bottle of cold water before finding a helpful assistant to recommenced a Belkin wireless card to go min to the external slot thus keeping free the USB slots. The cost was £20.The weather changed and I reached Burford just before a tropical thunderstorm. The Travel Lodge and Little Chef were at the junction at the end of the road I had taken as it reached the A 40, thus avoiding having to extend the journey in search of the over night stop. Both building are built with stone facades to fit into the Cotswolds character. The location meant that I did not get to see the town again but I had visited within the past five years so my memory remained, Unfortunately either because of the location or the storm or both there was not mobile phone reception so I did not try the wireless. The receptionist seemed surprised that I was on my own so perhaps there is no mobile phone link anyway and the rural isolation would make it an ideal retreat for lovers of all kinds. I enjoyed my Picnic feast with two glasses of red wine, bathed and had an early night going to sleep, waking sparingly and rising early. However the rain was torrential at times and I wondered if the hot spell was over.
I considered using the bus but wanted to spend as much time as I could in the city before heading northwards for the overnight stop. I had difficulty putting money in the machine for a place in the almost full car park and fortunately an assistant came to my rescue and took the coins to another machines and brought me over a ticket to where the car was parked at the far end of the park. I must wrote about the contrasts in the behaviour of people towards me now that I am regard as old by others. In order to reach the shops I had to walk over an external bridge which involve a walk up over gardens to the left where one house had to large trampolines, another a single trampoline with side protection to prevent falling off and a play pool while a third had a larger pool possibly a hot tub and a barbecue patio area. This confirmed my impression that when one neighbour goes for something others tend to follow as if they give permission to each other. In this instance they were being brave as any activity in the gardens would be under constant observation not only from all the users of this foot bridge but there was a second linking pathway to the side of the house with the most expensive array of garden furniture. In contrast them there was one house which had attempted to create levels of privacy by a series hedges between gardens and within the garden although the height of the bridge still enabled passers by to overlook. They also had to contend with the noise of trains to Waterloo, to Victoria and to Brighton. I found a major electronics and appliance store in the shopping centre but they did not have the wireless device in stock but I felt I was making progress. I then found a chemist, not a chain store, where three assistants were waiting for their first customer of the day. Yes they had some sun after care sun for 2.99 but it was part of a two for one special offer and but they only had one tube, would I like some sun tan cream instead so I chose factor 25 and threw my existing out of date supply which appeared ineffective at the earliest opportunity. On the way back to the station I noted a car on this side of the station which would have avoided having to walk over the external bridge. I was determined to make the trip into the city although I was handicapped by the heat rash which made mobility difficult. On the train I was entertained by a mother with one or two daughters and pre school son who was taking three other teenage girls on a shopping trip singled handed, five teenage girls and small boy was a challenge for anyone. I quietly wished her success (to myself).I was able to tale a quick look at the free London based Metro newspaper when the main story was the survival of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. It is significant that the Cabinet have not rushed to his defence and that a momentum is building up behind my Member of Parliament, David Miliband. It would be a mistake for him to stand, unless as with Heseltine it is to make way for someone's to take the crown although whoever won would have to go to the country for an endorsement. My instinct is for Harriet Harman. I decided against going to the Spinnaker Tower and chose the Naval Dockyard and although I knew I had time for only a couple of attractions I took the annual season ticket at the concession price for Seniors of £15.50 and which included gift Aid, providing entry to four major attractions, HMS Warrior 1860, The Marie Rose Museum and Ship Hall, the HMS Victory Walkup and a Boat trip around the Harbour, plus unlimited access to the Royal Naval Museum, the Dockyard Apprentice and Action Stations, the various restaurants and other facilities on what is n exceptionally large site and which in turn is only a small area of the restricted naval dockyard, I found the experience overwhelming and moving and regretted that I was handicapped and with a limited time. It is my view one of the most important attractions in the British Islands. My first interest was to take a boat trip around the port which included a view of the warships remaining in the secured naval docks and where the next trip was at 11am. I considered visiting the HMS Warrior but the assistant advised that there would not be time especially if I wanted a good seat on the boat. I took the advice and made a slow walk around the site finding toilets and getting my bearings. There is a cavernous store of naval antiques would could have occupied the rest of the morning. However my mind was on my previous visit to the Naval dock gates which were close to where the public entrance is now. Sometime between 1947 and 1949 the son of one my mother's brothers who had become a USA citizen and arrived in his ship at Portsmouth and at least a dozen of us went to see him. There was the three aunties. There was the son and his wife of one with both recently demobbed from the army after serving in world war two. There were cousins and a friend of one on whose lap I went to sleep on the return journey. It took us all day to get there and get back. (I need to know who went as I remember some but not everyone).We waited at the gates with lots of young women anxious meet American sailors with their presents of nylons, chocolate and chewing gum. Everyone came out at the appointed time except our relative. Enquiries were made and it was discovered that he was confined the ship for some misdemeanour. Representations were made and it was agreed he could meet us at a nearby café but under escort and on hearing about the numbers he had managed to acquire nylons for the lasses and chewing gum and chocolate for everyone else. It was the second great peace time event of my life after seeing the street lights come on for the first time, with oranges, lemons and bananas the third. The trip around the naval harbour was extraordinary especially as we were able to watch three visiting Japanese vessels depart, police launch ensured that we kept our distance but there was no restriction on photographs and film. Everyone had crowded on to the top deck whereas I quickly discovered the best place was at the front or rear of the saloon deck where I was able to photograph without the heads of others appearing in frame or blocking the views of the children. There were a score of vessels which we were able to see at close quarters, the majority in active service. There were decommissioned vessels including several who had participated in the Falklands campaign and had been replaced after their vulnerability to modern rocket assault had been exposed. The running commentary was excellent. In the distance we had pointed out the Submarine training facilities as well as the vessels used now a training ships. We then called in at the new marina type shopping development which includes the tower having also passed close to what is called Spice Island and is now given over to a huddled collection of Inns and restaurants, both areas to visited, hopefully. I then visited HM Warrior, in its day the most powerful fighting vessel on the seas. In order to explore the three below levels it is necessary to use steep ladders with for the most part ropes help one up and down. I had difficulty and discomfort butt grateful that I did not miss out, The main deck comprised a score of large breach loading cannon type guns each requiring 18 men to fire and maintain. The men slept in hammocks slung over the guns and improvement to when they would sleep on any available hard space and they eat at tables between the guns with food prepared at a central galley. There was no privacy or room for personal possessions and as one observant young pointed out to his parents there are no toilets or bathrooms! The captains quarters were impressive in contrast with all the atmosphere of a London Club. The quantity of other weaponry and ordinance was impressive but only served to emphasise the danger to everyone although in the instance of the Warrior it was a fast ship with the power to sink opponents using just a couple of forward mounted guns. I also explored the next deck to see the quarters of other officers, the workshops and. I did not go lower to the steam power house which made every other warship obsolete and can be regarded as the most ship to have ever been built. For those who can travel within a day I would recommend making a visit to the Warrior as one trip other wise there will not time to digest the information provided or speak at length to the available crew guides. This also applies to the Marie Rose, the only remains of a fighting vessel for the time of Henry the Eight. Known to have been sunk in Portsmouth Harbour in 1545. Like many people I witnessed the raising of the remains on television in 1982 and have since watched one or more films about the finds of objects and the restoration projects. I did not see the hull in this instance which is kept in a "dry dock " sprayed previously with water and not with a waxing preservative to prevent the timbers from drying out and disintegrating. Some 190000 objects were retrieved and many of these are on display in the museum, Shortly after arrival there was a showing of the hour long BBC film about the location of the wreck, the raising to the surface, and the information which the objects have provided about the life of naval men at the time. I watched half the film which I have seen before and then the rest of an hour in the museum, but it merited a whole morning or afternoon of a visit. I had been on site for four hours and felt that given my condition with increasing difficult in walking without painful discomfort, I had had to end the visit in this instance but determined to return and to the Isle of Wight. I decided to return to Havant where I left by rucksack the car and made my way back to the town centre where I purchased a sandwich, a bottle of water and a packet of crisps from Boots for £2.99, My dyslexia meant that when looking to see what was included in the meal deal I missed the hundred or so notices in deal in deal in deal marked on the display units. That evening or maybe the next I watched a programme about commercial sandwich making in which those from Boots rated the best in terms of healthy content. I eat these on a bench in the shade under a tree. Having not heard from the garage about my car I decided to withdraw cash from the nearest machine and called in at the nearest supermarket on the way back to the station where I bought a baguettes, a jar of large olives a three for the price of two deal on packs of salami and cured natural ham for a picnic feast that evening. Why I did not go back to the chemist for advice o the heat rash is a puzzle. It was around 4pm when I decided to commenced the journey to Burford in Oxfordshire which formed the end of my patch as a child care officer 1964 1967 and where I had represented the county at the juvenile court chaired by the wife of the Marques of Blanford and where her husband chaired the Magistrates Court which I also had occasion to attend in my professional capacity. To get to Burford I decided to journey west along the M27 and hen take the MS back north and then across from Oxford via Witney, However the MS was closed because of an accident and traffic was also congested at the next exist so I continued on taking a route to Salisbury, Marlborough Swindon and then directly to Burford via Lechlade. This journey takes one through some of the most glorious of British countryside full of quite villages with thatched roofs, However Salisbury was busy at rush hour so seeing a large supermarket and a Staples office store and left the traffic for some cold water and to see if Staples had a wireless link. This was a very successful detour using the toilet and drinking down a bottle of cold water before finding a helpful assistant to recommenced a Belkin wireless card to go min to the external slot thus keeping free the USB slots. The cost was £20.The weather changed and I reached Burford just before a tropical thunderstorm. The Travel Lodge and Little Chef were at the junction at the end of the road I had taken as it reached the A 40, thus avoiding having to extend the journey in search of the over night stop. Both building are built with stone facades to fit into the Cotswolds character. The location meant that I did not get to see the town again but I had visited within the past five years so my memory remained, Unfortunately either because of the location or the storm or both there was not mobile phone reception so I did not try the wireless. The receptionist seemed surprised that I was on my own so perhaps there is no mobile phone link anyway and the rural isolation would make it an ideal retreat for lovers of all kinds. I enjoyed my Picnic feast with two glasses of red wine, bathed and had an early night going to sleep, waking sparingly and rising early. However the rain was torrential at times and I wondered if the hot spell was over.
