scarecrow festival

Photographic Quiz:

Photo no. 110:- Name the four people on this photo? What event and date? And where?

Dearest Blog,

           I hope you are well and deeply concerned about my back …. Well I can tell you that I spent the whole of last night horizontal – the first time for over a month; and what is more I didn’t have to scream out in pain when I got up!!!!!!!!!!! The downside is that it was on the living room floor; bed is the next giant step for recovery, sleeping is the leap forward.

Next week is the Annual Festival in the village. Some of my estate workers had the temerity to ask if I would give permission for them to use part of my country seat to stage their entry for the village Scarecrow Competition. The Scarecrow Competition has ‘The Olympics’ as the theme and a large Cup will be given to the best display. I said I didn’t want every Tom or Dick or even Harry from the village tramping over my well-tended lawns. Then I saw the look of pained disappointment on their little faces and I felt a little guilty. Just a little, mind you Blog. So I relented. I don’t want to appear unreasonable so I told them they could use the patch of grass down in front of the Lodge as long as they kept on the other side of the security gates. Their little faces lit up. I felt a warm glow inside and then realised the cigarette stub in my pocket had caught fire and my pocket was smoking! Then I had an uncomfortable  feeling that I had just made a big mistake … one of them asked if they might have a bale of straw to use to stuff their scarecrow. I was a little taken aback, I can tell you. I don’t want to appear unreasonable so I told him that it didn’t just grow on trees. And he said he knew that because he had harvested it himself last autumn. I scrutinised him closely but could not tell if he was taking the proverbial Michael or not; I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I told him that bales cost £3 to the general public type person but I would loan him and his village friends a couple of bales if they brought them back when they had unstuffed the scarecrows after the festival had finished. I did stipulate however that all the scarecrow stuffers had to be estate workers, I wasn’t prepared to subsidise the whole village dudies! I also said that I expected nothing short of victory and that they might adopt the Olympic Spirit in the Scarecrow Competition where it is the winning that counts and not the taking part. I think they got the message. I don’t think a threat to dock their wages in the event of a defeat would have been productive as it might have dampened their enthusiasm. As I said the Vicar later that day, I was really interested in who would come second or third in the competition but I was sure that, as Chief Judge, he would ensure a fair competition with no favouritism shown although I did say that I thought the estate workers would do exceptionally well and I did feel obliged to point out to him that the Church Fete would be taking place next month and that I thought that he might want to ask me if he could my extensive lawns again for his event. I did not feel that it was necessary to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s, a nod and a wink in his direction seemed to hit the spot. I shall send you some pickies of the winning entries Blog. Something for you to look forward to!

Did it rain / sleet / hail yesterday Blog, or did it rain / sleet / hail yesterday? June. JUNE! And the wind? Incredeeeeeeeble. Niver seen owt like it. The orchard was flooded, the vegetable garden was under two feet [60 centimetres to you Blog] of water, the extensive lawns covered with a slimy film of mud, the greenhouse floors were under water and the Estate’s machine storage facility was awash; the hail had drilled holes in the plastic roofing of the cold frames. Blog, I kid you not. All in all, a mess. A mess with a capital ‘M’. Those insurance johnnies had better cough up, I’ll tell you Blog. Some quids will be needed for all the repair work needed. It is bad enough to have lost all the plums, pears, red and black currents and damsons from that late frost we had in May. And now this; at least the apples and strawberries have done well this season. Have I asked you before Blog … have you heard a cuckoo this year?? I haven’t. And another thing, have you noticed how all the hawthorn trees and bushes are pink? Not a suggestion of pink but, plainly, distinctly pink with a capital ‘P-I-N-K’. It’s that Chernobyl thing I mentioned before.

                         Be with you Blog.

                                               Colin

G.B.Olympic Selction 2012

Photographic Quiz:

Photo no. 109:- Why did this photo of the salver hang on the old Coventry Godiva Harriers club house wall for a long time??

Dear Blog,

           So some of the Olympic G.B. team have been announced in the press. I hope that the athletes concerned had a more positive experience than I had when I was selected for my first major Games. Finishing my lunchtime session, having showered and dressed, I met a local journalist as I was leaving the Butts Stadium changing rooms in Coventry. The journalist specialised in writing reports on the rugby scene in the local paper at the time but he was also a member of Godiva Harriers and is now editor of the NUTS Newsletter, Bob Phillips. He asked me if I knew that I had been selected for the Games as the news had just come in on the wire at the newspaper office. I told him that I hadn’t and, although I was third G.B. finisher in the trial, I did not think that I would be picked, expecting the selectors to do their usual trick, and select the established stars. I spoke from experience. In my first season of athletics after I had joined a running club, I had finished in the first six of the County Cross Country Championships, but the six selected for the Youths Inter County Cross Country Championships did not include my name but instead the list included the name of a ‘local star’ who had finished behind me in the County Championship. To say I was p***** off is to put it mildly. I had earned my place, but the favoured athlete was selected instead. NOT FAIR. Not fair at all, Blog. So, I wrote to the county of my birth and asked if I could run in their trial. They selected me for the Inter Counties and I ran for the county of my birth for the rest of my trudging career. This despite being eligible for a couple of other counties in the meanwhile where I would certainly have been assured of a clutch of team medals!!! They were good enough to select me, so I always turned up for the County Championships as a moral obligation. It is a pity that that kind of sentiment is a little lacking in certain athletic departments nowadays. And it took the British Athletic Authorities another fortnight to let me know that I had been chosen to run for Great Britain in the Games ….  They had lost my address, and I couldn’t be contact on the telephone because I didn’t have a telephone. An interesting spin off is that the ECCU [English Cross Country Union] always contacted me via a telegram to my place of work every time I was selected to run cross country on the continent. Of course, most of the selections had to be turned down because the local authority stopped my pay and the brown envelopes were not enough to compensate!!

