I was a Bandsman in the British Army for a few years. My instrument was supposed to be the Euphonium, that’s what I played at school and in the local brass band. They changed me to Saxophone, how difficult could that be I thought. Whilst I enjoyed playing in the band and practised constantly, I… Continue reading Music Librarian
Category: Romance
Dad’s first beer
My Dad told me a story recently, about his first beer as a young man. This would have been in the early 1960s. He was off work with Laryngitis, bored and with nothing to do he started exploring the locality on his motorbike, probably a Triumph or a Norton, although it could have been a… Continue reading Dad’s first beer
I am a morning person
I like the morning, and when I look back throughout my life I think I always have done, it just never really occurred to me like it does now. The bedroom in our current home faces east so we get the full on morning experience, especially this time of year when the sun rises over… Continue reading I am a morning person
Leigh, Warwood and Fuller, Sochi 2014 Gold for commentary
Both myself and Mandy watched the Sochi 2014 Women’s Slopestyle on Sunday and spent the rest of the day walking round the house shouting phrases picked up from the excitable commentary team of Ed Leigh, Tim Warwood and Aimee Fuller. “Whop-a-tron!” seemed to be the favourite with “Smack it down!” coming a close second. Yes… Continue reading Leigh, Warwood and Fuller, Sochi 2014 Gold for commentary
My first kebab
We never saw Dad much when we were really young. He worked in London, left in his Capri (“Bodie and Doyle have one like this”) and was at the end of the M11 well before we got up for school. He came home late, after dark when we were in bed, usually after a few… Continue reading My first kebab
A vote on Europe is the last thing we need
When it comes to ideas and interests in life, my teenage years seem have been the most formative, as they probably were with most people. During the 80s along with my brother and two friends I started riding my racing bike seriously, and with that came the obsessing over continental cycle racing. Not only was… Continue reading A vote on Europe is the last thing we need
Hell on Wheels
This is fantastic film, probably the best sporting film I’ve seen. It follows the Telekom team, focusing mostly on Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag, through the 2003 Tour de France. It’s not so much about the 2003 Tour as a race, more about how the Telekom team, riders and staff cope with demands and pressures… Continue reading Hell on Wheels
The ghost of Christmas past.
I love Christmas, always have done. I can remember vividly getting worked up into a frenzy as Christmas came closer, school finished and family started to congregate in houses far too small for the purpose. Looking back, it was all about the build up as the day itself was always, for some reason or another,… Continue reading The ghost of Christmas past.
Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space
A day before the space shuttle launch in 1982 Mr Atkins, our primary school teacher at the time, asked us to find out something about the men who pioneered space travel. Easy I thought to myself, just look up Neil Armstrong, that’s all we knew about space, Neil Armstrong. At home, we had half a… Continue reading Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space
Sport can save us from ourselves
This is a fantastic picture, and one of my favourite images of the last few years. Even if you’ve been living in Mongolia since the turn of the century and don’t recognise them, they look like the sort of people you’d like know, right? Look at Joe Calzaghe, with his humble stance and cool as… Continue reading Sport can save us from ourselves