1447 Return to the Isle of Wight
It is becoming difficult to switch back to my feelings of only four days ago when I decided to visit Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight for the first time since the early 1950's. After the amazing experience of 20 20 finals day I did not fancy joining the tens of thousands rushing to the Naval dockyard to see the twenty vessels, including visits on board ships, and considered that it would be quieter going in the opposite direction. I pondered what to do over breakfast of two croissants with marmalade, grapefruit segments, orange fruit juice and two cups of coffee, leaving a “pan-au-chocolat” for later, which was just as well because as the wrapped tin foiled sandwiches had to go and I did not fancy the bananas or pears, there was just one container of prepared salad mixture for the day, together with one flask of hot coffee and one of ice cold water. I hoped I would have sufficient to keep me going on my travels and my practice of eating as I felt I needed to rather than according to conventional times.
Following the previous night's route into Havant I saw a sign to railway station before reaching the town centre and found a large car park where for I could park all day for £1.50. This proved to be the first of several occasions when strangers asked fro information and I was able to pass what I had just learnt on. The individual commented out aloud ask a visitor of you want an answer. The train fare was something like £3.60 return and for this day only the train stopped at the next station because of the navy days, before going to Frat ton Park the home of Portsmouth Football club, the central Portsmouth and Southsea before Portsmouth Harbour. It is only a short walk from the platform to the entrance of the Fast cat Ferry service every 30 minutes taking 20 minutes with five minutes for passengers to alight and five for them get on board. Because of my age I was entitled to seat by the exit and there was just time to acclimatise to this new environment before reaching the end of the pier at Ryde and my first memory realization. Memory has blocked out unnecessary information for half a decade. It was only on arrival that I remembered the length of the pier and that only first timers or people like me walked into the town and bus station with everyone else being picked up by friends or taxis or taking the island train which goes some six miles from the pier to Shanklin. This is made up of carriages from the London underground (Tube) system. After finding the male toilet I was prepared for the interesting walk take care when two vehicles passed by in opposite directions and the other first time visitors who stopped to admire the view. I watched the train depart and wondered if I was making the right decision given that the morning was progressing and I longed for coffee and the pan-au-chocolat. Sadly I watched, unknowingly, the first bus travelling in the desired direction, a single Decker, leaving the small bus station at the end of the pier, and to wait for sometime before the next, a double Decker, arrived, unloaded, and reloaded but was then immediately away, through the town into the countryside. At the ferry office I had picked up a copy of Wight Life which contained a double page spread map of the Island, providing a calendar of events. I am going to leave to another day reference to my interest in the island arising from relayed information related to "child care" issues as none of that information has been independent verified although it does provide a potentially challenging perspective on island life away from that presented to the tourists, see however what is happening now re Jersey and the "child care" revelations emerging The island which is just under 150 square miles with under 60 miles of coastline has a resident population of around 140000 with an imbalance of elders who are attracted by the climate and living abroad where British is the main language unlike parts of London and other major cities and towns and an a for a major part of the year as they go to further education on the mainland many meeting their future partners establishing their occupations and first homes away. The residents, especially those of generations will have mixed views about the extent to which the island is given over to long and short stay tourism. At the ferry station I acquired two excellent guides to the island for free and both contained a map. The first is magazine style island which begins with a calendar of main events plus and second list all notified events at the time of publication, called Wight life and the other a pocket guide. Later I also obtained a tourist map book and all three provided information to the extent that I immediately wished to make a longer stay. Traditionally the Island is known for its Cowes Week sailing regatta, when all the posh hotels are taken by the country and London smart set of the day. I have a poster of the first Rock festival now established in June and there is a second music festival, the bestival, There is the food "Garlic festival with 300 stalls and 20000 visitors and an international sporting event with 500 competition, with action sports in the air, land and water as well as art and live music, On the day of my visit I quickly discovered that Girl Aloud were appearing the former summer residence of Queen Victoria Osborn House. There is also great access to the Island with several crossing points for vehicles and pedestrian/cycle travellers, some 400 a day which is over 15 an hour. My route from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde, with the vehicle ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, From Southampton there is a passenger Catamaran to West Cowes and vehicular to East Cowes. From Southsea there is foot passengers to Ryde, vehicle Lymington to Yarmouth and passenger from Keyhaven to Yarmouth. There is also a chain ferry between East and West Cowes.I did a coach tour or two wishing that we were able to go in our own time. There is the needles areas where for many year I had a souvenir container of different coloured sands and several Chines small gorges or ravines but the various wildlife and adventure parks, the historic sites, river and steam engine trips are all post 1940 developments.I alighted from the bus at Sandown which I remembered well with its street of shops parallel to the road beach where wooden ladder take you down to the beach unless you go to northern area where there is no road and direct beach access. I believe the first time we stayed at Bembridge which then had a country village atmosphere but no beach so we had to take the bus to Sandown. I also remembered the pier which looked the sane externally. It follows the traditional organisation of arcade amusements designed to separate you from your cash, then a place to have an all day breakfast or fish and chips, or dunkin donuts, then an open walking area with a few seats, then a couple of rides and then a precarious area for fisherman. It is not a long pier which is why is has survived whereas that at Shanklin became derelict and was destroyed altogether in a storm. There are still the canopied high back deck chairs which I eventually persuaded the aunties as doing so was considered superior to lying out on the sand. It was time to move on to Shanklin where I had forgotten that the town is some distance from the sea front, missing the town stop at the small bus station and then deciding to get off at the Old Village, making key way back and have a look at the theatre where I was unable to remember if we were able to afford a visit or if in deed there were summer shows.. I bought the map booklet in order to work out where I was, sitting at a bench by a church and then made my way down the steep hill to the sea front at the most southern end of the bay where there is a miniature golf course which I always wanted to play but was not very good at and where there were public toilets. There used to a great long pier here but it became derelict and then was destroyed in a storm. I vaguely remembered that was a lift to the cliff top but was not in operation when we visited and the present one was built around1955, has two lifts and costs 60 p for pensioners one way. My memory is that we went to the children's parade although whether this was at Sandown where it take places to day or at Shanklin I cannot remember. I am certain that one year we did go to Shanklin rather than Sandown for the illuminations. On my way back I found a bus stop just before the town bus station where I missed one again and though I did not have long to wait thinking that the time table applied to the stop. There I met a grandmother who was waiting for her son in law to take her his home so she would baby sit while the parents and older children went to see Girls aloud. One of the daughters was to be Princess in the parade. I did not recognise much about Shanklin on explore much although I was tempted by one restaurant hotel offering a dressed crab salad and another which offered steak on a slate like hot slab with vegetables served on a second plinth. The journey back was not enjoyable, first a half an hour weight for the bus. Then although I arrived in time for the 6,15 ferry it was cancelled for operational reasons so there was a great queue and scrum for the 6.45 which set off five mins late which was crucial because although I made my way directly to the station and along the platform past the five coach train, it pulled out before the stated time, When I challenged the station attendant he first lied and then admitted that the off was signalled some thirty seconds before departure time and that he worked for the railways and had nothing to do with the ferry service which sums up just what is wrong with the private enterprise system. As it happens I had a choice of train with those going to Waterloo and Victoria also calling at Havant as well as the departing train along the coast to Brighton but for some, including one family off the ferry there was an hour's wait. Back at the motel I enjoyed a made up evening meal of packet soup, packet pasta, Danish and fruit, water and coffee. It had been a very short visit back into childhood and at the point I was not certain when or if I would return, despite remembering that we had stayed at the third resort Ventnor. I was also experiencing personal discomfort with what I hoped was a mild heat rash in an intimate area of the body but nothing affected the sense of having recaptured part of my childhood.