Ref my last note to you Blog …. Funding …. Guess what Blog. The long-time sponsors of athletics seem to be losing interest in the sport post-Olympic Games. Now there is a surprise? For some time now, the poor athletes have been exposed to the advertising whims of the sports sponsors at a fraction of their commercial worth. The athletes were signed up for funding and sold their commercial birth right as a consequence. It brings to mind the quip in the age of amateurism of the 50s, 60s and 70s when the amateur athlete said that they could not afford the financial loss incurred in becoming a professional athlete!!! The old brown envelope??

                                  Colin

Fact: NUTS is the acronym for the National Union of Track Statisticians. The Newsletters are well worth a read.

Olympic Flame

Photographic Quiz:

Photo no. 108:- What is the connection between this cyclist, the Coventry weaving industry, Coventry Godiva Harriers and a world record?

Dear Blog,                                                                                                                                                            

One of the advantages of knowing important people Blog, is the feeling of superiority one gains when one is told important information before it is released to the hoi polloi. Well ………….. I will give you an opportunity Blog to be quids in before the peasantry have a chance to cash in. Make a few quids. Now I am not saying who will be lighting the Olympic Flame at the London Opening Ceremony because, of course, I do not know, wink wink, but if I were you Blog, I think I would take a trudge down to the local bookmakers and invest a few of your quids straight away. Don’t dilly daley on the way. I have no idea who will be lighting the Olympic flame in London at the Opening Ceremony but do you know what Tom’s Son is doing that day, wink, wink. I will not charge you for any privilege information I may give you Blog, about who might or might not be lighting the Olympic Flame in London in July, but like Horace Batchelor, Department One, Kaynsham, spelt K-A-Y-N-S-H-A-M of Bristol, all I ask of you is to send me 10% of your winning quids to give to the charity for disable children, Tiny Tims Children’s Centre which, if you can remember that far back Blog, is the reason you became my friend in the first place!! And something else that I know nothing about Blog, is that the details of the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Games with all that farmyard rubbish is just that, RUBBISH! Just remember where you heard it first when there is a post Games enquiry about assangeless leaks! And for the closing ceremony watch the fireworks form a mega multi-coloured dome over the Olympic Stadium and the giant firework rocket that ascends through the apex as the helicopters pass overhead towing the huge Olympic flag and the huge Union Flag and the huge Argentinian Flag behind ….unless it rains!

        And the CBT continues apace!!!!!!!!!!!!! The power of positive thinking methinks. Think about healing thyself injured athlete. Don’t go to the juju man because if you do, by the time a referral for an appointment to the PPI NHS hospital is completed, you will be either dead or cured by nature anyways. Think good thoughts if you get injured in your trudging Blog, you know it makes sense! Heal thyself. Positive thinking and careful planning of a rehabilitation programme [or program to you Blog] saves wasted time at the juju man’s house and you don’t need the juju man’s tablets … not unless they make you trudge faster of course!!!

          And next time Blog, I may tell you everything that I dont’s know about post-Olympic funding for athletics, unless a member of the Athletic Mafioso get me first …………………….

                   Colin

Arden '9'

Dear Blog,                                                                                                                                                    Today was the Arden ‘9’ at Hampton-in-Arden. My daughter ran, hence my going over to enable me to continue my CBT, Come Back Trudge; I managed about 3 miles of walking with a few tentative shuffles. Very pleased as it is the first time for nearly a month that I have manage anything resembling a trudge!!!! Yesterday I managed 2 by 50 minutes walk. So things are looking up Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Arden race was interesting. It started about a decade ago as a Fun Run organised by the local tennis club who didn’t really know what they were doing athletically; the race involved running on country roads then main highways, followed by crossing a major road very close to the finish. Actually cutting across a major road! The same unsuitable course is used. You should have seen the traffic hold up Blog, on the final road crossing. Impressive it was. No way would that course get a permit to enable it to be run in Coventry. But because it is established, now organised by an athletic club, it gets a permit in Warwickshire, but no way would that course get a permit to be run in Coventry. To cause an hold up on a major route for a field of about 250 is unbelievable, but more power to their elbow but still no way would that course get a permit to be run in Coventry. No police presence, just marshals. Marshals holding up the traffic. Unbelievable! Coventry council has all but strangled all road racing in the city. Road closure is demanded for an event and that costs money, a lot of money for a race organiser to find. Any profit a local club would make from organising a road race would be swallowed up paying for a road closure. So the Coventry Council can proudly say fingers to the local athletic club road race events because the Fun Runs for charity can cough up the dosh so that’s OK then. Company sponsored events can cough up the dosh so that’s OK then. Council organised events can cough up the dosh, so that’s OK then. And the poor athletic clubs who do all the grafting at the athletic grass roots, the poor athletic clubs who do so much to help the kids of Coventry, the poor athletic clubs who help out other events in so many ways are poor because the road races they once organised cost too much to promote. So that vital cash cow has been shot by the local council. Great!!

