Right at Home at the Oddfellows Arms 19-08-2003
- 28 May 2013
A perfectly named place for me to have a drinkie......
Well, a couple of days & about 50 miles (due West) later I am on an entirely
different planet. After the dreary, beggar infested industrial squalor that
is the town of Derby I have wound up in Chester. May only be about 50 miles,
but like Newport & Mount Druit the difference is quite remarkable.
The sun is shining, there is not the constant sound of Police sirens &
burglar alarms & you can hear the birds (& there are some here) singing. The
girls are pretty, England actually won the cricket & all is right with the
world.
Bet the food is good here too. I've got to come across something decent
sooner or later.
{mosimage}
Speaking of the cricket, what an absolute cracker of a day to decide to drop
in on. England led on the first Innings but were 1-0 at the start of the
days play. About 3 hours later they were all out for 118 & it looked for all
the world that after scoring 445 in their first innings they had found yet
another novel way to lose a sporting event. After another 3 hours South
Africa had crumbled to 5-70 odd. There may have been only 30 odd runs scored
in the last session (2 hours) & most of them in the first of those hours but
by christ it was an utterly fascinating afternoons play with the bowlers
right on top & a crumbling pitch but the 2 not out SA batsmen (McKenzie &
Boutcher) hanging on as if their life depended on it. If they had survived
for a while this morning things may have turned out differently but they
lost 3-11 in 13 balls & that, effectively, was that. Lots of very strange
folk in the crowd. If I had been wearing the Kilt I would have looked almost
normal. Hairy guys in dresses & blond wigs & just for Arron, a bloke (I
suppose) in a big wooly sheep costume. He must of damn near died in that
thing as it was quite warm in the sun but he didn't take it off all day.
Being in Nottingham there was even a bunch of Robin Hood types in their
green tights & a particularly ugly Maid Marion with a very bushy mustache.
Sort of Merv Hughes in drag. Hmmm.
Only just arrived in Chester about an hour ago but it seems that there is
plenty do do here for the next few days. Another one of these old walled
cities with building that lean out over the cobble stone streets at alarming
angles. I'm surprised that some of them aren't held up with cables like the
tower at Piza (Pisa?) Buggered if I know the spelling. Buggered if I know
how they stay up. Buggered if I know how they haven't been condemned but
everyone seems quite happy with them & it make for an interesting scene.
Peter, you have competition. There is a Thompson's Fine Foods here as well.
No bloody great Cattleman's Cutlets in the window though so I guess you win.
Just hope they deliver this to you & not the place here.
There was a rather large dinosaur made out of whacking great roles of wheat
on the road here. Didn't seem to be any reason for it, it just was. Would
have thought that a farmer here abouts would have had better things to do
with his time but what the hell. Perhaps it was his idea of a scarecrow, if
I were a crow it would scare the shit out of me. Bloody thing was about 30
feet high. A little further on was what appeared to be the last of the
determined land owners. Poor sod had this little farm, probably not more
than about 10 acres, with a couple of cows & a lovely little white cottage
completely surrounded by a dirty great industrial estate. He obviously
refused to sell up so they just built this thing all around him. Good on him
I say. Pity about his view though.
Al, what happened in the football?
Pete, how goes the GT40?
Rita, how goes your trip? Haven't heard anything from you for a while.
Ah well, I will report in again towards the end of the week before I head
off to Nantwich (& Oulton Park) for more gasoline sniffing.
Enjoy work.
F.U.S.B.