Following the previous night's route into Havant I saw a sign to railway station before reaching the town centre and found a large car park where for I could park all day for £1.50. This proved to be the first of several occasions when strangers asked fro information and I was able to pass what I had just learnt on. The individual commented out aloud ask a visitor of you want an answer. The train fare was something like £3.60 return and for this day only the train stopped at the next station because of the navy days, before going to Frat ton Park the home of Portsmouth Football club, the central Portsmouth and Southsea before Portsmouth Harbour. It is only a short walk from the platform to the entrance of the Fast cat Ferry service every 30 minutes taking 20 minutes with five minutes for passengers to alight and five for them get on board. Because of my age I was entitled to seat by the exit and there was just time to acclimatise to this new environment before reaching the end of the pier at Ryde and my first memory realization. Memory has blocked out unnecessary information for half a decade. It was only on arrival that I remembered the length of the pier and that only first timers or people like me walked into the town and bus station with everyone else being picked up by friends or taxis or taking the island train which goes some six miles from the pier to Shanklin. This is made up of carriages from the London underground (Tube) system. After finding the male toilet I was prepared for the interesting walk take care when two vehicles passed by in opposite directions and the other first time visitors who stopped to admire the view. I watched the train depart and wondered if I was making the right decision given that the morning was progressing and I longed for coffee and the pan-au-chocolat. Sadly I watched, unknowingly, the first bus travelling in the desired direction, a single Decker, leaving the small bus station at the end of the pier, and to wait for sometime before the next, a double Decker, arrived, unloaded, and reloaded but was then immediately away, through the town into the countryside. At the ferry office I had picked up a copy of Wight Life which contained a double page spread map of the Island, providing a calendar of events. I am going to leave to another day reference to my interest in the island arising from relayed information related to "child care" issues as none of that information has been independent verified although it does provide a potentially challenging perspective on island life away from that presented to the tourists, see however what is happening now re Jersey and the "child care" revelations emerging The island which is just under 150 square miles with under 60 miles of coastline has a resident population of around 140000 with an imbalance of elders who are attracted by the climate and living abroad where British is the main language unlike parts of London and other major cities and towns and an a for a major part of the year as they go to further education on the mainland many meeting their future partners establishing their occupations and first homes away. The residents, especially those of generations will have mixed views about the extent to which the island is given over to long and short stay tourism. At the ferry station I acquired two excellent guides to the island for free and both contained a map. The first is magazine style island which begins with a calendar of main events plus and second list all notified events at the time of publication, called Wight life and the other a pocket guide. Later I also obtained a tourist map book and all three provided information to the extent that I immediately wished to make a longer stay. Traditionally the Island is known for its Cowes Week sailing regatta, when all the posh hotels are taken by the country and London smart set of the day. I have a poster of the first Rock festival now established in June and there is a second music festival, the bestival, There is the food "Garlic festival with 300 stalls and 20000 visitors and an international sporting event with 500 competition, with action sports in the air, land and water as well as art and live music, On the day of my visit I quickly discovered that Girl Aloud were appearing the former summer residence of Queen Victoria Osborn House. There is also great access to the Island with several crossing points for vehicles and pedestrian/cycle travellers, some 400 a day which is over 15 an hour. My route from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde, with the vehicle ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, From Southampton there is a passenger Catamaran to West Cowes and vehicular to East Cowes. From Southsea there is foot passengers to Ryde, vehicle Lymington to Yarmouth and passenger from Keyhaven to Yarmouth. There is also a chain ferry between East and West Cowes.I did a coach tour or two wishing that we were able to go in our own time. There is the needles areas where for many year I had a souvenir container of different coloured sands and several Chines small gorges or ravines but the various wildlife and adventure parks, the historic sites, river and steam engine trips are all post 1940 developments.I alighted from the bus at Sandown which I remembered well with its street of shops parallel to the road beach where wooden ladder take you down to the beach unless you go to northern area where there is no road and direct beach access. I believe the first time we stayed at Bembridge which then had a country village atmosphere but no beach so we had to take the bus to Sandown. I also remembered the pier which looked the sane externally. It follows the traditional organisation of arcade amusements designed to separate you from your cash, then a place to have an all day breakfast or fish and chips, or dunkin donuts, then an open walking area with a few seats, then a couple of rides and then a precarious area for fisherman. It is not a long pier which is why is has survived whereas that at Shanklin became derelict and was destroyed altogether in a storm. There are still the canopied high back deck chairs which I eventually persuaded the aunties as doing so was considered superior to lying out on the sand. It was time to move on to Shanklin where I had forgotten that the town is some distance from the sea front, missing the town stop at the small bus station and then deciding to get off at the Old Village, making key way back and have a look at the theatre where I was unable to remember if we were able to afford a visit or if in deed there were summer shows.. I bought the map booklet in order to work out where I was, sitting at a bench by a church and then made my way down the steep hill to the sea front at the most southern end of the bay where there is a miniature golf course which I always wanted to play but was not very good at and where there were public toilets. There used to a great long pier here but it became derelict and then was destroyed in a storm. I vaguely remembered that was a lift to the cliff top but was not in operation when we visited and the present one was built around1955, has two lifts and costs 60 p for pensioners one way. My memory is that we went to the children's parade although whether this was at Sandown where it take places to day or at Shanklin I cannot remember. I am certain that one year we did go to Shanklin rather than Sandown for the illuminations. On my way back I found a bus stop just before the town bus station where I missed one again and though I did not have long to wait thinking that the time table applied to the stop. There I met a grandmother who was waiting for her son in law to take her his home so she would baby sit while the parents and older children went to see Girls aloud. One of the daughters was to be Princess in the parade. I did not recognise much about Shanklin on explore much although I was tempted by one restaurant hotel offering a dressed crab salad and another which offered steak on a slate like hot slab with vegetables served on a second plinth. The journey back was not enjoyable, first a half an hour weight for the bus. Then although I arrived in time for the 6,15 ferry it was cancelled for operational reasons so there was a great queue and scrum for the 6.45 which set off five mins late which was crucial because although I made my way directly to the station and along the platform past the five coach train, it pulled out before the stated time, When I challenged the station attendant he first lied and then admitted that the off was signalled some thirty seconds before departure time and that he worked for the railways and had nothing to do with the ferry service which sums up just what is wrong with the private enterprise system. As it happens I had a choice of train with those going to Waterloo and Victoria also calling at Havant as well as the departing train along the coast to Brighton but for some, including one family off the ferry there was an hour's wait. Back at the motel I enjoyed a made up evening meal of packet soup, packet pasta, Danish and fruit, water and coffee. It had been a very short visit back into childhood and at the point I was not certain when or if I would return, despite remembering that we had stayed at the third resort Ventnor. I was also experiencing personal discomfort with what I hoped was a mild heat rash in an intimate area of the body but nothing affected the sense of having recaptured part of my childhood.