                                                                           Colin

U.K. Championships Birmingham 2012

Dear Blog,

             Do you ever shout at the radio at some of the banal rubbish that is broadcast?? Does repetition of items irritate you Blog? This morning the radio has been banging on again again again about goal line technology in football matches, specifically the European Cup. Athletics is sometimes technology obsessed often going over the top. Sorry Blog, it is 2012, that should read OTT. Absolutely. Even at young athletes’ level, I sometimes thing we, as a sport, lose the point of what we are doing because the ‘rule book says’, because of technology and ‘the computer says’, we are slaves to pseudo accuracy because ‘the measurement says’. On Sunday another Young Athletes League was held in Coventry at the track on the University of Warwick campus. A couple of days earlier, athletics was broadcast on the television. Now to illustrate what I am rattling on about about the pseudo accuracy of the sport just consider ………

      EDM [electronic distance measuring] is used to measure in events such as the javelin, meaning distances thrown can be accurate to within a centimetre; no problem there in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. Just consider…….

        In the long jump, the rules dictate that you leave the pit further down the sand than your jump if you wish to record a valid jump; no problem there in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. Just consider ……

       In the shot and hammer the rules dictate that you exit from the rear of the circle; no problem there in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. Just consider …….

      Track events up to and including the 10,000 metres are timed by electronic clocks to one hundredth of a second, the thickness of a vest (!); no problem there in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. Just consider ……

         A great deal of care is taken to record the reaction time in the 100 metres and the 200 metres when the gun is fired and a great deal of care is determined by electronic photographic recording instruments to determine the winner, again times recorded to one hundredth of a second; no problem there in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. All in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition.

THEN.

And I whittled on to you before about it Blog,

THEN we have the steeple chase.

Where shall we put the water jump??? Inside the track (e.g. many tracks)??? Outside the track (e.g. Birmingham where the UK Trials will be held this weekend)??? End of the back straight (e.g. Eugene)??? Inside the track but with a straight run up (e.g. Oslo)??? And of course with each different placement of the water, the barrier arrangement changes. If the sport is so pedantic about other events in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition, why turn a blind eye to the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition when it comes to the steeplechase??? Gottobe having some effect on the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition.

AND DON’T START ME ON THE MARATHON in the interests of uniformity and accuracy of measurement or equality of fairness of competition. I am not going down that road.

Trudging information and a few marathon training tips tomorrow, Blog. One of the tips you will not see in any manual on marathon training. I will try to be as delicate as I can with this tip, so if you are easily embarrassed Blog, I suggest you tell the postman to return to sender when he tries to deliver my message from his sack.

                                     Colin

Springwatch

Dear Blog,

            What an experience Blog. Someone once said that life should be all about new experiences. I have just had one. A very nerve wracking one, I can tell you Blog. My granddaughter’ birthday is today but to slot in with her school friends, the party was yesterday. It involved a bit of geocaching which was a completely new experience for most, then it was back home for pass the parcel and so on and so forth. Meanwhile grand dad was despatched to MacDonald’s for supplies. I have to confess at this point that the visit was a new experience for me. I have never been to a MacDonald’s, a KFC, a Burger King and so on and so forth. In fact I have just had to ask wifie for the names of outlets like MacDonald’s!!! So off I goes to said emporium with my wifie telling me what to do  ….. join the queue of cars, speak your order [into what where, I can’t see anyone], what do I want? Do I want drinks? What drinks? You don’t hold a conversation with the voice, drive to the next kiosk, pay the girl, drive to the next kiosk to pick up the order [what ready already? How come?] how do I return to the real world? Drive round there … Talk about being nervous Blog. I kid you not. Sweating I was. Blog I kid you not. It could have been worse … next time I may have to go into a MacDonald’s, a KFC, a Burger King and so on and so forth [cross yourself, say three times hail Godivas and go for a trudge]. While I am on this confessing lark, may I confess that I have never watched a soap thing on television. None of your Coronation Street et al. Not seen one. Not never, not nohow. Zilch. Can you believe that Blog. I kid you not. Of course the great down side of this lack of viewing experience is the embarrassment of watching a comedian on Television, or worse, watching a comedian live, when everyone is splitting their sides laughing and I am sat there po-faced because I do not have a clue what is being laughed about!!!!!!!!!!! So many references to TV for a laugh. Mind you Blog, the newspapers are as bad. Reporting on people I have never heard of as if they were everyones best mates. And don’t start me on this football nonsense!!!!!!!!!

