It is now Sunday afternoon, and everyone is flagging a bit. We arrived down here on Friday mid afternoon after a two and a half hour journey down from Bristol. First thing on the agenda was to have a couple of bottles of champagne to celebrate Ash's new business deal. Ash and Sally came well prepared with enough alcohol to last a week, a good job too as in the party there is also Joe, their son who is back from Doha for a few days, Rosie who is their daughter and partner of our our son Toby, who is also here. After a quick galas or two it was time to take Baxter over the golf course and down to the beach where we scattered the ashes of our last beagle, Dillon. After a couple of hours walk it was time to shower and change, ready for tonight's dinner at Rick Stein's in Padstow. Ash has already decided that he is going for the crab, and I am sure he will not be the only one. It was a very pleasant evening with a selection of oysters, crab, hake, cod and mussels, a very enjoyable first night. Saturday morning and after a lovely full English breakfast it was off to St Enedoc Golf Club and onto the Holywell Course. Cold and very windy it was a challenge that proved too tough for Joe and myself, losing 4&2. Well me and Joe had to buy the first couple of rounds of drinks back in the clubhouse, lost again and boy did Toby milk it or what! It was totally by chance that we ended up in the Pityme Inn later on Saturday night. Little did we know that The Shipwrecks were performing in there, or even who the Shipwrecks were! Anyway they are a small part of the Wadebridge Male Voice Choir, who like a pint and a transitional Cornish folk music sing a long. They even got some unexpected audience participation this night.l It turned into a very pleasant evening, a few pints of Cornish Cider and Joe and I got revenge on the pool table, easily! Back in the house later and it turned into a music quiz, sing a long and one or two more glasses of red wine than I should have. This morning and the head was thumping a bit. Got to get some fresh air so Baxter got dragged out for a walk, and Toby, who looked a whiter shade of pale. Anyway it was a brisk stroll over the Holywell Course, across the Church Course and down onto the beach, where believe it or not I came across this golf ballwashed up on the shoreline; After being joined by the rest of the party it was a quick ferry ride over from Rick to Padstow for a fish and chip lunch. The best decision of the day was made and that was to have a 12 o'clock sharpener in the pub. A quick Bloody Mary would do the trick.
Can you believe that the first pub, The Old Custom House, did not have any tomato juice,,,,the plan had been scuppered at the onset. We did eventually get one in The Shipwrights, but that was on the way back to the ferry after a fabulous fish and chip lunch which included Haddock, Cod, chips, mushy peas, deep fried oysters, king prawns, crab meat from the shop next door, garlic mayo, tartare sauce. I think we over did it a bit but Ash and myself had a nice walk back up from the beach to work off the extra few chips. Now back at base for a quiet Sunday afternoon, cup of tea, and The Meaning of Life. Thank you for your hospitality Maxwells and Rock and Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums out there.
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Johnny Wark, Ipswich Town's greatest player as voted for in the Twitter poll run by @chompx3, Renegade Statman. But some of us knew Johnny before he was famous. This was prior to the Southern Junior Floodlight Cup game November 26th 1974. Note the reporter, Dave Allard. This was the squad photo with JW back row left between Charlie Woods and Dale Roberts. RO back right, Keith Bertschin and Dave Geddis front left, Tommy O'Neil front centre. Nice bit of silverware on show. JW back row 2nd from left again, Alan Brazil front row left, Dave Geddis back row right next to yours truly and Tommy O'Neil front centre again. Finally made it into the combination team. I think this was the year that Johnny made such an impact for the first team in FA Cup games, an even bigger fixture than Combination League against Norwich! Team talk prior to a first team game with Mick Mills, George Burley, Kevin Steggles and Steve McCall. Sir Bobby giving Johnny another talking to about not wearing shin pads, at the end of 90 mins , prior to extra time in the 1981 FA Cup semi-final against Man City at Villa Park. 1981 was a busy year for the actor/ footballer, playing 65 competitive first team games and then flying off at the end of the season with a UEFA Cup medal in one pocket and a film contract, alongside Michael Caine, in the other. Arthur "I'll take the top bunk" Hayes, not even a Scottish name! John's tribute to Sir Bobby. I go back a long way with Johnny, we've had the odd beer and G&T along the way, and he has never changed one bit! A truly talented player, he must have been because he never trained through the week, always fit on Friday! He had a natural talent for scoring goals, fearless from the penalty spot and was always there when you needed him! Congratulations Warkie on becoming Ipswich Towns Greatest Player, and thank you to all the ITFC supporters on Twitter who took part in Renegade Statman's, @chompx3's fantastic poll. I was going to start this evening's blog a lot earlier but I met Mrs O after work, at about 6.45pm, with the intention of having a quick curry at Krishnans and back home. Anyway, my pal Geordie and his wife Pauline were just about to drive off when we walked passed and persuaded them to join us for a quick glass of wine in The Clifton Sausage, which just happens to be opposite Mrs O's office. We were swiftly joined by Phil and Kelly from Core and Ore and the after work chill-out began. It was a sensible hour or so later that we made it to Krishnans and after an eye watering choking fit for Mrs O followed by some fab food we eventually made it home by 10.30pm. A little bit later than I imagined originally so please accept by apologies., but if not then in the words of Bob Geldoff 'bollocks'. It is sometimes hard to file photographs apart from chronologically, but I am going to try and gather a few 'aerial' photos for you from across my random years. We'll start with an early game against Wolves from 1975 with team mate Ian Phillips and George Berry challenging. Good job I could jump high enough to keep out of the way of fellow Clifton resident Joe Jordan This time it is Brian Kidd with team mate Les Tibbott in the back ground. I didn't realise that I could jump so high, suppose I had to at only 5'11'', not very tall for a centre half! This is the same picture from the other side, against Everton, looks like Mick Lyons next to TB and Billy Wright No4, not sure of the keeper, George Wood, Big Nev? TB nodding one in Getting in a mess against John Radford PM nodding one in Not an aerial challenge as such, but both feet off the ground, interpreted today as being out of control and probably a sending off offence. A happy picture to end tonight with, myself and Larry Lloyd sharing a joke, Trevor Francis is obviously annoyed at not having had a kick for 90 minutes again, then Mick Mills in the background, Paul Cooper, Gary Birtles and TB bringing up the rear. Looks like another Ipswich win against Forest, cheer up Trev!
March 1st 2016, wet and miserable, Baxter will be more brown than any other colour when we get back from this mid afternoon paddle! Only got a few seagulls for company today, must be stormy at sea!Not another dog in sight.The morning was taken up by helping Orsom Ltd, that is Mrs O and Toby, unload some furniture out of the storage container, stock take, and transport back to a job that is on the go in the middle of Bristol. |
AuthorRussell Osman is a former England & Ipswich Footballer, 4 Handicap Golfer and Father of 3. Archives
April 2018
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