1446 A great day out but a cricket disaster
I have experienced several great days of major live sporting disappointment, usually when the anticipation has built up over a period of weeks, months and in a few instances years. The first is a memory which I usually repeat when I meet someone new at cricket. In 1948, I think, I was taken by a cousin on a bus to the Oval cricket ground for England's 5th and final test match against Australia and after queuing for several hours we were allowed into the ground to sit on the grass between the usual boundary fencing and the boundary rope set for the match. This was to be the last Test match played in England of Donald Bradman, later Sir Donald. We all stood up a cheered as he made his way to the wicket and a few seconds later we cheered him all the way back as he was out second ball bowled by Eric Hollis. I thought it was the first. Ray Lindwall, Lindsay Hassett and Keith Miller were other Aussi big guns, of course. Leonard Hutton whose book he autographed for me several years later, Denis Compton and John Edrich with Alec Bedser were British Guns.. FR Brown captain?
It was a few years before I would make my own way to the Oval to watch Surrey play, and Peter May, the Bedser twins, and Locke and Laker but I did watch one day at a Test match at Lords when still at school with Aunty Harriet, my care mother, having acquired a ticket through someone she knew.
Since then I have attended Test Matches at many other grounds Headingley, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and the Riverside, but apart from Botham's Test and Petersen and Flintoff in more recent times, the memories are very hazy. I hope I will retain vivid memories of the Rose Bowl until my dying day although there is the major disappointment of Durham failing to perform, of surrendering meekly to the opposition. However it was a glorious day of summer and there were several highlights.
I awoke before the alarm, just as well as it only went off in the evening, something I only confirmed the following evening, continuing for nearly a hour so I assume no one was in the next rooms or the sound proofing is better than usual. I went down and sorted the car around 7.30 buying a bottle of water at the garage opposite and filling one flask, finishing off the bottle. There were two prices for still water in the chill cabinet, 70p and 99p. The assistant said 70p and then after a couple of sentences asking how to get to the A3 for the M 27, I was given only 10p change. I helped myself to the free Newspaper from the tied pile on the step outside in Inn doors with the intention of reading at an outside table in the early morning sunshine but a staff member opened a side door, I had checked that the main entrance door was locked and I therefore enquired if breakfast was available. It was a quarter to eight. And I was advised I could have entered earlier as the staff member had been on duty from 6.30 am. I enjoyed a bowl of grapefruit segments, a fruit juiced, two croissants and a cup of coffee. I wrapped a Danish Pastry in a napkin for later. For the day ahead I had also prepared a flask of coffee and from home, the salad in a sealed container and sandwiches wrapped in foil, a mistake and the a container. The strawberries in the shop carton, large juicy ones but in a firm condition. A weather top for the evening cold and possible rain storm and the small umbrella as I assumed the stadium had been built and I would be sitting under cover, although I nought to have realised the implication that the video was shown under the development section with reference to submitting the plans to the local authority in 2006. I was quickly to discover that it had not been built!
I asked the staff member for the directions and he advised to follow the sign A3 London as it would also show a sign to Portsmouth. AS soon as I was on my way I recognised the same road that I had travelled the previous evening and realised that I gone past the neat the Inn, continuing into Havant and then circling back. Alas I would make the mistake again on the return journey because I did not know that the road would be marked Leigh Park rather than Rowland's Castle. I also forgot to note the name of the junction I needed to take on the return journey Waterlooville, that's my name with recognition given to the Ting Tings, that's my name.
The first surprise was to appreciate the views over the Solent as I reached the junction between the A 3 and the M27. I then had problem reaching junction number 8 and following the signs to Park and ride which led to a large field marked so that vehicles could line up. There was only one line where I was something like car thirty having arrived within half an hour of the centre opening. This was to prove a great significance some thirteen hours later.
I was therefore on the first bus to the ground, a journey of more than the forecast ten minutes, I would say fifteen to twenty but I did not check. At the ground I was given a thorough body check as well as the bag unpacked and every item checked, something which does happen elsewhere. It was reassuring although odd. I then had my surprise as the video of the ground is just that a video ground. A plan of more hope than reality.
The Rose bowl has a fixed inner area of continuous terrace seating and then an upper tier which has been added and with everyone entering the stadium at the second level promenade which as at Sunderland Football club leads to major congestion. There is an attractive Member's Pavilion similar to the new stand at Lords but not as effective and smaller versions for the large hospitality area with first level seating below which remained sparsely filled as many appeared to arrive later or remain at the table serving food and drink. The toilet facilities for the rest of us were diabolical and a scandal for the Test board and English cricket and I will write to Test board accordingly. With a 20000 capacity this is about making money although in fairness I thought the adult ticket of £48 plus £1 booking fee reasonable, especially as children and young people under sixteen could attend for £11, although this would be a very long day for the very young. It was still and occasion for young men drinking excessively and old men wishing they still could but there was a good showing of females and middle aged.
I ought to be used to the prices from the concession with surrounded the perimeter of the ground inside the stadium. £2 for a soft drink £3.50 for a small carton of chips and three fifty for cider four pounds a pint with the drinkers consuming between ten and twenty pints each on the day and with repercussions for a group of Essex supporters behind me. But first the cricket.
The opening semi final between Kent and Essex lived up to expectations except for the absence of sixes. There was a fast outfield and therefore batsmen using the advantage of restricted fielding outside the marked area could reach the boundary with strong and well place shots without the risk of the skied miss hit. The match was a close one with Essex never looking as if they would reach the Kent total after Napier was out early and Shaun Udal and Murali Kartick, spinner restricted scoring in what was a pitch taking spin not usually associated with 20 20 games. This was ominous because Durham lacked world class spin and it was evident that the pacemen could be hit hard at the beginning of the innings and at the end. Early on it was evident that we had a vociferous group of young Essex supporters behind us and as the quantity of alcohol increased their behaviour more loutish. I was befriended by an exiled northerner from Consett who had obtained a social work qualification at Hull after undertaking further education having been a trade union official at the steel works. He had lived in the New Forest area for over two decades working for Probation and Prison Service. His brother a Durham Member had got him the ticket. There was also a young man with whom I had a chat later and who I hope to see at Nottingham. He had come down with a party, perhaps official travel club members staying at a hotel at Heathrow and we had similar views about the ground and merchandising as well as on the Durham Performance.
The less said about the Durham Performance the better in the second semi final. We won the toss and elected to bat such was the confidence and De Venuto was caught early for 0 giving the worse possible start, Mustard quickly followed and although Chandrapaul scored runs with Collingwood and Smith they struggled against the spin that a total of 140 appeared the best possible, inadequate at this level of competition. Pollock did well and Liam Plunkett who came in ahead of Blenkenstein did not have the time to get going. It was a damp squib of a performance, frankly pathetic and it was not surprising that our bowlers were then humiliated. First as after a solid start we were blitzed by. all rounder Tyrone Henderson and Middlesex won the game with ease and Durham departed immediately to their hotel where it would be interesting to learn if they watched the final on TV.
The lighting for the final was the only exceptional aspect of the ground for with six masts compared with the usual four it was possible create a day time effect with ground and crowd brightly illuminated.
Middlesex posted what proved to be a match winning score and although Henderson again scored valuable runs it was Shah to banged away 75 and had he not lost his wicket a score of 200 plus appeared possible, However Kent were not to give up the title easily and hey need three runs of the last ball, but failed. Captain Key produced a solid start with 90 runs on the board before three wickets fell quickly and then there was a stand for 70 which appeared to turn the match.
I felt there was a gulf between Durham and the other three sides but it will have been great experience and hopefully not demoralising as what has happened to Yorkshire.