I think I shall record today as DAY ONE of the Come Back Trudge. CBT to you Blog. Have you noticed that invariably, when an acronym is used, the initialisation is followed by the full phrase!!! I walked one mile to the park and later walked one mile back home. This after a very rough night of sheer agony with my back. Still trying to sleep upright, the next step in my rehabilitation is to sleep horizontal. Or even to sleep! I went to the park because it was Allesley Park Fete, the four local schools, joining together to promote the event. If you do not know Blog, Allesley Park is an area of Coventry where muggles tend to live. They pretend to be like we posh people who live in Allesley Village, or even posher people like me who live in the countryside on our own estate lands. The existence of the four schools is interesting in today’s climate of swinging cuts. There are four junior schools within half a mile, each other having grown organically over the years. Praise to Coventry City Council because the vast majority of LEAs would have axed, shut, amalgamated some of the schools in such a small area on the grounds of efficiency. My granddaughters school is the smallest, and in my experience of education, does an absolutely first class job. But because it is small, it is not as popular as the others!!!! If the people of Allesley Park lived in a posh area, or an even posher area like me, they would be spending very many quids to get the small class size, the excellent teacher – pupil ratio, the very pleasant grounds and equipment that exists in my granddaughter’s school. Nowt so strange as folk?? The fete also included a one mile Fun Run which my granddaughter wanted to do. Sad to say, only the first 50 got medals which is not really on when it was small kiddies running around, organised specifically for their benefit. Whose bright idea was that???? The medals cost pence; the plastic disc inserts cost pence. And if there was an over order, the discs could be removed easily and the medals used for another event at some future date. Been there, done it, and got the medals to prove it. The fete was staged in Allesley Park, an old trudging ground of mine from nearly fifty years ago!!!!!!!! What was noticeable this morning was the sorry state the grass, the golf course and the paths were in. Obviously as part of the council cost cutting, the grass is now not cut as often as previous years and some areas are left untouched; left to go back to nature. This is reminiscent of the early seventies when some bright spark in the Coventry City Parks Department had the bright idea to leave the grass uncut all summer; on road side verges, on school playing fields and in all parklands. They also had the bright idea of putting the grass cutting rights out to tender to farmers; they could cut the grass to be used as hay, at a price. BRILLIANT. The council saves money by not having to employ staff or machinery to cut grass. BRILLIANT. The council saves money by collecting fees off farmers who cut the grass for nowt, and pay to take the grass away to use as feed. BRILLIANT. It meant that the parks could not be used for training all summer as the long grass was unrunable, a real pain up the bum, Blog; more road work, more injuries. BRILLIANT. When the grass was cut and left to dry in the sun, the kids could build play making dens and better still, play setting fire to large swathes of parkland. BRILLIANT. The farmers complained about their out lay of money for the tender process was going up in smoke at the same time as the arson taking place in the parks. BRILLIANT. The farmers complained that most of the hay they had harvested could not be used as it was full of dog fasces. BRILLIANT. The farmers were instructed that they could only use their machinery for reaping at certain times of the day because of public safety concerns. BRILLIANT. Many of the football pitches could not be used the following winter because either the goal mouths had not been reseeded or the pitches were devoid of grass as a result of late hay making stripping the surface thereby not giving the new grass time to grow. BRILLIANT. The public complained about the restricted use of parkland because of the long grass. Now that jobsworth was no doubt honoured in Queenies birthdays honours’ list, nothing short of a knighthood, methinks. Lord Cockup of Longgrass.

                                        Colin

nowt like a nice cup o' tea

Photograph Quiz:

Photo no. 103:- Who is my neighbour? What race is this? What happened to my neighbour in the race? Why do I remember it so well? Clue for you Blog … nothing to do with my neighbour!!

Now to tell you the truth Blog I was a bit upset this morning. My wife has had a badly swollen knee for a couple of weeks. Luckily it does not interfere with her wifie duties, the cleaning, polishing, baking, washing, ironing, gardening, wood chopping, window cleaning, digging, car washing, my tensies, my elevensies, my afternoon tea and all my other meals although she does struggle a little bit when she brings me my morning cup of tea in bed. I told her not to bother bringing me up a cup and saucer of tea in a morning if she was in pain climbing the stairs. A mug would do. I am not that inconsiderate. I’ll tell you what Blog, this knee thing is getting her down a bit. And I’ll tell you what Blog, this knee thing is getting me down a bit with all her moaning and groaning. So she rang up the doctors for an appointment. Did she try to get one for me and my bad back. Oh no. It was self, self, self. It would not have taken too much effort. She got an appointment straight away. No problem. I said to her, ‘that’s your nice Mr Cameroon for you. You want a doctor’s appointment then Mr Cameroon is the man for you’. So she went and got some pills. While she was there, did she tell the doctor about my bad back? Oh no. It was all knee, knee, knee. She was a little late back and I was wondering if she had forgotten my elevensies. She made it for four minutes past eleven, so I forgave her as I did not allow her the use of the automobile for the two mile walk up into the village. Petrol hasn’t come down in price that much, I told her. I said, ‘the walk will exercise the knee. Do it good. Get the old juices flowing about amongst the cartilage gristle.’ So it took her a little longer than usual to hobble back. And then, do you know what Blog? You could have knocked me down with a ten bob note. She refused to share with me the pain killing tablets she had been proscribed. I was more than put out I can tell you. I am sincerely thinking of trimming her household budget next week, I’ll tell you straight Blog. I said, I had paid into this Mr Bevan’s National Health thing all my working life and my father before me, and just because I have been retired for seventeen years and my father has been dead for twenty two years, does not mean to say that I am not entitled to a pain killer or two. She went off in a right huff. I had to get my own chocolate wafer biscuit out of the tin. She didn’t consider the pain I was in reaching up into the cupboard. She went off down the garden to turn over the pile of manure I have prepared for the marrows. I told her not to take her moodymoods out on the manure pile, and to use the fork not the spade. I want good vibes down there when she has to plant my marrows.

