Sometimes you know the journey will involve a record-breaking element, as was the case the first time we crossed the Millau Viaduct in France (890 ft above the valley floor) – the bridge’s reputation preceded it. On this occasion, the significance of our surroundings was lost on us. Happily, because of the internet, it’s possible to learn all about things like that, after the fact.
That’s not what happened. One random Tuesday night, I got a phone call around tea time. The tractor had been delivered, to the dealership, and my friend was driving it home. He was wondering if we were at home as he was planning to pop in, on the way. “Yes, of course!”, I replied, with mounting excitement, looking hastily for my digital camera.
Once at the top, we mooched about a bit and – I’m pretty sure – took a drink or two in the bar. When it was time to descend, either I or the other male in the group had the idea of the two of us walking down to meet “the girls” back in the town. The idea was, I’m sure, initially ridiculed but we were determined and before long, we left them to board the cable car down and off we went on the clearly-marked footpath.
A microphone was passed around the players, giving each the chance to individually thank the fans. One or two took the opportunity to show off their singing talents (if that’s the right word). Eventually, it made its way to the back of the bus where The Boss gave a short speech about the determination of the team and his appreciation for the fans’ support over the twenty-five-and-a-half years of his tenure. Predictably, every sentence was raucously applauded.
On Sky’s Monday Night Football, the match at home to Blackburn became the coronation of the first-ever Premier League champions. Kevin Gallagher threatened to dampen the party by scoring for the visitors before goals from Giggs, Ince and – improbably – a Gary Pallister free kick made it 3-1 to United.
It’s important here not to get too carried away: winning industry awards is hardly comparable to collecting an ‘Oscar’ in front of the world’s media but I have to say, it’s a whole lot closer than not winning one.
And so I spent much of the evening chatting to a man who’d captained three different teams to win the Challenge Cup, a man who’d had a brief, controversial time as coach of Wigan and the man I’m pretty sure was only ever referred to by my grandma as “that dirty bugger”.
5 years ago | Chamberlains Farm, Shevington Moor | 10th April 2018 Five years ago, I found myself on a local history Facebook group, in a conversation with a regular poster who knew a surprising amount about our family history. It led to the sharing of an old family secret that’s now available for anyone …
We arrived at a charming pub called the Drunken Duck Inn, ordered a round of Old Peculiers and sat outside, around the bench tables across the road. In the mild spring sunshine, we chatted and ate and drank as the evening wore on. Through nothing but pure luck, it just became one of those magical nights when all the elements were perfect.
It may be thirty years on but I’m still not going to say how quickly it took me to cover the 241 miles – or the average speed I worked it out to have been. The only detail I will add is that I was only overtaken once throughout the whole journey: by a police car with its ‘blues and twos’ on, around Walsall. Call me cautious but it felt like the safest course of action all round, to slow down and let him pass.
The next morning, I awoke to one of the worst hangovers I can remember. It was made many times worse by the fact that when I opened the tent for some fresh air, I discovered it was actually snowing.
The best thing to do was get out of the tent, sit in the car, with the engine and heating on and nurse the half-bottle of Fanta that I had until such point that I was able to function again.
I remember liking things that I knew were popular before Kenny Everett but I think it’s fair to say that his show was among the first things I liked because I knew it was ‘cool’. I also can’t think of anything before Ken that I loved specifically because it was subversive. You knew it often skated along the ragged edge of what humour could get away with – which made it all the more appealing.
In contrast, ‘KITT’ was installed with futuristic AI, the cutting-edge looks of an ’82 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am – and he was bullet-proof. It was as 1980s as it could be. What nine year-old could resist the conclusion that this was the future of TV entertainment?
I’ve been in far colder temperatures: -20°C in New York, one January; a similar reading in Pennsylvania, in another – and both with significant wind chill. In both instances, staying outside for any amount of time wasn’t a good idea, so I didn’t stay outside long. Conversely, on the ski slopes, the physical exertion of skiing generates the body heat to offset the freezing conditions. I’ve even jumped into an outdoor swimming pool in Denver in winter, reasoning that it must be a heated pool, only to find out that it wasn’t – and it was still a less uncomfortable experience.
I didn’t think much more about it, expecting to end up ‘on the cutting room floor’. A day later, I happened to have Sky Sports News on and heard the introduction to a piece about touch rugby. Surely, it couldn’t be last night’s footage, could it?
And then there we were – and, if you look really carefully, there I was. The few seconds’ footage of our game against OSJ Ladies came from a time when I was on interchange, which is why I’m at the top of the screen, off the pitch.
It’s been fantastic to watch Max grow and develop over the last fifteen years and it’ll be wonderful to see what mark he (and Abi) will make on the world. In particular, it’s been lovely to help him develop his love of cinema, especially science fiction. Countless Film Night’ appointments in recent years (usually featuring my own version of ‘KFC’) have seen us watch – and discuss – a wide range of films and themes. He’s always amazed me with his perceptiveness and the maturity of his observations.