I must now turn to the issue of drink. On one hand it is up to each adult to drink responsibly and certainly the prices do nothing to encourage excess. The group of young men with one or two young women who were sitting with them or became associated with them for a time as the day progressed drew attention and alienated themselves from the surrounding crowd by the extent of their shouting and the insistence of climbing over seats in order to buy drinks and visit the toilet. There was great delight when Essex lost because it was hoped that the group would depart although I already knew this was not the position because as they had travelled by coach which would only leave at the end of the Final. This took some interest in the second semi final and final, but they passed the time by further drinking. There were notices around the ground which indicated that even the stacking of plastic glasses was an offence. There were three levels of stewarding inside the ground and I only saw a police presence once towards the evening as if t remind that they were there to be called upon if needed. The first level of stewarding had been recruited for the day with the role of helping people to their seats although being new to the ground and possibly to the situation they were given ground charts and appeared to be just as unsure of the situation as the visiting supporters. They were removed from the main circulation level within the stadium when the game commenced to the entrance passages otherwise they would have obscured views. Then there was a second team whose function was clear litter where this was possible. I assume this was to avoid having to do so at the end of the game or the following day but there was also the purpose of preventing the accumulation of material which could be used to throw above and on to the other sections of the crowd. The third group were the green tam designed to watch behaviour and deal with any situation, They functioned as individuals until a situation built up when they acted in number as a organised group, linked with communications including small head level cameras which recorded conversations and actions and which were relayed to the central control point. At what point the young men came under supervision I have no idea but there was a conversation developed about accumulating the plastic glasses to create a stack with a view to be thrown out of the ground. One encouraged another to do this. This talk continued over a period of time but then a male member of the green team approach advised the man collecting the plastic glasses of the regulations, asked him to surrender what he had, warned it could lead to expulsion and when he started to pretend he was no misbehaving and he was given a formal and what was evident to me final warning. When his behaviour continued a senior female member of the team approach and advised more than warned that he had had a good day and not to spoilt the situation for himself and for others. I thought everyone was leaning over backwards to avoid having to act. The final straw came when he left his seat, crossed the main circulation area and collected three or four stacked glasses from under a nearby seat. Shortly afterwards four members of the Green team arrived and asked him to accompany them for a talk outside. It was evident he was quietly being removed, would be taken to a holding area for assessment and possible arrested as being drunk and disorderly. His particulars would be noted and kept by the Test Board his home county and possibly other counties so that if he requested membership or tickets he would refused. His companions who at first considered the whole matter to be amusing then became serious and hostile to officialdom. I had noted that when confronted the young man in question lied about his intentions.
It was evident that leaving the ground and car parks would take several hours unless one left early. Although the outcome of the final was uncertain I decided to leave five overs before the conclusion as I was able to listen to the Sky TV commentary over the radio head set ear piece purchased for £10. I believe these can be used at any ground where Sky is broadcasting a live game, but not otherwise. I was directed the long way round a prepared and market route to where a fleet of buses was waiting bin convoy to take to Park and ride. Another fleet was waiting to take to the other motorway junction site. The vehicle did not leave until it was full which was just as the final over drama was being played. It was the first bus to arrive at the site and there I was in a dark field with several thousand cars. My problem was that although I had been in the first row, other cars had created new rows on both sides and for a moment I had visions of spending hours searching for an unfamiliar vehicle although I the written registration number on a card with me. I decided to back my belief as ton what constituted the first row and went along counting cars and there it was. Getting away to the M27 going East was therefore no problem as well as getting on to the A3 motorway. I decided to come off at the exit after Waterlooville which was the correct thing to do but because there was no sign Havant or Rowlands Castle, I came back over the other side of the motorway and repeated what I had done the previous evening at the Waterlooville junction exit roadways. It was around 11.30 tired but cricket overdosed. Wrapping the sandwiches in tin foil was a mistake and they had to be thrown away but in general I got the food right but should have doubled the water ration at the expense of the coffee.. I had a midnight snack of a soup in a cup with boiling water over the contents of a sachet and then a pot pasta with boiling water over the prepared contents of a small pot, There was also a Danish from reserves.
It had been a great once in a life time experience, not to be repeated unless Durham get to the same position again in my lifetime or my financial position changes and I would try the hospitality route which I would like to do for other sports and events, once. I hope Durham will learn the lessons.
It was a few years before I would make my own way to the Oval to watch Surrey play, and Peter May, the Bedser twins, and Locke and Laker but I did watch one day at a Test match at Lords when still at school with Aunty Harriet, my care mother, having acquired a ticket through someone she knew.
Since then I have attended Test Matches at many other grounds Headingley, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and the Riverside, but apart from Botham's Test and Petersen and Flintoff in more recent times, the memories are very hazy. I hope I will retain vivid memories of the Rose Bowl until my dying day although there is the major disappointment of Durham failing to perform, of surrendering meekly to the opposition. However it was a glorious day of summer and there were several highlights.
I awoke before the alarm, just as well as it only went off in the evening, something I only confirmed the following evening, continuing for nearly a hour so I assume no one was in the next rooms or the sound proofing is better than usual. I went down and sorted the car around 7.30 buying a bottle of water at the garage opposite and filling one flask, finishing off the bottle. There were two prices for still water in the chill cabinet, 70p and 99p. The assistant said 70p and then after a couple of sentences asking how to get to the A3 for the M 27, I was given only 10p change. I helped myself to the free Newspaper from the tied pile on the step outside in Inn doors with the intention of reading at an outside table in the early morning sunshine but a staff member opened a side door, I had checked that the main entrance door was locked and I therefore enquired if breakfast was available. It was a quarter to eight. And I was advised I could have entered earlier as the staff member had been on duty from 6.30 am. I enjoyed a bowl of grapefruit segments, a fruit juiced, two croissants and a cup of coffee. I wrapped a Danish Pastry in a napkin for later. For the day ahead I had also prepared a flask of coffee and from home, the salad in a sealed container and sandwiches wrapped in foil, a mistake and the a container. The strawberries in the shop carton, large juicy ones but in a firm condition. A weather top for the evening cold and possible rain storm and the small umbrella as I assumed the stadium had been built and I would be sitting under cover, although I nought to have realised the implication that the video was shown under the development section with reference to submitting the plans to the local authority in 2006. I was quickly to discover that it had not been built!
I asked the staff member for the directions and he advised to follow the sign A3 London as it would also show a sign to Portsmouth. AS soon as I was on my way I recognised the same road that I had travelled the previous evening and realised that I gone past the neat the Inn, continuing into Havant and then circling back. Alas I would make the mistake again on the return journey because I did not know that the road would be marked Leigh Park rather than Rowland's Castle. I also forgot to note the name of the junction I needed to take on the return journey Waterlooville, that's my name with recognition given to the Ting Tings, that's my name.
The first surprise was to appreciate the views over the Solent as I reached the junction between the A 3 and the M27. I then had problem reaching junction number 8 and following the signs to Park and ride which led to a large field marked so that vehicles could line up. There was only one line where I was something like car thirty having arrived within half an hour of the centre opening. This was to prove a great significance some thirteen hours later.
I was therefore on the first bus to the ground, a journey of more than the forecast ten minutes, I would say fifteen to twenty but I did not check. At the ground I was given a thorough body check as well as the bag unpacked and every item checked, something which does happen elsewhere. It was reassuring although odd. I then had my surprise as the video of the ground is just that a video ground. A plan of more hope than reality.
The Rose bowl has a fixed inner area of continuous terrace seating and then an upper tier which has been added and with everyone entering the stadium at the second level promenade which as at Sunderland Football club leads to major congestion. There is an attractive Member's Pavilion similar to the new stand at Lords but not as effective and smaller versions for the large hospitality area with first level seating below which remained sparsely filled as many appeared to arrive later or remain at the table serving food and drink. The toilet facilities for the rest of us were diabolical and a scandal for the Test board and English cricket and I will write to Test board accordingly. With a 20000 capacity this is about making money although in fairness I thought the adult ticket of £48 plus £1 booking fee reasonable, especially as children and young people under sixteen could attend for £11, although this would be a very long day for the very young. It was still and occasion for young men drinking excessively and old men wishing they still could but there was a good showing of females and middle aged.
I ought to be used to the prices from the concession with surrounded the perimeter of the ground inside the stadium. £2 for a soft drink £3.50 for a small carton of chips and three fifty for cider four pounds a pint with the drinkers consuming between ten and twenty pints each on the day and with repercussions for a group of Essex supporters behind me. But first the cricket.
The opening semi final between Kent and Essex lived up to expectations except for the absence of sixes. There was a fast outfield and therefore batsmen using the advantage of restricted fielding outside the marked area could reach the boundary with strong and well place shots without the risk of the skied miss hit. The match was a close one with Essex never looking as if they would reach the Kent total after Napier was out early and Shaun Udal and Murali Kartick, spinner restricted scoring in what was a pitch taking spin not usually associated with 20 20 games. This was ominous because Durham lacked world class spin and it was evident that the pacemen could be hit hard at the beginning of the innings and at the end. Early on it was evident that we had a vociferous group of young Essex supporters behind us and as the quantity of alcohol increased their behaviour more loutish. I was befriended by an exiled northerner from Consett who had obtained a social work qualification at Hull after undertaking further education having been a trade union official at the steel works. He had lived in the New Forest area for over two decades working for Probation and Prison Service. His brother a Durham Member had got him the ticket. There was also a young man with whom I had a chat later and who I hope to see at Nottingham. He had come down with a party, perhaps official travel club members staying at a hotel at Heathrow and we had similar views about the ground and merchandising as well as on the Durham Performance.