                                           Colin 

Olympic Games Opening Ceremony 2012

Hi Blog,

     This you are not going to believe, really funny …. I was shown how to use this inter thing on the laptoppy last night, so I typed in “Back pain, spasm”. Up came that long list thing, all containing information on “Back pain. Spasm”, all the whys and all the wherefores and all the whotsits. So I chose one and stuck my little arrow on the third one down to solve my “Back pain, spasm” and clicked and you will never guess what happened next Blog … the screen froze, it went into a spasm and I couldn’t do anything with it. Blog, I kid you not. That is really what happened. “Back pain, spasm” and the screen went into a spasm. I knew just how the laptoppy felt. The agonising pain. Could I unfreeze it …. Could I not!!!!!!! Now I have to confess that my back has been slightly bettttteeer following the treatment with a bag of warm grain heated in the micro wave for two minutes. Because it has started to do a bit of good for my back, I thought I would unfreeze the lappytoppy in the same way. So I stuck the bag of grain in the micro wave for two minutes and when it was hot I stuck it on the frozen screen. It didn’t seem to work. It didn’t seem to make any difference to the frozen screen. If it worked for me, why did it not help the poor screen? I was baffled for a time. And then the penny dropped. I should have put the bag of grain in the micro wave for three not two minutes. It obviously didn’t work because the bag of grain had not been left in the micro wave long enough. Oh well. Say la vie!

Have you noticed today is the 12^th June 2012, or to you Blog, 12.6.12. Get it Blog??? These palindromes occur far more often than the poor old trolls might think. It’s like your mathematics.. The newspaper make a big deal every time one trundles into view … but there is always another one just behind. Of course the poor trolls don’t realise that the palindromes can be served up in dozens of different ways. Include the seconds, don’t include the seconds. Include the minutes, don’t include the minutes. Include the hours, don’t include the hours. Include the day, don’t include the day. Don’t include the month, do include the month. Include all four digits of the year, don’t include all four digits of the year, perhaps just include two. Put the days first put the days last …… gedditt now Blog?????

So Danny Boy is spending 27 million quids to bring the countryside to the Olympic Opening Ceremony. £27m!!!!!!! Well Danny Boy, have I got news for you? The Olympic Organising Committee can borrow the whole of my estate for the evening for a couple of thousand quids, and that includes the glowing sheep from Wales and the odd cow or two. The only condition I want written into the agreement is that I can have all the cow pats, all the rabbit droppings and all the horse pooo. After the Opening Ceremony, I plan to bag up the aforesaid pat dropping poo and flog it to all these Johnnie Foreigners who are coming to London for the Olympic Games as a sensory momento of the occasion. ‘Buy it, Save it, Smell it’ as a permanent reminder of the English country side … or you could just pop down to my estate and see me. For a small fee of course. You don’t get owt for nowt round here, Bloggsie Boy. Ask Danny Boy. £27m indeed!!!!!!!!

                                                    Colin

Great Britain Olympic Triathlon Team

Dear Blog,

                Sorry about the silence …. My back hasn’t ceased up …. Totally …. Yet. A new personal best performance …. The longest time in the last 50 years that I have had off running / jogging / trudging. It’s official. So fings are bad, with a capital ‘B’. Perhaps the last four days camping in the wet, wet, wet hasn’t helped my recovery??