Elsewhere, the various tigers are usually fairly motionless, as big cats tend to be. One of the Sumatran tigers was sat on the roof of his shelter, gnawing quietly on what was clearly a pony’s leg.
The next day, we got on the boat, ready for the short hop from Calais to Paris. Scotland were due to play France at the Parc des Princes in the Five Nations so we were confident we’d get a lift right into Paris. We disembarked at Calais and walked to the gates at the entrance to the Port and got our thumbs out. This was going to be easy!
Perhaps that scarcity value is what makes it, even now, feel like a special treat. I could probably count on two chilblain-afflicted hands the number of times we went car sledging in the whole decade.
On reflection, the phenomenon unleashed on the listening public in January 1978 was such a random collision of factors: a prodigy performance artist from Kent dancing expressively to her self-written song based on a (then) 140 year-old novel by Emily Brontë, set on the West Yorkshire Moors. Nothing about it fits any kind of formula for pop success but it got to Number 1 in the charts and stayed there for a month.
Predictably, I loved the film. At the age of nine, I was probably in the ideal demographic for it. Looking back, there was something else that may seem largely superficial now but at the time felt hugely profound: the chase scene at the end involved BMX bikes, something most school-age kids were very impressed by, in the early 1980s.
5 years ago | The Great Barrier Reef, off Queensland, AU | 4th January 2018 Five years ago, we snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. Let’s just let that just sink in for a moment… Even as I type those words, part of me can’t quite believe I’m able to. It’s a preposterous thing …
It was an amazing experience, well worth the travel tine it requires, being 70 miles south of Melbourne. If you’re ever in Victoria, it’s an absolute ‘must’ to add to your itinerary. Luckily, I’d heard about it before our trip to Australia. Even more luckily, we had a friend who was able to take us there.
By Boxing Day, I was painting and staining, putting up curtains and planning how to spend Christmas money. I remember not long after, we blew about £500 in Warrington Ikea on storage boxes, a dining room set, crockery and cutlery and light fittings.
As we streamed out of the ground after the game, there was a sense in the crowd that Cantona could really be the final piece of the puzzle after so much unfulfilled promise.
My Dad and I began to immerse ourselves into this brave new world, anticipating the many doors of wonderment that would open before us, as all the hype was suggesting. The reality was, I’m afraid, not entirely the kind of valuable experience we were hoping for.
Earlier that year, I’d been asked to write the award entry documentation to support CSG’s participation in the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Awards, in the category of ‘Best Use of Technology’. Such is the way of these things, you don’t just type in your company details and hit ‘Submit’. The documentation is more like a bunch of exam questions: “Demonstrate X” or “Show how Y”. Anyway, they won the Manchester award and went through to the National Awards in London. Kindly, I was invited to attend, although unfortunately, we didn’t win that night.
Was this just a bit of alcohol-fuelled optimism that got lucky or was there really a direct line from Old Trafford to fist-year undergraduates in Lancaster? We’ll never know. All I can say is that the rumours were right and the next day, it happened and… …well you probably know the rest.
Two-hour training sessions, twice a week, travel to away games across the North West, pre-match team breakfasts, social occasions, fundraising activities, club outings and parents’ nights out. Then there’s all the stuff you need: the kit, training kit, footwear, safety wear, kit bags, a first aid kit, balls, kicking tees, raffle tickets, club merchandise. And then all the constant, incessant washing, It quickly takes over a large part of your life.
One morning, I was. a bit too keen to hit the breakfast buffet at [name withheld] and I think I might have had something that had been there a few hours because by that afternoon, I was being violently ill – a lot – with suspected food poisoning. To make it more interesting, we’d booked on a flight over the Grand Canyon the next day.
One day, in late October 1977, while running and pushing it around, bent over it, I remember thinking to myself, after a while, ‘it’s a bit uncomfortable to run around and keep looking up – so I’ll just run without looking’. It wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. I ran into a real truck, parked nearby, and fractured my skull, badly. I don’t remember anything else until almost a week later.
Take a close look at this photo: the location of the camera, relative to the Thames. It’s Parliament but not from an angle you’re used to seeing. That’s because this is the Members’ Terrace: to be here, you have to be either an MP or their guest. A trip to Prime Minister’s Questions and some good contacts (Helen’s Mum) resulted in us being invited into the inner sanctum by the then Member for West Derby, Stephen Twigg.