The less said about the Durham Performance the better in the second semi final. We won the toss and elected to bat such was the confidence and De Venuto was caught early for 0 giving the worse possible start, Mustard quickly followed and although Chandrapaul scored runs with Collingwood and Smith they struggled against the spin that a total of 140 appeared the best possible, inadequate at this level of competition. Pollock did well and Liam Plunkett who came in ahead of Blenkenstein did not have the time to get going. It was a damp squib of a performance, frankly pathetic and it was not surprising that our bowlers were then humiliated. First as after a solid start we were blitzed by. all rounder Tyrone Henderson and Middlesex won the game with ease and Durham departed immediately to their hotel where it would be interesting to learn if they watched the final on TV.
The lighting for the final was the only exceptional aspect of the ground for with six masts compared with the usual four it was possible create a day time effect with ground and crowd brightly illuminated.
Middlesex posted what proved to be a match winning score and although Henderson again scored valuable runs it was Shah to banged away 75 and had he not lost his wicket a score of 200 plus appeared possible, However Kent were not to give up the title easily and hey need three runs of the last ball, but failed. Captain Key produced a solid start with 90 runs on the board before three wickets fell quickly and then there was a stand for 70 which appeared to turn the match.
I felt there was a gulf between Durham and the other three sides but it will have been great experience and hopefully not demoralising as what has happened to Yorkshire.
I must now turn to the issue of drink. On one hand it is up to each adult to drink responsibly and certainly the prices do nothing to encourage excess. The group of young men with one or two young women who were sitting with them or became associated with them for a time as the day progressed drew attention and alienated themselves from the surrounding crowd by the extent of their shouting and the insistence of climbing over seats in order to buy drinks and visit the toilet. There was great delight when Essex lost because it was hoped that the group would depart although I already knew this was not the position because as they had travelled by coach which would only leave at the end of the Final. This took some interest in the second semi final and final, but they passed the time by further drinking. There were notices around the ground which indicated that even the stacking of plastic glasses was an offence. There were three levels of stewarding inside the ground and I only saw a police presence once towards the evening as if t remind that they were there to be called upon if needed. The first level of stewarding had been recruited for the day with the role of helping people to their seats although being new to the ground and possibly to the situation they were given ground charts and appeared to be just as unsure of the situation as the visiting supporters. They were removed from the main circulation level within the stadium when the game commenced to the entrance passages otherwise they would have obscured views. Then there was a second team whose function was clear litter where this was possible. I assume this was to avoid having to do so at the end of the game or the following day but there was also the purpose of preventing the accumulation of material which could be used to throw above and on to the other sections of the crowd. The third group were the green tam designed to watch behaviour and deal with any situation, They functioned as individuals until a situation built up when they acted in number as a organised group, linked with communications including small head level cameras which recorded conversations and actions and which were relayed to the central control point. At what point the young men came under supervision I have no idea but there was a conversation developed about accumulating the plastic glasses to create a stack with a view to be thrown out of the ground. One encouraged another to do this. This talk continued over a period of time but then a male member of the green team approach advised the man collecting the plastic glasses of the regulations, asked him to surrender what he had, warned it could lead to expulsion and when he started to pretend he was no misbehaving and he was given a formal and what was evident to me final warning. When his behaviour continued a senior female member of the team approach and advised more than warned that he had had a good day and not to spoilt the situation for himself and for others. I thought everyone was leaning over backwards to avoid having to act. The final straw came when he left his seat, crossed the main circulation area and collected three or four stacked glasses from under a nearby seat. Shortly afterwards four members of the Green team arrived and asked him to accompany them for a talk outside. It was evident he was quietly being removed, would be taken to a holding area for assessment and possible arrested as being drunk and disorderly. His particulars would be noted and kept by the Test Board his home county and possibly other counties so that if he requested membership or tickets he would refused. His companions who at first considered the whole matter to be amusing then became serious and hostile to officialdom. I had noted that when confronted the young man in question lied about his intentions.
It was evident that leaving the ground and car parks would take several hours unless one left early. Although the outcome of the final was uncertain I decided to leave five overs before the conclusion as I was able to listen to the Sky TV commentary over the radio head set ear piece purchased for £10. I believe these can be used at any ground where Sky is broadcasting a live game, but not otherwise. I was directed the long way round a prepared and market route to where a fleet of buses was waiting bin convoy to take to Park and ride. Another fleet was waiting to take to the other motorway junction site. The vehicle did not leave until it was full which was just as the final over drama was being played. It was the first bus to arrive at the site and there I was in a dark field with several thousand cars. My problem was that although I had been in the first row, other cars had created new rows on both sides and for a moment I had visions of spending hours searching for an unfamiliar vehicle although I the written registration number on a card with me. I decided to back my belief as ton what constituted the first row and went along counting cars and there it was. Getting away to the M27 going East was therefore no problem as well as getting on to the A3 motorway. I decided to come off at the exit after Waterlooville which was the correct thing to do but because there was no sign Havant or Rowlands Castle, I came back over the other side of the motorway and repeated what I had done the previous evening at the Waterlooville junction exit roadways. It was around 11.30 tired but cricket overdosed. Wrapping the sandwiches in tin foil was a mistake and they had to be thrown away but in general I got the food right but should have doubled the water ration at the expense of the coffee.. I had a midnight snack of a soup in a cup with boiling water over the contents of a sachet and then a pot pasta with boiling water over the prepared contents of a small pot, There was also a Danish from reserves.
It had been a great once in a life time experience, not to be repeated unless Durham get to the same position again in my lifetime or my financial position changes and I would try the hospitality route which I would like to do for other sports and events, once. I hope Durham will learn the lessons.
Monday, 5 July 2010
1445 It couild have been a lot worse
It is just as well I wrote that I had prepared myself to expect the unexpected during my journey of 340 miles on Friday from the North East of England to just outside Portsmouth.
I had packed my main suitcase the previous night and gathered together in an organised fashion everything required in three medium sized soft trolley bags, plus haversack and document briefcase. The first task of the early morning was food. I prepared four sandwiches of cheese and ham wrapped in foil and then placed in containers for Saturday and Sunday and then prepared two mixed salads in containers of lettuce, salad pepper, cucumber, olives, tomato and chopped fine pieces of salmon in a tomato and basil sauce. There were two Danish type pastries and fruit, strawberries for Saturday with a banana and a pear, and grapes for Sunday with another pear and banana.
In the second bags I prepared a large salad for the journey, some prawns in shell, two Danish type pastries, the remainder of ham, cheese, lettuce cucumber and tomato which would not last my absence but my last until Monday Tuesday. There was also picnic cups, glass and plate, knives forks and spoon, kitchen roll, waste bags, tea towels.
I posted two Blogs where I had difficulty doing so before bedtime. I assembled luggage in vehicle as would be required during the day, in the evening and could be left overnight in the vehicle. I check weather forecasts. Plants inside and outside the house were watered, washed up and had a cup of coffee. It was still 9,30 when I left having hoped it would have been closer to eight o'clock. I had decided on the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert, the two LP's of the Music Hair and Miss Saigon tapes, her first back up tapes of Long Play records and the second a back of the double tape.
I love Miss Saigon I saw the original London production three possible four times enjoying the music, the spectacle and the Madam Butterfly storyline. I adore Madam Butterfly have a CD Performance. I began the day with Miss Saigon and completed the work before arriving at the Scotch Corner service area for prepared coffee and a Danish. It was a glorious sunny morning and I remember remarking to myself that the vehicle was running like a dream. Ho Ho Ho!
Before reaching Scotch Corner there were already roadside earning notices that the M25 was already a crawl between the junction with the M1 and the M3. It was time for plan B and in fact I kicked myself for not checking the alternative beforehand. This involved continuing on the M1 until Northampton Service area and turn off and taking the A 43 on the road to the Midland cities by Silverstone race track and then taking the A 34, joining the M40 briefly, and then following the A34 all the way until connecting with the A3
I continued in good spirits deciding on lunch at the Nottingham Trowell Service area where I would be staying for the cricket the following week. It was very hot and later I learnt the hottest day of the year. The radio had advised of significant chaos on all major roadways with several closed for hours at a time because of accidents as families sent off on their annual long holidays intermingling with the usual Friday rush to complete travels and get home for the weekend as quickly as practical. I remember what Friday afternoon on the M25 was like and chided myself for ever contemplating going that way.