Last time but ones’ letter, I mentioned an item to you Blog about dishonesty when the dark mushroom cloud descended on North Wales and the farmers saw fit to have their palms crossed by silver by increasing their flocks of sheep by night via some government quids. Well, because my back was not allowing any trudging last week and I happened to be in the area where I used to work, I thought I would pop down to the local river and check out a few of the fields on the river bank down near the M6 motorway. Many years ago when the great gas pipe line expansion took place in this country following the discovery of large gas reserves in the North Sea, a mega pipe was driven through the countryside in North Warwickshire where I worked. Compensation of course was paid to the farmers for the loss of their crops. The pipe went through fields used mainly for sheep grazing and silage production; the soggy fields down by the river where the pipe line sliced through were fallow, a mixture of reed and agricultural neglect. When at work, on a Friday, if I was racing on the Saturday, I used to run a steady ‘5’ at lunch time which took me from work, down the narrow country lane to a bridge used by cattle to cross the M6. From there I dropped down to the river bank, crossing the unused fields, usually ankle deep in water, to the old disused railway, into Lord Aylesford’s Estate, returning to work via the packhorse bridge over the river next to the derelict estate school. Thence up the road back to work and my wet sandwich lunch in the shower!!! The gas pipe line company paid the farmers a handsome rate of compensation commensurate with the cost of losing their crop, some crops commanding a higher premium than others. Guess what? Instead of sheep and silage, the fields for miles around where I worked started sprouting potatoes and sweet corn that summer. Coincidentally, those fields suddenly given over to growing potatoes and sweet corn were in the direct path of the pipe line!!! On one lunchtime jaunt down by the river, I saw one of the farmers ploughing up the fields on the river bank with a caterpillar tractor. Back at work, I asked his son what on earth his dad was doing trying to plough up the rubbishy water logged fields. He laughed. He was planting corn in one and cabbage in the other, he told me. Of course it will never be any good he added, but it paid a good rate of compensation from the gas company. The rate was so good that it had paid his dad to hire in a specially adapted tractor fitted with caterpillar tracks to cope with the tricky conditions. On my walk last week, the fields needless to say, have reverted to their wild useless unproductive state!!!

If that was a little dishonest on the part of the local farmers, it was a case of honest dishonesty which did not affect or cause distress to any of the interested parties. Future livelihoods were not ruined. The same cannot be said of the disgraceful behaviour, in my opinion, of the British Triathlon selectors in their choice of their entrants for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Some of the competitors chosen, men as well as women, were selected, not because they were the best in the rankings, but because they could act as ‘pacemakers’, rabbits, for the triathletes who were in with a chance of a medal. That is downright dishonest. The selectors were quite open about the reason for their particular selections. Competitors at the Olympics should be chosen on merit. Despite the claims that the triathlon is a team sport, individuals will be standing on the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places on the winners’ podium, not national teams. The British Olympic Authority got all hot and bothered under the collar about allowing reinstated drug takers to take part in the Olympics, but this form of dishonesty has been met with a deafening silence. And the same applies to our wonderful fourth estate, not a dickie bird. So cheating is OK. Get out the syringes boys and girls. Pop down for a pint of the good stuff. Get the pacemakers in the athletics squad for our 10 kilometre hope, Mo Farah, and a couple of girl marathoners to help Paula Radcliffe on her way.

There is no way that the triathlon selectors will right the wrong they have done to the triathletes not selected, so the obvious thing to do is hoist the selectors with their own petard. Hamlet and the others should go along with the pretence that they are willing fall guys but when the gun goes in the Olympic Games for their event, it should be ‘Sod you mate, I’ll do the best I can for me!!!!’ After all, after the event, there is no way the triathlon selectors will know whether or not the performance of the noncompliant performing rabbits was due to a bad day at the office or due to a bad day at the office??? At least an injustice will be seen to be partly righted by honest spectating sportsmen??

                                      Colin

Question Time.

Photograph Quiz:

                             

Photo no. 103:- So who’s the handsome fella blowing his own trumpet, sounding off his horn??? Why is he blowing off?? What for??

Dear Blog,

          Like question time it is, question time big time. Because my back is still so bad, a shuffle out of the estate gate and a few hundred yards (metres to you Blog) down the Lane and back …. I noticed that all the flowers on the hawthorn in the hedge rows are pink, with a capital ‘P’, this year. Usually the flowers on the bushes and trees have a suggestion of pink, and I know there is a pink variety, but, take a look Blog. PINK. All the bushes with very few exceptions are distinctly pink. Pink Blog, I kid you not. So question number one Blog, is Why? Fukushoma?????????? Chernobyl????????? Blog you may laugh. Until about five years ago I used to trudge with sweat adripping in the sand dunes of Harlech in North Wales until those conservation wallahs moved in and stuck up wire fencing to prevent erosion. I went there regularly. To Harlech. To sweat. If I had a hot marathon coming up, I used to run in the dunes in a thin wet suit and sweat buckets and buckets …. But I used the procedure successfully to adapt to the feeling of dehydration in a race. I’ll say a lot more about adaptation in my next letter or two and tell you what I did, if you are slightly interested Blog. Anyway, back to my tale of Wales, Jonah. I used to train in Harlech ‘til the dunes were declared fragile. As part of the routine, I used to also do long runs into the hills behind the village, or for a fast long flat run, I used to fight the traffic into Ffestineogogagogogo and back. Now Chernobyl, if you didn’t know Blog, happened in 1986. The whole lot went up in April, with a great big mushroom cloud. Well not exactly. But a cloud did drift to the UK and plonked a great deal of glowy sparkly stuff on the hills. In Harlech the sheep used to glow in the dark. The farmers were not supposed to allow the lamb and mutton to enter the food chain, the government paying compensation for the loss of income incurred. Over the next few years, one of the local farmers told me that the flocks of sheep in the area mushroomed in size … for obvious reasons. Compensation, Blog, Compensation. And was any of the sheep sent to market via the fields of winter grazing in the Midlands. Not allowed??? As the farmer said, the sheep had to come down off the high hills for the winter and needed feeding during the cold months. And when did the government give the all clear that the radiation had dropped to an insignificant level, Blog???  As far as the press was concerned, interest in the topic soon waned. This tale of Wales was no longer of importance, not even to Ahab. No one asked the government for information about radiation levels, or the safety of the meat in the area. I say nothing because I DO NOT KNOW, but some of the farmers in the area still have large flocks for some reason?????  Must get myself a half life.