30 years ago: Bowland Tower, Lancaster University, UK – ??th October 1992I’ll be honest, I have no idea on what date this photo was taken – do I look like I would? From the locked kitchen cupboards, the décor and, yes, the hair, I *can* tell you this was from my first year at university. …
20 years ago: NEC Arena, Birmingham, UK – 11th October 2002For two years, we were the main sponsor of the Prince Phillip Cup, the most prestigious competition in the sport of Mounted Games, with the final held at the Horse of the Year Show at the NEC in Birmingham. Helen and I were asked to …
35 years ago: Central Park, Wigan, UK – 7th October 1987I’m almost certainly on this picture. I was one of the 36,895 who packed into Wigan’s old Central Park ground to watch the cherry-and-whites become World Club Champions. That we were packed tightly at the very back of the corner terrace, far behind the floodlight …
20 years ago: Statham Lodge, Lymm, UK – 29th September 2002We got married twenty years ago, this week. I’ve previously shared more obvious pictures from that day but this shot is one of my favourites. We’re gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, for a cameraman trying to create an image. We’d argued in that Bentley …
Despite the shock, we had to apply some perspective. Most importantly, no-one was killed or injured and all that was lost could be replaced. Stories emerged of customers having to be quite forcibly ushered out of the building by some heroic members of staff when the alarm was raised. All the cars had been cleared from the car park. The only thing left was to save as much of the building and contents as possible but the speed of the fire was too much. Even though the Fire Service arrived quickly, the chance to save the building had already passed.
25 years ago | Robinsons Superstore, Ashton-in-Makerfield, UK | 13th September 1997 Yes, that’s right, twenty-five years ago, I stroked a celebrity, repeatedly and in full view of the watching public. And I think the celebrity liked it. Okay, this isn’t as creepy as the headline suggests. ‘The celebrity’ was a world-famous horse, ‘Milton’, a …
10 years ago: Salford Quays, Manchester, UK – 11th September 2012I took this photo as we climbed out of Manchester Airport on a flight to Gothenburg. You can see the Manchester Ship Canal winding its way past the Trafford Centre to Salford Quays, Media City, the Lowry and then Old Trafford football ground. Behind the …
10 years ago: Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany – 31st August 2012A 2012 business trip to Germany just happened to be on the doorstep of Germany’s famous racing circuit. When it was time for lunch, our hosts had booked us in “a local restaurant”. We didn’t know any more than that until we arrived at the circuit …
30 years ago: Monsters of Rock, Castle Donington, UK – 22nd August 1992I’m almost certainly on this picture. Two days before, I’d got my A-Level results and learned my offer to go to Lancaster University had been confirmed. I celebrated by standing up all day with 70-odd thousand rock fans at a race circuit in …
10 years ago | Orléans Cathedral, Orléans, France | 17th August 2012 It’s exactly 10 years since we decided to drive into Europe for our main holiday. Technically, we had done a driving holiday once before – in 2009 – which I’d thought was a one-off. Probably as a result of that experience, a successful …
5 years ago: Mas Bernad, Vilademuls, Spain – 14th August 2017Five years ago, we discovered this haven in Catalunya, northern Spain. Owned by the charming Ignacio (we get to call him “Iggy”), it has become our home from home. We’ve been back there twice since 2017 and we were particularly sad not to be able …
10 years ago: Headingley Cricket Ground, Leeds, UK – 2nd August 2012A summer holiday grand day out, to watch England v South Africa from the legendary Western Terrace at Headingley. This was only my second time at the Yorkshire Test venue, having watched an Ashes Test during the one-sided 1993 series – that heralded the …
10 years ago | Chamberlains Farm, Shevington Moor, UK | 27th July 2012 In a ‘scene change’ of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, I made a brew and allowed myself to be caught up in the national-image-reaffirming positivity of the evening. The Queen had just ‘parachuted’ into the stadium and we’d shown the world all …
30 years ago: Frog Lane Guitars, Wigan, UK – July 1992Not the date of the photo but the purchase of my beloved Cherry Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul from a much-missed back-street music store that also sold prams and cots. I’d mortgaged all my 1992 Christmas present allocation to get a loan to secure this beauty. …
Continue reading That Time I Became An Electric Guitarist \m/
40 years ago | Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, UK | 11th July 1982This was my view of the 1982 World Cup Final, from a grainy black-and-white portable TV in a caravan on a showground in Harrogate. I was there (aged eight) as we exhibited at the Great Yorkshire Show. I don’t remember much about the …
15 years ago: Chamberlains Farm, Shevington Moor, UK – 7th July 2007Not the date of the photo but the closest estimate I have for the day Marley was born. He came to us the following Easter and this picture was taken later that summer, when he was just over a year old. Simultaneously the softest-natured …
30 years ago | Old Trafford, Manchester, UK | July 1992In the close season before the first Premier League season, I made my regular summer trip to Old Trafford to purchase the new home shirt on the day of its release from the Club ‘Superstore’ (the small rectangular building in the bottom-right corner). I remember …
15 years ago: Skipton Horse Trials, Carleton-in-Craven, UK – 25th June 2017Helen and Nigel take on a cross-country fence at the top of the hill, before turning for home. Of all the events that Helen has ridden at, Skipton was always one of my favourites; the dramatic Yorkshire Dales backdrop added great scenery to whatever …
Resonation 