The shock of the day was the news that Labour had lost their second safest seat in Scotland to the Scottish Labour Party. This was not a surprise to me as it was evident that the Prime Minister and the Labour Party hierarchy had lost touch with the mood among their own supporters as well as the middle ground of those without party political allegiance. I anticipated that despite all the arguments about changing leadership there would be open talk of doing so. As the day progressed, especially the run through of the first editions, it was revealed that Cabinet Ministers had told the PM directly or indirectly that he had to change his position and that of the party over the summer or there would be a move to replace him.
I also listened to Dr Mark Kermode do his run through of the Top Ten box office films of the past week before reviewing the latest releases. Just after Silverstone as I approached a junction the traffic became stationery and within a couple of minutes police arrived to close the road ask the oncoming traffic to take the slip road as I was able to do and then find that the road was clear the other side of the junction and have time to look back and see a horrendous accidents. Shortly after leaving the A43 for the A 34 I pulled up at a lay-by for a cold drink and because I was tired, There was a great sign earning that the area was a lorry theft hot spot so I decided to continue to the M 40 Cherwell Valley service area for a longer break and where the A34 then went via Oxford to Portsmouth and Southampton.
A couple of minutes after setting off I note that the radio had stopped and then as I approached a roundabout and was going round the engine cut out completely and there was a smell of burning. I got out as quickly as I could removing my coast and brief case on an island junction rather than the central roundabout. The car was in a dangerous position as vehicles swept round and also continued from the direction I had travelled. I contacted the AA who advised it could be up to an hour before I am reached despite advising of the dangerous location I try and direct traffic away from my stationery vehicle so I advise the police. I sped the next half hour directing traffic. Police contact to say just has information passed to them and will send two officers to assist. AA then phone to say 5 mins away. I am taken off round about to safe lay-by near by and the officer then attempts to sort out the problem. Definitely electrical burn out but what ? Two community police officers to establish everything is OK so there must have been communication between police and AA. Possibly some of the motorists/ lorry driver advised of my situation and efforts.
AA officer works out that when I left the lay-by the starter motor had jammed and then burnt out and would need replacing. Vehicle jump started and then road tested. I then drive vehicle with AA following to Bicester, garage of Worldwide Automotive Ltd. They will arrange starter motor and advise of cost Monday, cash payments only and then be ready for collection on Tuesday. Later all out cost £35 ho ho but provide Citroen Car T834 AKX for my use until then, Find garage in Bicester and add fuel. The slowly get only way having transferred all the luggage from one car to another. There is rock festival at Blenheim this week which may or may not account why road is choc block ahead so I follow other vehicles as they take a different route joining in A 34 later when the road is clear but stationery opposite direction. Road goes round Oxford towards Newbury. Decide to go to services to stop and find out about car lights, radio etc. Miss turning and go to new private secured village situation and motorist impatient as I try and work out what to do. It is a weekend of impatient motorists!
Go to McDonalds at Service area and have McChicken meal with Diet Coke on outside bench in the warm evening. Before leaving car note an alarm sounding and that rear lights are on. Because of what has happened before mind has stopped thinking. Ring mobile of garage and they think it is to do with having unintentionally put side lights on. I turn off lights but alarms sounds continue. Only later do I work out this is clock alarm going off at wrong time. Muppet. Will decide to tell garage later. I write down the car registration number on garage card. This was brilliant given subsequent events.
Drive on anxious to try before darkness but must have misread map because road takes me away from Portsmouth to Southampton and the M27. This is OK as it will help re morning but it is getting later and darkness descends as I am on M7 towards Portsmouth and A 3. Pass junction 8 required for the morning and note roadwork’s area for extra time morning. Come of junction before by mistake and read of map in off road area does not really help. Rejoin M27 and take A3 but which slip road at the junction do I take. In the end decide on Waterlooville and what luck as once approach end of slip road there is sign saying Havant. This involves taking dark area of overhanging tree. At end of this area there is a road to Leigh Park and to Havant and decide to go to Havant and before reaching town centre see sign Rowlands Castle and follow this road for sometime and then straight ahead I see Harvester and next to it Innkeepers. Park. Register at Bar as requested and alas my room is on first floor which involves negotiating three doors with luggage.
I eat greater part of salad in lettuce bowl, Danish pastry and coffee. By the time I have done this I am tired and ready for bed. Must have arrived around 10pm and with unpacking and food and preparing for morning and then some writing midnight passes and onto at least 1 am. I am so looking forward to tomorrow do not sleep well and wake up during night do some more writing.
I had packed my main suitcase the previous night and gathered together in an organised fashion everything required in three medium sized soft trolley bags, plus haversack and document briefcase. The first task of the early morning was food. I prepared four sandwiches of cheese and ham wrapped in foil and then placed in containers for Saturday and Sunday and then prepared two mixed salads in containers of lettuce, salad pepper, cucumber, olives, tomato and chopped fine pieces of salmon in a tomato and basil sauce. There were two Danish type pastries and fruit, strawberries for Saturday with a banana and a pear, and grapes for Sunday with another pear and banana.
In the second bags I prepared a large salad for the journey, some prawns in shell, two Danish type pastries, the remainder of ham, cheese, lettuce cucumber and tomato which would not last my absence but my last until Monday Tuesday. There was also picnic cups, glass and plate, knives forks and spoon, kitchen roll, waste bags, tea towels.
I posted two Blogs where I had difficulty doing so before bedtime. I assembled luggage in vehicle as would be required during the day, in the evening and could be left overnight in the vehicle. I check weather forecasts. Plants inside and outside the house were watered, washed up and had a cup of coffee. It was still 9,30 when I left having hoped it would have been closer to eight o'clock. I had decided on the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert, the two LP's of the Music Hair and Miss Saigon tapes, her first back up tapes of Long Play records and the second a back of the double tape.
I love Miss Saigon I saw the original London production three possible four times enjoying the music, the spectacle and the Madam Butterfly storyline. I adore Madam Butterfly have a CD Performance. I began the day with Miss Saigon and completed the work before arriving at the Scotch Corner service area for prepared coffee and a Danish. It was a glorious sunny morning and I remember remarking to myself that the vehicle was running like a dream. Ho Ho Ho!
Before reaching Scotch Corner there were already roadside earning notices that the M25 was already a crawl between the junction with the M1 and the M3. It was time for plan B and in fact I kicked myself for not checking the alternative beforehand. This involved continuing on the M1 until Northampton Service area and turn off and taking the A 43 on the road to the Midland cities by Silverstone race track and then taking the A 34, joining the M40 briefly, and then following the A34 all the way until connecting with the A3
I continued in good spirits deciding on lunch at the Nottingham Trowell Service area where I would be staying for the cricket the following week. It was very hot and later I learnt the hottest day of the year. The radio had advised of significant chaos on all major roadways with several closed for hours at a time because of accidents as families sent off on their annual long holidays intermingling with the usual Friday rush to complete travels and get home for the weekend as quickly as practical. I remember what Friday afternoon on the M25 was like and chided myself for ever contemplating going that way.
The shock of the day was the news that Labour had lost their second safest seat in Scotland to the Scottish Labour Party. This was not a surprise to me as it was evident that the Prime Minister and the Labour Party hierarchy had lost touch with the mood among their own supporters as well as the middle ground of those without party political allegiance. I anticipated that despite all the arguments about changing leadership there would be open talk of doing so. As the day progressed, especially the run through of the first editions, it was revealed that Cabinet Ministers had told the PM directly or indirectly that he had to change his position and that of the party over the summer or there would be a move to replace him.
I also listened to Dr Mark Kermode do his run through of the Top Ten box office films of the past week before reviewing the latest releases. Just after Silverstone as I approached a junction the traffic became stationery and within a couple of minutes police arrived to close the road ask the oncoming traffic to take the slip road as I was able to do and then find that the road was clear the other side of the junction and have time to look back and see a horrendous accidents. Shortly after leaving the A43 for the A 34 I pulled up at a lay-by for a cold drink and because I was tired, There was a great sign earning that the area was a lorry theft hot spot so I decided to continue to the M 40 Cherwell Valley service area for a longer break and where the A34 then went via Oxford to Portsmouth and Southampton.