Onto question number two Blog ….Why has the local newspaper gone into Purdah with athletics’ reporting in the area??? The Midland Men’s Track League has come and gone and not a dickie bird. Not a peep. The Women’s Midland Track league has come and gone and not a dickie bird. Not a peep. The Young Athlete’s Track League has come and gone and not a dickie bird. Not a peep. The club won the Kenilworth Festival Relay but not a dickie bird. Not a peep. Our first club member has been selected for the athletics at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and not a dickie bird. Not a peep. Coventry Godiva’s 2012 Olympic representative and not a dickie bird. Not a peep. What’s the expression Blog, ‘Hot off the press’? Suggest for ‘e’  read ‘i’!! The irony is that the athlete would have had a half page write up with photos if he had dressed up as Mickey Mouse and beaten Mini by one place in finishing in thirteen thousand five hundred and seventy ninth place in the Canary Isle Half Marathon Off Road Fun Run raising funds for distressed budgies. Don’t get me wrong Blog, I personally have nothing against Budgies. Not very tasty in a sandwich mind. The ratio of feathers to meat is too big in my humble opinion. And the beak tends to be very chewy.

And finally Blog. Question number three … the biggie with a capital ‘B’. What am I to do about my back. Eight days without a serious trudge. EIGHT. 8. In the last 50 years I don’t think I have ever been trudgeless for so long and that includes my various operations and confinements in hospital. ‘To trudge or not to trudge?’ that is the question. ‘Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the aches and pains of the physio’s bills or cross the palm of an acupuncturist with silver. I tell you Blog, my mortal coil has just about had it, just about had it Blog ….’

                        But say la vie Blog, say la vie. Colin

Smithsonian Networks

Photograph Quiz:

                              

Photo no. 102:- Is this interesting Blog, or is this interesting? Read on my boy…..

Dear Blog,

          OK Let’s see if you can help me with this little problem. Yesterday’s question was for yesterday, today’s question is for today …… How do I contact an important person??? For six or seven years I have had no luck in contacting this important person … e-mails, letters by the old fashioned method of employing a sticky stamp, the odd pigeon or two, bush telegraph, even phone calls to his office. I assume all his personal jobsworths are blocking access; so it’s over to you Blog. HELP me man, help me ………………

Some background. As part of my researches into the History of Coventry Godiva Harriers and other Athletic Clubs in the City, I have told you that I like to follow a little side track or two, up the junction without a paddle. Well. One ‘aside’ was to delve into the history of the club badge of  Lady Godiva, the weavers who used to make the different variations and their involvement within the club; and the use of the symbol elsewhere. I discovered that a variant of the club badge design which was the one used on the ‘club membership card’ in the 1920s, was adopted by another athletic club for its emblem. The club was in America!!! This design variant on the membership cards came about because of another internal Coventry Godiva Harrier dispute, one of many over the years since the 1879 foundation. The Lady Godiva emblem was adopted by the Carolina Godiva Track Club. It was founded in 1975 by this important person whom I wish to contact, the club was intended to cater for women runners in the Durham area of North Carolina, U.S.A.. Members of the present club have been unable to offer me much help, hence my appeal to you Blog ….

            The club was founded by the important person and was an ‘English Teacher’.

 First question Blog:- does ‘English Teacher’ mean ‘a teacher of English’ or ‘a teacher who came from England’? I have established that the person went to America on a scholarship and his name was DAVID ROYLE.

So Second question Blog:- how do I contact him? His name is David Royle and I want to ask him about the founding of the club   Why the name – Why only women – What is the connection to Godiva – and so on and so forth.

David Royle
Executive Vice President, Programming & Production Smithsonian Networks

David Royle is Smithsonian Networks’ EVP, Programming and Production. In that role, Royle oversees the commissioning, acquiring and co-producing of all programming for the Networks. Royle joined Smithsonian Networks to bring a distinctive and creative point-of-view to the Networks’ editorial direction. Since it’s launch in September 2007, the Smithsonian Channel has expanded rapidly and is now available by satellite, cable and telecom service throughout America. It has won numerous awards and critical acclaim for its original programming and in 2008 became the youngest channel ever to win an Emmy. Royle was previously EVP of Production for National Geographic Television & Film where he launched and oversaw numerous productions including Search for the Afghan Girl, SuperCroc, and the highly-rated Taboo series. He was Executive Producer of the award-winning television series, National Geographic Explorer. Under his leadership Explorer won more News and Documentary Emmy Awards than any other show on TV. 

I believe he went to America on a ‘Moorhouse Scholarship’. You can help me with this as well Blog, ‘Moorhouse Scholarship’?? The original officers of the Carolina Godiva Track Club have very little recollection of him. The suggestion for the name ‘Godiva’ was chosen by Royle as an apt name for a new women’s athletic club; was it a result of a connection to Coventry Godiva Harriers in some way? The last question being the one I wish to ask him!!!

See www.carolinagodiva.org

So comeon Blog, comeon. Get the old finger out and solve the problem. Try trudging, it helps the old grey matter swirl about abit!

                                                           Colin

P.S. I am glad you enquired about my back problem Blog. Nice of you. Waking up early this morning, I spent a careful half hour planning the moves to get vertical …. Then how to get dressed …. Then how to decend to the kitchen …. Trudging took another knock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Managed to walk up into the village to get a newspaper from the garage  ….  each step was ouch-ouch-ouch!!

P.P.S. Got to get sorted about a few more quids for Tiny Tims Children’s Centre, Blog; the reason for me writing to you in the first place, if you remember!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

E-Bay

Dear Blog,

    Wednesday:- I had a pleasant 8 mile trudge from home to the athletics’ track at Warwick University. The clubhouse was open for sweets and drinks for the school children taking part in the Coventry Schools Athletic Championships; it was the relay championships. Because the undergraduates were sitting examinations in the sports hall adjacent to the track, a gun could not be fired to start the races for fear of disturbing the students, so the school teacher had to use a clapper!!

Thursday:- As the day wore on, I became increasingly aware of my back……… Agony!!!! By teatime, I could hardly move. EEEEEEEEEEEXXXXXXXXXXXXcruciatinggggggggg; Blog I kid you not. Walking was painful with a capital ‘P’. No way could I trudge, no way at all. And what was the cause of my discomfort??????????? Blog, you tell me because I haven’t a clue. A clue I have not. Trying to sit, trying to get out of a chair, trying to lie down in bed, trying to get up out of bed, trying to sleep and Friday was a repeat!! Two days off trudging, please forgive me Lord but a miracle was not forth coming. How’s about one today, please???????? So I am sat here writing to you Blog. It could be a long letter …… a very long letter ….. a very long letter indeed, ‘cos I ain’t not going anywhere fast, and I ain’t going anywhere slow either!

Sooossssss

I do like to offer you a challenge with my little photo quizzes, don’t I Blog. But the last  photo caused me some heart ache. Blog, I kid you not. I do need your help. Seriously. Your help is needed. I have mentioned to you often enough that I spend some time unearthing the History of Coventry Godiva Harriers and other Athletic Activity in the City of Coventry ……………… well the photo I sent you yesterday is posing a big problem for me.

 To remind you Blog …………….the club was founded in 1879, one of the oldest clubs in the world, never mind England. When I started there was very little information about the club for two very good reasons.

Firstly:- until 1984 we had no permanent headquarters, all records, minutes, club information etc. being kept by the various officials at their own homes. When they died the relatives, not appreciating the importance of all the documents, quite naturally threw everything away!!!

Secondly:- When the club centenary was approaching in 1979, an attempt was made to write a history of the club. Different people were approached to undertake the task, local journalists etc.. The person who showed the most interest was Colin Smith of Mantec Publications, Rugby. Much material was collected and sent to him. Then a series of incidents    ..... the club was organising the national marathon championships for 1979 as part of the club celebrations, Godiva being a club with a reputation for marathon running and for supplying more Olympic marathon runners than any other athletic club in G.B.. Whilst helping to measure the course, one of the two officials charged with organising the writing of the club history was tragically killed whilst out measuring the actual course. In the meantime, Colin Smith contacted the club secretary to say that all the material he had been given should be returned to the club as he was no longer able to undertake the task. The secretary with all the sudden extra work burden caused by the accident never answered his letter, and most of the material went astray. Despite a great deal of time and effort, I have been unable to find Colin Smith, any trace of him or his company. Part of the memorabilia sent to Colin Smith was a set of photograph albums. One of our old members took / collected photographs of all sports, which he meticulously labelled and kept in a series of albums ... luckily I have located all post 1938 albums. He had one son, again I have failed to find his whereabouts, or if he is still alive; the photographer died in his late 80s so his son must be at least that now, if still living. Now Blog, and this is where I need any expertise you can offer. Since October, a series of pre 1938 photos have been offered for sale on e-bay by three different sellers. The photos have come from one of the earlier missing albums. The hand writing, style of recording, use of pencil all are identical to the details on the photos the club has. Now, because so many artefacts went astray, I tried to enlist the help of the sellers to tell me from whom they bought the photos so I might contact the person concerned to see if they also have the club bugle (from 1880), the club oak shield (from 1961),  any early minutes (I have the first set 1879 to 1882), any early membership forms (I have 1889 to 1912), any other photos, particularly of the walkers and the cyclists or any other relevant material. There was one initial response, but then nothing. No help. Zilch!! So thankyou and ta very much. Of course my assumption is that the photos came from the missing albums, the content of which would be so useful to me in my History.

As I have said before to you Blog, THERE YOU HAVE IT! What to do is the question. Any thoughts??? [The photo in the quiz is from one of the albums]

I will detail my next plea for help from you when I have tried to exercise my back …… listen for the screams of pain when I try to dechair!

                          Colin