A couple of minutes after setting off I note that the radio had stopped and then as I approached a roundabout and was going round the engine cut out completely and there was a smell of burning. I got out as quickly as I could removing my coast and brief case on an island junction rather than the central roundabout. The car was in a dangerous position as vehicles swept round and also continued from the direction I had travelled. I contacted the AA who advised it could be up to an hour before I am reached despite advising of the dangerous location I try and direct traffic away from my stationery vehicle so I advise the police. I sped the next half hour directing traffic. Police contact to say just has information passed to them and will send two officers to assist. AA then phone to say 5 mins away. I am taken off round about to safe lay-by near by and the officer then attempts to sort out the problem. Definitely electrical burn out but what ? Two community police officers to establish everything is OK so there must have been communication between police and AA. Possibly some of the motorists/ lorry driver advised of my situation and efforts.
AA officer works out that when I left the lay-by the starter motor had jammed and then burnt out and would need replacing. Vehicle jump started and then road tested. I then drive vehicle with AA following to Bicester, garage of Worldwide Automotive Ltd. They will arrange starter motor and advise of cost Monday, cash payments only and then be ready for collection on Tuesday. Later all out cost £35 ho ho but provide Citroen Car T834 AKX for my use until then, Find garage in Bicester and add fuel. The slowly get only way having transferred all the luggage from one car to another. There is rock festival at Blenheim this week which may or may not account why road is choc block ahead so I follow other vehicles as they take a different route joining in A 34 later when the road is clear but stationery opposite direction. Road goes round Oxford towards Newbury. Decide to go to services to stop and find out about car lights, radio etc. Miss turning and go to new private secured village situation and motorist impatient as I try and work out what to do. It is a weekend of impatient motorists!
Go to McDonalds at Service area and have McChicken meal with Diet Coke on outside bench in the warm evening. Before leaving car note an alarm sounding and that rear lights are on. Because of what has happened before mind has stopped thinking. Ring mobile of garage and they think it is to do with having unintentionally put side lights on. I turn off lights but alarms sounds continue. Only later do I work out this is clock alarm going off at wrong time. Muppet. Will decide to tell garage later. I write down the car registration number on garage card. This was brilliant given subsequent events.
Drive on anxious to try before darkness but must have misread map because road takes me away from Portsmouth to Southampton and the M27. This is OK as it will help re morning but it is getting later and darkness descends as I am on M7 towards Portsmouth and A 3. Pass junction 8 required for the morning and note roadwork’s area for extra time morning. Come of junction before by mistake and read of map in off road area does not really help. Rejoin M27 and take A3 but which slip road at the junction do I take. In the end decide on Waterlooville and what luck as once approach end of slip road there is sign saying Havant. This involves taking dark area of overhanging tree. At end of this area there is a road to Leigh Park and to Havant and decide to go to Havant and before reaching town centre see sign Rowlands Castle and follow this road for sometime and then straight ahead I see Harvester and next to it Innkeepers. Park. Register at Bar as requested and alas my room is on first floor which involves negotiating three doors with luggage.
I eat greater part of salad in lettuce bowl, Danish pastry and coffee. By the time I have done this I am tired and ready for bed. Must have arrived around 10pm and with unpacking and food and preparing for morning and then some writing midnight passes and onto at least 1 am. I am so looking forward to tomorrow do not sleep well and wake up during night do some more writing.
1944 Preparations for cricket trip
Day spent methodically preparing for trip to Rosebowl
Clothing. First a wash and dry and then an iron. Given recent weather conditions and planning to be out and about from early morn until possibly after midnight a range of short and long sleeve shirts, some smart other casual. Given a variety of situations and activities the suit, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of track suit bottoms and at least one comfortable house jacket. Then the if you were to end up in hospital up in hospital kit of pyjamas and dressing gown (I forgot the to buy an additional washing and shave bag) socks underpants. Handkerchiefs, Durham tie. Ideally should pack clothes in two bags because of two different stays but settle on one case with a lock, but where is the key? Take outer coat and inner jacket but without the sleeves as well as the full wet and wind lightweight protection acquired for the Diana concert last year. Small umbrella and sports umbrella.
Food. For maximum flexibility on what could be two days cricket with a fill house at weekend and then three or four days Nottingham decide to take made up sandwiches cheese and ham rather than tomato, lettuce makes read soggy but also two three prepared salads in separate containers. Also buy pot noodles, pot pasta and instant soups which can be made with kettle at accommodations. There are three continental breakfasts provided but not in the rest of the accommodation so take a cereal, French type toasts, a spread. Tins of prepared salmon for salad also remembered to buy olives, have tomato, cucumber and salad peppers. Consider stopping for cherries and strawberries tomorrow, Have three bananas and four pears, Consider preparing fresh pineapple if time otherwise take with me for preparing tomorrow evening. Some small cakes lemon slices and carrot cake and some slim biscuits.
Equipment Various Lap top and mains charging. Camera and charging unit additional batteries and memory stick card. Telephone charging and information book re Wifi internet. I must start to go wireless but need a day more to learn and work out whets what. CD Player Damien Rice, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan double disk. Some Mozart and a Bach Mass, some traditional Jazz and some swing. DVD that has arrived. George Melly autobiography and Antwone Fisher. Lightweight binoculars. Lightweight seat, and high back seat both in shoulder bags.
Toiletries. Sun Tan. First aid kit. Find booklet on air compressor emergency kit. Spare Toilet Roll, Kitchen Roll, paper serviettes and picnic stuff. Notebooks and pens. Durham Year Book. Re-sewn button on trousers of suit. Checked torch in car but not the condition of spare tyre. Arrange all plants in area where they can be watered if it rains. Give good watering tomorrow before leaving having watered well previous two days. Unplug appliances. Time for bed will take notes with me to see what else I did but cannot immediately remember and what I have missed. It was nearly 2 am and the alarm was set for 7.15am
I woke for getting up at 6.,55 which continues the interesting tendency to always wake before the alarm if it is set.
The Scottish National Party has been beaten Labour with a swing of over 20%. Gordon Brown has to go down and Harriet Harman take over. Thought for journey.
Clothing. First a wash and dry and then an iron. Given recent weather conditions and planning to be out and about from early morn until possibly after midnight a range of short and long sleeve shirts, some smart other casual. Given a variety of situations and activities the suit, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of track suit bottoms and at least one comfortable house jacket. Then the if you were to end up in hospital up in hospital kit of pyjamas and dressing gown (I forgot the to buy an additional washing and shave bag) socks underpants. Handkerchiefs, Durham tie. Ideally should pack clothes in two bags because of two different stays but settle on one case with a lock, but where is the key? Take outer coat and inner jacket but without the sleeves as well as the full wet and wind lightweight protection acquired for the Diana concert last year. Small umbrella and sports umbrella.
Food. For maximum flexibility on what could be two days cricket with a fill house at weekend and then three or four days Nottingham decide to take made up sandwiches cheese and ham rather than tomato, lettuce makes read soggy but also two three prepared salads in separate containers. Also buy pot noodles, pot pasta and instant soups which can be made with kettle at accommodations. There are three continental breakfasts provided but not in the rest of the accommodation so take a cereal, French type toasts, a spread. Tins of prepared salmon for salad also remembered to buy olives, have tomato, cucumber and salad peppers. Consider stopping for cherries and strawberries tomorrow, Have three bananas and four pears, Consider preparing fresh pineapple if time otherwise take with me for preparing tomorrow evening. Some small cakes lemon slices and carrot cake and some slim biscuits.
Equipment Various Lap top and mains charging. Camera and charging unit additional batteries and memory stick card. Telephone charging and information book re Wifi internet. I must start to go wireless but need a day more to learn and work out whets what. CD Player Damien Rice, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan double disk. Some Mozart and a Bach Mass, some traditional Jazz and some swing. DVD that has arrived. George Melly autobiography and Antwone Fisher. Lightweight binoculars. Lightweight seat, and high back seat both in shoulder bags.
Toiletries. Sun Tan. First aid kit. Find booklet on air compressor emergency kit. Spare Toilet Roll, Kitchen Roll, paper serviettes and picnic stuff. Notebooks and pens. Durham Year Book. Re-sewn button on trousers of suit. Checked torch in car but not the condition of spare tyre. Arrange all plants in area where they can be watered if it rains. Give good watering tomorrow before leaving having watered well previous two days. Unplug appliances. Time for bed will take notes with me to see what else I did but cannot immediately remember and what I have missed. It was nearly 2 am and the alarm was set for 7.15am
I woke for getting up at 6.,55 which continues the interesting tendency to always wake before the alarm if it is set.
The Scottish National Party has been beaten Labour with a swing of over 20%. Gordon Brown has to go down and Harriet Harman take over. Thought for journey.
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